Lead Generation

Blog banner for Google Ads Smart Campaigns

Google Ads Smart Campaign: Should You Use It?

Are you considering setting up a Google Ads Smart Campaign? With its promise of simplicity and ease, it’s no wonder they’re enticing to so many business owners! However, before diving in headfirst, you need to understand how Smart Campaigns work and their  limitations. Understanding these key points will help you make an informed decision on whether Smart Campaigns are right for your business. What Is a Google Ads Smart Campaign? Google Smart Campaigns harness the power of Google’s automation to simplify the advertising set-up process. Smart Campaigns automate ad creation, bidding strategies, and audience targeting. Sounds too good to be true? Keep reading. While you can still select specific keywords, match types are no longer available. Google’s machine learning algorithms take charge of determining the best matches for your ads.  This means set-up can be done within 10 minutes, making it incredibly appealing to Google Ad beginners and small business owners. Are Google Smart Campaigns Effective? The effectiveness of Google Smart Campaigns will depend on your PPC goals. Are you looking to generate more leads? Or are you looking to get started to create awareness with limited resources? Google Smart Campaigns are enticing for small businesses that are tight on cash and looking for an easy way to manage their campaigns. However, it’s worth noting that experienced advertisers do not typically use Smart Campaigns.  Why? The automated nature of Smart Campaigns leaves little room for fine-tuning and optimization. If you are looking to scale your PPC efforts and are playing with a bigger budget, Smart Campaigns are too limited. Important Things to Know About Google Ads Smart Campaigns Be Cautious About the Easy Set-Up With Smart Campaigns, you can hit the ground running without much effort. However, it’s crucial to be aware that by relying on automation, you’re handing over a significant amount of control to Google. That’s why the setup is so easy! Putting your trust in Google makes it more likely that you will overspend. In addition, there is a loss of control over keyword intent and the specific keywords you can choose. While the no-hassle setup may be ideal for small businesses looking for simplicity, it won’t make sense to use Smart Campaigns if you are spending any less thant $1,000 a month on Google Ads. If you’re serious about achieving impactful results, it’s important to consider whether this level of automation aligns with your goals. More often than not, your business will need a custom strategy. Limited Data for Decision Making One major limitation of Google Smart Campaigns is that they provide access to only a limited number of key metrics. Smart campaigns only share the number of impressions, clicks, ad budget spent, calls, and map actions. This lack of in-depth data can hinder your ability to dive deeper into campaign performance analysis. You won’t have access to metrics such as Search Impression Share and Ad Quality Score.  With regular search campaigns, having access to a wider range of data empowers better decision-making and optimization. For example, if your click-through rate (CTR) is low, you can adjust your ad copy to improve it. Similarly, if your landing page isn’t converting effectively then you can make adjustments and test the impact of those changes. You can also remove targeted keywords that are producing clicks but no conversions. Since Smart Campaigns are so simple, they really can limit what you can do in Google Ads. Google’s AI and Machine Learning is Running the Show As we mentioned already, Google’s automation controls many aspects of your campaign. However, Google doesn’t know the ins and outs of your business. They may choose to use bid strategies like Maximize Clicks or Maximize CPA, but that may not make sense for your business goals. Also, you will not be able to test a new bidding strategy if the campaign is not performing well. If you are a highly specialized business or have a very specific customer profile, a customized approach with a standard search campaign is critical.  You Can’t Target Specific Keywords Google doesn’t give you the ability to pick and choose individual keywords. Instead, they serve ads based on keyword themes and what people are searching for. Now, for some businesses, this can work just fine. But here’s the catch: if you have specific keywords or ones with a high cost-per-click (CPC), you will be in trouble. Before setting up your first Smart Campaign, look at the CPC for your targeted keywords. If they are low-cost, it could be worth experimenting with a Smart Campaign. When it comes to choosing between a Smart Campaign and a Search Campaign, evaluate how important keyword control is for you. Think about how it might impact your campaign’s performance. If you are in a highly specialized industry where semantics of specific keywords can get mixed up easily like hospice vs palliative care vs home care, it’s recommended not to use Smart Campaigns because you are leaving the definition of matching up to Google to determine what intent matches your keyword themes and this can lead to a lot of wasted spend! Inaccurate Conversion Tracking One thing you need to watch out for with Smart Campaigns is the limited conversion tracking options. Google takes charge and sets up its conversions to track within your Smart Campaign. But here’s the catch—it might not match up with what you consider a successful campaign. Google might count things like page views or store visits as conversions, which make your performance metrics look inflated and make it seem like your Smart Campaign is performing well. Don’t get fooled by the numbers! We’ve seen this with many potential clients who believe their accounts are performing extremely well but we showed them that their real conversion numbers were being inflated by arbitrary conversion numbers. To get a more accurate picture and a better understanding of how your campaign is performing, take  time to review and customize your conversion tracking options. Should You Use a Google Ads Smart Campaign? Small businesses need

Google Ads Smart Campaign: Should You Use It? Read More »

Blog banner for "How to Optimize Your Google Ads Campaign"

