If you’ve been running AdWords campaigns with subpar results, you’d be amazed at all the alternative (and relatively unknown) methods out there for increasing your CTR and general ROI. Manual bidding, AdWords fraud detection, and negative keywords are the top three lesser-known methods that can take your Adwords game to the next level.
Most people use automatic bidding on PPC platforms, but what about manual bidding? This method is an excellent way to take more control over your AdWords campaign (and generate more clicks). Click fraud detection is another important (but neglected) method that is very underutilized (even by experienced PPC managers). Click fraud can have a major impact on the ROI of your campaigns. Using negative keywords is another method that not many campaign managers use. Learn more about how negative keywords can boost your PPC campaigns (and lead to higher CTRs).
If you’re wondering where to get started with all of these alternative PPC methods, keep reading. Below we go into detail about each of these methods, and cover exactly how to implement them into your PPC campaigns.
Manual Bidding for Total Control
Automatic bidding is easy. There’s no math involved, no speculation, and can sometimes deliver great results (but certainly not always). With that being said, if you want enhanced control over your PPC campaign, you should really be making use of the manual bidding feature available in Adwords. Just because you’re bidding on a certain phrase of keyword, doesn’t mean that you’re actually showing up in SERPs for that keyword/phrase.
One of the main benefits of manually controlling the bidding process is the ability to precisely select increased bids on keywords/search terms that are highly relevant to your business. This will lead to increased impressions, and higher results in the SERPs, which can translate to higher (and more targeted) CTRs.
AdWords Click Fraud Detection
Click fraud prevention and detection are two overlooked methods of increasing AdWords PPC campaign ROI. Although actual click fraud is somewhat rare (rarer than it used to be anyway), it does still happen and is definitely something you should be actively aware of.
Click fraud is typically perpetrated by competing businesses (to lower your ROI), or advertising channels (to inflate clicks in order to increase their own revenue). Although all of the major search engines actively combat click fraud, it’s still possible to fall victim to it. Keep the following three tips in mind to protect yourself from AdWords click fraud.
Use IP Exclusions
One of the best ways to combat against click fraud is by identifying the IP addresses associated with the fraudulent clicks on your ads. Once you’re able to do this, you can then block those IPs from seeing your future ads. Go to the “Settings” tab in the AdWords console and then find the “IP Exclusions” input. Submit the IP addresses and you’re all set.
Avoid Ad Publisher Click Fraud With GDN Remarketing
If publisher-related click fraud is your main cause of concern, you can easily avoid it by only using remarketing campaigns. Because your ads will only be shown to people who have already visited the ad publisher’s site, the publisher will be unable to actually see your ads.
Modify Your Targeting Strategy
You might find that your fraudulent clicks will virtually disappear just by making a few targeting adjustments. It’s fairly common for click fraud to originate from certain geographic regions/countries. If you adjust your targeting to filter out these locations, a large portion of any click fraud you’re experiencing should disappear. Alternatively, if it’s a competing business that you suspect if behind the click fraud, you can set customize your targeting to filter out their specific business location(s). Remember though that you should never filter out normal traffic. The last thing you want to do is minimize the reach of your AdWords campaigns.
Make Use of Negative Keywords
It’s incredibly important to research and make a list of negative keywords. Adding negative keywords to your PPC campaign will eliminate the people who aren’t searching for your brand/keywords/products. It’s important to constantly refine your keyword strategy in order to maximize the ROI of your campaigns.
Negative keyword filtering is a very useful strategy for lowering advertising costs while increasing CTRs. Remember though, there’s a difference between keywords and search queries. Don’t just focus on keywords, because you’ll be missing out on hundreds if not thousands of potential search queries.
