Top 5 PPC Mistakes for Pay per Click Advertising

PPC advertising is a powerful mechanism for creating new customers. It is; however, one that is ripe with trip wires, snares, and third rails. Below list the top 5 most common PPC campaign mistakes that prevent companies from finding a pot of gold.

5. Not using geographical targeting

Whether you're an international conglomerate or a localized small business, geographical targeting is tremendously important. Avoid wasted spend by only targeting the areas that offer maximum ROI.
For small businesses, maximum return might only occur within — say — a 20 mile radius. Also, companies selling higher-end services can benefit by targeting higher income regions.
Finally, large companies benefit breaking out campaigns on a geographical basis as country-by-country performance can vary greatly based on a wide range of factors such as disposable income, need, spending habit, currency strength, etc.

4. Not Utilizing Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are life preservers for your accounts. Regardless of the match type, negative keywords prevent your ads from being displayed when unattractive modifiers accompany your broad and match phrase terms. For example, the keyword "Chicago legal services" might be a great keyword, but "free Chicago legal services" is a resource draining keyword.

Adding negative keywords are simple, and you can find great negative through google's keyword tool or by going into the keywords tab and selecting "See search terms all."

3. Not Separating Search/Display Campaigns

We can't help but blame Google for this one. Google essentially forces new campaign creators to opt-out of the display network, which is likely to be tremendously confusing for beginners.
It's incredibly wise for businesses to have campaigns segmented based on Network type. The reason is simple: in all likelihood, performance will be significantly better in the Search Network than the Display Network.
Separating these campaigns offers maximum control over budget allocation, which allows you to reap higher ROI in the early stages of a campaign. After your higher ROI budget is maxed, it then makes sense to begin to dial up the display network.
A quick fix is to copy your campaign in Google Adwords Editor, rename your campaigns based on the network, and adjust the selected networks in the setting tab.

2. Selecting keywords that are too broad

Many companies make the painful mistake of targeting keywords that are too broad. Specificity is paramount in pay per click advertising, as broadness directly correlates with saturation, expensive costs, low match, and negative ROI.
A perfect example is when a company selling fine cheeses advertises for the keyword "appetizers." While a fine cheese makes for a great starter, who's to say the searcher isn't a lactose intolerant DIY chef looking to whip a quick appetizer for dinner guests? Look for keywords that communicate not only direct product/service, but also intent (in this case "fine cheeses online" while produce higher returns).

1. Not Conversion Tracking

This is the Ted Bundy of PPC campaign killers. No conversion data at any level means that a campaign is essentially flying blind (which is scary since the vast majority of campaigns I've taken over are fraught with waste even with campaign tracking).
Conversion data allows users to quickly understand the financial returns from a campaign, ad group, and keyword level. This data affects every aspect of campaign optimization from ad testing to landing page performance to bid adjustments.