the best ppc webinar final to publish

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The Best PPC Practices

• Coding since 6 years old

• Creating websites since 1997

• Working in e-commerce since 2005

• Marketing MBA

• Agency since 2011

Pam Ann Aungst, MBA

President & Chief Web Traffic Controller

Pam Ann Marketing LLC

Table of Contents4

1. Intro

What is PPC? Slide 5

Google AdWords Slide 7

2. Basics

PPC vs SEO vs SEM Slide 9

3. Getting Started

SEM Slide 11

Other PPC Options Slide 23

4. Optimizing

Analytics and Metrics Slide 32

Google Analytics Slide 37

Useful tips & tricks included throughout! Slide 41

What is PPC?5

PPC = Pay Per Click. A model of internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.

In essence, it is buying visits to your site instead of gaining organic traffic to your site.

What is PPC?6

Search engine marketing (aka “SEM”) is one of the most popular forms of PPC advertising.

It enables businesses or advertisers to bid for ad placement in a search engine’s sponsored links when someone searches a keyword related to their business.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is the most popular platform for SEM.

To the right you’ll see an example SEM ad for converse trainers.

7

Google AdWords

8

This store bid on those terms against others in order to be first in the list.

It’s labeled with “ad” and bidding is much like an auction run by Google.

How does SEM differ from SEO?9

SEO = Search Engine Optimization.

It is the art of influencing search engines to rank your content higher in organic (non-paid) results.

So with SEM you pay for ads to increase visibility and with SEO you don’t.

SEM vs. SEO: Pros & Cons10

SEO SEM

• Don’t have to pay for every click, allows

for exponential ROI over (a long) time

• Have to pay for every single click. Certain

industries have high CPCs and can be VERY

expensive to advertise this way

• Challenging/technical to manage, very

heavy workload every month across

multiple departments, rapidly changing

• Challenging/technical to manage, but not

very rapidly changing and doesn’t require

as much cross-department involvement

• Takes a LONG time to work (anywhere

from 3 to 12 months for initial gains)

• Instant exposure

• A common strategy for newer businesses is to rely on SEM at first while ramping up SEO

efforts (and use the ROI from that to help fund SEO efforts) and then pull back on

reliance on SEM over time

Top 10 Tips to Get Started with SEM11

1. Always start with a plan.

2. Determine your goals, what do you hope to achieve? Increase brand awareness, more subscribers, sales, content downloads, etc.

3. This will help determine the right direction of the campaign and KPIs for measurement of success.

Top 10 Tips to Get Started with SEM12

For example, a brand with a new and innovative product or service that was just introduced to the market will focus on driving awareness through impressions and clicks, versus a brand with a very established offering that just wants to get more leads (conversions).

How to Get Started with SEM13

4. Determine your budget. This will help figure out which keywordsyou can afford. Take the average CPC for your target words andmultiply it by 200. That’s a simple way to establish a bare-minimummonthly budget you’ll need to advertise on those terms.


5. Do keyword research with AdWords Keyword Planner and SEMRush or SpyFu(for competitor keywords). Select keywords that you can afford, and organize them into tightly-themed ad groups.


Tip: For conversion-focused campaigns, focus on words that have ahigh level of intent, i.e. “sneaker store near me.” That person ismore likely to be ready to buy than someone searching on “trendysneaker styles”.


6. Use those keywords in your ad copy along with strong calls-to-action. Follow Google’s guidelines for ad copy and quality score.

Tip: Also take advantage of ad extensions where

appropriate!


Tip: Whenever youcan, include specifics &offers that will alsoappear on your landingpage, such as “20% offAll T-Shirts untilFriday!” or “Save $100by registering before11/5”.


Tip: Also do competitive research (SEMRush & SpyFu). Other brandslikely tested their ad copy, so learn from what they are doing.


7. Create landing pages: A simple page (short skimmable copy with bullet points) with a single/clear call-to-action form.

Tip: Use bright red or orange for your CTA button, and put compelling text on it such as “Get Me Started!” instead of “Submit”.


8. Optimize PPC campaigns regularly. Place a strong focus on the “Search Terms” report and applying negative keywords as needed.


9. Always, always, always be testing. Experiment with different sets of ad copy, match types, and landing page content. PPC campaigns can ALWAYS be improved upon.


