Starting with CPC

 

Although it is a pretty and complex area, it is something that you can start without having to know too much and learn as you go. Set your budget low and follow the tips below to get started:

  • The ad needs to be targeted: If you have a hotel in Bristol, you need to ensure that the visitors that you are bringing to your site through cpc marketing really are potential customers. Remember, you are paying for every visitor so you have to make sure that they can turn into potential customers! Bidding on completely unrelated keywords will be of no help at all.
  • Get it right from the start! When you setup your adwords or overture account, make sure you get it structured correctly before you begin. Set sensible categories and make sure your landing pages are the correct ones. If you start changing after the start of the campaign  you lose the history for the keywords that you have accrued and will see your rankings slip.
  • The landing page needs to be relevant: If the user has searched for luxury hotel in Bristol, the first page that they see on your site has to clearly identify your hotel as being luxury (and of course in Bristol). Remember, if your hotel isn’t a luxury hotel then you really don’t want to bid on this phrase as the visitor is very unlikely to book.
  • The ‘path to purchase’ from the landing page needs to be clear: When the user is directed to your site, they need to be able to carry out the booking in as little time as possible. Research suggests that there should only be 3 pages from the point that the user starts the search to the point that they reach the confirmation page. Otherwise, the visitor may get bored and click off.
  • Make sure your site is well designed and professional looking. It mak seem simple to most but I am often amazed at the number of sites I come across who are advertising through Overture or Adwords who’s site’s simple do not intstill confidence. If the site looks shoddy, people will not trust it and will click on the back button.
  • Make sure you are realistic about your cpc budget. Work out how much you can afford to spend on each sale before you begin planning your cpc campaign. Consider that click fraud is an issue, and your competitors may be clicking on your ads, as well as other companies researching keywords. Allow enough margin so that if your costs are more than expected you can still be profitable.
  • Refine and refine and refine your keyword lists. Take out keywords that don’t perform and don’t be afraid of adding negative keywords to your campaigns. CPC marketing isn’t something that you can setup and let it run. You really need to analyse your campaign on a daily level to ensure maximum return.

For More info
·         Inside Adwords Blog
·         Adwords Optimisation
·         Using Adwords Editor
·         Keep on top of the Quality Score