How to Optimize Your Google Ads Campaign

Are you wondering how to optimize your Google Ads campaigns? Many advertisers make the mistake of taking a “set it and forget it” approach when it comes to their ads. Just like with any other digital channel, Google Ads campaigns need to be adjusted over time. In this article, we will go over exactly what Google Ads optimization means and 6 practical strategies you can implement. What is Google Ads Optimization? Google Ads optimization is the process of consistently reviewing your account and making strategic updates to improve performance. After all, your goal is generating more leads and sales, right? This means you need to look for ways to increase clicks, lower costs, and boost conversion rates. It’s important to remember that what has worked in the past may not always continue to work. Many advertisers make the major mistake of setting up their campaign and never touching a single thing after the launch. What they don’t realize is consumer behaviors and search trends can change over time! If you do not adjust your campaigns based on the data coming in, it’s very likely you will have lackluster results. By staying proactive and updating your strategies, you can maximize the potential of your Google Ads campaign, do more with your budget, and get more conversions. 1. Maintaining Your Negative Keyword Lists One crucial element of Google Ads optimization is maintaining your negative keyword lists. Negative keywords play a vital role in reducing irrelevant clicks, which saves you money. Ideally, you will have a preliminary negative keyword list implemented when you first start your campaign. But there’s always room to add more keywords! Leverage Google’s search terms report to do your negative keyword maintenance. It provides insights into what search terms are triggering your ads. For example, you may discover that competitor-related search terms are driving up your costs and leading to few conversions. Add those competitors as negative keywords to avoid further wasted budget. Aim to review this report at least once a week. Some weeks you will have a few negative keywords to add and sometimes you won’t have any. That’s normal!  By adding these terms as negative keywords, you can ensure your ads are shown to the right audience, maximizing your budget’s efficiency 2. Dayparting Are your ads showing at the most optimal times of day? It’s important to consider when your target audience is most likely to search for your services or products. Selecting prime hours to display your ads can maximize your visibility and increase the chances of capturing qualified leads. This Google Ads optimization strategy is called dayparting. If you notice that clicks during after-hours aren’t turning into desired actions, it’s a clear sign that you need to make some adjustments to your schedule. Don’t waste any extra dollars on these clicks. If needed, you can also do negative bid adjustments for after hours to bid less during less optimal times of the day. This provides a flexible solution by allowing you to decrease your bids during certain hours while still maintaining some visibility. 3. Bid Device Adjustments Understanding how your target audience’s behavior and how they use different devices is another way to optimize your Google Ads campaign. A locksmith’s ideal customer is more likely to search on mobile devices, whereas someone looking for an implant specialist may use both desktop and mobile devices for research. By analyzing customer behavior and preferences, you can make well-informed decisions on adjusting your bids. If you’re not sure about the best device bids to set, it’s a good idea to closely monitor your data for 5-8 weeks. This time frame allows you to gather enough traffic and performance data to assess which devices are generating the most conversions. Just like with dayparting, negative bid adjustments can be a valuable tool when you notice low conversion rates on specific devices, like tablets 4. Improve Low Ad Quality Scores Improving your Ad Quality score is one of the best ways to optimize your Google Ads Campaign. Ad Quality Score is a metric in Google Ads that impacts both what you pay and your ad position. It measures the relevance and quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. A higher score leads to lower costs and better ad positions! Implementing a better campaign structure can help increase your score. Don’t overload your ad groups with too many keywords and ads. Google will think your ads are irrelevant and this will lead to a low CTR. Limit it to 2-3 ads per ad group, and don’t have more than 10 keywords in a single ad group. Your landing pages should contain your targeted keywords (this is why too many keywords in an ad group is a big problem), have a clear call-to-action, and have a seamless mobile and desktop experience. Ad copy should also appeal to the customer’s pain points and leverage relevant ad assets. Google factors in your estimated CTR when calculating your score. 5. Geo-Location Bid Adjustments Whether you’re targeting a wide area or specific locations, analyzing the performance of each location is another way to optimize your campaigns. If only 5 out of 20 targeted cities are converting, this means you are not allocating your budget efficiently. By identifying cities or regions that generate high conversions, you can minimize unnecessary spending in underperforming locations. As with many of the strategies already mentioned, you can increase bids or decrease bids as necessary. But you can only make informed decisions if you have enough data! Making changes based on assumptions isn’t always the best idea since it can derail your campaign’s momentum. 6. Review Your Smart Bidding Strategies Don’t make the mistake of never reviewing your bidding strategies. While your Ad Quality Score is important, so are your bids. If you’re currently using manual bidding, it’s important to ensure that your bids are competitive enough to stay competitive in the auction. With Smart Bidding, it’s critical that you don’t let Google take too much control. This results in

How to Optimize Your Google Ads Campaign Read More »

Blog banner image for Locksmith PPC strategies.