10. Monitor your campaigns closely. Make sure the ROI supports the investment – but do give the campaign at least 90 days of ramp-up time before starting to fully assess KPIs.

PPC Strategy – Other Options 23

SEM isn’t the only choice for PPCadvertising, but it’s a great startbecause people searching on Googlehave a high level of intent to find abusiness like yours.

In addition, consider display (bannerads) and/or social media ads likeFacebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest,Instagram, and YouTube.


Display (banner) ads can be run through the Google AdWordsplatform in addition to SEM search ads, as can YouTube video ads.


YouTube ads work wellfor just about anybrand with solid videocontent, with theexception of pre-rollads (the “skip ad”ones).

Tip: Keyword-based search ads on YouTube are most affordable and effective.


LinkedIn is great for B2B-focused brands. “Direct Sponsored Content” ads are the most affordable and effective ads on LinkedIn.

Facebook is great for B2C-focused brands. News Feed ads are most affordable and effective on Facebook.


Pinterest & Instagram are best for brands with a visually-compelling product or service, as they are all about the imagery.

Twitter is very real-time, so consider promoted tweets for campaigns based upon certain events where people may be following an event hashtag, like the #Superbowl.


Retargeting is another option for PPC advertising that can be incredibly effective for any purchase decision that is not immediate for consumers to make.


Example: People do a lot ofresearch online when buying a car,and they don’t decide right away.Retargeting ads will remind themwhich dealer website they hadlooked at. This is very effective inthis case, versus someone whoresearched emergency furnacerepair in winter. That person likelymade their decision very quickly,and it’s not worth following themwith ads for 30 days or more.

PPC Strategy –

Other Options

30

Retargeting options are available on several networks, including Google, Facebook, and AdRoll. Most brands start with Google & FB.

PPC and the Customer Journey31

Once your PPC is set-up, you’ll need to monitor traffic closely.

Data on your visitors is anecessary part ofachieving your goals.

It will tell you what to improve.

Analytics and Metrics

Google Analytics is a crucial for evaluating PPC campaigns, and all digital marketing initiatives.

Google Analytics and Google AdWords can be directly integrated to track detailed information about SEM campaigns.

32

33

Analytics and Metrics

Other PPC options (Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.) often require manual tagging (a.k.a. “UTM Tagging”) of landing page URLs in order to inject specific campaign information into Google Analytics.

34Analytics and Metrics

Call-tracking software like CallRailcan also be used to show in Google Analytics when a PPC visitor viewed a phone number on a site, wrote it down, and called it – even if that happens at a later time.

Analytics and Metrics35

Google Analytics can tell you the “Who, What, Where and Why” of your traffic.

“Who” = your audience: characteristics of who visited your site (geo location, browser/device used, language spoken, etc.)

Analytics and Metrics36

“What” = behavior: what the user did on your site, how long they stayed, etc.

“Where” = acquisition: where users came from and how they found you.

“Why” refers to conversions: if they completed the goal, which could be a download, purchase, or signup.

4 Steps to Setup Google Analytics37

1. Set up an accountusing your URL. Thiswill give you atracking script.

2. Add the trackingscript to the headerof your website, soit appears on allpages.

4 Steps to Setup Google Analytics38

3. Identify critical actions usersshould take on site and setthose up as goals and events.Set up E-commerce trackingif applicable. You will likelyneed a programmer for someof this.

4. Link your Google Analyticsand AdWords accounts ifapplicable.

4 Key Google Analytics Reports39

Critical reports to review:

1. Traffic Sources by Channel: where visitors come from.(Acquisition -> All Traffic -> Channels).

2. Top Landing Pages: insight into content that draws in your visitors.(Behavior -> Site Content -> Landing Pages).

4 Key Google Analytics Reports40

3. Top referring sources: the referral sites that lead users to you.(Acquisition -> All Traffic -> Referrals)

4. Conversions: Goals & transactions completed by visitors.

Some Google Analytics Examples41

Video Event Tracking


Call Tracking with CallRail

Some Google

Analytics Examples

43

A goal conversion funnel

that shows steps taken

towards a registration-

based goal.


Channels Report with E-Commerce


Social Ad Campaign Tagging with Goals

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