by | May 23, 2014

Reasons why your adwords aren't workingAs a business owner you may be running Google PPC (pay-per-click) advertising as part of your online marketing activities, but is it working for you? AdWords can kick start traffic to your website and increase business leads but it can also be a significant expense if it’s not done right.

Professionally managed AdWords campaigns can lower your monthly ad spending while increasing inbound leads.

If your PPC campaign isn’t performing the way you hoped it would then you might be suffering from these common PPC mistakes:

5 Reasons Why Your AdWords Campaign Isn’t Working

1) Your efforts are too broad.

If your keywords are set to “broad match” then you’ll blow through your advertising budget quickly. Single keywords can be expensive and often times too general for the user to find what they are looking for. A focus on “long-tail” (very specific or detailed keywords) will cost less per click and can attract more targeted prospects.

2) You’re not using keywords in your ads.

If you don’t place related keywords in your text ads then your quality score will suffer. The lower the quality score, the more you pay for your keywords. You need to use the right keywords and also incorporate action words to entice viewers to click on your ad versus your competitor’s.

3) You didn’t identify negative keywords.

Are you getting found from prospects that don’t meet your lead criteria? For example: If you are in the renovation business and your target customer is a homeowner versus a commercial opportunity, then you want to get found for “home renovator”, not “business renovations”. You can negate keywords that don’t apply to your services, like “business” or “corporate”. Words like “cheap” or “budget” can be listed as negative keywords if they don’t apply to your pricing model; these words will chew up your AdWords budget and will not generate the right prospects.

4) Your landing pages have low quality scores. 

Each keyword or keyword grouping should be linked to a page focused on that particular topic, as opposed to your homepage which does not relate to the specific ad. Ads need to lead to related landing pages and they need to be optimized to convert prospects, so whoever manages your campaigns should know how to set up a landing page properly.

5) You aren’t tracking conversions. 

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes associated with AdWords campaigns; largely due to the fact that business owners don’t know how to analyze results or don’t have the time to spend on analysis. If you don’t track your PPC conversions then you won’t know if your efforts provide an acceptable return on investment. More importantly you won’t learn what keywords or calls to action are working best for you. Tracking results and using that insight to refine your campaigns will help you optimize your results.

These are 5 common mistakes businesses make when they invest in online advertising. Are you making any of these?

The Bottom Line

AdWords is a great way to attract business, but it must be approached strategically. Self-managed campaigns may be good learning experiences, but they can cost you. If you can’t take a strategic approach on your own, then it’s best to get some help.

Professionally managed PPC campaigns can generate more qualified leads at lower costs. If using a third party, make sure they clearly understand your business, your business objectives, your target market, and the results you expect from your online marketing advertising efforts.

Related articles:

Making Money from Google AdWords

6 Reasons Why You Should Consider Google AdWords

Ben Molfetta
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