Managing keywords is the most important thing when it comes to online commerce, particularly managing pay per click campaigns. Here is a list of common mistakes that new advertisers make in their PPC campaigns and how you can remedy them:
- Too many keywords per ad group – Too many keywords can kill an advertising campaign by watering down your optimization. Make sure that you are targeting only the necessary keywords for a particular campaign and delete unnecessary keywords. Keep your ad group tight.
- Targeting the wrong keywords for a campaign - If your ad keywords don’t match the keywords on your landing page then you are targeting the wrong keywords. Make sure that you optimize your ad group and your landing page so that keywords for both match.
- Sticking with broad match – You can increase your CTR just by narrowing your match from broad to to phrase match or exact match.
- Not using negative keywords – Negative keywords help you get more specific in your targeting by cutting out specific searches where you do not feel the need to target.
- Not testing new keywords – Pay per click advertising should involve constant testing of new keywords, ad content, and approaches to advertising in general. You should be testing new keywords and adding them to your campaign groups as necessary.
- Neglecting to perform the necessary keyword research prior to starting a campaign – Without keyword research you will go wrong. Perform you keyword research before you ever start a campaign and target only those keywords that are relevant to your campaign.
- Maintaining the same keywords throughout an entire campaign - If you just set it and forget it then you will not maximize your opportunities in PPC advertising. The only way you can make PPC pay is to move your keywords around. That means testing and optimizing. Keep a constant eye on your campaigns and manage them for maximum effectiveness.
PPC advertising is an ever-moving target. If you expect to succeed you’ll need to log in to your account every day and see how things are going. Don’t be afraid to try new keywords, test new ones against old ones, and maintain constant research to determine the best match types, etc. Keyword management is the most important thing in managing pay per click campaigns.
