Focus is the Key For PPC

Writing by nick on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Leave a comment

Jennifer Osborne at SearchEnginePeople wrote a good article on the 26 Mistakes That Cost You Money in a small business PPC campaign. The article is a little lengthy (26!) but some of the points she brings up are worth noting.

11. Using very Broad keywords. Broad keywords tend to be used by people early in the buying cycle. Think about the difference between “Vacation”, “All Inclusive Vacation” and “Bermuda All Inclusive Vacation”. Generally we find that people using very broad keyword queries are very early in the buying cycle, in the Learning Phase. As a result, conversion rates for these types of keywords are very low. Yet broad keywords tend to cost the most.
Narrower, more specific keywords tend to be used by people who know what they want and are closer to the Purchase Phase of the Buying Cycle.
I’ve seen Broad keywords eat 50% of a Small Business budget without any conversions. In this scenario, by not bidding on those expensive keywords the client reduced their spend by half while maintaining the same # of Conversions and Doubling their ROI.

I love that tip, and I’ll explain why. Too many businesses get wrapped up in their PPC strategy and focus on the broad keywords that will get the most attention, but as Jennifer points out above, the broadest keywords queries are often used when potential customers are researching a purchase. They are not ready to buy yet, so your conversion rates are rock bottom.

Bidding on the more specific keywords might seem like you are targeting a smaller audience, (because you are) but that smaller audience is the one that is ready to purchase.

Focus your PPC strategy. Sharpen it. And ultimately make it work for you.

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