Some of the following PPC myths may have been true once, but the times are changing! Google doesn’t stand still, and keeping up with all the updates and new features can be tricky.
We’ve debunked some of the most common PPC myths for you so that you can confidently venture into the brave new world of PPC.
PPC MYTH 1: “PPC replaces SEO.”
Why spend time grinding your way to the top of the organic search results when you can just pay to be placed above everyone else?
Unfortunately, PPC isn’t as simple as that. Good SEO may still be necessary for your digital marketing strategy to perform well. Most importantly, you need to invest in SEO and PPC, as both channels push traffic to your website.
Also, remember that good SEO means good user experience, which is also a factor in your ad score. If, for instance, your website is slow, you will not get good SEO rankings and also get a low Ad score.
TIP: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket! Being over-reliant on one channel, such as PPC, isn’t advised, as it may not consistently deliver the results you’re looking for.
PPC MYTH 2 “You only need two ads to run a split test.”
Recent updates to Google’s ad algorithm mean that more data is required to determine a ‘champion’ ad following a split or A/B test. This means you need to do more than just test two ads against each other to see which one performs better.
As a result, Google is pushing advertisers to use its new optimization ad rotation feature. The automated ad rotation feature uses all your ads in a selected ad group and displays them on rotation. The new optimized option ensures that the best-performing ads are more likely to show.
TIP: Google says that going from one to a minimum of three ads per ad group will give the group an average 5-15% increase in impressions and clicks.
PPC MYTH 3 “The display network is only useful for brand awareness.”
Google’s display network allows you to place ads on sites from across the web. These websites can range from news sites and blogs to high authority sites related to your industry. The ads can appear in three different formats: text, image, and video.
Some believe these ads are only good for increasing awareness. Still, the introduction of ‘similar audiences’ may help tackle this misconception, as the feature aims to provide you with a better-targeted audience.
Once you activate similar audiences, Google will find and target people similar to your site’s converters, helping you gain potential new customers.
TIP: You must be using remarketing lists to use similar audiences.
PPC MYTH 4 “Google Ad accounts practically manage themselves!”
Manually setting up your ad campaigns is time-consuming, and it’s easy to think the hard work is done once they’re set up, and you won’t need to touch them for a while.
Unfortunately, this is how campaigns get forgotten. Your ad performance drops and your ROI isn’t as good as it used to be. Ad campaigns need regular spring cleaning. There are always ways to optimize their performance, such as cost at bid adjustments and keyword expansion.
While automated options and recommendations are available to Google Ads users, it’s also essential to monitor your account manually.
PPC MYTH 5 “Manual cost-per-click (CPC) bidding is your only option.”
Manual CPC bidding lets you control the maximum amount you can spend per click, per ad. If you don’t know which keywords or placements are the most profitable, it may be worth switching to an automated bid strategy, which sets the bid amounts for you.
There are six automated bid strategies available to you through Google Ads. The ones you pick depend on what goals you want to achieve.
- Maximize clicks – Increase site visits
- Target search page location – Increase visibility on the first page of Google search results or in the top positions
- Target outranking share – Get more visibility over other domains
- Target CPA (cost-per-acquisition) – Get more conversions with your target CPA
- Enhanced cost-per-click – Increase conversions while staying in control of your keyword bids
- Target ROAS (return on ad spend) – Meet a target return on ad spend when you value each conversion differently
- Maximize conversions – Get more conversions while spending your budget
PPC MYTH 6 “Last-click attribution is the best way to measure Google Ads performance” [BONUS]
Google Ads are a fantastic way to boost conversions. But not every person who sees or clicks your ad may choose to buy then and there, especially if they’re still in the research phase. That’s why last-click attribution isn’t always the best way to measure ad performance, and Google agrees so much, that it will soon stop supporting it.
Plenty of other options are open to you, and the one you choose will again be based on your PPC strategy.
- Linear: Equal credit is given to every touchpoint that helped lead to a conversion
- Time decay: More credit is given to the touchpoints closest to the point of conversion
- Position-based: 40% credit is given to the first touchpoint, another 40% to the last touchpoint, and the remaining 20%
- First-click: All credit is given to the first touchpoint
- Data-driven: New from Google, this attribution model is only available to accounts with many conversion data. It uses Google’s machine learning to improve the model over time. It works by using your conversion data to calculate the actual contribution of each search ad click along the conversion path. Additionally, it looks at what your customers do before converting and when they don’t, giving you valuable data.
Conclusion on PPC myths
I hope that I’ve helped with some of your confusion regarding PPC. And have also helped you to debunk the PPC myths that lead to confusion.
Do not get deceived by these PPC myths; be smart enough to make your PPC campaigns productive.
Any other PPC myths that you’ve heard of? Let us know in the comments below. It will be a pleasure to debunk them.
At Todays.agency, since 2005, we have worked in domestic and global markets on over 480 PPC projects, so we know what works and what doesn’t. Check our PPC services.
Relevant case studies of Todays.Agency
- A New Car in Town: Multi-channel Brand Awareness Campaign for the “Swedish Miracle”
- Advanced Google Ads – dynamic search ads for Domo
- How we increased sales and decreased CPA from 21,52 £ per purchase to 4.12 £ in Facebook Ads
