4 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Paid Search Campaign
A paid search campaign, when done properly, can be profitable for your business and your brand. That being said, you must have a comprehensive understanding of the process involved in such a campaign if you want a solid return on your investment. If you are unsure of your goals (and how to achieve those goals), and you jump feet first into a campaign you may find you have spent a ton of money with few results. Consider the following four questions you need to ask before you begin a paid search campaign.
Have you done the necessary research before starting a paid search campaign?
Is your keyword research nailed down? Do you have a solid buyer persona in place? Is your landing page as good as it can be? What do the landing pages of your competitors look like? Are they using the keywords you’ve chosen? Use a keyword tool to get an idea of what you can expect from each keyword to give you an idea of the competitiveness of your market.
Do you know how you will measure your success?
Even if you receive 5,000 clicks during a given month, what did you actually gain from those clicks in terms of ROI? It’s easy to focus so much attention on getting that click that you fail to follow through. Did the click result in a contact form being filled out, a whitepaper being downloaded, a newsletter is signed up for? Conversion tracking will take care of that follow-through for you to let you know whether your paid search campaign is really a success.
It is important to note that your most important conversion points may not be the same as those for others in your business and will differ across companies and industries.
Is your current website everything it should be?
Unfortunately, far too many business owners put a huge amount of money, time, and effort into keyword research, buyer persona, content, and SEO only to send users to a less-than-solid website. Does your site have crucial conversion points such as a newsletter signup, an easy-to-use contact form, and other downloadable resources? Do you have a dedicated landing page that is highly optimized for your keywords and ad copy?
Your goal is to keep visitors from “bouncing,” so your website must be in stellar form, with no distractions.
Are you planning to set up your paid Search campaign then forget about it?
If you set up your paid campaign, expecting to look at the results when it is over, those results are likely to be rather disappointing. This type of campaign is not a “one and done,” or a “set it and forget it” type of endeavor. Your goal will be to optimize throughout the paid search campaign. As soon as you have collected a few days of data, dig in and start optimizing. See how your budget is actually spending, and check to see the actual keywords users are typing that trigger your ads.
Once you’ve answered the above questions, ask yourself whether you can commit to the cost of a paid search campaign. Make sure you know the answer to “what do people want from my company?” If you do know what people want, and you can commit to the cost, you can reap excellent rewards for your business and your brand.