Nowadays, online marketing is everything. While traditional media such as print advertising still have their place, our digital world is becoming increasingly dominant. Rather than asking someone for a recommendation in-person, people are turning to the internet to locate quality companies. It only makes sense, then, that you have to follow your customers into the digital realm in order to market your business.

With PPC marketing, businesses can generate quality leads online and create sales funnels to guide customers towards a purchase. However, if done incorrectly, your business may not show up in relevant searches. If your advertising efforts aren’t profitable, that could cause heavy losses in the long run.

What is PPC Marketing?

An online user can find relevant sites by typing keywords into a search engine. PPC (or “pay-per-click”) marketing allows companies to pay for exposure when someone types in certain words. The SERP (search engine result page) presents your ads, and how much you owe depends on whether people click on your ad.

6 Common PPC Mistakes to Avoid

When you’re just starting out in PPC, there are countless mistakes you can make. Nevertheless, businesses can improve their campaigns by tackling these six errors first.

1.     Not Taking Advantage of Geo-Targeting

Geo-targeting allows businesses to optimize their ads for a specific location. Let’s say, for instance, that you own a brick-and-mortar shop and you want to attract customers in a certain town. By geo-targeting your ads, you can make sure the right people are seeing your content. Otherwise, visitors to your site may be too far away to visit your place of business. Your ad wouldn’t be relevant to them. This can lower your quality score over time and cause you to pay more for clicks than you need.

2.     Not Balancing Your Goals

What are you trying to achieve through PPC marketing? Most businesses want to generate leads, boost their conversions, drive web traffic, and increase profits. However, they often become so focused on one goal that they forget the importance of balance. Web traffic is important, for example, but it’s only one part of the equation. Your customers should follow a natural sales journey, and for that to happen your campaign needs to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). Do each of your goals fall under that umbrella? Additionally, it’s important to re-assess its success and adjust parameters as you go.

3.     Slow Loading Speeds and Poor Mobile Optimization

If your site is too slow, your bounce rate will skyrocket. Today, attention spans are short, and customers would rather move on than wait for a site to load. It’s simply easier to navigate to a better performing site. To improve your site speeds, consider switching over to a more efficient web host.

Another mistake businesses make is optimizing their desktop site while ignoring mobile. If speeds are slow on your mobile site, that will have a major impact on your campaign. Always make sure you’re giving both formats equal attention.

4.     Failing to Utilize Long-Tail Keywords

Businesses compete for short keywords. You may think it’s more effective to use broad keywords that will attract more people, but more people don’t guarantee conversions. Longer and more specific keywords will attract visitors who are more likely to be interested. Remember, quality over quantity. You want people coming to your site who can benefit from your products and services.

5.     Forgetting the Importance of Landing Pages

You shouldn’t always send visitors to your homepage or a general “services” page. Landing pages are more targeted and specific. Here’s a scenario for you: you own a lawn maintenance company, and most of your customers are interested in mowing services. However, you also offer some landscaping services like hedge trimming. A landing page with a title like “Hedge Trimming in Baltimore, Maryland” would attract people who need that exact service. Users who visit that page will be more likely to convert.

6.     Your Advertising Costs More than Your ROI

Some businesses spend too much on PPC ads and forget to crunch the numbers. You should regularly monitor your campaign and assess its effectiveness. Any money you devote to PPC marketing, such as hiring specialists or purchasing PPC tools, needs to be included in your ad spend. Always weigh the costs and the rewards to determine if your campaign is successful.

If you outsource your PPC advertising needs, the company you partner with should do the following:

  • Identify the best platforms for your ads
  • Create a custom campaign based on your industry and business needs
  • Utilize Google Analytics to monitor your traffic, traffic sources and conversions
  • Make ongoing adjustments that are in line with your budget
  • Track web traffic, geographical information, lead conversion, bounce rate, traffic flow and site speed

How Gauge Digital Media Can Help You Prevent PPC Mistakes

Do you need help avoiding PPC errors? We can enhance your website to boost your search engine ranking and increase your ROI. Gauge Digital Media’s digital marketing specialists help businesses of all sizes optimize their advertising campaigns. We’ll thoroughly examine your content, supervise your ads, display ads across Google AdWords and Bing Ads, and more. What other goals do you want to achieve? No matter what they are, we can help you reach them.

The services we offer include:

  • Web Design
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising
  • Graphic Design
  • Social Media Marketing
  • E-mail Marketing

Do you want to learn more about our services? Our specialists are on hand and ready to answer your questions. Let’s talk about digital marketing and PPC metrics!

We Are Here to Help Grow Your Business Online and Through SEO

Working with a professional digital marketing company is the best way to make the most of your website and all that Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn ads, Google Analytics and other digital advertising platforms have to offer. To learn more about the best digital marketing strategies for your company and reach a bigger audience than ever before, work with Gauge Digital Media. For a quote or to schedule a call, contact us at (443) 376-7709.