Enticing ads and promos that lead to a click and buy is an effective way of marketing. Pay-per-click is the leading form of online marketing according to the survey report released by an SEO software company, SEOMoz, PPC can also be an affordable way to increase revenues within a short span of time, when used correctly.

But when badly managed, PPC can fail to deliver any results and can become a wasteful expenditure. Continuous fine tuning and reassessment of your PPC campaign is required to get the best return on your investment.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid in pay per click marketing.

1. Not using specific keywords

The number of words in a keyword search phase is 4. Within this, the best specific words that match your business need to be included. Generic keywords that are common to many business verticals, or words that have multiple meanings in different contexts have to be strictly avoided.

2. Choosing wrong locations

f your store or service is available only in one area, and your PPC ad is shown to other locations, it could just be a waste of money. Certain offers or events are also location specific. Showing the PPC ads to only the relevant audience saves your marketing budget and eliminates bounce rates.

3. Not including negative keywords

Negative keywords help you filter non-matching segments of customers. If you use very few negative keywords, the filter may not be effective and your ad is shown in irrelevant search results. Since you pay for every click, you would still end up paying for an irrelevant click. Especially when budgets are tighter for start-ups, wasting money on useless advertising is a big mistake.

4. Too many or too few keywords

Too much or too less are both bad for your business, in terms of keywords. PPC ads that have less than 10 keywords get clicked at lesser, which means lost opportunities. At the same time, too many keywords can make the PPC campaign ineffective. Experts believe the ideal range of keywords should be between 100 and 500 for optimum clicks.

5. Going for higher bids

Attaining number one position is desirable but may be an unnecessary use of marketing budgets. Conversion rates are also not necessarily higher for top position, although many may still click on the ad. Lowering the bids to end up in the first few search results may be a more effective value for money.

6. Wrong landing page

Linking the PPC ad to the relevant page is important to retain the customer’s interest and to ensure conversions. Each PPC ad you create needs to be linked separately to the particular page. If potential customers have to navigate a lot to find the ad that you were talking about, they lose interest.

7. Not having the call to action

A specific call for action such as buy now or visit the page is a crucial part of every pay per click campaign.

Can we help you avoid common PPC mistakes?