Here at Dental Design, we feel PPC is a fantastic way of driving additional traffic to your website and certainly isn’t mutually exclusive from SEO. PPC campaigns are, however, very complex and time-consuming to get them running properly. We would thoroughly recommend you outsource your PPC setup and management to an agency that can run it for you.
Dental Design is a Google Adwords accredited company with experience running dental-specific campaigns so if you want any advice please give us a call on 01202677277!
If however, you are running your own campaign, here are ten killer tips to get your campaign running better and more profitable.
1) Negative keywords
Utilize negative keywords, one of the most underused features offered for PPC campaigns. Negative keywords allow you to choose words that won’t trigger your ad. For example, if your practice doesn’t offer NHS treatments, add ‘NHS’ to your campaign negative keyword list….your ad won’t show now for anyone typing in the NHS keyword – saving wasted clicks. Negative keywords make campaigns more targeted and more profitable.
2) Location, Location, Location
One of the biggest mistakes novice PPC users make when setting up campaigns is that they don’t setup location targeting. If you are a London dentist advertising teeth whitening, you don’t want your advert displaying to people located in Manchester because they won’t travel that far. They will click on your advert though and cost you money.
3) Make them an offer they can’t refuse
PPC marketing is competative, so your ads need to well written and differentiate you from your competition. Consider your unique selling point and any offers or promotions you are currently running and communicate them in your ads!
4) Be Dynamic
Dynamic keyword insertion allows you to create more relevant ad copy by placing the exact phrase searched into your ad. When the potential customer sees the exact term they searched, they are more likely to click. While dynamic keyword insertion is very useful and can increase your click through rate tremendously, it is not for the PPC novice. If poorly executed, dynamic keyword insertion can result in ads that appear unclear and irrelevant and can drain your budget quickly.
5) Utilize long tail keywords
Long tail keywords are three-to-four-word phrases that are specific to your product/service. The reason this works is that visitors using very specific search phrases are often further along in the purchasing process and can result in a higher conversion rate. Someone looking for whitening might search for “teeth whitening” and then have it narrowed down to “Zoom tooth whitening ” when they are ready to buy. Another benefit to long tail keywords is their lack of popularity among PPC novices. With less people bidding on your keywords, your cost per click decreases. Add high intent words to your long tail, such as “buy,” “price” or even “free consultation” in order to grab those on the verge of a purchase.
6) This is a test
Don’t just set up a PPC campaign and hope for the best — proper testing and analysis are required. Metrics allow you to better understand your campaign and results, so set up A/B tests to track what works. Remember to test multiple ads simultaneously, but only allow for one variable at a time and run your tests long enough to gather proper data.
7 Timing is everything
In addition to geo-targeting, PPC campaigns allow for time targeting. Analyze your metrics to determine when your ads are at their highest conversion rate. If you are receiving hundreds of clicks at 3 am, but but no one is enquiring , restrict ad impressions during those hours to save your budget.
8) A home page is not a landing page
I repeat … a homepage is not a landing page. Don’t throw away all your hard work by sending targeted customers to a non-targeted homepage. As part of our PPC setup, we design specific landing pages related to your campaign. If you are advertising Inman aligner for example, we would design a page with inman aligner information, prices and promotions, before and after pics and prominent contact information. If all of your PPC traffic is going to your home page….you are doing it wrong!
9) Keyword generators
Keyword generators prove helpful in getting you started when mining keywords. Some great tools are the Google AdWords Keyword Tools, Microsoft Advertising Intelligence and tools by Market Samurai. However, do not rely heavily on keyword generators — often a human touch is what you need to target that human searcher. You know how you typically search, so go with your instinct.
10) Improve your Quality Score
Want to rank highly but pay less for clicks? Improve your quality score. There are a number of factors that effect Quality Score but you can keep your score high by following the rules set up by Google AdWords and continuously providing quality, relevant advertisements.