Locksmith PPC: 5 Strategies for Success

PPC is a great way to get your business in front of the people who need you most. Unlike organic search marketing (SEO), PPC gives you greater control in when and where your ad appears in search engines. It also is quicker to get to the front of the page versus the slow and steady climb of SEO. While PPC can be a powerful tool to generate leads, it can be challenging for first-time advertisers. In this article, we will be sharing 5 strategies to help you generate more locksmith PPC leads through Google Ads. Watch my video on locksmith lead generation. Before You Get Started, Set The Right Budget! Before diving into your locksmith PPC campaigns, you need to have a realistic budget to set yourself up for success. It’s important to strike a balance. Spending too little may limit your reach and you won’t be able to gather enough data. And many advertisers try to avoid drastic overspending. To determine how much you should spend, consider your customer lifetime value and the cost-per-click (CPC) for your targeted keywords. Multiply your CPC by your daily click goal to see what your daily budget will be (aim to get 5-10 clicks per day!). This is a general rule of thumb for anyone looking to dip their toes into PPC for the first time. PPC Strategies for Locksmiths Strategy #1: Prioritize Intent And Location Based Keywords When it comes to locksmith PPC campaigns, you need to prioritize intent and location-based keywords. These are keywords that show that the searcher is actively looking for a locksmith immediately and in a specific area that you serve. Examples of these keywords are: Location-based 24/7 locksmith in Phoenix Locksmith in Phoenix Intent focused Locksmith open now Emergency locksmith If you are just targeting locksmith and using it as a broad match keyword, your ad will likely be shown for locksmith job postings and education which isn’t relevant for lead generation. Longer-tail keywords typically have lower competition and are a better way to make use of your budget. Strategy #2: Leverage Ad Assets To Make Ads More Compelling To make your locksmith PPC ads more compelling and engaging, you need to use ad assets effectively. Ad assets are additional “real estate” Google gives you to make your ads stand out to searchers. Three key ad extensions that can improve the click-through rate (CTR) of your locksmith PPC campaigns are: Call Extensions Structured Snippet  Extensions Callout Extensions. By including call extensions, you make it convenient for potential customers to call with just one click. This feature is especially valuable when people are in urgent need of a locksmith.  Structured Snippet  Extensions are great to share specific services you provide. As a locksmith, you can list that you do key fobs, building lockouts, car lockouts, and more. This can help increase the click-through-rate because searchers will immediately see if your services are relevant to them. Callout extensions can highlight important qualities that set your locksmith business apart from the competition. You can emphasize quick service, years of experience, 24/7 availability, or being a full-service locksmith. These extensions help reinforce your credibility and value proposition, compelling users to choose your locksmith services over others.  Strategy #3: Focus On Mobile Devices Focusing on mobile is a crucial strategy due to the nature of the locksmith business and the behavior of potential customers. Since people often find themselves locked out of their homes or cars while they’re out and about, it’s highly likely that they’ll be using their mobile phones to search for locksmith services. Capitalize on this behavior by prioritizing mobile advertising. In many cases, 95% of your leads should be coming from mobile devices. By allocating more of your budget and increasing impression share on mobile devices, you can effectively capture a larger share of leads. Experiment with call-only campaigns and bidding more on mobile devices. Build a landing page that is mobile-friendly, as this will provide a seamless user experience and increase the likelihood of conversions.  Strategy #4: Use Call Recordings To Evaluate Lead Quality Not enough advertisers utilize call recording to evaluate the leads generated via phone call. In an industry where mobile usage is extremely high, you need to understand what happens when a customer calls. Call recording can also uncover why your ads may be receiving a ton of calls, but no real sales. Short call durations may indicate that callers didn’t find the information or assistance they were seeking. If you have multiple team members are handling calls, listening to recorded calls can also reveal potential issues in the sales process or customer interaction. On the flip side, call recordings can also reveal what you are doing well. You can share this information to help increase the conversion rate and increase sales. Make sure to check call recording laws in your state before implementing call tracking and recording. States like California, Delaware, and Florida are two-party consent states, which means all parties involved in the conversation must agree to be recorded. Strategy #5: A/B Test Your Ad Copy By conducting A/B tests, you can experiment with different call-to-action (CTA) phrases or unique selling propositions (USPs) to see which ones generate better response rates and conversions. For example, this can be pinning that you are a 24/7 locksmith vs a CTA like Call Now! A/B testing can extend to your landing pages. Testing different elements, such as layout changes or different forms of social proof, can provide insights as to what changes are driving more conversions. One important thing to remember when A/B testing is testing one element at a time to accurately understand what is working and what isn’t. If you make too many changes, your data cannot accurately tell you what is causing the increase or decrease in conversions.  Closing Thoughts on PPC for Locksmiths By using these strategies, you can start your locksmith PPC campaign on the right foot. One important thing to remember about PPC is that it is not

Locksmith PPC: 5 Strategies for Success Read More »

Blog banner for "Top Reasons Why Your Google Ads Not Converting"

Top Reasons Why Your Google Ads Are Not Converting

Are your Google Ads seeing little to no conversions? While it’s tempting to give up on your campaign completely, don’t do that quite yet. Many advertisers face common hurdles and issues when it comes to generating more conversions. In this article, we’ll take a look at the most common reasons why a Google Ads campaign is not converting and what you can do to fix it. 1. Insufficient Budget If your Google Ads are not converting, it could be because you need to increase your budget. Remember, you have to spend money to make money. Many advertisers make the mistake of restricting their budget to a point where their ads are not competitive. If your budget runs out, Google will not show you ads when your ideal customers are looking for the product or services you provide. If you’re facing the dreaded “limited by budget” issue on your account, it’s time to take action.  How to solve: Increase your daily budget or increase your bids. Use the Google Keyword Planner to see what the Top of the Page bid is. It will give you low and high range bidding prices, which help you determine the sweet spot. You can also look at the average CPC and multiply by that how many clicks you want to get per day (5-10+ is the sweet spot) to determine your daily budget. 2. Poor Account Structure One common culprit of low Google Ads conversions is poor account structure. Many new advertisers, especially DIYers, are victims of this. Poor account structure leads to a low ad relevancy score. This means Google will be hesitant to serve your ad and then you’ll have to bid more for a top spot! Avoid cramming many keywords into one ad group or a surplus of ads vying for attention. It’s like a chaotic party where everyone’s talking over each other. The problem with this setup is that your keywords end up competing against each other. How to solve this issue: Limit the number of keywords and ads in your ad groups and campaigns. Keep it tidy with 2-3 ads per ad group, and don’t go overboard with more than 10 keywords in a single ad group. For campaigns, limit yourself to 7-10 ad groups.  Let’s take a quick peek at a good account structure example. One campaign is focused on treatment keywords while the other is focused on locations. From there, we group the keywords based on similarities rather than putting them all in one ad group.  3. Not Targeting the Right Keywords You may find yourself in one of two common situations. Targeting too many low-intent, broad-match keywords that cast a wide net but bring in irrelevant traffic Focusing too much on long-tail, high-intent keywords that have zero searches.  Keyword selection is a critical part of your campaign and may take a little more thought than you may think. Choosing the wrong keywords can cost you a lot of money and time. How to solve this issue: Take a second look at your keywords. This means closely evaluating keywords that aren’t performing well. How much monthly search volume does it have? What search terms are triggering your ads to appear? You may have to conduct additional keyword research to find better options that align with your target audience’s intent. Ideally, you’ll want to select keywords with at least 20 searches per month. Consider pausing certain keywords that aren’t delivering results and reallocate your budget to ones that show promise. 4. Your Campaign is Brand New Excited to see conversions ASAP? That’s not the right expectation to have with a brand new Google Ads campaign. Many new advertisers make the mistake of thinking conversions will come overnight.  In fact, it will take at least 45 days to see some actionable results. Google Ads campaigns need time to gather data and momentum. While you wait for those conversions, you actually need to focus on reviewing other data in your campaign. How to fix this issue: Give your campaign more time!  Track your impressions and clicks. Review your search terms. Wait at least 45 days before making additional big adjustments. 5. Ad Copy Needs Work If you’re seeing plenty of impressions but limited to no clicks, it’s time to assess your ad copy.  Limited to no clicks mean your ad isn’t resonating with searchers. Users are not excited to sign up for your services or reach out to your business.  Luckily, this is an issue that can be fixed easily. You’ll want to incorporate your unique selling points and address customer pain points. How to solve this issue: Re-write your ad copy and test it. Your ad needs to resonate with your target audience by speaking directly to their needs and desires. Include the keyword you’re targeting in your ad copy to boost your ad’s quality score. Ideally, it should be in the first headline Stuck on what to say? Start by analyzing what your competitors are doing. Use AI tools like ChatGPT to generate ideas based on your unique selling points and customer pain points. Closing Thoughts Your campaign may have more than one issue, so go through each of the common issues in this article carefully to see why your Google Ads are not converting. Remember, it’s a continuous process of testing, optimizing, and refining to achieve better results.  If you continue to have issues with your ads, reach out to Level 28 Media for a discovery call and an audit of your Google Ads account. Michelle KopMichelle Kop is a marketing consultant and award-winning pay-per-click marketing strategist. She has over 8 years of professional paid advertising experience in Google and Microsoft Ads, with a specialization in lead generation for B2B and B2C companies. After working in corporate marketing with Fortune Global 500 Brands like Toyota and BP, Michelle founded Level 28 Media, a lead generation micro-agency for small to medium businesses. www.level28media.com

