PPC Optimization
I read an article today about PPC optimization. It talks about how optimizing PPC is akin to sculpting. I like this analogy. I often get clients who wonder:
“Do you reduce the price after the first month?”
“What do you charge in the maintenance months?”
In my opinion, there never (or very rarely) is an account that gets optimized to the point of being “low maintenance.” Even our oldest accounts get looked at daily. The “set it and forget it” mentality does not apply to PPC. PPC needs continuous, ongoing optimization and lots of LOVE to prosper.
You know… I think that AFTER the setup, AFTER the launch is when all of the work really starts. That’s one of the main reasons we do not charge a setup fee. Setting up an account structure, writing a few ad variations, researching an initial keyword list — That stuff is EASY!
1. Optimization consists of daily bid management. Daily. We look at the bids, CPCs and average positions and make adjustments to squeeze the lowest CPCs for the most desired positions. Then, we turn to conversions — We optimize those bids in a similar fashion every single day.
2. Search query reports are reviewed at least once per week, depending on the amount of traffic the account gets. We review all of the converting search queries as well as the top 50-100 most impression’d queries. From this list we will generally add 20-30 new keywords or negative keywords each week.
3. While we are looking at the search queries, we take this opportunity to evaluate ad copy. How are our A/B tests going? How are our mobile ads performing? Should we test a new call to action or a new value proposition?
4. Keyword performance reports are reviewed at least weekly as well. These reports are internal and show us which keywords should be paused due to low performance. Keywords are always paused each week.
5. Mobile Bids. Each week we take a look at the impact our daily bid adjustments had on mobile devices. Mobile bid modifiers are added, increased or decreased to ensure we are showing in the targeted positions.
And, this is what our “maintenance” consists of. We also have tons of other activities that we look at to help further and expand the campaigns. We always have a goal of growth. Each reporting period, we want to see progress, not just consistency.
So… sculpting. I think it works.