1. Pause Keywords that Aren’t Converting
Any keywords with nonexistent or low conversion rates need to be purged first. Pause those underperformers to avoid ad spend waste. You can always revisit these keywords later when you have more time to sit down and look at everything. It may be that these keywords need to be spun off into their own ad group for use with more targeted ads or that you need to add some negative keywords to improve their performance, but all of that takes time. For now just pause keywords that aren’t converting and move on to step two.
2. Add Search Queries that Converted
Looking at search queries is a great way to generate more keywords to add to your keyword list and also to identify negative keyword opportunities. If you’re pressed for time, just add any search queries that converted so that you can make sure that your ads are showing up for the terms that are already bringing in sales.
3. Bump Up Bids
If your bids are too low, your ads won’t show up when someone does a search because they will be edged out by your competition. Addressing bids that are below the first page estimated minimum is very important in order to make sure that your ads have a fighting chance, otherwise there’s no point in spending time working on your PPC ads. Bump up any bids that are too low so that your ads can get increased exposure.
4. Look at Ad Conversion Rates
Just like keywords, any ads with low conversion rate values should be paused. In their place, create new ads to test against better performing ads. Keeping a constant rotation of ads will give your PPC efforts a better chance at succeeding. Before pausing the ads, just be sure that there’s enough data to evaluate the performance of the ads. Depending on how you have your settings configured, your lower performing ads may not be shown as often and consequently not accumulate data as quickly.
Now that you have a game plan, get out there and work on your PPC account! If you have any PPC-related questions, let us know. We’d love to help!
By Kate Pierce. Kate Pierce is the owner of LionShark Digital Marketing LLC, a West Michigan internet marketing company. Her areas of expertise include Paid Search, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Web Consulting for small businesses, Copywriting and Local Online Marketing. She lives in the Grand Rapids area with her husband and enjoys cooking, watching sports and spending time outdoors. Like a true digital marketing expert (i.e. geek), she loves talking about marketing theory and SEM trends… so don’t say you weren’t warned!