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:

:  Networking with friends Katrina & Emily enjoying !  

@Sue_DesigEditor:Ingredients to a better quality score by

: … A view from the back … Great presentation on

 

Recipe for an effective ad via @semseopro #NIMRI #MidtownOyster  

mattrocheMeet Matt Roche

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.