So far this year we’ve been focusing on a series of articles about Pay Per Click Marketing. Part 1 was about the importance of PPC segmentation, and last month we covered how being consistent with your PPC keywords can lead to more leads or sales.
In Part 3 of this series, I’d like to tackle the subject of PPC Testing.
There’s a saying “You don’t know what you don’t know.” And when you don’t test, you miss opportunities to increase leads and sales.
Some of you may be saying to yourself “Testing for Pay Per Click, I didn’t know there was such a thing.” And that is one of the biggest hurdles when it comes to PPC Testing – being unaware that it even exists. The good news is, when it comes to PPC marketing, virtually everything can be easily tested through Google AdWords and Google Analytics. Your keywords, elements on your web pages, lead generation or checkout process, time of day your ads run, and much more can all be tested and tracked.
Think of testing like x-rays. You get an inside look as to what’s going on, what’s broken, what isn’t, and determine what needs to be fixed. And, the beauty of it is that you can have all of your variables and tests going at the same time. Once your pay per click testing is complete, all of the data you need is at your fingertips. You can see what’s causing an increase or decrease in leads or sales, what needs tweaking, what keywords are performing and ultimately where/when/how your money is best being spent.
When doing PPC testing, it’s important to have patience to allow enough statistical data to accumulate. The temptation to cut a test short will result in you not receiving enough data necessary to make good decisions. Data is the key to determining what is working and what isn’t. In other words, if you end the test prior to its full run, you run the risk of not allowing the data to objectively tell the true story.
Testing is a no-brainer when it comes to Pay Per Click marketing. Don’t be afraid to peek behind the curtain of your campaign.