Top Reasons Why Your Google Ads Are Not Converting Read More »

Orthodontist PPC Lead Generation: What You Need to Know

Many orthodontist practices are interested in launching a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign to attract new patients, but it can often be intimidating to get started. Setting up your orthodontist PPC campaign for success requires a strategic approach. In this article, we will share five PPC strategies that will put your practice in front of the right searchers and convert them into patients! What is Orthodontist PPC Lead Generation?  Pay-per-click marketing is a digital marketing strategy where you pay a fee to the advertising platform every time your ads are clicked on. You will target specific keywords, like orthodontist near me, and bid on the keyword to have your ad shown online.  It’s a strategy used to generate more new inquiries for any business, including orthodontists. How much you bid on your keywords and ad relevance will factor into how well your PPC ad performs. Ad relevance includes things like account structure, how compelling your ad copy is, and if the ad is relevant to the search term someone uses. Strategies to Improve Your Orthodontist PPC Performance   1. Understand Your Ideal Customer Profile Many advertisers are always eager to get their campaigns launched. But a big mistake is that they do not establish an ideal customer profile. This is critical to ensure your ad reaches and resonates with the correct audience. As an orthodontist, you need to ask yourself: who is my ideal patient? And what are the traits of these patients? Obviously, the ideal patient is looking to get their teeth straightened. But are the patients that are reaching out to you single, unmarried adults? Or are they parents of kids who need an orthodontic treatment? Are these patients paying out of pocket or with insurance? Does your ideal customer look for a specific orthodontist treatment? Or are they looking for a consultation? You’ll also want to consider how far the ideal customer is willing to drive to see you. These can help with setting your geographic boundaries. By establishing an ideal customer profile, you will have an easier time selecting the right keywords and writing compelling ad copy. 2. Select Your Keywords Carefully Once you have established your ideal customer profile, you need to target the right keywords. For example, you should consider treatment-based keywords like Invisalign near me or clear aligners near me if that’s something you specialize in and need to be found for. Location-based keywords are great ones to choose because they will be a keyword typically used by someone actively searching for an orthodontist. Examples are keywords like orthodontist in los angeles or los angeles orthodontist practice. You can also select keywords that are patient-based. This could be terms that include insurances you accept or keywords geared towards teens rather than adults.  A few things you want to keep in mind when selecting keywords: Keyword search volume: few monthly searches will result in limited reach! Broad intent: keywords that are too broad can cost you a lot of money because there will be too many irrelevant clicks to your ads. Examples of this are dentist in Los Angeles – dentist is too broad and someone may just be looking for a cleaning rather than an orthodontist. Competition level: competitive keywords will require more budget. Google Keyword Planner will let you know which keywords are high, medium, or low competition. 3.  Craft Compelling Ad Copy Boring, irrelevant ad copy means fewer clicks on your ads. You don’t want that, right? This is why you need to think about your unique selling propositions. These are things that differentiate you from other practices in the area. Do you speak Spanish? Are you the only practice that offers weekend appointments? Mention that in your ad! Leverage offers where you can. Include new patient specials, free consultations, and financing options in your ad copy.  If you are a cash-based practice, it’s absolutely critical that you mention this off the bat in your ad copy. Or else you will receive patient inquiries that won’t convert because these are patients looking to use insurance. 4. A/B Test Where Possible A/B testing is critical to high-performing campaigns and to increase conversion rates. Many advertisers make the mistake of not continuing to test things once a campaign has been launched. Remember your unique selling propositions? You can A/B test one offer versus the other. For example, mention only the new patient special vs a certain amount off the treatment. You can also test different call-to-actions. A/B testing can be used in your landing page and your Google ads copy. However, you need to remember two things when conducting testing: Test one thing at a time. You won’t know which variable impacted the results if you test multiple variables. Give plenty of time to collect data. Let your ad run for at least 3-4 weeks. Don’t make the mistake of running it for two days and ending the test. 5. Create a High-Converting Landing Page Getting prospective patients to click on your ad is only half the battle. Now, you need to get them to inquire about your services. This is where building an effective landing page comes in. As an orthodontist, it’s essential that you share before/after pictures! Potential patients want to see what work you have accomplished and the final result. If you have had very complex cases with great results, those are the most ideal to share! However, ensure you get your patient’s written permission before posting any photos. Other things that you include on your landing page: Customer reviews – Include any 5-star online reviews that you have! It builds credibility. Address pain points in the ad copy – Examples are patients wanting a better smile and an improved bite. These will push patients to reach out to you faster. Have prominent call-to-actions (CTAs) – Include a phone number and form where prospective patients can call you.  Share your credentials – Do you have over 10 years of experience? Did you complete a prestigious residency? Include it in your landing

