Learn to Cut the Cost of Your PPC Ads in 4 Easy Steps

Without a lot of knowledge about ROI’s (Return on Investment) or SEO (Search Engine Optimization) advertisers soon saw their ad cost increase without seeing much of them converting to sales. Many still believe that the only way to quickly get leads to their site is to invest in expensive PPC Campaigns.

I am here to tell you that there truly is a way to combine both PPC advertising with SEO and cut your ad cost and still generate qualified leads to your site. Before we go any further let me explain how both PPC and SEO can work together.

One of the things I often hear from my students is how easy PPC is in comparison to SEO. Seeing that setting up a new ad only takes a few minutes and you can have it displaying the same day. Where as implementing SEO strategies can takes weeks or months to really see the benefit. I do agree with this concept of time but in the end it all comes down to the dollar and sense (yes I really meant to spell sense not cents) of it all.

Dollar = the amount of money you are willing to spend to generate leads
Sense = cutting that cost by properly setting up your ads in conjunction with taking advantage of free organic search engine listings

If you have jumped on the Web band wagon with sponsored listings and have never really taken the time to do anything other then set up some basic ads and pay your credit card bill each month it is crucial that you take the time to read the following steps. After you review the steps you will need to revisit your ad campaigns, implement the suggestions, include search engine optimization into the mix and enjoy the extra money you will soon see accumulating in your check book. There really is a way to effectively advertise on line without breaking your budget.

Let me explain how you can cut your ad cost in 4 Steps:

Step #1 – Keyword Research

One of the reasons why many PPC campaigns fail is because they are using inadequate keywords. Not only do they tend to set up their ads with weak keywords they also go after big money keywords that most times are extremely competitive and very costly. Nothing can deplete a budget faster then bidding on a weak keyword that is highly competitive.

Think of you own searching history. If you’re looking for information on buying a new bass boat you would not generally do a search on "boats" or even "bass boats" (which by the way has 625,000 competing pages on Google and also to many Sponsored Ads to count.) Maybe you would do a search on the make of the boat you’re looking for maybe a "Triton Bass Boat." Now your competing pages are down to 84,000 on Google and 6 Sponsored Ads showing. But if you are an advertiser you need to learn to bid on not the word "boat" or even the long tail keyword like "bass boats" but the actual make and model of the boat you are selling "Triton Bass Boat 20X" which has only 3,200 competing pages and only 3 Google Sponsored Ads showing.

By defining your keyword list in your campaign will can also significantly cut down on the window shopping clickers. What I mean is to use brackets "[...]" around your keyword(s). For example: [bass fishing boats] or [Triton Bass Boats]. By defining your keyword list like this your ad will only show when someone searches on that exact phrase, "bass fishing boats" or "Triton Bass Boats." Your ad will not show for searches that include other keywords such as "fishing", "bass" or "boats."
Your whole goal when choosing keywords is to focus on the most relevant words to generate the most leads to your site without going after the highly competitive keywords or phrases. Do your keyword research with a program like Wordtracker and find those phrases that have the least amount of competing pages but can drive specific business to your site.
Like in the example above … if a potential visitor was looking for a Triton Bass Boat 20X and clicked on your ad and was taken to a page talking about the benefits of owning that model along with prices and comparisons, the likely hood of that lead generating into a sale is much higher than that same visitor landing on a page talking about bass boats in general.
Step #1 Savings - Not only have you stopped wasting dollars on bidding on those costly keywords you have created a more relevant lead generating ad.
Step # 2 – Ad Layout

When creating your ad you need to remember that those few lines are the first impression your potential visitor has of you and your product. Your text ad copy is responsible for generating clicks and conversions but more importantly it is the only thing that separates you from your competitors.

Sponsored listings can be very powerful if you really give some thought to those few precious lines of text. Your challenge is to create a compelling ad that conveys a message that will attract the attention of your ideal buying audience and have more searchers clicking on your ad to buy.

There are four parts to a properly setting up your ad text.

1. Compelling Headline – The first line of your ad is the one the searcher sees first. It should include your keyword phrases so when the searcher sees the keyword phrase they searched for they will automatically make a connection with your ad. Example: Triton Bass Boat 20X

2. Clicking Trigger – The clicking trigger should be those words that entice some one to go further. Think of your clicking trigger as a solution to problem or an answer to a question. What conditions in someone’s life would need to be happening if they where looking to buy a bass boat.
Example: Tournament Ready Triton Bass Boat

3. Benefits - The benefit is something that your product will do for the searcher or why someone should do business with you. Normally the benefit is what entices someone to buy one product over another.
Example: Unmatched Riding Comfort

4. Call to Action – Your third line should introduce a sense of urgency so they will take immediate action. The call to action takes your visitors by the hand and tells them what to do next.
Example: Order Now Save $1000

In the process of creating your ad try not to loose focus on what your ad is suppose to be doing. What do you want your visitor to do when they click on your ad? We will get to that next in creating your landing pages.

