There are many ways that business owners go wrong with Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns. Most of them are borne out of very good and responsible goals, but none the less cause problems. These 8 are the ones we find to be most common.

1. Googling Yourself

Curious about how your ad looks? Resist the urge to Google yourself! Here’s why:

• Cost Per Impression: Every time you search for your own ad, you’re driving up the cost per impression.
• Paying for Clicks: If you click your ad, guess what? You just paid for that click!
• Hurting Your CTR: Even if you don’t click, you’re signaling to Google that your ad wasn’t a good result for that search, making it less likely to be shown to the next person. Plus, you’re hurting your click-through rate (CTR) by adding to the impressions but not the clicks.

2. Monkeying with the Campaign Too Often

Constantly tweaking your campaign? You truly need to be patient.

• Spotting Trends: Too many changes mean you can’t spot trends or collect usable data.
• Stable Data: Let your campaign run for a while to gather enough information for meaningful analysis.

3. Ignoring Negative Keywords

Negative keywords might sound like a downer, but they’re essential.

• Avoid Unwanted Traffic: Without negative keywords, you’re paying for traffic you don’t want.
• Pro Tip: Seasoned pros never skip this step, but it’s often overlooked by rookies. Don’t make that mistake!

4. Spending Too Little

We get it, you’re trying to be thrifty. But in PPC, being a penny-pincher can backfire. If you spend so little that you get nothing, 100% of your investment is wasted.

• Traffic Threshold: If you don’t spend enough, you won’t get enough traffic to matter. Spending $10/day when each click costs $8 means you’re getting a maximum of 1 click per day.
• Conversions: As a rough rule of thumb, it takes about 10 clicks to get an action. At this rate, you’re looking at 10 days for a single conversion and maybe 3 per month. Is that really worth it?

5. Not Protecting Your Trademark

Your business name is valuable—protect it!

• Register Your Trademark: Register your business name as a trademark with Google. This will stop others from buying traffic using your name.

6. Accepting Google’s Defaults and AI Suggestions

Google’s default settings and AI suggestions can be tempting, but be cautious.

• Overspending: Google’s recommendations benefit Google first. That often means overspending on traffic for you.
• Optimization Score: You need to carefully consider which of their suggestions to accept. Blindly following the AI can drain your budget fast.

7. Geotargeting Problems

Finding the right balance in geotargeting is crucial.

• Too Small or Too Large: Targeting too small of an area can limit your audience, while too large of an area can waste your budget.
• Proper Targeting: Make sure your campaign’s geotargeting is just right for your goals.

8. Running Two Campaigns at the Same Time

Thinking of running two PPC campaigns for the same website? Think again.

• No A/B Test: Google doesn’t see this as an A/B test. Instead, they see it as abuse.
• Google’s Wrath: If Google sees you doing this, they’ll shut down both campaigns and dream up unpleasant things you’ll need to do in order to get one of them back.

There you have it! By avoiding these common mistakes, you’ll be on your way to a successful PPC campaign. Remember, the key is to be thoughtful and strategic about your approach. Now go out there and make your PPC campaign shine! 🌟