Bidding on the Right Pay Per Click (PPC) Keywords

Bidding more precisely on your Pay Per Click (PPC) keywords can lower your total ad costs and help to increase your sales conversion rate. What are some ways to determine the categories/keywords that have the best chance of attracting customers?

Category/Keyword Targeting

If you are selling hardware supplies in Akron, Ohio, for instance, you’ll want to choose categories/keywords that relate to both your industry and to the Akron metro region. However, if your business straddles several cities in the metro area, or if you have both national and state customers, you’ll need to be slightly more discerning about how to choose your keywords.

You may feel a lot of pressure to pick precise categories/keywords when first setting up your Pay Per Click ad. Don’t. The best approach is to create one (or more) Pay Per Click ads, then use enhanced reporting packages to review how various keywords perform. Then fine tune from there.

After all, you can’t control which keywords your competitors will bid on. Similarly, while you can guess at how consumers collectively will react to your ad, it’s much more efficient to look at results and then reevaluate your plan.

Modifying Your Pay Per Click Campaign

To build on the aforementioned example -- let’s say that you initially canvas both Ohio and Akron for business using Pay Per Click ads. At the end of your first month, you find that the majority of your business is coming from customers conducting searches for Ohio, not Akron. You can then update your Pay Per Click campaign accordingly. Perhaps other Akron merchants are outbidding you and keeping you off the radar of potential customers. Perhaps your consumers in general prefer statewide merchants.

The point is, you can’t always know right away which categories/keywords will yield optimal conversions. Testing, measuring and refining your Pay Per Click campaign will reduce overspending and help you understand the marketplace better.

Borrow From Competitors and Other Media

See what your local competitors are doing. Review the national Pay Per Click ads that relate to your industry, and borrow ideas that work from distant competitors.

Identify frequent words in advertisements that have worked for you (or for companies similar to yours) in the past. If you have a popular billboard or TV campaign, try to borrow that language for your keywords. You can also conduct market research to see what entices consumers about your product or industry.

Of course, general strategies for writing ad copy apply. Aim for a high ratio of verbs and nouns to adjectives and adverbs. Include references to top shelf brands you carry. Include distinguishing merits or awards (e.g. a five-star rating). Keep your headline as short as possible without sacrificing clarity.

Superpages Pay Per Click

Get new customers at the click of a mouse! If you use your Web site to generate sales, then Superpages.com Pay Per Click advertising is the solution for you. Pay Per Click spotlights your business to potential customers, and turns browsers into buyers. And the best part is you only pay for the customers who actually visit your business Web site.

Questions? Call our customer service team toll-free at (866) 311-4158.