Pay-​per-​click (PPC) advertising returns an average of $2 for every $1 spent, according to an article by WordStream. However, that is if they’re correctly optimized. If your client’s PPC strategies are optimized, they could achieve a 200% ROI. Want to know how to get your client’s PPC ads optimized to that level? Here are some tips.

Are Your Client’s PPC Strategies Returning a Great ROI?

Beat the Competition

Sometimes, being the best means you just have to ensure your client’s PPC strategies are more optimized than their competitors’. But how can you know how your client’s competitors’ search and PPC strategies are faring?

The technology to do just that doesn’t exist. Yet. However, WordStream analyzed 17,253 US-​based search advertising campaigns across 23 industries that ran between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. With this information, WordStream found that search advertising benchmarks across all industries have an average of:

• Click-​Through Rate: 6.11%
• Cost Per Click: $4.22
• Conversion Rate: 7.04%
• Cost Per Lead: $53.52

How does your client’s current search campaign measure up to these averages?

Boosting Click-​Through Rates

Even if your client’s click-​through rates currently match or exceed the national average, you shouldn’t stop there. Want to make your client’s click-​through rates even better for more successful PPC strategies? WordStream recommends taking a look at the ad copy your clients are currently using. Are they using key or power words that resonate well with the target audience? Do they use emotional phrases to drive emotion-​based action? For example, to inspire confidence, your client’s ads could include words such as “experts,” “fool-​proof,” “proven,” or “tried and true.”

Do some research to see what keywords are popular in your client’s industry, as well as what emotions are driving their target audience to make purchases and add those and related words/​phrases to your client’s ads. You can look up the emotions that drive purchases by looking up the target audience’s profile on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel.

Improve Your Client’s Cost Per Click

Remember, the price above is an average. Depending on your client’s industry, they could see a dramatically higher or lower number based on aspects such as the level of competition in their industry. But that doesn’t mean that they have to accept the cost per click they have now.

If they want to lower it for the benefit of their PPC strategies, WordStream recommends starting out by looking at your client’s quality score.  “If you offer a high-​quality landing page experience and serve a highly relevant ad to your audience, Google is more likely to reward you with cheaper clicks since your ad is the best possible option to show to users,” says WordStream. Reevaluating your client’s bidding strategy can also help bring down the cost.

But whatever you do, don’t let your client sacrifice quality clicks and conversions. Saving a little on cost per clicks is not worth giving up clicks that will benefit your client.

Boosting Conversion Rates

Boosting your conversion rates could be as easy as improving other aspects of your client’s PPC strategies, such as the two above. If those already meet or exceed the national averages, the next step is to take a look at your client’s landing pages. Are they optimized for any device consumers may be viewing them on? How’s the site’s conversion flow? Is everything easy to find and navigate to? You should also encourage your client to add more unique value propositions and call-​to-​action phrases throughout the site's content.

Once you’ve checked your client’s landing pages, analyze the keywords, ad copy, and audience they’re targeting, says WordStream. All three need to be aligned in order to get the best results.

Photo by Cleo Vermij