PPC Management and Tracking

PPC or paid advertising is not as simple as putting up a poster with contact details and waiting for customers to respond. While a poster may work in a small town, the internet is a big place, and there are likely thousands of other advertisers looking to pull the same audience. After all, these paid digital ad campaigns require constant oversight, PPC management, and back-and-forth analysis in order to be effective in reaching the right audience and yielding the maximum return on ad spend possible. PPC campaigns are all about iterative upgrades and minute adjustments for the most optimal outcome.

PPC Management Basics

PPC Management involves several processes and elements, including:

1. Building ad campaigns, formulating ad strategies, and setting and modifying campaign goals as needed.
2. Performing A/B split testing. This is the process of testing out different versions of ad campaigns by changing elements in the ad copy or landing page for example and seeing which version yields the best outcome.
3. Tracking the performance of different keywords to figure out which one audiences are searching for. This informs which keywords are worth bidding on.
4. Conversion optimization and tracking. Determining the best conversion paths and figuring out where most visitors come from.

In essence, PPC campaign management is a series of trials and adjustments to ad strategy and implementation of these elements and processes. It is getting the maximum ROI on your ad spend by fine-tuning your ad copy and landing page, optimizing your targeted keywords, tracking the performance of other various elements, and making changes to them when they no longer yield a favorable result. If that sounds complicated, you’re not alone. This is how the concept of a white label PPC management service came about.

It isn’t only about that though, as PPC and other paid ad campaigns are subject to the platform on which they are executed. Advertisers and marketers need to pay attention to any policy changes on search engines or social media platforms as they could impact the way paid campaigns are performed.

Major PPC Metrics

Paid ad campaigns possess a certain level of volatility. It’s crucial that you keep a close eye on your PPC metrics if you want your campaigns to remain impactful. Here are the ones you should be monitoring.

• Clicks – This is how many people interact with your ad. The number of clicks you receive is affected by the types of keywords you use, the relevance, and language in your ad copy. How effective your ad copy is at grabbing the attention of your target audience is important.
• Cost per click – Also known as CPC, this is the amount you pay to search engines for every single ad click. CPC can also be considered a metric that measures PPC.
• Clickthrough rate – Also known as CTR, this metric is measured as a percentage of clicks in relation to ad views. The more people click on your ad, the higher your CTR, and the more you pay.
• Impressions – This is the number of times an ad has been shown or viewed by users, including multiple views by the same user. This is important in growing awareness for your brand. Cost per mille or CPM is the amount you pay for every 1,000 impressions.
• Ad spend – This is essentially the money that you allocate for an ad campaign and its iterations (for split testing). This is essentially your ad budget for individual campaigns.
• Return on ad spend – Also known as ROAS, this is the return on the money invested into your ad campaign (ROI). This measures how much revenue you gain for every dollar allocated to an ad campaign.
• Conversion rate – This is the percentage amount of people that complete a desired action on your landing page after clicking on your ad. This commonly entails responding to your call to action or CTA to purchase a product or subscribe to a service.
• Cost per conversion – This is how many conversions you got for the amount you spent on an ad.
• Quality Score – This is a Google tool that measures your ad against competitors to determine where your ad is positioned (ad ranking). Expected CTR, ad relevance, and landing page relevance affect this score. A better Quality Score can also affect your ad spend.

Monitoring these metrics closely can help you maximize your profitability and make sure you get the most ROI for the least ad spend possible. Again, if that sounds complicated, consider engaging white label services.

Examples of PPC Tools

As you can see, PPC management can get complicated. With all of the moving parts involved in running an ad campaign, it can be quite an overwhelming task to balance all these. Thankfully, there are PPC management tools and software solutions that can make your life easier and help you view, monitor, and organize these individual elements and your ads as a whole through their optimized dashboards.

Here are some of the most well-known, widely used, and trusted PPC software tools out there. Some are general all-rounder tools, while others are great for creating, managing, and improving specific ad elements.

1. Ahrefs

This is an SEO tool used by some of the world’s leading companies. It promises to provide users with what they need to rank higher and increase traffic to their site. They market themselves as an “all-in-one toolset”. With Ahrefs, you can audit and optimize your site, check the performance of and help you find keywords, and track your ranking. Ahrefs is suitable for beginners to expert marketers.

2. SEMRush

This is the perfect PPC tool for building the best keyword list for your ad campaigns. With SEMRush, you can collect relevant keywords in a variety of ways. You can group them together and delete duplicates in one click. You don’t have to worry about your ads competing because of negative keyword cross-grouping.

3. HubSpot

“How To Use Google Ads For Your Business” is an official collaboration between Google and Hubspot that provides users with “the ultimate Google Ads PPC kit”. This free guide includes helpful insight into campaign budgeting, keyword research, PPC bidding, ad copy and landing page tips, and other search campaign fundamentals for building a successful ad strategy. They also offer helpful templates for organizing all your ad elements and reporting. Additionally, they provide a helpful checklist for setting up your PPC.

4. WordStream

They provide time-saving and cost-effective PPC automation solutions. With WordStream, processes like keyword research, keyword grouping and list creation, and the creation of an AdWords campaign, are all automated. Their user-friendly interface can help you manage workflows, create ads, and analyze your campaign.

5. Optmyzr

They offer customized PPC solutions and automation. With Optmyzr, you can monitor your campaign easily and optimize your campaigns with a bunch of different automation options. The great thing is they offer a 2-week free trial of their services – information, tools, and all.

6. Unbounce

This is a great tool for helping you with conversions. Unbounce offers landing page building services. They also allow you to create popups and sticky bars so you can grab the attention of more visitors.  Additionally, they offer customized feedback so you have the best chance of getting site visitors to convert. They also have AI copywriting services.

Choosing PPC

PPC is great no matter the size of the business. People turn to PPC if they want to get conversions faster. While PPC may be the quicker route at getting your ad in front of people than SEO, it certainly isn’t easy, nor is it cheap.

Hopefully, after learning about these PPC management processes, the software and tools that can help you optimize, and the important metrics to track, you will be better equipped at starting or improving your current PPC ad campaigns. As a white label digital marketing agency, we can help with all PPC needs.