11 mistakes you’re making with your PPC campaign and how to fix them

If you’re running PPC campaigns, then you have some idea, by now, about the many pitfalls and mistakes you can make that will drain your budget down to nothing.

Here is a list of the 11 most common mistakes people make when they are new to PPC ads — and how to fix them.

1. Using default settings for PPC campaigns. 

The goal of search engines is to make money. A way they do this is by getting your ad in front of as many eyes as possible and, while that sounds great, it actually isn’t. There are a few settings that Google has on, by default, that should be changed.

Advanced location targeting should (almost always) be set to ‘people in my target location’ instead of ‘people in or searching for my target location.’ There are a few times when I think that someone searching for a target location might be good as well – a business that wants to target tourists for example, but otherwise change that up.

Also, don’t include display network in your search campaigns.

Something else that I generally turn off is targeting search partners – these are sites, other than Google, where a search ad can appear. They have far lower ROI and conversions than actual search ads.

Another default setting is keyword match – the default setting is broad match, but these keywords have low intent. Instead, focus on phrase and exact match to more closely match search intent and search relevance.

2. Using smart search campaigns.

Smart campaigns are quick and easy to set up but, on the other hand, there is less budget control — you can’t specify keywords or negative keywords, or create ad extensions, among many other restrictions.

Basically, using smart campaigns, while it is a lot quicker and easier to set up, won’t help you return any real results.

3. Using the wrong bidding strategy for your goals.

Manual bidding has been the go-to bidding strategy for the longest time. I would argue that Google has become a lot better with the bidding algorithm and should be worth a test.

However, picking the right bidding strategy is key and the way to do it is based on your business goals. If you are after brand awareness, then Target Impression Share or Maximise Clicks should be your bidding strategy. For revenue, focus on Maximise Conversion Value and, if you need a certain number of sales, then Maximise Conversions. There are other bidding strategies — enough to match any sort of business goal.

4. Using the same ad copy for everything.

Ad copy should match search intent and, if you are using the same ad copy for every single ad and keyword, there is no way you are going to be able to match that search intent.

For example, if you have ad copy about a really nice table and you also sell couches, and the ad copy for the really nice table appears in a search for a couch, who is going to click on that ad? They’re searching for a couch, and no matter how nice that table is, it isn’t what they are after.

5. Wrong landing page.

Similar to the above, a landing page that doesn’t match the ad copy is a huge mistake. Using the above example, let’s say you are advertising a couch and, when people click on your ad and they are taken to a page about the nice table, they will click away and your ads will not perform.

Landing pages should match the copy and branding of the ads you are serving.

6. Not keeping an eye on display placements.

Keeping an eye on display placements is important. Display ads can go on any page that has an ad placement, but you don’t want your ads to appear on every page. We want display ads to be targeting contextually. Don’t send furniture ads to a gaming website, for example.

Not keeping an eye on where your display ads are showing and optimising the placements are sure-fire ways of spending a heap of money and getting nothing back.

7. Not testing.

One of the biggest PPC mistakes we often see is not testing ads. Few ads are going to be amazing the first time you create them, so testing everything is key. The more you test, the quicker you will learn what works and the quicker your ads will start to get awesome results!

8. Not using negative keywords.

Negative keywords are awesome. They eliminate irrelevant searches and improve your quality score so, in the long run, you will save money.

Using negative keywords is important for when you are using broad and phrase match keywords.

9. Ignoring quality score. 

Quality score is actually really important for ads — a numerical representation of how good your ads are. The higher your quality score, the less Google will charge for clicks. Find your quality score on Google Ads and increase it by making sure the copy of your ad closely matches searcher intent.

10. Forgetting the basics.

Knowing the basics of Google Ads seems to be something that many people forget. Target keywords, write good quality copy that matches the keywords and send the traffic to a landing page that matches the ad copy.

11. Keyword problems.

Not using longtail keywords is just stupid. Longtail keywords are low-traffic, low-competition and high-intent keywords and they get less search traffic, but will usually have a higher conversion value, as they are more specific. They allow you to gradually get more traffic to your site and be found by new and motivated audiences.

There you go. Fixed!