Digital Conqueror - Logo
Search
Close this search box.

Common PPC Mistakes Most People Make That Could Potentially Hurt Your Ad Campaign 

PPC is a cost-effective marketing tool that can boost brand awareness, generate more leads and increase your business revenue. If you want your PPC campaign to be fruitful, then you need to manage it well. However, if not managed the right way, it can be a disadvantage to your business by showing up on irrelevant searches. 

If you are having trouble managing your PPC campaign, contact Elk HQ, and they can help you work on your campaign. Here are some of the common mistakes you may be making during the launch of your PPC ad campaign. 

If you are misusing match types

When using Google ad words, they usually have three settings. To make you understand how the three settings work, we will demonstrate using the keywords “men’s gym wear.” 

Exact match– this setting will display your ad to a prospect when they search your exact keyword “ men’s gym wear.” 

Broad match – this setting on Google ads displays your ad for numerous keywords that vaguely match your intended keyword, such as “women’s gym wear.” 

Phrase match – this particular setting displays your ads for phrases that include “men’s gym wear” and all the words that surround the keyword, such as “men’s gym wear size 43.” 

This means that it would be best to use the broad match setting to attract or approach a wider audience. The exact match setting would be best used when you want your target audience to find what they are looking for. On the other hand, phrase match is a balance between the two settings, and it works just as well as the different settings and can be a great addition to your marketing campaign. 

PPC Ads Campaign

However, it is still essential to determine which setting works well with your business. If you are looking to increase traffic to your site, then go for a broad search setting. If you are launching a marketing campaign to look for conversion leads, then using an exact match would be useful in achieving that. 

If you don’t work at determining your goals from the onset of the PPC campaign, then you may end up wasting a lot of money on a campaign that’s targeting the wrong audience. 

Forgetting to use negative keywords

Negative keywords are terms that you don’t want to trigger your PPC adverts. This works well, especially for phrase match and broad match, where specific terms could change the meaning of an entire keyword.  

For example, if your business sells men’s gym wear, you can also include the negative keyword women’s gym wear. This ensures that whenever users search for women’s gym wear, that keyword won’t trigger your ad.  

Doing this will ensure you don’t show up for search results you don’t want, and the user doesn’t get irrelevant results when searching for certain keywords. It’s a sort of a win/win situation.  

Essentially, negative keywords will improve your quality score by eliminating chances of your ad appearing on irrelevant searches and saving money. Negative keywords will help your business gain an excellent reputation online because you only attract and target users who are likely to become customers. 

Failing to use geographic targeting

Geographic targeting allows you to clarify your ad and set it to a specific area. Setting ads to your business area is essential for small businesses that usually target customers around the town they’ve set up.  For example, if you own a bakery or food truck, you would want to set your ad to the area your business is based in. so if a prospect searches for a bakery in yellow springs, your ad results show up. 

When you fail to use geo-targeting when launching your PPC ad, you will lose your quality score. You will keep showing up on irrelevant searches, probably even on results when someone in another country searches for a bakery. You may even cause some keywords to increase in price. These are the factors that may make a certain keyword so expensive. 

There are standard options in Google Ads that can help set up your ad to a particular area. Ensure you refine your ad to specific areas to avoid temporarily inflating the prices of keywords for businesses in other areas. Moreover, if you are in a smaller town, it can help you get more qualified leads when people find your ad and click on it. Additionally, it enables you to save money and increases your quality score. 

Ignoring your quality score

A quality score is a number that shows you how your ads are performing in Google. It’s how Google classifies your business using a certain number. If your quality score is higher, it means Google will charge you less for your PPC ads. That’s why you should always keep an eye on your quality score. It has the potential to save you on costs and help position your business above your competitors. 

Here are a few strategies you can use to improve your quality score: 

Offer quality information – ensure you have pages that provide information the user is looking for. It increases the chances of users clicking on your ad. 

Make it easy for prospects to convert – ensure you add a clear call to action in your ads to encourage prospects to convert to customers. 

Target the right audience – ensure to use long-tail keywords on your PPC ads to get qualified clicks to your site 

Using these three strategies can help improve your quality score, and Google will prioritize your business over others. Additionally, it will save you money. 

Pay per click is a valuable tool to help your business increase traffic, boost your brand awareness, and increase conversions. However, before launching your PPC campaign, you must carefully plan out your entire campaign, from the keywords you will be using to the Google settings and ensuring you maintain a higher quality score. If you make the mentioned mistakes in your ad campaign, you will lose money, and you won’t target your ideal audience. Ensure you are not making these mistakes during your ad campaigns, and you are guaranteed a successful PPC ad campaign launch. 

Share:

Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
LinkedIn