One of the best ways to promote your ecommerce business on the market is to run a PPC campaign. However, a campaign that doesn’t include the right PPC optimization strategies will not generate profits and return on investment for your online store.
Many ecommerce stores already use paid ads as a component of their marketing efforts.
But, as statistics show, ecommerce conversion rates will decline over time, and simply launching paid advertising is not enough.
To avoid ending up with conversion rates that don’t meet your expectations, I’ll outline PPC optimization strategies to change how you approach your ecommerce marketing campaigns.
While PPC is a real challenge, we assure you that our five revolutionary solutions will improve your SEO results and marketing conversion rates.
What Is PPC Optimization—And Where To Begin?
PPC campaigns consist of displaying graphical and contextual advertisements on search engine pages. The most recognizable networks for those purposes are Google Ads, Amazon Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads suitable for social media coverage.
Among other things, one of the basic features of PPC management is selling services through the so-called pay-per-click systems (in short, PPC pays for a click on an advertisement). This is a way to buy website traffic.
Google search ads are one of the most popular forms of PPC and combine over 92% of all advertisers. It allows you to promote sponsored links in a search engine when someone searches for a keyword related to your business offering.
However, the bid amount is one factor affecting where your ad will appear. The competitiveness of keywords in a given ecommerce branch or region, the authority of the website, or the matching of key phrases to the advertisement's content also have a significant impact.
Consequently, all kinds of contextual promoting systems are doing well, and the trend does not seem to be decreasing, as sponsored results get nearly two-thirds (65%) of all clicks.
Eventually, a PPC optimization strategy, in a nutshell, may seek to:
- Reduce cost-per-click (CPC) for the same (or more) clicks and conversion rates.
- Grow the click-through rate (CTR).
- Increase conversion rates.
- Lower cost per conversion for the same (or more) conversions.
The next five selected strategies will help you reach high-performing goals and maximize your ecommerce sales.
Want to get insights for better paid ads straight to your inbox? Check out our roundup of the best PPC newsletters.
5 Revolutionary PPC Optimization Strategies
The success of your PPC campaign should be tracked through website analytics and conversion tracking tools like Google Analytics. But regardless of the tracking program you use, keep a close eye on the following metrics.
1. Analyze and improve key phrases
Key phrases require regular optimization. If certain phrases have not achieved a satisfactory click-through rate (CTR) after a significant number of ad impressions, they should be removed and replaced with other phrases.
In this case, we suggest changing the phrases when reaching 15-20% of impressions from the initial assumptions.
Use keyword analysis tools, a thesaurus, and search queries to generate the broadest possible collection of unique terms. You can use the AdWords system tools and the Keyword Universe program from Wordtracker to search for new phrases. Searching for keywords used on competitor sites in the page's HTML titles and the main body is a good idea.
An essential element of PPC campaign optimization is the use of negative phrases. A separate negative keywords list will reduce the likelihood of an ad being clicked on without converting.
A keyword analysis is one of the most creative aspects of PPC campaigns. Discovering lesser-known search terms can contribute to the benefits of your brand due to the lower price per click. At the same time, it is a resource-intensive process of managing word lists, which is easier to control by organically transferring them to one database.
Numerous small groups of keywords typically generate most of the traffic and conversions.
2. Ensure correct link redirection
Let's say people are looking for a specific product your business offers.
A PPC ad in the search engine arouses public interest and encourages users to click. Then the link redirects to the company's homepage, where customers have to search manually for the product they are interested in. Most often, they will be discouraged and go to a competitor. As a result, you have to pay the cost of clicking on the ad without any conversion.
When running a PPC campaign, you should ensure that sponsored links redirect customers to a page where they will receive answers to their queries (such as a landing page). Remember to indicate the correct URL to the viewer, thus improving the AdWords quality score and lowering the risk of bounce rate.
Landing pages should be targeted and focused on the original query of the visitor. Typically, you create custom pages for PPC campaigns and test different variants.
