Best E-Commerce PPC Management Techniques

Pay-per-click, or PPC, is an advertising model used to draw website traffic, leads, and drive sales. Advertisers run ads on Google or other search engines, such as Bing. Each time their ad is clicked on, the advertiser pays a fee. PPC Ads appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), above the organic search results, and will say “ad” to the left of the advertisement.

What is E-Commerce PPC?

E-commerce PPC promotes your online store using PPC ads. Just like any other PPC ad, e-commerce PPC ads will appear on Google and social media. There are several components to running a solid e-commerce PPC campaign

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Keywords

Keywords should include all words and phrases that will help someone find your business and products. It’s good to focus on single keywords, but you should also focus on long-tail keywords. An example of long-tail keywords would be, “battery powered lawn mowers.” Using long-tail and single keywords is more likely to bring you high-quality website traffic.

Landing Page Design

A landing page is a single webpage that serves a purpose for a marketing campaign. Landing pages are used to turn visitors into potential leads. For instance, clicking on a CTA or an option to fill out an online form will take you to a landing page. Landing pages should have a clean layout, relevant photos, or a short video with a clear CTA. The call to action should lead your visitors to a product, service, special offer, etc.

Website Design and Copy

Your website design should be clear and easy for your visitors to know who you are, what you’re about, and why they should choose your product or service. In addition, your ads should include keywords and an easy way to contact you. A good way to do this is to use a click-to-call number so mobile users can quickly and easily dial your number.

Customer Service/Online Reputation

Good customer service, such as how your staff interacts with customers, will affect your online reputation. Recording phone calls is an effective way to grade and improve how your staff responds to customers. This can also result in good customer reviews and what your customers see online.

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E-Commerce PPC Mistakes

Though there are many e-commerce PPC benefits, it’s easy to slip up sometimes. Here are some common mistakes when running a PPC campaign. Avoiding these will help make sure your e-commerce PPC campaign is as successful as possible.

Not Setting Goals

The best PPC strategy is to have defined goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). This will help a business accurately assess the performance of their e-commerce ads and whether or not they’re moving in the right direction. Your marketing goals should be specific to your business. You can also set goals for individual ad campaigns. Once you know the purpose of your campaign, you can choose keywords and create impactful ad copy. 

Not Split Testing Ads

A/B testing is another essential component to e-commerce PPC. If you don’t know how your ads are doing, it’s hard to have a successful PPC campaign. Any aspect of your ads can be A/B tested. This includes your copy, calls to action (CTA), graphics, keywords, and landing pages. Google, Facebook, and Amazon all have A/B testing features built-in. This will also help you understand your audience and run more effective ad campaigns on other channels. 

Not Effectively Budgeting

There is no one-size-fits-all budget for ad campaigns. Therefore, you need to allocate your funds based on the performance of individual campaigns. Some ways to potentially avoid budget issues include testing before you invest, adjusting campaign budgets based on metrics, looking for advertising partners, using negative keywords, setting budget alerts, and monitoring financial metrics. 

Not Using Appropriate Keywords

Appropriate keywords are also essential for an e-commerce PPC campaign. If your keywords are too specific, you may not reach anyone at all. However, if your keywords are too broad, you may get a lot of clicks that don’t translate into conversions. This is why it is important to do keyword research and find out what words and phrases people are searching. Some tools to help you with this are SEMrush, Moz Keyword Explorer, and Google Keyword Planner.  

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Not Optimizing Your Ad Copy

Because of limited space, ad copy is often overlooked when it comes to e-commerce PPC. A few questions to ask yourself when it comes to copy are:

  • Is my ad copy relevant to the product advertised?
  • Does my ad copy match the landing page it links to?
  • Does my ad copy include a clear CTA?

Google also offers free ad extensions. This will help you expand your copy. You have the ability to add price tags, locations, store links, app links, reviews, promotions, and more to your ads. Using ad extensions will make your ad more engaging and eye-catching, which will attract more clicks. 

E-Commerce PPC Services

E-commerce PPC can be time-consuming and take significant input and effort from you and your team. Therefore, hiring an e-commerce PPC management company can be a great help. These PPC management companies understand the importance and value of PPC advertising. Management companies have specialists who have the knowledge and expertise about general PPC advertising as well as e-commerce PPC. They can put in the time and effort you may not have to help you get the best results out of your campaigns.

Some of the e-commerce PPC services an experienced company can provide include: 

  • Keyword analysis
  • Bid management
  • Geo-targeting
  • Performance analysis 
  • Channel targeting
  • Competitive analysis
  • Landing page creation
  • Campaign monitoring
  • PPC testing
  • A/B testing
  • Negative matching

Using a third-party company will free up time for your team. You and your team can focus more on the big picture of your overall digital marketing, advertising strategies, and PPC campaigns instead of the day-to-day tasks that are needed. 

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Characteristics of a Great PPC Company

How do you determine the best PPC company for you to work with? There are a lot of factors to consider when deciding this. Here are some of the key things you should look out for when researching the right PPC company to work with: 

Extensive Industry Knowledge

PPC campaigns bank off of the right keywords and right audiences. However, not all audience segments and keywords are the same. It’s best to understand what works and what doesn’t for your company’s target audience. The best way to ensure your target audience will be kept in mind is by getting to know the agency’s team. Take time to evaluate their knowledge, experience level, and expertise in your specific industry. If you’re not confident in their knowledge, they’re probably not the best fit.

Advanced Analytics and Reporting

PPC campaigns must rely on consistent, up-to-date analytics and reporting. These reports help you know how your business is doing. Are you meeting your goals? How well are your ads performing?

A good PPC agency will provide transparent reporting so you always know where you should be putting your money for advertising. The agency should collect as much data as possible about your campaign. It’s on you to ask the agency questions about the data and metrics they measure.

Mobile Optimization 

In 2020, mobile devices accounted for 68% of all website searches globally. Also, 52% of PPC clicks specifically come from a mobile device. Mobile PPC campaigns are more important than ever considering how many searches and clicks come through mobile. PPC agencies know this, but it is wise to ask questions and find out their mobile capabilities. If you’re not confident in their capabilities, it’s time to move on.

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Local PPC Capabilities

Serving your customers locally is very important. According to Ahrefs, 76% of people who search on their smartphone for something nearby visit a business within a day. Also, 28% of those nearby searches end up resulting in a purchase.

If your business operates in a specific area, local PPC is necessary. Some PPC agencies specialize in local PPC. If you want to focus on local PPC, check out one of these companies.

Multi-Channel PPC Services

If you’re a business that desires to have cross-channel marketing, using a PPC agency is a way to have all of your campaigns run through a single agency. Furthermore, this also gives you the benefit of working with one agency rather than managing several at a time.

To recap, keep in mind where your audience spends their time online. Consider whether they are coming from social media, paid shopping ads, or other sites they search. This will help you make an informed decision about working with a PPC agency.

E-Commerce PPC Management From SEO Design Chicago

Now that you’ve read more about e-commerce PPC management, you may be looking for a PPC management company. Good news! SEO Design Chicago can help you with all your PPC management needs and much more. Contact us today to learn more. 

FAQ:

  • What is e-commerce PPC?
  • What are some components to a solid e-commerce PPC campaign?
  • How do you determine the best PPC management company?
  • What are some common e-commerce PPC mistakes?
  • What services can an e-commerce PPC management company provide?

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