As first quarter comes to an end so does our enthusiasm towards achieving the personal and professional goals we set for the New Year. If you’re like me, work-related tasks slowly take priority and pretty soon a brisk walk to the mailbox is considered your daily exercise. With busy schedules and limited time we must find creative ways to stay motivated on-the-job and at home.
As a PPC Specialist, I recognize that a cohesive strategy is key – Therefore, I decided to apply the same method I use to trim overgrown PPC campaigns at home. This three-step approach will help you optimize excessive keyword lists AND drop those 10 pesky pounds.
Trim down before you scale
This morning I overheard a co-worker say ’I just need to lose a little more weight and then I’ll start adding muscle mass.’ I was updating keyword match types when the conversation floated across the office and I couldn’t agree more. You cannot have a scalable lead generation campaign without first having a targeted, tightly focused keyword list. Cut the fat before you scale. Most poor performing campaigns suffer from keyword gorge. It’s similar to the buffet mindset – Just because you can add every keyword to your account doesn’t mean you should.
Stay hydrated
Earlier this year our office embarked on a water-tracking exercise. We each measured our H20 intake during the workday. Depending on the day we aimed for 30-45 ounces. The same level of discipline should go toward your paid keywords. Make sure all your bids meet the first page bid estimate and about 50-60% equal the top of page bid. To ensure you’re giving the right keywords the right amount of budget, sort your keywords by conversion rate. Give your body and your valuable keywords the energy they need to perform at a high level!
Try, fail, and breathe
Whether you’re cutting pounds or cost per conversion it is likely going to require trial and error. One of the most impressive tools in Adwords is the Experiment setting. Use this tool to A/B test ad copy for your entire account. Record the results in a Google Drive spreadsheet, so previous ad winners are documented and readily available. Even though you might still fall short of your overall click through rate goal, A/B testing allows you to learn or fail better. Eventually, you’ll find the right mix of water, data and exercise to master your PPC campaigns and look good doing it!
