When I want to learn something quickly, one of the first things I do is try to restate what I’ve learned in a simple one-page – often handwritten – document. I’ve found that if I can get around to formatting these one-pagers for general consumption, they can be quite useful to others interested in the same topic. So here’s a my paid search optimization one-pager from when I was learning the basics of pay-per-click search advertising.
PPC goals, metrics, and tactics
Goal:Â Increased awareness
Metrics:
- Ad impressions
- Ad position
- Social interactions
Tactics:
- Create impressions via content and display ads.
- Bid more (increase Max CPC) on both branded and non-branded search terms to improve position (visibility) and increase impressions.
- Make ad copy more brand-heavy and buzz worthy.
Goal: Increase traffic volume
Metrics:
- Clicks
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Visits
- Visitors
- Page views
Tactics:
- Keyword expansion
- Increase bids
- Loosen match types (e.g. go from exact to phrase match or from phrase to broad match).
- Ad copy testing for best CTR
- Adjust campaign organization to eliminate potential bidding conflicts
Goal: Improve click-through rate (CTR)
Metrics:
- Impressions: click ratio
Tactics:
- Expand negative matching on high-impression, low CTR ads
- Ad copy testing for best CTR
- Optimize position (visibility) by adjusting bid (remember: #1 is not always best)
Goal:Â Increase conversion volume
Metrics:
- Conversions (sales, leads, downloads, shares, etc.)
- Impression:Conversion ratio
- Conversion rate (click : conversion ratio)
Tactics:
- Creative testing on landing page(s)
- Increase traffic volume
- Ad copy testing for best conversion rate
- Re-target spend to best performing ads
Goal:Â Improve traffic quality
Metrics:
- Cost per acquisition (CPA)
- Cost per click (CPC)
- Click-through rate (CTR)
Tactics:
- Optimize based on CPA
- If exceeding target CPA, reduce spend
- If beating target CPA, increase spend
- Temporarily increase volume to identify opportunity
Goal:Â Increase return on investment (ROI)
Metrics:
- Return on ad spend
- Return on investment
Tactics:
- All of the above!
