Make the most out of your paid traffic 

Before starting paid traffic campaigns, there are many things you should take into account. Paid traffic is not something you should start if you won’t have the time to take care of it. 

You can easily get ready for paid advertising by preparing yourself. Make sure your advertising strategy will perform as you planned by taking the following tips into account:

#1 Understand how keywords work

Online advertising operates through keywords. Keywords are the different terms and sentences people type in the search engine when looking for products or services.  Your company will bid for your keywords of choice. If your bids are high enough, your ads will show up when people type your chosen keywords. You will only pay for each click your ad receives. That’s why paid traffic is called PPC (pay-per-click).

First, you will need to choose your keywords wisely. You can bid for broad keywords, such as “social media marketing” in order to obtain more clicks on your ads. However, we don’t recommend these types of keywords as they are much more expensive and less effective. It’s better if you concentrate on more specific keywords, also known as “long tail keywords”.  For example, you could use the phrase “social media marketing courses online” instead. These keywords fit better with what you’re offering, and whoever searches for them will definitely be interested in your products. Keywords such as these are also much cheaper. 

 

 

Many business owners are worried about receiving leads from people who are uninterested in their products. Nobody wants to pay for clicks from people who aren’t looking to purchase what they offer. The trick is to target a lot of long tail keywords. These keywords will have fewer, but more relevant clicks. This strategy will create less costs for you, and a higher chance for conversion!

#2 Know the different types of paid traffic you’re going to display.

There are several type of ads you can display online, however; some are more effective than others. Ads function in similar ways to keywords. For example, display ads can be effective – as they’re shown to a greater number of people. However, your audience members may not have necessarily been searching for your specific products. On the other hand, search or text ads are cheaper and more effective as they appear instantly when potential customers use your keywords.

If you want to raise awareness of your brand and products, display ads are perfect for you. But if your main focus is to sell, you should concentrate on search or text ads.

#3 Track it all

One advantage of online advertising is that you can track everything. You’re able to have more control over various aspects of your business. Using tools like Google Analytics allows you to set your goals and monitor them. You’ll be able to track which pages people navigate most often on your site and how much time they spend there. Google Analytics allows you to obtain a larger perspective of your customer’s journey.

 

 

Google Analytics is amazing because you can use the data provided to find out how to improve both your customer’s experience and your results simultaneously. Identifying the step in the customer journey where they leave your site, allows you to discover where you’re failing and why they aren’t completing the goals you set. For example, if a lot of potential customers are abandoning their shopping carts, you know where to look in order to solve the problem.

#4 Test, optimize & test again.

Being able to analyze what users do on your site, gives you the ability to make changes and see what works best for your company. This analysis gives you the capacity to make changes and optimize your account depending on your company’s performance. It’s a never ending cycle. But be patient, analytics needs time in order to accumulate enough data to make the results as accurate as possible. Also, take into account that especially with AdWords, the longer you run your ads, the better. Google rewards long-term users with better returns on investments (ROI), as your quality score will increase over time.

 

Be prepared for all kinds of changes. For instance, you may have to get abandon some of your keywords. Even if a keyword is bringing in a lot of traffic, if it doesn’t convert it’s just a waste of money. Your goal is to maximize conversions, not clicks.

#5 Set a long-term budget for your paid traffic.

Online advertising should be considered a long-term marketing strategy. As said before, your ads will need time to bring you better results. You should plan your timing and budget effectively. The budget you choose depends on many different factors. Take into account that you will need to invest money in your ads for at least a few months, so that your company can establish itself on the web.

Remember that bringing traffic to your website is just one small part of the process. What happens once they get to your store is what really matters. You should  configure your website in such a way that provides you with the maximum number of conversions possible.