Every PPC professional is guilty of making at least one mistake at some point. Whether it was important or not, it’s good to recognize it to make sure you’re not repeating it.

We’ve decided to focus on the most common mistakes you can make when it comes to PPC and here’s a list that can serve as your next checklist on the mistakes you need to avoid.

Wrong targeting and bidding

An important part of a successful PPC strategy is the right targeting. Just because you have the ideal target audience in mind from previous campaigns doesn’t mean that you can guarantee future success.

The wrong audience for a particular campaign or objective cannot bring the desired results, that’s why you need to be careful when setting up your targeting options.

For example, you can narrow down your audience by selecting to use the option of ‘target and bid’. This option allows you to reach the people who are on your retargeting list without wasting your budget on users who wouldn’t meet your criteria. However, it’s common to overlook this tactic to use the ‘bid only’ option that can lead to confusing results, from lower traffic to expensive ads.

Another way to make a targeting error can occur if you’re not excluding the people you don’t want to reach. If you are remarking to a particular audience and you don’t narrow down your options, you risk paying more without seeing the desired goals. In a similar way, if you choose to create multiple lists for your remarking strategy, you may risk reaching the same audience several times, which will increase the total cost of your campaign.

Solution: Create a plan for your targeting and double-check all the options to ensure that you’re optimizing your audience as much as possible. Keep an eye on your campaign once it starts to monitor the initial results.

Wrong use of keywords

Most PPC professionals focus on keywords to discover new opportunities for success. How often do you evaluate your keyword strategy though?

It’s common to assume that some tactics perform better than others, but it’s still useful to evaluate the results.

For example, you may be focusing on keywords that are too broad. This can be a good idea, but it can also a more expensive option. You can test long-tail keywords as a more cost-effective option that can lead to improved results in competitive industries.

Another common mistake is to ignore the use of negative keywords. It’s easy to forget them, but this can also affect your campaign results. Use them as part of your strategy to filter the keywords you don’t need to avoid paying for unwanted clicks.

Last but not least, many companies forget to bid on their own branded keywords. It may sound confusing or unnecessary, but if your competitors bid on your brand’s keywords, then you may miss on prospects who were willing to learn more about your business.

Solution: Pay close attention to your keyword choices and find the ones that work better for your plans.

Inconsistent messaging

A good PPC strategy requires a great landing page. However, it’s common to design a landing page independently from the PPC ads, which leads to several possible inconsistencies:

• Design
• Copy
• Focusing on different goals
• Different personas

Your landing page should be an extension of your PPC ads. There needs to be a continuity that starts with design and UX and moves to the brand, the messaging and the KPIs.

For example, you cannot create a PPC campaign that focuses on increasing sales and then create a landing page that doesn’t facilitate a quick shopping option.

Similarly, you cannot target a younger audience without testing your landing page across or devices.

These mistakes can also affect your Quality Score from Google that has to do with the relevance of your ads and your landing pages. This could risk paying more to reach your target audience and it’s a mistake that you don’t want to commit in the future.

When it comes to the messaging, your PPC ads should not trick your target audience to click into something that’s completely irrelevant to them. You need to create a sequence that will add value to make the next steps seem logical. It’s about tapping into the psychology of the user to blend UX and advertising to generate the best results.

Solution: The next time you’re about to set up a landing page, compare it with your involved PPC ads and ensure that the copy and the design are consistent. Use the landing pages to guide your visitors on a journey that will bring them closer to your desired goals.

Overview

The best way to avoid making common PPC mistakes is to optimize your strategy depending on your needs. Pay close attention to your goals and adjust the targeting, the bidding, the budget and your copy accordingly.

What’s important is to understand all the important factors that can harm your PPC strategy to ensure that you minimize the risks of any possible future mistakes.

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