Anna Rose ThomasWe’ve all been there—staring at paid search reports wondering why impressions are down, costs are up, and leads aren’t rolling in as they should be. As search marketers, few things are more frustrating than seeing search ad campaigns underperform despite our best efforts.
But what if we told you there are 6 key factors you may be overlooking that could completely transform your search advertising results? At Solutions 8, we struggled with lackluster paid search metrics in many of our clients’ campaigns until we dug deeper into these crucial optimization areas. The outcome? We increased our monthly ad spend by 300% while dropping our cost-per-acquisition by 20%!
In early 2023, our paid search performance was stuck in a rut. Despite investing over $8,000 per month, our cost-per-acquisition wallowed around $138—simply not sustainable for profitable growth. Lead volumes plateaued while wasted ad spend mounted.
We knew things had to change but focusing only on routine optimizations such as bid adjustments and ad testing wasn’t cutting it. To seriously move the needle, we needed to revisit the core strategic factors driving (or not driving) performance.
6 Key Factors for Search Domination
After taking a step back to reevaluate, we identified 6 mission-critical factors to improve search ad effectiveness. By optimizing these areas systematically, we engineered a dramatic turnaround:
1. Keyword Research & Selection
The #1 factor underpinning search success is nailing your keyword strategy. If you aren’t strategically targeting qualified buyers through hyper-relevant keywords, you’re flushing your ad budget down the drain.
We performed deep-dive market research beyond basic keyword tools to map our client’s offerings to real user search queries. We mined forums, review sites, and customer surveys to uncover the precise keyword phrasings that resonated with our audience. This allowed us to refine targeting and ad copy to prospects demonstrating purchase intent.
2. Irresistible Ad Copy
With keywords locked, crafting hard-hitting ad copy is next. You could be bidding on immensely valuable keywords, but performance will still falter if your ads don’t grab attention and persuade clicks.
Following our Killer Ad Copy Framework, we A/B tested combinations of benefits, calls-to-action, asks, and USPs to find highly clickable ads. The key was packing maximum value and specificity into those limited characters. In the case of a client that sold industrial area filters, our top winner was, “20% Off Industrial Air Filters | Free Shipping Over $199 | SafeQualityUSA.com.”
3. Exhaustive Ad Extensions
Merely having great ads isn’t enough—you need to leverage all available ad extensions to steal focus on the SERP. Adding callouts, lead forms, pricing, and reviews both improves CTR and qualifies clicks better.
Our revamped search ads look like powerhouse listings taking up maximum real estate. Multimedia extensions such as pictures and videos tantalize viewers to click. Stuffed with informative yet promotional extensions, our new search presence makes competing text ads seem puny in comparison.
4. Quick-Convert Landing Pages
Even with amazing ads driving bucketloads of clicks, it all falls apart without a seamless corresponding landing page experience. Far too many marketers invest heavily to attract clicks and then stumble with underperforming pages.
We rebuilt streamlined, mobile-optimized post-click landing pages focused on lowering bounce rates and minimizing distractions from the primary conversion goal. This simple shift in prioritizing PPC landing experiences was a game changer.
5. Intelligent Bidding Strategies
With a potent keyword, ad creative, and landing page engine in place, the final lever was adjusting our bidding approach. Too often, marketers handicap themselves pursuing suboptimal bidding objectives such as manual CPC caps.
We transitioned to a maximize conversion value automated bidding strategy, allowing our fine-tuned campaigns to gobble up every opportunity Google deems likely to convert at our target CPA. Given our high-value, high-purchase-intent keywords, this was a perfect fit. An aggressive bid strategy accelerated exponential paid search growth at our required efficiencies.
6. Incessant A/B Testing
Of course, even with all the above factors firing, the work is never done. We institutionalized a culture of constant A/B testing across all creative, targeting, and bidding variables. Underperforming ads are swiftly replaced, while we continuously expand our negative keyword list to block wasted spend.
Our agency’s search excellence stems from embracing the mantra: Always Be Testing. Only via meticulous iteration can you hope to stay ahead of the curve in this ultra-competitive channel.
There you have it—the 6 core factors accounting for our agency’s jaw-dropping 300% search spend increase at a 20% lower cost-per-lead.
While the specific optimizations will vary for your business, the universal framework remains: Nail your keyword research. Craft ads with irresistible copy and extensions. Build a frictionless post-click experience. Leverage automated bidding strategies to maximize results. And never stop testing new ways to improve performance.
With these 6 optimization pillars in place, your search campaigns might be the next to experience an exponential growth breakthrough. Why keep leaving revenue on the table?
Start driving more qualified traffic and conversions by taking a holistic look at these critical factors today.
