Bid management is a crucial element of any search engine marketing and pay per click (PPC) campaign. Without an effective bid management strategy in place, you’re at risk of investing your advertising budget in the wrong places, thereby losing out on traffic and sales.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at three PPC bid management tips that will ensure the success of your paid search campaign for your Milwaukee business.

Take a look at what your keywords are doing

Many advertisers looking to distribute their advertising budget better will take a glance over which keywords generate the highest number of conversions. Those keywords which only generate a few conversions (or which aren’t converting at all) are paused, discarded, or swapped out for others. On a basic level, this is reasonably effective. Keywords that don’t convert — particularly those which have a high click-through-rate — cost the advertiser lots of money, and for seemingly little or no return on investment.

However, a keyword that drives lots of traffic but doesn’t convert might be forming a vital role in the conversion process overall. For instance, this keyword might be appealing to the internet users who are researching a product or service, and who have no intention of buying or signing up that day, but who want to sign up or buy in the future. An analysis of what keywords are doing and where they are most useful in terms of the entire conversion process is essential to avoid pausing or removing a keyword which, on the surface, appears to be costing money while not delivering conversions.

Lift the data properly

When it comes to PPC bid management, one of the most time-consuming tasks is the gathering and analysis of data. It’s crucial to gather data that can be relied on, but this takes time, thought, and consideration, which can sometimes be less than appealing when the days are busy.

Besides, when an advertiser needs to make a change or optimization to his or her campaign, the data should be taken from a long enough timeframe in order to get an accurate picture of its performance. It’s a good idea to look at data that spans across an entire month, a whole quarter, or even six months to a year, depending on the kind of changes you are thinking about making to your bidding management strategy. The more information you can gather, the easier it will be to make decisions about where to invest the majority of your advertising budget.

Account for seasonal changes

If seasonal changes are not accounted for in your PPC bid management strategy, you might be asking for trouble. Traffic might change on specific keywords over holiday seasons, or there might be more conversions on particular products or services during the summertime. If you need to make improvements to the way you approach bid management, knowledge of seasonality is vital.

It might seem like you’re spending too much for certain keywords in the beginning, but if the investment helps to drive a lot of traffic, which then converts and helps you outperform the competition, it will probably be worth it in the end. Paying more for your keywords during peak seasons is something you’ll need to consider over time and with experience. Gather data, be aware of patterns, and plan your PPC bidding strategy accordingly.

Just remember…

If there’s anything that you should remember above all else when it comes to PPC bidding management, it’s the ability to be flexible, try new things, remain open to change, and be confident enough to implement those changes. PPC bid management strategies that never change and move along naturally with the campaign that they support run the risk of becoming out-of-date and ineffective.

Are you interested in starting a Pay Per Click (PPC) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM) campaign in Milwaukee?

Pay per click marketing can be a great way to skyrocket your web presence and build your customer list. If you are looking for expert PPC management services in Milwaukee, get in touch with one of our SEM specialists today!