5 Practical Ways To Improve Your PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Marketing

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) can take your website and traffic leads from 10% to 100% in a small space of time through visibility on the search page for keywords that are relevant to your business. This can be done in many ways but in this blog, I will provide five simple practises you can incorporate to see results in no time.  

1. Keyword research and SQRS (search query reports) 

Keyword research is important for your PPC account to ensure you have a higher chance of ranking higher in the SERP. You can access the search terms by clicking on Keywords and then Search Terms on the left side menu. You can see search terms at the account, campaign and ad group level. This will allow you to run an SQR between search terms and search keywords to work out which ones provide the most traffic and are specific to your brand. 

Main things to take from an SQR: 

  1. New keywords – New keywords are important to compete with your competitors for the top spot on search pages. 
  2. Create negatives – It is important to add negatives as it is pretty wasteful to spend money on searches that are not related to your business if negatives are not set up properly.

2. Do A/B tests on a regular basis

An A/B test allows you to test two variations of ads against one another to determine a winner. This can test multiple things like ad copy, CTAs, landing pages and assets. When you run an A/B test, Google will serve your ads to random people with metrics at the end to show which one had more clicks, a higher CTR and bounce rate. 

3. PPC Account Structure

Whether you are starting with a new PPC account or sorting out existing ones, the PPC account structure is the foundation of having an effective account. Three ways to (re)structure:

  1. How many campaigns are there and why? – These can be reduced as it’s about quality rather than quantity 
  2. How many ads are in ad groups – Is there more or less than necessary? 
  3. Are keywords relevant or too similar to one another? – It is important to avoid similarity or keywords being irrelevant to selected ad group.

When all of this is done correctly it allows the account to become cost effective while having the ability to really home in on different areas and capture more qualified traffic that is likely to convert.

4. Demographics are just as important in PPC 

One of the things that makes PPC so effective is that you can decide exactly who your ads are served to, based on demographics. Demographics that can be targeted within PPC are age, gender, income level, education, geographically and relationship status This is just important as you are able to target certain target audiences more where you see fit. 

5. Optimise ads 

If your ads aren’t enticing your potential site visitors, searchers aren’t going to click on them, resulting in less traffic to your site. You should ensure you continue to optimise your ads in every way possible. You can optimise and tweak your ads in the following ways:

  • Relevant ads can allow your ads to be higher up thus being seen by searchers more by including things like CTAs, USPs and new headlines.
  • Adding sitelink extensions, callout sitelinks etc can provide your ads with more information resulting in more clicks and traffic. 

Changing things like this along with seasonal/promotional ad copy keeps your brand/business in line with current trends and also gives your ads the opportunity to out do competitor ads.

 If you enjoyed this blog, check out our other blog to find digital marketing tools to help you excel in 2023!

Digital Marketing Apprenticeship – Top tips

Are you interested in learning about digital marketing and getting experience in the industry?
Then a digital marketing apprenticeship may be for you.

Jobs and entry criteria

The entry requirements can differ from each employer, however to apply, you will need at least a grade 4/C in Maths and English.

The digital marketing apprenticeship provides opportunities for an apprenticeship to learn the skills required to perform typical marketing roles. The set of skills and knowledge developed on this apprenticeship is highly sought after in the job market. It provides an excellent start in the industry. The average annual salary for a marketing executive in the UK is £27,000.

The apprenticeship is 15 months long, and you will earn 3 qualifications. This includes the Digital Marketing Level 3 apprenticeship standard, the BCS Principles in Coding and Marketing Principles and the Google Analytics IQ.

Digital Marketing, Typewriter,

Key responsibilities of a digital marketing apprentice

The primary role of a digital marketer is to execute campaigns, analyse them and optimise for better results. Digital marketers are typically involved with planning and building campaigns, based on briefs.

They can work across a variety of paid, owned and earned channels including paid or organic search, affiliate marketing, programmatic marketing and social media.

Digital marketers monitor the performance of campaigns to ensure they deliver the best results based on the main objectives and goals. They do this by establishing key performance indicators – these are metrics related to the objective that help them know if their campaigns are on the right track.

As a digital marketer, you will have a good understanding of the basics of marketing such as the marketing funnel, customer lifecycle and SMART goals. In addition to this, you will understand how to use a range of analytical tools and different advertising platforms.

For more information on this job role visit https://www.apprenticetips.com/.

Digital marketing, social media marketing, affiliate marketing, pay per click marketing, google analytics, content marketing

Core competencies

As part of your job role, you will carry out duties that will satisfy 13 competencies, which ensure you have the knowledge and skills of a digital marketer. Some examples are:

Implementation – this is to build and implement digital campaigns. To do this you will need to take the brief from the planning stage to the activation.

Digital Analysis – this is showing that you can measure and evaluate the success of your digital marketing activities. By doing so, you can make recommendations for optimisations.

Research – this is showing that you can analyse and contribute to the digital environment short and long term. There are different types of research carried out for different channels.

My top tips for meeting the competencies

Figuring out how to meet these competencies can be overwhelming. Here are my top tips for ensuring that you do. 

Be clear on what they are 

Throughout your apprenticeship, you will have many opportunities to meet different competencies. However, if you don’t know what competencies you need to meet, you will not be collecting evidence for them along the way. My advice is to have a basic understanding of each one and what you need to do to meet them. Try to summarise them, like I did above.

Gather evidence from the beginning

One thing that really helped me get my portfolio started was gathering evidence for my competencies as early as possible. I would initially break down my portfolio into the competencies and provide the evidence for each corresponding skill, as I met them.

Then, I would rearrange the slides to make them cohesive and aesthetically pleasing. Over time, you will begin to view your projects and tasks through the lens of the competencies. It also makes you feel accomplished, to have evidence that you are improving and becoming the digital marketer you aspire to be.

Ask for help

Worried that you won’t be able to meet a competency because of the nature of your role in your company and team? Then speak to your line manager or coach as soon as possible. They will work with you to find a solution so that you can pass the end point assessment!

Check out https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/marketing-advertising-and-pr/marketing-apprenticeships to find out more about marketing apprentices in the UK.