Orthodontist PPC Lead Generation: What You Need to Know Read More »

Blog Banner for: The Most Common PPC Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

The Most Common PPC Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Are you running your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign but aren’t seeing great results? Many business owners make very common, but avoidable PPC mistakes that are costing them money and quality leads! PPC advertising can be a highly effective way to run a successful lead generation campaign but it isn’t as easy as it may seem. In this article, we will go over six common PPC mistakes and how you can avoid them! 6 Common PPC Mistakes That Prevent Success #1 – Not Understanding Your Customer Not establishing your ideal customer profile before starting your PPC campaign is like aimlessly throwing darts into the dark and hoping something will stick. A carefully thought-out strategy is critical to your campaign’s success. Many advertisers will only use simple demographic information, but you need also to understand your ideal customer persona’s pain points, purchasing behavior, and preferences.  This will help increase your conversion rates and save you money – the last thing you want to do is spend money on clicks from the wrong people, right? Some questions you can ask yourself as you build a profile are: Where are your customers located? This can help you target specific cities or zip codes. This is especially helpful if you have a brick-and-mortar location and your ideal customer doesn’t like driving more than 20 minutes for the service you offer. Then you won’t want to target all zip codes in the county. What pushes customers to make a purchasing decision? Do your customers do a lot of research? Or is this an emergency-type situation? For example, locksmith customers need the services ASAP so you will want language that conveys that. It will also affect when and how long your ads are running.  What search terms are your customers using? If you are a commercial roofing company, your customers may be using “roofer near me”. However, this keyword may also attract residential roofing customers. These are the buyer behaviors that you need to take into consideration when building out your campaign because using the wrong keywords can cost you more money. #2 – Too Small Of A Budget Do you like saving money? Of course, you do. However, a lot of people make the mistake of having too small of an ad budget. If you are not spending enough money, then you cannot collect enough reliable data in a reasonable time frame.  Good data helps drive better decision-making and optimization. You can understand what keywords are truly working, which ad copy is performing better, and if the landing page is converting enough clicks into inquiring prospects. You also have to consider the CPC for your industry. If the CPC is $15-20, then a $500 monthly budget will result in low impressions and visibility. It could take you months to start collecting enough actionable data if you do not fund enough. Also, You should also focus more on customer lifetime value and the cost per conversion. If your customer lifetime value is over $2,000 then having a cost per conversion of $60 should not be concerning. #3 – Improper Conversion Tracking A big PPC mistake that many people make is not setting up conversion tracking correctly.  Conversion tracking shows you if a prospect has completed a defined action after interacting with your ads. For a lot of small businesses, the most common types of conversions that people want to track are calls, form fills, and purchases. If you aren’t setting your tracking correctly, then your data will be inaccurate. This means your data can either be overinflated or underperforming! It’s also important that you define what a conversion is. It’s very common that some people accidentally track a page view as a conversion, but that doesn’t tell you much! A page view will not necessarily mean that someone is ready to purchase or contact you. #4 – Not Having Good Ad Copy And Landing Pages Imagine this: your business is in dire need of leads and the pressure is on to get your PPC campaign started. If you are frantically coming up with your copy, you need to hit pause! Rushing through your ad copy and landing page setup is a very common mistake that people make. Crafting compelling ad copy and building out a high-converting campaign is critical to getting the most out of every click on your ads.  First off, poorly written ad copy results in low click-through rates (CTR). This can negatively affect your quality score which results in your ads getting fewer impressions and you having to bid more aggressively to be the top ad. After all, Google and Microsoft Ads do not want to serve low-quality ads! Use every piece of real estate. Ensure your ads are near the character maximum and use all the relevant ad assets. Your copy should also hit customer pain points. Watch my video on writing responsive search ads! If your landing pages are performing poorly, that’s a ton of money wasted on valuable clicks! Remember, you are paying for every click on your ad. It will be in your best interest to build a landing page that makes prospects excited about your services. Implement best practices in order to achieve a highly converting landing page such as: Include strong call-to-actions such as “Schedule a free estimate!” or “Request a consultation!” Avoid using stock images when possible – people want to know you are a real business! Provide a way for prospects to reach out, this can either be a click-to-call button or a form. Reiterate your unique selling points – why should prospects choose you? Include testimonials when possible and more information that makes your business more credible. Watch my video on landing page best practices and must-haves! #5 – Being impatient with results Who doesn’t want results quickly? But don’t make the mistake of pulling the plug on your PPC campaign because you don’t see results in the first 30 days. A high-performing PPC campaign does not happen overnight. You need to give your campaign

The Most Common PPC Mistakes and How to Avoid Them Read More »

Blog banner for "What to Know About Bankruptcy Lawyer PPC Lead Generation"

