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The search industry is full of silly paid search myths, conflicting advice on PPC strategies and what to do and what not to do. Here are 5 of the most common PPC myths; we come across all of these regularly at I-COM.
1. You need to be Number 1
Yes, being in the top position on Google will get you more clicks and yes sometimes this can be profitable, but most of the time you will just eat away at your budget, spending more than you are generating. No. 1 position is great for a branding strategy, however it also generally attracts searchers who are still researching and shopping around. Users who are in the last phase of the buying cycle are more likely to search deeper. Don’t be afraid to experiment and find the position that converts best for you!
2. Google Trademark Policy
You are not allowed to bid on, or include trademarked terms in your ad copy. Wrong. In 2010 Google changed its trademark policy to allow re-sellers to include trademarked terms in ad text, providing the item is available to buy on the landing page. For the full details of this policy change please see my earlier blog: Changes to Google Trademark Policy.
3. Bidding on Brand Terms is a waste of money.
“I don’t need to bid on my Brand because I appear for these already”. The more page real estate you can take up the better. Appearing for both paid and organic listings will help crowd out competitors and stop potential customers being tempted to go elsewhere. If you don’t bid on your brand terms there’s always the danger that your competitors will! Furthermore, branded clicks are generally cheaper and in most cases will generate high CTRs and therefore help improve quality score.
4. Broad Match is Bad.
Many so-called PPC experts believe broad match to be too broad and claim it never brings in qualified traffic, it just eats away at your budget. Google recommends using a combination of match types to determine which performs best for your campaign. Used in the correct manner, broad match can be effective when combined with an extensive negative keyword list to help weed out those irrelevant clicks and make your budget go further.
5. PPC Optimisation is a one off.
Many people wrongly believe that you can set up a PPC campaign and forget about it. We here at I-COM carry out regular checks on campaigns as they continue to develop, change & evolve. All it can take is a URL change or a drop in QS and suddenly you could find your ads are no longer showing, or even worse your ads are going to a page that no longer exists and still costing you money! Optimisation and campaign improvement is a continuous process.
There is no universal strategy for a successful PPC campaign. The best way to find out what works for your account is through testing, testing and more testing.
For more advice on improving or setting up a paid search campaign please get in touch with the I-COM's PPC team today.
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