Common Paid Search Mistake: Only Focusing On #1 |
This is Part 3 of 3 in our series about common paid search mistakes we see committed by business owners. Part 1 focused on how many business owners strive for traffic instead of leads. Part 2 was about letting your campaign run without a manager. Our hope is that this series, as well as our other Free SEO Resources, prove helpful for anyone trying to manage their own paid search campaign.
The last common mistake is tunnel vision for ad placement. In other words, an assumption that ads always have to be in the top position or they are worthless. This assumption is completely wrong...and expensive. Rather than worrying about placement rank, spend your time improving click-thru and conversion rates.
Granted, the higher an ad is located, the better chances it has of being clicked. That's not up for discussion. But that doesn't mean you have to fear having your ads show lower than #1. Ads that are located in spots 2 or lower can be very profitable, if not more profitable.
For a business owner, fretting over a competitor's ad purely because it is placed higher than yours is dangerous. How many clicks an ad gets is not predetermined by its position. There are other factors determining click-thru rate.
For example, a competitor's ad could have less-than-optimized copy. Potential customers might very well be looking at the ad and moving on to other ads (like yours!) because their ad copy is not appealing enough to warrant a click.
Along those same lines, even if a competitor's ad is getting more clicks that doesn't mean it's converting into sales. Never assume more clicks equals more business. Again, other factors come into play here. For example, does the ad even have a targeted landing page? If so, how strong is it?
Between ad copy and a landing page, your competitor could be wasting tons of money on their campaign. If that's a possibility, why spend all of your time competing with them to drive up what you'll spend for the #1 spot? Why not lie in the weeds and let customers pass them over and come to you?
To review, let your competition fight over the top spot. Remember, the more they pay for clicks, the higher their conversion rates and the lower their margin. In the meantime, concentrate on these more important paid search fundamentals:
- Ad copy: constantly test new ad versions until your click-thru rate is the best it can be
- Landing pages: continually optimize to drive up conversion rates
If your campaign sports ads that have optimal click-thru and conversion rates and you aren't paying top dollar (i.e., the most expensive bid), you will have a far more successful paid search campaign than if all you do is worry about being ranked #1.
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