What to Know About Bankruptcy Lawyer PPC Lead Generation

Are you wondering if pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can help you generate more business for your law firm? With the rise of digital marketing and various options, many lawyers are unsure if bankruptcy lawyer PPC is the right channel to invest in. But fear not, bankruptcy lawyer PPC is a great way to put your firm in front of the right prospects. In this blog, we will discuss how PPC marketing works and specific strategies to improve your bankruptcy law firm’s performance. How Does PPC Advertising Work for Bankruptcy Lawyers? Have you seen ads that pop up when you search for something on a search engine like Google or Microsoft Bing? Well, those are PPC ads! As an advertiser, you can bid on specific keywords related to your business and put yourself in front of people actively searching for your services. These could be keywords like “bankruptcy lawyer near me” or “ch 7 bankruptcy lawyer in los angeles”. The ad will display with the search results, and you will only pay for any clicks made on your ad. What Affects PPC Performance? As you craft your PPC strategy and build out your campaign, you will need to consider several factors that affect campaign performance. Keyword selection: Your keywords can make or break your campaign. Selecting inappropriate keywords can cost you time and money. Ad relevance and quality: Highly relevant ads are more likely to appear higher on search engines. Your ad copy and landing page factor into your ad quality score. Bidding strategy & budget: While your budget does not fully dictate your performance, you still need to have a realistic budget in order to see results. Depending on where your bankruptcy law practice is located in the country, the average cost per click may be high. Targeting options: Google and Microsoft Bing offer a variety of targeting options to help you reach your ideal prospects. This can help you get the most out of your ad budget spend. 5 Strategies to Improve Your Bankruptcy Lawyer PPC Performance Generating quality leads from PPC requires a carefully thought-out strategy and campaign plan. Here are five strategies you can use to improve performance, save on ad budget, and generate more clientele. 1. Understand your ideal customer profile. If you do not know who you are marketing to, how can your campaign be successful? It’s critical that you truly understand your ideal customer profile before launching any kind of PPC campaign. What are the traits of the people looking to file Ch 7 or Ch 13 bankruptcy? Why would they be looking for a bankruptcy lawyer? By answering those questions and traits, you can create copy that speaks to your searcher’s pain points. You will be able to identify what search terms your ideal customer uses. It’s also important to know what geographical areas you want to target. This helps create a more targeted campaign, and it saves you money! 2. Focus on the quality of your conversions. The bankruptcy law industry has a higher cost per conversion compared to other industries, but that should never deter you. You (or your agency/PPC freelancer) need to focus on producing quality leads and reducing your cost per conversion so that your ads are profitable. Generating quality leads is tied back to your keyword selection approach and how well your ads can convert clicks into actual form fills or phone calls. Remember, the amount of ad budget you spend can easily be justified if the leads are high quality! 3. Build a negative keyword list. In a highly competitive industry, you need to keep a close eye on negative keywords to reduce your cost per conversion. This helps you avoid wasted budget spent on irrelevant clicks. For example, “bankruptcy law” may be a keyword you want to put on your list since it’s too broad of a keyword. To maintain your list, you will want to look at the search terms people are using to find your ads. If you see a search term with many irrelevant clicks and a low conversion rate, then it might be time to put that term on your negative keyword list. 4. Test, test, test. A/B testing is critical to high-performing campaigns and higher conversion rates. Common things that PPC advertisers test are ad copy and landing page content. For example, you can test two different landing page styles that have the same content. You can also try pinning one specific headline and description. It’s important that you only test one item at a time. Testing too many factors at once can produce unreliable data, and you won’t know what changes made a positive or negative impact. It’s also critical that you let the tests run for at least a few weeks so there is enough data to analyze. 5. Create a high-converting landing page. It’s important to have a high-performing landing page because you are spending a lot of money on the clicks! In your content, you should convey empathy and address any pain points that clients have when looking for a bankruptcy lawyer. Share more information about your practice’s experience with bankruptcy law and any reviews since it provides credibility. Call-to-actions are also important. Once someone has arrived on your landing page, you need to tell them what steps they need to take next. This could be calling a phone number or filling out a form. Ideally, you will want to have both on your landing page. Closing Thoughts on Bankruptcy Lawyer PPC Lead Generation Don’t be intimidated by the high CPC in the bankruptcy law industry, as building a thoughtful campaign based on best practices can help you achieve great results! Every bankruptcy PPC lead generation campaign is unique, so you need to think about your ideal customer profile and targeted geographic areas carefully. If you are a bankruptcy lawyer looking for lead generation help, contact Level 28 Media for a free discovery call! Michelle KopMichelle Kop is a marketing consultant and award-winning pay-per-click marketing strategist. She

What to Know About Bankruptcy Lawyer PPC Lead Generation Read More »

