Making Cents of PPC and AdWords
Google Agency Partner Matt Roche’s presentation at May’s Newport Interactive Marketers focused on how businesses can utilize Google AdWords/PPC. Matt explained why businesses should consider advertising with Google and shared his secrets for success. Here are the highlights of the presentation.
AdWords is a Keyword Action
- AdWords is Google’s brand name for their pay per click ad platform)
- Keywords are words or phrases users search for on Google to locate what they’re interested in
- Advertisers bid on keywords used to describe their business
- When your keywords are eligible in the auction an ad you write, appears in the search results
- When a user clicks on your ad Google charges the you a cost for the click (CPC)
PPC is Highly Targeted
- Keywords: “Red Running Shoes” is 50% more profitable than “Red Running Sneakers”
- Ad Messaging: “Fast Shipping” is 25% more profitable than “Fast Delivery“
- Geo Targeting: a [X] mile radius around your business, city/towns and countries
- Devices: desktops, tablets and mobile, and even mobile providers
- Time and Day: only during your business open hours or 24/5
What You Pay for a Click
- You set your monthly budget and divide it over a 30 day period
- For example: $1,000 monthly budget equates to $33 a day
- If your average cost per click is $1.00 you’ll get 33 clicks in a day
- One day you may get $33 worth of clicks, another day you may get $36 worth of clicks
- You won’t pay more than $1,000 in a month
YOU Set Your Maximum Cost Per click (CPC)
- Often you’ll actually pay less per click than your max CPC.
- For example: Your max CPC is $1.00, the advertiser below you has max CPC
- at $0.80. When a user clicks on your ad you pay only $0.81 for the click
How Your Ad Ranks
- Ad Rank determines your ad’s position in relation to other advertiser’s ads
- Ad Rank = Quality Score x Maximum Cost per Click
- Quality Score = The quality of your ads, keywords and landing pages
- Ad Rank is recalculated each time your ad is eligible to appear – ad position fluctuates
- Even if Brand X has higher bids than yours, you can still win a higher position at a lower price by using highly relevant keywords, ads and landing pages!
What to Do Before You Get Started
1. Establish Clearly Defined Goals – What may seem really obvious to you may not to good portion of your visitors. What do you want your visitors to do?
2. Why Should Visitors Buy From You? – What makes your product or service unique?
3. Understanding ROI – You need to understand your ROI to determine how profitable your PPC advertising is. To calculate ROI sales you need 3 numbers: revenue from PPC advertising, cost related to goods sold, and Adwords cost. The formula is:
Revenue – Overall Costs / Overall Costs = Profit Percentage (Overall Cost = Cost related to good sold + Adwords cost).
Ex. R = 1,300 O= 1,000
($1,300 – $1,000) / $1,000 = 0.3
Revenue Overall Costs Overall Costs Profit is 30%
Explaining Keywords
- Broad Match: Most traffic BUT lots of irrelevant clicks – least CPC
- Modified + Broad Match: Less traffic than broad – more relevant clicks – higher CPC
- Phrase Match: Less traffic than broad – more relevant clicks – higher CPC than broad
- Exact Match: Least amount of traffic – most relevant clicks – highest CPCs
- Negative Match: Keeps your ads from appearing for irrelevant queries. Not using negative matches is one of the biggest mistakes advertisers make. Adding negatives is a huge cost controller especially when using broad match terms.
Writing Effective Ads
- Include target keywords in your ad content
- Include a value or unique selling proposition
- Have a call to action
- Don’t forget transactional words such as prices, fee, discount, etc.
- Create a sense of urgency
Monitoring and Measuring Your Campaigns
Daily
- Are your ads running?
Weekly
- Are impressions , clicks and conversions normal?
- Did you think of new keywords in the shower this morning?
- Do you have a new promotion | product | value proposition?
Monthly
- Month to month, quarter to quarter, year to year
- Keep in mind seasonality
- Make note of promotions
- Note of major website changes
- Make note of major news events, weather, holidays, etc.
Here’s what Newport Interactive Marketers were saying on Twitter:
@AmandaPanera: @NewportInteract Networking with friends Katrina & Emily enjoying @MidtownOysterRI! #NIMRI pic.twitter.com/PbgImlNVhj
@Sue_DesigEditor:Ingredients to a better #adwords quality score by @SemSeopro #NIMRI pic.twitter.com/l8DHE3x4Zo
@franciscosamuel: #nimri … A view from the back … Great presentation on #google#adwordspic.twitter.com/yAXISj172h
@TaichiCharlie: #NIMRI@mikejcunn @sue_DesigEditorhttp://instagram.com/p/n9Eckfwco4/
Recipe for an effective #PPC ad via @semseopro #NIMRI #MidtownOyster pic.twitter.com/y8NYEJLEzR
Certified AdWords Professional since 2005, Google Agency Partner Matt Roche currently manages $100,000+ in monthly client ad spend. Prior to launching his firm SEM/SEO Pro, Matt served as Director of Search Marketing at Boston-based Emagine Communications and was WIMCO’s Online Marketing Manager from 2000-2006.