Pay Per Click Management: Account Clean-up Tips

If one of your resolutions for 2010 was to tighten up your PPC campaign management, it’s definitely not too late to get started. Having a tidy, well-run Google Adwords account can mean that you generate more clicks and pay less for them.  As click costs keep going up and quality scores keep going down, cleaning up your account begins to seem like a great idea.

But how do you get started? Here are some tips to improve your pay per click management and performance in 2010.

1. Check for expired promotions and obsolete ads. If you’re still running an ad with a past-due sale date, you’re throwing your impressions away and causing your clickthrough rate to plummet. (Remember, no clicks, no conversions!)  Check to make sure that your ads are completely current and relevant.

2. Update and test new ad copy. Always have at least two different ads running in each adgroup to continually improve clickthrough and conversion rates. ClickSweeper’s ad copy management tool can automatically identify and suspend the less successful ad copy; then simply write a new ad copy and test it against the winner. Not only are better ads great for your bottom line, but they can also help improve your account quality score and get you lower priced clicks.

 3. Use fewer broad match keywords. Broad match is very tempting because of its great simplicity, but the truth is that the searches Google thinks are relevant to your ad often aren’t the ones you’d choose.  If you’ve noticed that some of your keywords turn up in a lot of irrelevant searches (for example, if your store name is Red Herring Mystery Books and your ads show up for people searching for fish), it’s time to change those keywords to phrase or exact match. You may have to use more phrase match keywords, but at least you won’t end up with visitors who are looking for fish.

4. Take action on poor quality keywords. Did you know that poor quality keywords can drag your overall account quality score down, resulting in higher minimum bids? You need to deal with these ASAP. Are some keywords relevant, just not for the adgroup? Create a better adgroup and move them over. Are some keywords simply too broad? Pause them, do some keyword research, and come up with more specific ones.

5. Evaluate the success of your content network ads. Although bid prices are temptingly low for content network ads, many advertisers find that they’re still not worth their money. If you’re not making a solid profit on your content network campaigns, you may want to turn them off and use your budget on your more profitable search ads.

We here at ClickSweeper wish you a great 2010 filled with well-organized pay per click campaigns, ROIs worth celebrating, and dropping bid prices. (Did we leave out a great tip? Leave a comment!)