Blog banner for Local Marketing 101: What You Need to Know

Local Marketing 101: What You Need to Know

In today’s age, it can be easy to overlook using digital marketing to connect with customers in your local area. However, a local digital marketing strategy is key to your success! But many business owners wonder, “What strategies are most important and where should I be focusing my time?” Whether you are a brand new business or a long-time business trying to make a bigger digital footprint, this article will provide insights into the strategies that are the most impactful. This includes creating a Google Business Profile, implementing a local Pay-Per-Click (PPC) strategy, generating online reviews, and developing a high-converting website. Creating a Google Business Profile Having an optimized Google Business Profile is a must for any business. A Google Business Profile  a listing that displays important information about your business such as, hours of operation, address, phone number, and website. It is key to being discovered on Google Maps and Google Search when people are searching for a business similar to yours. The result? Greater online visibility for your business! To optimize your profile, you want to fill out all the information that Google requests. The more information you provide, the more credible your business looks in both the eyes of Google and the customer. Post high-quality images of your storefront (if you have one), products, and services to the profile. You should also write a business description that has relevant keywords. If you are a commercial roofer, then that is something you need to highlight in the description. It’s also critical to encourage customers to leave reviews as it helps increase online visibility and builds trust with future customers. Google also likes to recommend highly-rated businesses! Google provides easy-to-follow instructions on how to create your Google Business listing. Once you create your Google Business profile, you’ll need to verify it before it goes live. Verification options include domain email, phone call, or physical postcard with the postcard being the most common option. Using PPC for Local Marketing Need to generate more leads for your business? PPC advertising is a great way to increase online visibility and generate more customers.  By creating a clear strategy that keeps your ideal customer profile in mind and implementing best practices, you can create ads that appear at the top of Google Search or Microsoft Bing Search  results! Your business will be in front of the right customers at the right time. PPC platforms, like Google Ads, give you more control than traditional marketing channels like print or billboards! You can target specific cities or zip codes so you know your ads are reaching the right people.  Or if you know your ideal customer is affluent, you can bid higher for those with a higher income level and target zip codes in affluent neighborhoods. One of the biggest advantages is that you can measure results from your ads nearly in real-time. Proper conversion tracking and an effective landing page optimization give you insight into the quality and quantity of leads coming through PPC and help you clearly see the return on your investment! Keep in mind that leads don’t just happen overnight. If you have not run PPC ads before, there will be a learning period for you to test and learn the viability of this advertising method for your business.  It can  take at least two to three months to get dialed in – this doesn’t mean you won’t see any results during this time, but once the learning phase is over and you’ve focused on your major optimizations, you should definitely see more consistent performance considering there are no seasonality trends that are affecting it.  Generating Online Reviews Online reviews are an extremely powerful tool for you to build trust and attract new customers. Reviews are critical to greater online visibility, but it’s also becoming part of the customer journey.  In fact, 76% of consumers read online reviews when browsing for local businesses. If you have poor reviews, then you are missing out on a bunch of new potential customers!  Here are a few tips on how to encourage customers to leave reviews: Create QR codes, so customers can easily scan them and be directed to your Google Business Profile Send an automated email or text requesting a review after your services or product has been delivered. Include a call-to-action on your website asking for reviews and link out to your Google Business profile Ask for reviews in-person if you can. When it comes to responding to online reviews, it is absolutely necessary. You should respond professionally and respectfully to all reviews. And yes, that means negative ones also! Remember, this is your online reputation. Avoid getting defensive as it can leave a negative impression on future customers. Creating a High-Converting Website When a future customer looks for a service, your website will be one of the first things they come into contact with. Think of it as the face of your business! Your website needs to include essential information such as your business name, address, phone number, and hours of operation. You should also include information about your products or services, your unique selling points, and any relevant calls-to-action. Should someone call you? Or should they fill out a form on the website? Make it as easy as possible for customers to get in touch! To create a budget-friendly and simple website, you can use website builders such as Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress. These platforms offer templates that make it easy to create a professional-looking website without any coding experience. If you want to take your website to the next level, work with an experienced website designer and developer! This is critical if you are looking to grow your business in the future. Make sure your website content has relevant keywords, updated meta tags, and is mobile-friendly and fast-loading. This makes your website more likely to be ranked on search engines to boost your SEO! Final Thoughts Your local marketing strategy should be unique to your business’s goals and

Local Marketing 101: What You Need to Know Read More »

Should YOu use Microsoft Ads for Lead Generation Blog Banner

Should You Use Microsoft Ads for Lead Generation?

If you’re reading this article, you already know how important Google Ads is to your lead generation strategy, but you want to know if you should expand to Microsoft Ads (Formerly Bing Ads).  With Google being the dominant leader in search, you’re probably wondering if you should invest in Microsoft Ads as another lead source channel. Is it even worth the time and effort to branch out to another search engine and get leads there? This article will take a closer look at the benefits of using Microsoft Ads, how it compares to Google, and will uncover whether it’s even worthwhile for your lead generation efforts. What is Microsoft Ads? Microsoft Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows businesses to run ads across Microsoft Bing search and partner sites like Yahoo and AOL. Like the Google Ads model, advertisers on Microsoft Ads only pay when their ad is clicked on and captures the intent of users searching on Microsoft Bing. If you have a high-quality ad and are outbidding your competitors, your ads are more likely to show for your targeted keywords just like with Google Ads. What Are the Advantages of Microsoft Ads? 1. More Mature & Affluent Demographic With over 14.7 billion monthly PC searches, Microsoft’s Search Network boasts a sizable audience that advertisers can reach. And these searchers tend to have more buying power! 26% of searchers have a household income in the top 25%, and 59% have children living at home. If you are targeting B2B businesses, consider that 52% of decision-makers use Bing as their search engine. It also helps that Bing is the default search engine for PCs and has 18.3% of the market share. Bing users are typically 35+, and the majority of them are married with over $100K household income. This means that you are able to reach a unique, mature, and affluent audience with your offer through Microsoft Ads. 2. Less Competition and More Affordable Clicks If you are not advertising on Microsoft Bing, your competitors might not be either. Google is leagues ahead in terms of popularity and usage, but that does not spell bad news for your future Microsoft Ads campaign. With fewer advertisers to compete with, you will be able to take advantage of more efficient cost-per-clicks (CPCs) that can be  70% lower than Google. Savings can be more or less depending on your industry, but your budget can stretch further with Microsoft Ads. 4. LinkedIn Profile Targeting In 2016, Microsoft acquired LinkedIn and later introduced LinkedIn Profile Targeting to allow advertisers to reach relevant audiences using LinkedIn profile information. This is powerful for B2B marketers who are trying to attract certain decision-makers as leads. 5. ChatGPT Integration Microsoft recently announced plans to invest $10 billion in OpenAI and revealed their new Bing & ChatGPT integration. While the full impact of this integration has yet to be seen, it will likely attract new users to Bing and provide an avenue for future advertising options. 6. Google Import Within a matter of minutes, you will be able to import your Google Ads campaigns directly into Microsoft Ads. The beauty of this is that you don’t have to start your PPC campaigns completely from scratch – you can take what’s already working in Google and your current campaign structure right over to Microsoft Ads. This saves tons of time, manual labor, and major headaches of campaign setup. How About Google Ads & How Does It Compare? You’re probably already running Google Ads or considering it, so there’s no need to give you all the selling points of advertising there. But a quick advantage of Google Ads includes Google has a significantly larger reach than Microsoft Bing. Google is the most prominent and most dominant search engine in the world – it has over 80% of the search engine market share and processes over 1.2 trillion searches per year worldwide.  Large numbers of searchers result in higher monthly search volumes and traffic for advertisers. While Microsoft Ads offers some unique LinkedIn audience options, Google Ads offers even more advanced audience segmentation options. This includes customer match targeting, in-market audience targeting, and affinity audience targeting. These options can help businesses reach more specific groups of people based on their interests and behaviors. Are There Any Disadvantages to Microsoft Ads for Lead Generation? Microsoft Ads has less competition, which means less traffic, as Google is the far more popular search engine. But with less competition and you’ll see more affordable clicks. Also, Microsoft Ads is not a good choice if you target a younger demographic because they are unlikely to be searching there. Is Microsoft Bing Even Worth It? The short answer is yes, but only recommended as a complementary strategy to Google PPC. There are many use cases for Microsoft Bing, including but not limited to the ones listed below: You’re trying to capture B2B leads with specific job titles and industries You’re looking for more affordable leads compared to Google (but remember this will vary per industry and competition) If you’ve scaled your Google Ads campaigns as far as you can with outstanding results and you’re looking to expand and capture more intent You just want to diversify beyond Google to identify where you’ll be able to get the most leads for the most efficient cost A complementary Google and Microsoft Ads strategy will allow you to test both markets and allow you to uncover where to best allocate your marketing dollars for the most efficient leads possible. The best search engine for you will depend on your customer persona and what ads goals. Essentially, there is no wrong choice, only a bad strategy! Michelle KopMichelle Kop is a marketing consultant and award-winning pay-per-click marketing strategist. She has over 8 years of professional paid advertising experience in Google and Microsoft Ads, with a specialization in lead generation for B2B and B2C companies. After working in corporate marketing with Fortune Global 500 Brands like Toyota and BP, Michelle founded