3. Design an efficient landing page and call to action
Advertising without optimized content will not bring good results either. You can use ChatGPT prompts to create high-quality, useful, and relevant ad copy for potential customers while encouraging action. It is evaluated similarly to keyword phrases. If the click-through rate (CTR) does not achieve the desired number of impressions, the ad campaign's content should be changed, and the CTA's configuration as well.
Remember that the value of the CTA button depends on a direct return to the web address, clarity, color, brevity, and motivation. We also recommend sending a query to the user regarding its proceeding. Posting a secondary CTA on your landing page keeps the dialogue between the site owner and visitors going. Check its appearance in the example below.
In addition to the proposition to complete a purchase or request an offer, landing pages can direct to subscribing to a newsletter, downloading a free leaflet or catalog, signing up to a company forum, or using any other instrument to keep the connection with users.
Some visitors to the site are not ready to buy or are not sufficiently convinced that your product or brand is right for them, but they could be willing to give you an email address you’ll be able to use to retarget them.
And these are just the basic insights of must-have content optimization for a successful business, but you can explore more helpful information on digital marketing strategies.
4. Don’t forget about testing
Advertisers who run a PPC campaign want to see the ad's final appearance, whether it is displayed after entering specific key phrases, etc.
It is common practice to enter key phrases in the Google search engine. But the ad may not be displayed due to budget constraints, frequent searches for specific key phrases, or a location different from the one set in the campaign. That's why it's best to check the effects of the campaign using the Google ad preview and diagnosis tool.
Before you turn on the promotion, see how it will be presented in the search engine, and think about its overall form and message. Each ad group should have two or three ad text variants.
With the right tools, such as Google's Website Optimizer, you can easily run an A/B test (i.e., a comparison test of one-page variation against another).
When developing keywords and sites, stop searching for keywords or sites in old ad groups to avoid competing with yourself.
5. Adjust your per-click bid
Bid adjustment can take place on several levels. Traditionally it is done at the keyword level. The rate per click is also influenced by the hours of displaying sponsored links, location, and many other factors.
If the campaign meets all the quality requirements of Google, you can gradually reduce the cost per click. Consider disabling ads at certain times of the day. If the target demographic group is students or working people, broadcasting advertisements during class or working hours is unnecessary.
Pay-per-click (PPC) price optimization is about strategically adjusting bids to maximize conversions and ROI while respecting budget constraints. This requires careful data analysis, continuous monitoring, and testing of various variables to determine the appropriate bid levels for each keyword.
People who don't like risk should lower their initial stakes first. Then, if someone wants to rank aggressively, they can bid high for a short period to achieve a positive click-through rate quickly.
If you're looking to advertise on LinkedIn, it's essential to have a solid bidding strategy in place to get the most out of your budget. Bid adjustments can target the audience by keyword, location, and time of day. It's also crucial to monitor campaign performance to optimize for conversions and ROI. Gradually increase bids or bid aggressively for quick results.
A comprehensive LinkedIn bidding strategies guide can help you navigate the platform and make informed decisions about your ad campaigns.
Combining these revolutionary advertising PPC strategies allows you to achieve a long-term presence at the top of Google search results.
Get Better Results With Better PPC Optimization Strategies
Optimization is a process that requires constant attention and action. If you're feeling overwhelmed, demand side platforms are essentially tools that manage and optimize your PPC ad spend for you.
The PPC management cycle begins with defining a goal. Next, several tasks are carried out: Reorganizing potential keywords, ensuring correct link operation, testing best ad content variants and CTA, voice, tone, and style, and setting cost-per-click bids.
The last stage consists of continuously tracking and optimizing all these elements to refine the target audience, streamline the message and fine-tune the ad campaign's performance.
These steps, integrated with the above PPC optimization strategies, require effort and attention. Once you’ve mastered the art of PPC optimization, you’ll reap the rewards in no time.
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