There are other aspects of PPC campaign beyond keywords and providers that can affect the success of a PPC campaign, including:
• the advertisement’s position on the SERP or website
• the website and advertisement’s content, appearance, and usability
• the product or service’s price and benefits
Each of these factors can greatly contribute to a PPC campaign’s success – or lack thereof.
Placement on the SERP or Site
One of the most attractive aspects of PPC advertising is the ability to place information about a website in a prominent location. Search engines will often display hundreds of thousands or even millions of results for any given search term. Without PPC ad placement, a website’s ad might be so far down in the listings that very few people would ever come across the site. Although prominent placement in the Sponsored Listings is a start, the order of the sites listed in the Sponsored Listings can also play a role in a website’s visibility and ability to attract visitors.
Research shows that the first Sponsored Listing will attract many more clicks than the second listing, and the second listing will generate more clicks than the third. If the ad is displayed in conjunction with a popular keyword that receives a great number of searches, ranking within the Sponsored Listings becomes less important. However, for keywords that generate very few searches, placement can be crucial.
Getting into the top spot can be difficult, especially when the top spot is also desired by big companies or sites with huge advertising budgets. The competition might be willing to pay as much as $2.00 a click or more to be listed in the first spot, which makes competing for the top spot quite expensive. The use of alternate keywords might enable a site to land the top spot without breaking their budget.
Of course, being in the top position in the Sponsored Listings also has its pitfalls. Sometimes a user will click on the top site first, and then return to the search listings to comparison shop or learn more about the product or service. If the user forgets to return to the initial site, the click was wasted.
Content and Presentation
PPC works to increase a website’s volume of traffic, but most website owners are not really seeking visitors, they’re seeking customers. If a company is paying a hosting site for every user who clicks their ad, they will want as many of those users as possible to complete a desired action on the website. This desired action is usually a purchase. However, if a user clicks on a website only to see that the site is poorly designed or hard to use, they will click right on to another site, essentially wasting the company’s advertising dollars. As such, a website should be designed to effectively present the company’s product or service before embarking on a PPC campaign.
A professional, user-friendly site layout and design is crucial, especially on the site’s landing page, which is the first page a user will see after clicking on an advertisement. For instance, links should be clearly marked and take the user exactly where promised. The site’s design should be attractive and make the content easy to identify and read. The company or webmaster’s contact information should be prominently displayed or easily accessible for users who desire to contact the company directly for more information or to get assistance with placing an order.
The site’s content is also very important. Content absolutely must be useful, clear, and appealing to users. The content should explain the site’s purpose, i.e. explain what the company does or sells, inspire confidence in users, and provide useful information to the consumer. In short, the website’s landing page should back up any claims made in the advertisement itself and include persuasive copy that will encourage the visitor to make a purchase.
Quality of content is also important in the PPC ad itself. To be successful in attracting users’ attention, an ad should specifically explain what product or service is being offered. This will not only encourage users who need that specific product or service to click on an ad, but also deter users who are looking for something else from clicking on the advertisement. There’s no point in paying for visitors to view a site if the visitor doesn’t want what the site is selling.
The keywords should be used in both the title and the copy of the advertisement, and the ad’s content should answer a question or solve a problem that the target audience might be facing.
The content of both the ad and the website absolutely must be clean, clear, and concise. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors will greatly damage a site’s credibility. As such, proofreading is of utmost importance. A site’s content and presentation is a mark of professionalism. Content that is riddled with errors, difficult to read, or pointless will cause potential customers to doubt the site’s professionalism and credibility and may cost the website a great deal in terms of both wasted advertising dollars and lost opportunity for sales.
Product Pricing
Today’s Internet users know how to use the Web to find the best possible deal on their purchases. Even if a site has implemented a successful PPC campaign that attracts many visitors to the site, those visitors will not do the site any good if the product is not competitively priced. If a visitor knows they can find a better price on another site, they’ll move on in search of a better deal and the cost of their click will be wasted.
If the price of the product is already competitive, a website must find other ways to set itself apart from the competition. Free shipping, sales and specials, a long history of great customer service and satisfaction, or a no-questions-asked return policy can all distinguish one site from another. Furthermore, these distinguishing factors must be prominently displayed on the site. A free shipping offer will do a site no good if the details of the offer are buried within the site. A site might even choose to list information about their sales, specials, or money-back guarantee in the PPC ad itself.
Clearpath Technology is owned and managed by a team of experienced search engine optimizers, internet marketing experts, web developers and designers. Clearpath Technology provide the best Internet marketing services found anywhere and we build reliable, innovative software to complement your marketing and business initiatives. Clearpath Technology is SEO firm based out in New Delhi, India.
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