As we have previously mentioned, maintaining the health of your website with a regular audit can ensure the effectiveness of your site and identify areas of improvement.
And this process is as equally important for individuals and clients who are running or considering running, pay per click (PPC) campaigns.
How Can an Audit Benefit your AdWords Campaign?
Not only can an audit of your actual PPC website audit help you to identify flaws on your own site, and in particular the landing pages used specifically in your PPC campaigns, but will give you the additional marketplace awareness to understand exactly what your competitors are up to.
So, if your conversion rate is low and the bounce rate high, it might be time to consider a PPC website audit.
Competitor Analysis
The battle for leads, conversions, and customers through PPC advertising is often fierce and in some industries it’s becoming harder to differentiate yourself from the rest. Having previously conducted keyword research, you’ll be bidding on these key phrases and brand terms; but so are your competitors. This, as you will have likely noticed, leads to somewhat of a “bidding war” resulting in higher cost per click (CPC) prices.
One way to gain an advantage is to analyse the competitive landscape with a PPC competitor audit, looking at ads, landing pages and wider websites.
Landing Page Analysis
Landing pages are a crucial element of any paid search campaign; if they’re not doing their job properly every click becomes wasted money.
If you look at a good PPC account and it’s not converting, you will likely find that the landing pages are where the issues lie. With users taking mere seconds before they decide whether or not they want to engage with your business online, an audit will enable you to identify gaps in content and usability.
What are You Doing Wrong?
The goal of your PPC landings pages is determined by what the visitor is searching for and what action you want them to take. However, many fail to ensure that these pages are optimised for conversion and as such waste money on paying for traffic without generating any leads.
Whilst the below is by no means an extensive list of potential pitfalls it’s a good place to start considering your PPC audit.
Mismatched Messaging
Does your web page deliver on what your prospects expect to find?
If there’s a disconnect between what the ad is offering and the landing page, you’ll lose people quickly. Not only is this a waste of money but customer goodwill where a page fails to follow up on the promise that the ad made.
Ensure that your landing pages are relevant to your ads and give people exactly what they’re looking for.
Writing Copy in a Vacuum
You can make data-driven decisions about your landing pages but you’ll also need to learn how your competitors are advertising to make yourself stand out.
Identify your main competitors and write ads that stand out from theirs ensuring that the landing pages do the same.
Your Pages Lack Clarity
How easily is your value proposition communicated?
This is particularly important as what the visitor sees first will dictate whether they’re going to stay or leave within seconds.
Ensure that your message is consistent and, again, relevant to the ads, with obvious calls to action making it crystal clear what you want visitors to do.
You’re Not Making it Easy for Visitors to Convert
Many make the mistake of sending traffic to a page that isn’t built for conversion.
If you don’t have clear CTAs and clear next steps, your audience isn’t going to know what to do. The job of your landing pages should be to facilitate a swift decision for visitors.
- Distractions – Your keywords will point the way toward a specific goal, your visitor has in mind, so make sure that goal is front and centre with as little clutter as possible.
- Too Much Information – Ensure that your pages aren’t too long and too complex for the searcher’s actual purpose.
- Too Little Information – Pages need enough info to make it clear why the product or service it offers it different and better than alternatives.
- Vague Calls to Action – Any CTA should, as standard practice, include clear wording about what you want visitors to do and what they’ll get out of it.
Need a Hand?
A website audit for the purpose of improving your PPC campaign is invaluable.
However, they take time and, while the few points made above may help, require expert guidance and knowledge to ensure they are done correctly and most effectively.
If you’re currently running an AdWords campaign that isn’t converting, contact our team of experts on 01285 50 55 50 or fill out a contact form for more information.