Should You Use Microsoft Ads for Lead Generation? Read More »

Adjusting Your PPC Strategy During a Recession

5 Ways to Adjust Your PPC Strategy During a Recession

With a possible economic downturn on everyone’s mind, many business owners wonder if they still need a PPC strategy during a recession.  Many competitors will pause their marketing campaigns out of fear, but that does not mean you have to. After all, you still need leads (probably more than ever), right? Pausing your PPC marketing can disrupt any momentum you have already built, and your competitors who continue with marketing will gain a competitive edge and take the leads you’re leaving on the table. You need PPC now more than ever because high-intent leads are necessary to close sales. Instead of completely pausing your campaign, think about shifting your strategy a bit. All it takes is being aware of ways to optimize your campaigns to reduce your spend and cost per lead to maximize your budget. Let’s look at how you can adjust your PPC strategy during a recession: 1. Continue with Any High-Converting Campaigns If your campaigns generate plenty of leads at a reasonable cost per lead, don’t stop them! If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.  Another big mistake that you want to avoid is pausing and unpausing your campaigns frequently. Why? This disrupts data flow and it can take some time to pick up the momentum again. Also, depending on your bid strategy, you may need to go into another round of a “learning phase” if you pause and/or make some tweaks to a campaign that’s already doing well. This can lead to your ads losing visibility which decreases traffic and lead volume. However, it is the perfect time to take a closer look at what is not producing leads and “trim the fat.” Pause any low-converting, high-spend Google ads campaign. Better yet, drill down to the keywords and see what’s converting and what’s not. Granularity will be key to finding ways to save and reallocate budget.  Think of it like looking through your credit card bill and canceling pesky subscriptions that are driving up your expenses! 2. Monitor Performance Closely  If you have yet to monitor campaign performance closely, the best time to start is now.  PPC campaigns do not perform well with a long-term “set it and forget it” approach; it requires constant monitoring and adjusting. During a recession, you will need to monitor your ads even closer to get the most out of your ad spend. For example, this may mean switching from an automated bidding strategy to a manual one if things are looking out of control. And yes, manual bidding is still a thing in 2023! It’s also critical to monitor keyword trends and monthly search volumes. Keywords that were not popular before may increase search volume, and you can capitalize on them. This strategy is an excellent way to be proactive instead of reactive to changing consumer behavior. Look at what search terms are being used to find your ads. Are there any irrelevant terms? Add those as negative keywords to avoid spending on wasted clicks. 3. Review Messaging  Your target customers may have different pain points during a recession, so this is an excellent time to take another look at your responsive search ads and landing page content. You may not need a complete overhaul, but you have to make adjustments if pain points have changed.  If you are a residential roofing company, you may want to highlight your financing options if that’s available. You can also mention your reputation as a trustworthy roofer or say that a new roof is a long-term investment that will increase the home’s value in the long run. Think of any current customer objections and integrate that into your copy It’s also helpful to see if your competitors are promoting new offers during the recession or if they stopped marketing altogether. This can help you brainstorm gaps that have been left, and you can add that to your messaging. 4. Adjust Your Ad Schedule Do you typically get most of your leads after 12 PM? Are there fewer impressions and clicks in the mornings? Turning off ads during times of the day with slow traffic and fewer clicks can help you save money! In the online advertising world, this is called dayparting. You can adjust your ad schedule at any time. Just look at the data from the last two to three months to determine when your leads are coming in. If you have been running your ads 24/7 or attempting to generate more leads by bidding during specific times of day, consider pulling that back and shortening that window. Monitor the performance over the next few weeks if you make any changes. If there are fewer leads, then consider reversing your changes. Remember, every PPC campaign is unique and built around who you are targeting. Testing and monitoring are critical to success and continuing PPC during a recession. 5. Focus on Increasing Conversion Rates Take a closer look at how you can improve conversion rates. This allows you to continue your PPC campaign with your current budget, but you are making adjustments to convert more of those clicks into leads. Look at keywords that are already yielding strong conversion rates and allocate more budget to those. Additionally, you can improve your conversion rates by improving your landing page experience. Follow best practices such as implementing a mobile-friendly page, strong call-to-actions, and customer testimonials. If you make any changes, make sure to A/B test it against the previous landing page to measure the increase in conversion rates. You can also add a chat feature to your landing page. Quick responses can increase your chances of converting that click into a lead. However, ensure that someone monitors the chat as unresponsiveness can drive potential customers away. If you have an offer, try testing a new one to reduce friction. It gives price-sensitive customers a more significant incentive to choose you over competitors. Again, you must measure your conversion rates before and after the new offer. However, make one change at a time. By isolating

5 Ways to Adjust Your PPC Strategy During a Recession Read More »

Scroll to Top