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Lorrie Thomas, founder of Web Marketing Therapy, offers 5 huge tips to having success with PPC advertising.

Paid search spend equates to an average of 42% of all online advertising spending on the world wide web.  Buying keywords is one of the most targeted ways a prospective customer can find you, as most people start with a search engine to find products, information or services.  Paid search messaging can be controlled, tracked and continually optimized for maximum Return on Investment (ROI).  Paid search is a valuable search marketing tool that can brand, build, and boost business….if you know how to tap this medium. 

PPC Best Business Practices:

1. Define success criteria.  Paid search is a track-able medium.  What defines success?  Traffic?  Leads?  Email signups?  Sales?  Make sure you have success criteria defined and a way to measure success.  Google Analytics is a great free tool to track traffic and conversions (leads, sales, etc.)
2. Select “select” key phrases and buy wisely.  Brainstorm words that define who you are, what you do and who you serve.  Make a list of key phrases that are worth buying.  Start small and snowball.  There is no need to buy every phrase upon campaign launch. Take calculated risks, measure, learn, optimize…then expand.
3. Set up the campaign strategically from start to finish.  If you are buying the phrases “gold Celtic knot jewelry” and “silver men’s wedding band” then the ad copy needs to be specific to those key phrases – not one message for both phrases.  Generic ad copy will get you generic results.  Match it up!  Match the key phrases to specific ad copy that links to specific landing pages.  Funnel your target customer from the start of the search (key phrases) to attracting them with the right message to driving them to an appropriate landing page that solidifies the sale!
4. Leverage paid search to support other marketing efforts.  If radio ads are running in certain geographic markets, you can target paid search in those same locations to reinforce your message.  Paid search can be used “a la carte” or “a la mode” to support other marketing campaigns.
5. Create, Execute, and Monitor…then rinse and repeat!  Great ideas are only great if they are executed brilliantly.  Have a clear goal, plan and execute the paid search plan from sound strategy.  Then monitor the campaign.  What is working?  What isn’t?  How can the paid search campaign be improved?  How can spend work harder for its money? 

Paid search management is a process and requires thought, creativity, dedication and effort.   Marketing is about building awareness, communicating information, connecting, serving and selling.  Paid search is a tool for marketing, how it is used to brand, build and boost business is in your hands…. 

Lorrie Thomas, MA is the founder and Marketing Therapist at Web Marketing Therapy, a full-service marketing agency and self-help web marketing education resource.  Lorrie speaks nationally and teaches Web Marketing, Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Marketing courses at UCSB and Berkeley Extension.