The Four Most Common Mistakes You Can Make With PPC Ads

Any form of advertising that allows you to target prospects by interest and location, like pay per click advertising does, has got to be one of the best advertising options available. You can measure your results precisely, and even control how much you spend. It's also affordable for small business owners who compare it to other options like television and radio.

Of course, like any other form of advertising, PPC has its pitfalls. Launching your first ad campaign without a good plan could result in hundreds or thousands of dollars in wasted ads while you learn what to do and what not do to. There are whole books on the details of a good pay per click campaign out there.

Starting up is easy enough, anyone can get involved without having to sit down with a manual for a few days. There are a few basic tips, though, for anyone thinking about experimenting with pay per click it's a good idea to examine them close. The majority of mistakes are really easy to fix so that PPC campaigns can get back on track fast. This is a small list of the most common mistakes people make, and how to fix them.

Mistake 1. Using your home page as a landing page isn't an effective way to convert clicks to sales. No matter what search engine you're using, the landing page is the key to making the sale. Deciding where customers are directed, instead of just showing everyone your home page when they click on an ad, is the fastest and best route for the customer. Start sending them to other links and places and they will get lost and return back to the search page, probably to click on one of your competitors ads.

When people click on your ad , they are looking for a very specific thing that you've been advertising. Landing pages can be specific to ads, so that the person is taken directly to what it is you are advertising. This way, the customer gets exactly what they are looking for. Landing pages should be focused on keywords or phrases used in the advertisement and don't clutter it up with other links or distractions.

Mistake 2. Landing pages that are confusing lose sales. Your PPC campaign will work by giving a customer an ad targeted to their keyword. The landing page they then arrive at should be related to that keyword, so don't give the customer an excuse to back out. Make it easy for them to find what they are looking for. You should have multiple landing pages if you are promoting multiple items with keywords or phrases.

1. Using generic copy for your ads. Statements that work in other media formats probably won't transfer to PPC. Catch phrases like "quality service" just aren't part of the vocabulary when people are using search engines. Use a main keyword in a headline that creates interest, then tell them the benefits. Line three is perfect for special features or a discount offer. Take a look at what other advertisers are doing online.

2. Low bid placement. All search engines use their own methods for determining where to put your ad. Yahoo and Google use a combination of the relevancy of your ad, and your bid price. One big mistake that many people make is not tightly targeting keywords enough to get top placement. As much as eighty-five percent of all PPC clicks happen on ads in one of the top three positions. If you can't focus your ads tightly enough to get that top spot, you're missing out on a lot of traffic.