Your goal is to create your ads to closely relate to your keyword phrases. The more closely related they are the more you will be driving qualified traffic to your landing pages.

Step #2 Savings – By writing compelling ads that are delivering exactly what your searches are looking for you have stopped all the window shopping clickers and are only paying for those ads that are truly generating qualified clickers.

Step #3 – Landing Pages

Here is an example of an ideal PPC Ad Campaign:
A searcher goes to Google types in "Triton Bass Boat 20X". Your ad is displayed and the term "Triton Bass Boats 20X" is in both the headline and the ad copy.

The searcher clicks on your ad (mainly because your ad appears above the fold) and then arrives at a landing page that is specifically about the Triton Bass Boat 20X. You deliver in the landing page exactly what was promised in the ad. There was no confusion, no hesitation and no stopping the progression from start to finish.

We live in a very instant gratification society these days and searchers will often abandon their search if it doesn’t quickly deliver the desired results.

If your ad is for a specific service or product your landing pages should be created to deliver specifically that product or service.
What is more important is to include useful information on that landing page to convert that lead into a sale. Statistics show that a well designed landing page will almost always convert to a sale rather then just sending those visitors to your home page looking for what they where promised in your ad. Include a strong call to action and be aware of what you want your visitor to do next. It may be you want them to contact you, sign up for your newsletter or even make a purchase. What ever it is clearly use a thought-out process of moving them to the next step.

Your goal is to create a connection between your ad and your landing page. Your visitors should be able to recognize immediately upon landing on your page that the page contains what they have been promised.

Step #3 Savings – By concentrating on your landing pages you can craft sales copy that best fits the specific product or service you’re working on and lead your traffic to your next step in making that lead convert. You are now truly starting to receive qualified visitors.

Step # 4 – Search Engine Optimization

Up until now we have concentrated on your Pay Per Click ads. Now we are going to take those ads and apply the search engine optimization factor into the mix.

You have already done your keyword research and found the ideal keyword phrase. You‘ve wrote a compelling ad including that keyword phrase and you have created a landing page that compels your visitor to take action to converting their visit to a sale.

Now it is time to take that landing page and optimize it for optimal success on the Web. There is a great deal of information to learn about optimizing a Web site and if you would like to learn in depth how to fully benefit from apply SEO to your sites then I would highly suggest you attend one of the many Search Engine Academy Workshops offered throughout the United Sates, Canada and Asia.

But in the mean time here is my check list of the key optimization elements to apply to your landing page:
• Include your keyword phrase in each of the following area of your page.
o Page name
o Title tag
o Description Tag
o Meta Keyword Tag
o H1 Tag
o Link Text
• Keyword rich text no less than 400 words
• 1.5 – 2 % keyword weight
• Link the page internally 3 times pointing to pages on the same topic
• Add the new page to your site map
• Make a Blog post pointing to your landing page
This is where you will really start to see your ad cost go down and your FREE organic listing move up.

Your goal is to use your PPC Advertising only while waiting for your organic listings to be indexed. Once it does you can then shut that keyword targeted ad off and create a new one using a different keyword phrase.

Step #3 Savings- If you follow the steps each and every ad can slowly be replaced by organic listings. You will be freeing up money to either test new ads or add that extra income to your bottom line.

Here is a recap:
1. Review your current ad
2. Do your keyword research
3. Write a more compelling ad using the 4 key elements
a. Compelling title
b. Clicking trigger
c. Add benefit
d. Include a call to action
4. Work on your landing page – give the visitor exactly what the ad promises
5. Optimize your landing page
6. Stop PPC Ad once it is indexed in the organic listings
7. You can either create a new ad with a different keyword phrase or bank the money and go on vacation!

Don’t be overwhelmed by the process just take one page at a time and soon you will have more organic listings then you have paying ads.

Do you need help with even more highly competitive phrases within specific industries?

Author, Tracy Fredrychowski, teaches live hands-on SEO Workshops that include SEO certification of skills and a 6 Month Mentoring Program at the Search Engine Academy of South Carolina