Get More Clicks with PPC Ad Campaigns

Optimizing Google Adwords and other PPC campaigns naturally consume time and effort because of all the data gathering and testing you need to do. However, there are techniques that are known to improve any campaign's performance quickly. Running different ad variations is the most popular technique to optimize PPC campaigns. Some of your ad versions will gather more clicks than others do; it's just a matter of discarding low-performing ads.

There are other methods you can use to improve PPC campaigns. Peter Kent, the author of 'Pay Per Click Search Engine Marketing for Dummies' names several methods for improving Quality Score on Google Adwords and fine-tuning campaigns. Here are five methods you can immediately use to improve your ad's performance:

1. Utilize negative match keywords. Negative match keywords are used to sift through prospective visitors and run your ads only to those who are more likely to be interested in your website. Implementing negative keyword matching in Google Adwords is easy. Just indicate the words you do not want to include in your campaigns and Google will automatically omit your ads on search results with your negative words.


2. Change your CPCs for major keywords. Modifying the CPCs of your major keywords may boost your campaign's overall performance. Just click on 'Tools' under the Campaign Management tab to modify your campaign. You have complete control of your ads here and this makes it easier to optimize your efforts.


3. Review and resubmit any rejected ads. Google Adwords will review every ad you submit and either accept or reject it. All rejected ads are stored in your Campaign Management section, and you can edit and resubmit them at any time. Review your work regularly and don't be afraid to resubmit an ad after tweaking it with different keywords.


4. Run ads at different times of the day. 'Dayparting' is the technique of defining what time of day your ads should be run, and you can coordinate this for a better reach. For example, if you are promoting restaurant coupons, it may be a good idea to run the ads a few hours before lunch or dinner hours when people are thinking about where to go or what to eat.


5. Understand your target market. You need to understand your audience first before you can reel them in with your ads. Find out why they would be interested in your product. You might also want to look at existing promotions they are already responding and buying. See how these promotions talk to your market and how your market talks in discussion forums and blogs.

We mostly use trial and error for optimizing our pay-per-click marketing efforts but there are strategies you can implement to speed up the process. Get started on these strategies to start your way on generating high quality leads.

Improve Your Marketing With Google Adwords And Split Testing

When it comes to using Google AdWords ads to attract customers, your CTR or clickthrough rates are the key to getting the biggest bang possible for your marketing buck. Perry Marshall, an online marketing expert, suggests the those seeking to increase the effectiveness of their AdWords advertisements to employ the strategy of split testing. By split testing, you can begin to determine the precise effectiveness of each of the keywords and phrases in attracting attention and, as a result, clicks from members of your target audience. By paying attention to what really works in your marketing, and perhaps running two or more advertisements simultaneously, you can gain valuable insights into what drives your customers.

Split testing isn't simply for AdWord, however; the knowledge you obtain from split testing performed on just about any area of your site can be easily applied to the creation of effective AdWords, and help you develop a more advantageous online presence. As a springboard for your own ideas, here are five examples of areas in which split testing can be effective.

1. Your signup pages. Whether you have a newsletter signup box on your homepage, or are just collecting e-mail addresses for a free download, running a split test in this area can help you determine what types of freebies your visitors respond well to. The words and marketing copy you use in these areas can be manipulated to deliver different messages; when you've defined what the most effective messages are, it also becomes easier to insert these messages into a Google Adwords ad.

2. Your website's "shopping cart." One area of your site that can yield important clues to what makes your customers tick is the "shopping cart." Looking at what customers do on this section will tell you more about their buying habits, as well as what they're truly interested in. Split testing can be applied to your site's shopping cart as well, perhaps by experimenting with messages presented to customers during the process of checking out. In this vein, it is also a great idea to monitor what items are most commonly searched for on your site.

3. Individual product pages. If a customer is viewing the page for a specific product, they're definitely interested, but the specific copy on this page can be an essential factor in motivating him or her to make the decision. Make sure that the copy used on your product pages is attention-grabbing, and use split testing to see which variations of a message get the best results. Long-term monitoring of the effects of product pages copy can bear considerable fruit both in increased sales and knowledge that can be applied in your Adwords ads.

4. Sales letters. Sales letters have always been of great value to online marketers, as they encourage the recipient to make an immediate decision to click through to your site. These letters are perfect for split testing, as they allow you to track which key messages you should emphasize in order to provoke an immediate response from your target audience, insight which can be easily and beneficially applied to your AdWords advertisements.

5. Email messages to customers. Any electronic messages you send to potential customers can be fine-tuned for greater effectiveness using split testing. Even if you don't send out a full newsletter, the tweaking of even autoresponder messages, and the subsequent monitoring for clickthroughs, can yield valuable information about how to attract a greater audience to your site.

How To Get A Better Clickthrough Rate With Google Adwords

Creating highly effective ads on Google Adwords is an ongoing process, and you'll probably spend weeks and months tweaking analyzing your strategy as you build your campaign. Still, you don't have to settle or a trial and error process every step of the way, especially when it comes to increasing your clickthrough rate (CTR). Internet marketing strategists such as Perry Marshall and countless others have already harnessed the power of Google Adwords by employing several strategies that generate results from the start.

Interested in how you can increase your clickthrough rates? Read on to learn about two proven strategies that, used properly, offer a foolproof path to Adwords success.

Doing Negative Keyword Research

Since Adword ads rely so heavily on the correct use of keywords, you will want to run frequent keyword reports. This can be done using various different software tools, many available online, and some even for free. Wordtracker, one such tool, offers a free keyword selector as well as a subscriptions. By creating a spreadsheet filled in with all the effective and relevant keywords, you can learn a great deal about how best to focus your ad campaign on potential customer. Also important, however, are negative keywords.

Negative keywords and key phrases are those that are related to your specific niche, product or service, but do not offer immediate value. After identifying what your ideal customer may be searching for, you'll be able to conjecture the specific key terms (positive keywords) they may use to find you. For example, if you are selling referral tracking software, you want to identify customers who are typing in key phrases such as 'buy referral tracking software', 'using referral tracking software', etc. Those who might type in 'free referral tracking software' do not fall under your target market radar, and need to be eliminated. You can employ this strategy with every niche and keyword list, paring it down until you have a very refined, highly targeted listing of keywords that apply only to your ideal customer.

Split Test to Create More Effective Adwords Ads

Split testing is commonly used in offline marketing strategies to test the market. For example, a company may send out two different direct mail pieces to select customers to gauge response rates, or they may create two different promotional offers to see which message or campaign is more effective than the other.

Just as in traditional marketing media, split testing proves a valuable ally for marketers developing a Google Adwords campaign. Once you've decided which keywords you should and should not employ in your attempts to reach the ideal audience, you can then turn your attention to the specifics of how these keywords are used, testing slightly different phrasings in Adword ads and seeing which are most effective.

Split testing with your Google Adwords campaign is one of the best ways to maximize your online marketing efforts and steadily increase your clickthrough rate. Perry Marshall, a Google Adwords educator and online marketing strategist explains that this is one of the most effective - if not the most effective way - to increase your clickthrough rate over a short period of time. By continually split testing ads against each other, you'll start to see a noticeable traffic increase and can eliminate the poor-performing ad early on in your testing phases.

Marketing with Google Ad Words is a powerful technique that most online-businesses can use to attract more customers. Creating quality Google Ads is one of the most important skills to have when using Ad Words - and there are several good training resources available online.