We’ve had some people ask for details on how they should be managing their PPC (pay per click) campaigns… and exactly when they should give a campaign the axe. Some people are also confused on when to kill off different ad groups and keywords too.

Don’t sweat it, every new person learning Internet marketing has these questions… and some veterans too! So here’s some quick tips and tricks that can solve huge headaches for you in the future:

Keywords:

1. You need to kill ANY keyword that isn’t profitable. I basically try to give a keyword a couple hundred clicks, but it really depends on the cost. If I spend more than the potential payout of a sale on one keyword, then I typically bail.
2. If a keyword is getting a TON of cheap clicks… converting BADLY… but STILL profitable, then you definitely want to keep it (I know this is obvious, but I’m trying to cover all the bases here).
3. When a keyword IS profitable, then make note of how much you are spending… and what your average cost per sale is for that keyword. Now up the bid a little bit (hoping to get more traffic) and see if you make more or less per sale than you were before.
4. If a keyword IS extremely profitable, then try to think of other similar keywords that might convert well. Think of every variation of that keyword. (Use a thesaurus). SO many people don’t do this… and using a little brain power can go a long way.
5. Do your research and find long tail keywords. There are TONS of free keyword research tools available. Check out our video section where we walk you through a few of them.

Ad Groups:

1. Remember, Ad Groups are all about RELEVANCY. All the keywords in an ad group should be related in some way and paired with ads that match your keywords… or match the general theme of the keywords in that ad group.
2. Create at least two ads per ad group. Yahoo, Google, MSN… they all have an ad split test feature. USE IT. Write one ad that’s similar to the competition and another ad that’s more creative so that it stands out. (Always split test ads).
3. When creating an ad group, start with about 20 keywords. Add MORE keywords once you get an idea of the ad group’s performance. So start small… but go BIG when you find a profitable market.

Campaigns:

1. If a campaign is profitable, then you obviously want to keep it (and ramp it up by adding more keywords). You can also CLONE your campaign to possibly double your rate of success.
2. If a campaign is NOT profitable, then I typically don’t pursue it anymore. Move on… there’s plenty of fish in the sea.
3. If the campaign has a proven history of breaking even (or almost breaking even) then the SMARTEST thing to do would be creating a similar product for that market. Keep ALL the money. This way you could instantly make this “break even product” a money maker. Having a better sales copy will make you MORE money too.
4. Make sure you’re not wasting clicks on countries that aren’t BUYERS. Use the geo-targeting feature. START with the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia, but check to see what other countries would be good prospects for your product.
5. Set up “content network only” campaigns for Yahoo and Google and budget them separately. Content traffic tends to be CHEAPER and sometimes even converts better than search. (Actually the content network is how I got my foot in the door when I began Internet marketing.)
6. Be sure that your MONEY-MAKING campaigns are NOT turning off towards the end of the day, because your daily budget is too LOW. (Trust me… it happens.)

Alrighty… that’s about all for today, but here are some closing thoughts: Remember, Internet marketing is a NUMBERS game. Put a system in place that’s in line with your budget and allows you to test multiple offers. Don’t put ALL your eggs in one basket.

And if you make any changes to your PPC campaigns then make a note of WHAT you did and WHEN you did it. Because when you wake up one morning to find a campaign is suddenly making BIG money… you’ll REALLY want to know what you did to make that happen. 

Keep at it!
Mitch Sanders

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