The 5 most common beginner mistakes in PPC

1) Poor campaign structure

Perhaps the most important aspect when setting up individual campaigns is the structure. A well-organised and clearly named structure will save you a lot of time when managing your account and campaigns in the future.

It is essential to carefully consider the names of individual campaigns and ad groups, which can be labelled according to various criteria, such as content, targeting, keyword match type, placement, etc.

For clarity, we use abbreviations for individual terms at AITOM: KW = keywords, S = search network, F = phrase match, etc.

Glossary of terms for beginners:

„KW“ denotes phrase match

[KW] denotes exact match

KW denotes modified match

KW without symbols indicates broad match

-KW indicates excluded keywords

A basic account structure might look like this:

The above breakdown is rather basic and is insufficient for the needs of a large-scale campaign.

The campaign structure should look more like this:

When creating your campaign structure, think ahead so that individual campaigns can be easily modified. For example, if a client wishes to expand their portfolio.

Example of expanding campaigns to include ski holidays

*Note on the table: both the structure and the selected keywords are illustrative; this is a demonstration of the principle, not a specific solution

2) Ad texts do not match the keywords

A common mistake made by beginners is that the ad text does not match the keywords, or they place only one ad in an ad group with multiple keywords. In all cases, the system evaluates this negatively.

It is better to split the keywords so that the ad matches them. For an ad group containing various keywords, you should definitely create multiple ads. A successful method is A/B testing of ads.

3) You don’t monitor your ads and performance

Check and test your ads regularly. Review ad performance at least once a month. Compare multiple metrics: click-through rate, conversion rate, ad relevance, ratings and more. You won’t always succeed in designing a high-converting ad on the first attempt, and search trends also change.

4) You’ve chosen the wrong ad targeting 

We often see adverts focused on clicks. For some companies, creating adverts and optimising them for the highest possible click-through rate is a road to ruin (or rather, to losses).

A high click-through rate does not necessarily mean profit. You first need to think about what kind of campaign you want to run. Generally, there are two types of adverts – brand-focused and performance-focused. Campaigns can be brand-focused, in which case there won’t be many conversions, and vice versa.

Also consider the purchasing process your customers go through. If your offer is somewhat more expensive, customers will hesitate longer before making a purchase. It is highly likely that a user will first click through from PPC, then notice you on Facebook, but only visit your website directly and make a purchase after a month.

5) You are advertising in irrelevant regions

For local services or sales, such as restaurants or a local insurance agent, it is a good idea to focus on location. Promoting the Liberec Zoo in Prague makes no sense. You would be wasting money. Ensure that your ad targeting is useful and beneficial in terms of location.