Costs can add up quickly when running an online ad campaign — especially if your cost per click (CPC) is higher than it should be. CPC is the amount of money you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. If your CPC is too high, it can quickly drain your budget and lower your ROI.
So, is there any way to reduce your CPC without losing traffic or hurting your ad performance? Well, there are many. Below, this SEM agency in Chicago, Illinois is going to explore some of the best strategies to help you lower your CPC and get better results from your ad budget.
Improve your quality score to pay less per click.
Search engines like Google give each ad a Quality Score to measure how good and relevant it is. A higher Quality Score means lower CPC and better ad placement. For example, if your Quality Score is 10, Google may reduce your CPC by 50%. But if your score is only 1, you could have to pay 400% more per click.
A professional SEM agency in Chicago, Illinois can review your campaign and fix anything that is lowering your Quality Score.
Choose the right keywords to reduce competition.
Instead of bidding on high-competition keywords, which can increase your CPC without delivering quality traffic, you should target long-tail keywords. These are longer phrases that are more specific, and they usually have lower search volumes. Long-tail keywords cost less and convert better because they are less competitive and attract people who already know what they want.
Using negative keywords can also help you improve your Click-Through Rate (CTR) and overall campaign performance. This stops your ads from showing in searches that don’t match your business, thereby saving your budget for more relevant clicks.
Do you want to target the best low-cost, high-converting keywords for your business? If so, a professional SEM agency can conduct in-depth keyword research to help you find these keywords.
Run ads at the best times and target the right locations.
Not all times of the day are good for running ads. If you run ads 24/7, you could be wasting money on clicks that don’t lead to sales. What you want to do instead is use data to find out when your target customers are most active and likely to buy, and then run your ads during those hours.
Only showing your ads in locations where people are most likely to become customers (also called geotargeting) also ensures effective budget use. If you run a local business in Chicago, there is really no point in showing your ad to people in New York.
A professional SEM agency in Chicago, Illinois can help you fine-tune your ad schedule and location targeting to get the best ROI.
Write better ads to increase clicks and lower CPC.
The better your ad, the more people will click on it. And when more people click, Google sees it as a high-quality ad and rewards you with a lower CPC. A good ad should have a clear call to action (e.g., “Shop Now” or “Get Your Free Quote Today”), highlight the key benefits of your product or service, and speak directly to the needs of your audience.
You can perform A/B testing to run two versions of your ad and see which one performs better. You can test different headlines, descriptions, call-to-action buttons, keywords, etc.
Again, a professional SEM agency in Chicago, Illinois can help you here. They can continually test and improve your ad copy to maximize your ad performance.
Choose the right bidding strategy to save your money.
Your bidding strategy is what decides how much you pay for each click. Choosing the wrong strategy will waste your money, while the right one will save you a lot.
There are two bidding strategies you can use. The first is manual bidding, and this is where you set the maximum amount you are willing to pay per click. This gives you more control, but it does demand constant monitoring.
The second is automated bidding. This uses machine learning algorithms to adjust your bids automatically based on user behavior. This is a great strategy for saving time and getting more conversions without too much effort.
Looking for an SEM Agency in Chicago, Illinois?
Do you want to improve your paid ads and lower your CPC? If so, and if you are looking for the top-rated SEM agency in Chicago, Illinois to guide you with that, look no further than Digital Destination LLC. Contact us at (312) 933-6806 to schedule a free consultation.