Life in the Blue

It is getting tougher and tougher to compete in the PPC landscape. More people are getting involved everyday, and bids are always going up. I once read that PPC costs increased at 4% a month, not sure how accurate that is, but I could believe it. Can you imagine if the cost of beer or gin went up at 4% a month? I would either be broke or still on my first liver, not sure which.

Part of being successful and able to compete in the game we call pay per click is being successful on your site, and getting the most value for your traffic. Think about, if your conversion rate increased from 2% to 4%? If your conversion rates doubled you would make twice as much money, assuming you have scaled your process for selling or doing what ever it is you do. Instead of making $10 per visitor after PPC expenses you would be making $20. Now, if the bid price jumps from $4 to $5, it doesn’t seem so bad.

Another idea is to find a way to generate more money from each user. Maybe you could convince them to buy two things instead of just one. After all, if they are buying ball, they are going to need the bat. This also can increase the value you get from each PPC visitor.

By night I am a conversion guru, so more tips to come on that in the future, but keep this in mind. I tell people this every day. You see your webpage all the time, you visit it constantly. Try a different approach and do this:

Sit down at your computer, search one of your terms, look at the completion and their ands and then look at yours. What makes yours stick out? Is there something they are offering that you aren’t? What would you think if you were an online shopper and were seeing these results for the first time?

Then go to the other sites and finally go to yours. Again, how is yours different? Look for things they are doing to help convert the visitor and consider them for your site. Maybe your site is missing something crucial, or missing the point and delivering the wrong message. One key thing is be sure your keyword, ad and landing page are all related. It should be like a continuous magical journey. Remember field trips when you were little and the jean shorts wearing hippie would yell at you ‘stay on the path!’ This is how it should be for your visitor, a journey where no one wants to stray off the path and wander. It’s like a line from search to purchase.

For example, if the search is for ‘donkeys’ and your ad is about donkeys, it would make sense that the lading page reinforces that this is the place to be for donkeys. The only true way to known these things is thru conversion testing, but this is a great place to start.

You are guaranteed of three things in life death, taxes and raising PPC costs. As long as you can stay ahead of your competitors and be able to move with increasing costs, you can be living the good life, life in the blue.

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