How to Get More Leads Without Expanding Your PPC Adwords Budget

The number one reason why many small businesses turn away from paid search as a plausible lead generation strategy is the perceived cost of PPC campaigns. Others see it is a gamble that may or may not work.

What could you possibly do with $100, $200, or perhaps $300 per day when other larger advertisers are forking out thousands of dollars each day on their campaigns? A lot in fact.

Here’s the truth about paid search: you do not require a large budget to benefit from PPC; with plenty of prudence and creativity you can leverage your limited budget to generate qualified leads.

Here’s how to get started:

Be ruthless with your keyword bidding strategy

Because you have a smaller budget, you have limited leeway to play around with a large number of keywords. It is tempting to want to bid on all those seemingly appropriate keywords. However, a better strategy is to limit yourself to a handful of the most relevant keywords to avoid exhausting your budget too fast.

Broad match terms can be great in attracting searchers by intent. But these terms can easily eat into your budget if people are clicking on them and not finding what they want.  This means you need to be extremely careful to ensure that the broad match terms you use are relevant, by thinking about the searcher’s intention.

If a broad match term is not working, i.e. the conversion rates and the click through rates are too low, then it is time to let go of the term instead of spending more money on it.

Stop Buying Keywords That Are Not Working

Shutting down keywords that are not bringing you the desired results is part of being hardnosed with your keyword bidding strategy.

You do not have to stay at the top three positions on Google search when the Cost per Click (CPC) for a keyword is too costly and is not bringing you substantial conversions. In other words, stop the costly CPC keyword if you cannot justify it with solid, converting leads on your landing page, and replace it with another keyword.

What if your click through rate is low, the cost per conversion is high and the keyword is relevant to your business? One alternative is to maximize your clicks through AdWord’s Flexible Bid Option, which allows you to set a limit on your bids for particular keywords.

Another option is to simply lower your Maximum cost per click for the keyword. Both these strategies will enable you to boost click through rates within the limits of your budget.

It is also worthwhile using the Automated Campaign Settings. First, these settings allow Adwords to stop keywords if they go beyond your budget. Adwords will also automatically manage your bids to optimize conversions. Even if the automated campaign settings are on, you still have manual control of your account.

Make the Most of Flexible Bid Strategies

We mentioned Flexible Bid Strategies a little earlier in passing but let’s delve into that. Google allows you to use several bid strategies so you can get the most bang for your buck on your campaign goals.

There are six types of strategies that you can set, including maximize clicks, target search page location, target outranking share, target cost-per-acquisition (CPA), enhanced cost-per-click (ECPC), and Target return on ad spend (ROAS).

Each strategy will allow you to achieve a specific goal, for example, you could set the ‘maximize click’ strategy to drive traffic to your site by getting the most clicks within your chosen budget. If you set the ‘target return on ad spend’ strategy, Google will automatically set your bids so you can attain the most conversion while still reaching our ROI targets.

Head over to Flexible Bidding Strategies at Google to have a look at the options you have to automatically align your budget with your campaign goals.

Optimize Your Ads With Free Extensions

Ad extensions can be useful in improving click through rates and generating targeted leads who are more likely to become customers. If you are willing to speak with would-be customers on the phone, you can include a phone extension to your ad to invite users to call in.

You could also add consumer ratings and reviews so searchers can see social proof showing what people are saying about your business. Showing off your good reviews and ratings gives your business greater credibility and people are more likely to click through to the landing page.

Adwords PPC Tips

It goes without saying that a glittery ad on the search networks is not enough. Even as you tweak and make the most of Adwords settings to suit your budget, ensure that your landing page is thoroughly optimized and tested to retain leads and to nurture them into high potential customers. Do not forget to keep monitoring your account with Google Analytics to make sure that your campaigns are running as desired.