Measuring the success of your PPC campaign accurately depends on what types of conversion you value and what benchmarks you set for each. Knowing success metrics is especially important if you want to learn how to sell PPC services to businesses in the future.
Today, I want to answer what you can consider an average conversion rate, and what you can do to boost your PPC conversions in the future.
There’s No Such Thing as a ‘Perfect’ Rate
Do not expect to find a “perfect conversion rate” when starting a PPC campaign – it does not exist. Neither does an average conversion rate, in reality. Your average conversion rate will depend on several factors, including your selection of keywords; your target audience; your website optimization; and your landing page optimization (if the landing page is separate from the website).
MarketingSherpa’s 2012 study on PPC reveals that the average conversion rate for PPC is a little under 8%, with the median being at 3.5%. The study also reveals that paid search drives an average of 29% or almost one-third of inbound web traffic. Note that these numbers can vary significantly depending on your campaign. It also depends on what you will consider as a conversion.
Do you want to gain more profit, or are you looking for increased site traffic? Your average conversion rate will change depending on what actions from your audience you value the most.
Improving Your Conversion Rate
The best way to benchmark your average conversion rate is through continuous testing and conversion optimization. It’s important for you to do A/B testing for a given timeframe to gather enough information about your audience’s reaction to different techniques. Meanwhile, optimizing your page helps move your audience towards taking the next step in your goals, whether it is to become customers or to share the word about your brand.
Below are a few tips for boosting your conversion rate – use it as your basic checklist when launching your PPC campaign:
- Remember to set up Analytics at the start of each campaign. This will show you which pages work and which ones need improvement. Create goal paths for each page you want to use as your landing page.
- Find out what works and what does not work on your landing pages. Test different elements by tweaking your copy, calls to action, and tags. Gather feedback from your site visitors and find out what elements you need to change and what parts they really like, and apply these to your landing pages.
- Make sure to optimize your website if you will use it as your landing page. Visitors want to find information easily. Keep your copy to the point, and keep effective storytelling in mind, as I’ve discussed in previous blogs. Use multimedia elements to add dimension and keep their interest in the page you chose as your landing page.
- Keep developing new ads as your campaign progresses. New ads can be more effective at garnering more clicks. Make sure to come up with new ad copies and test different keywords. If you have an ad that is particularly effective, use it as your guide when writing new ones. Find out what works about that ad, and apply those characteristics in your next copy.
- Shorten your process. Whether you want them to sign up, leave their contact information, or buy something from you, keep your process within 3-4 steps.
Contact your account manager today for a more comprehensive list of things to remember when launching your PPC campaign. Sign up for a free account today and become our partner to get started on your campaign. Keep checking back for more tips and updates!
