Investing in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be a frustrating experience. Competing for high-cost keywords, then failing to see a return can be demoralizing for those with limited marketing experience.

Several factors could contribute to poor PPC conversion rates. Here are some practical tips to improve your success with PPC campaigns.

Understand the Breakdown Point

Before you start making changes to your existing PPC strategy, it’s essential to understand where the breakdown is occurring.

If people aren’t clicking your ad, then the ad itself is the problem. You may have failed to highlight the value of your offering or entice the viewer to stop scrolling. Alternatively, you could be targeting the wrong keywords or audience demographics.

If people are clicking through your ad but aren’t converting once they reach your website, it indicates that the ad is working but something is missing on the site.

Clarifying the breakdown point will help you determine which area to focus your improvement strategy upon.

Refine Your Copy

If you’ve determined that your ad is the problem, consider adjusting your headlines and copy to catch someone’s attention and highlight the value you offer.

For example, say you’re doing medical PPC advertising for your ENT practice that services people struggling with severe allergies and respiratory distress. Your ad talks about your practice and expertise but fails to highlight why someone would feel compelled to book an appointment. You change the copy to “Say goodbye to painful allergies” and notice an immediate improvement in your click-through rate (CTR).

What changed? Instead of pushing your experience, you directly addressed a patient pain point. You’re marketing a solution rather than a service. This approach creates an emotional response — proving why they should choose you for this service comes later.

Navigate to a Landing Page

Another common mistake businesses make when investing in PPC advertising is choosing a generic home page or contact page as the link. If your ad is highlighting a specific product or service, the link should navigate to a landing page for that offering.

Creating a landing page minimizes customer friction, making it easier to convert once they click through. The easier the process, the more likely they are to finish it.

Refine Your Keywords

Don’t make the mistake of casting a wide net when choosing keywords. While Google often recommends adding a few, it’s better to niche down than to take a general approach. Yes, adding more keywords will expose your ad to a broader audience, but that doesn’t mean it will be the right one.

Using the example above, consider the ambiguity of the keyword “allergies.” If you use this keyword, you’ll likely get an audience of people looking for allergy medication for their pets, people at risk for anaphylaxis from bee stings, and people looking for information about dietary concerns. None of those people require an ENT.

Conversely, using targeted keywords like “allergy specialist”, “sinus surgery for allergies”, or “Functional endoscopic sinus surgery” would improve the relevance and specificity. You can also use negative keyword lists to avoid ranking for certain terms, like “pet allergies.”

Clarify Your Audience

It’s also important to avoid casting a broad net when defining your target audience. It’s better to hone in on the demographic that’s most likely to use your services.

Take a look at your customer data to determine any overarching trends in who engages with your content or shops at your business the most. Use those parameters when setting your target in PPC campaigns.

Consider an Easy Win

It’s far easier for a first-time customer to spend $15 than $500. Creating a high-value, a low-risk offering can help move potential customers through the funnel and highlight what you can offer. This is why many companies will use a lead magnet for organic traffic or PPC campaigns.

Consider adding an easy win that encourages site visitors to convert. This could be a freebie, a discount, or an affordable introductory product. For example, a fitness gear manufacturer might advertise an entry-level barbell rather than a full home gym setup. Once those customers have converted to something more affordable, you can use email marketing or additional advertising to go for the upsell.

Final Thoughts

These tips are not a recipe for success. There are many variables that could impact the effectiveness of a PPC campaign. That’s why it’s so important to follow the best practices above and then learn from your analytics to determine what works best for your brand.

When in doubt, work with a PPC expert to manage this integral revenue-generating task.