April 15, 2015
The worldwide expansion of the internet has greatly contributed to the transformation of trade and transactions. Ecommerce has expanded rapidly in recent years, as worldwide business to consumer ecommerce sales amounted to more than 1.2 trillion US dollars in 2013 (via Statista), and are expected to reach 2.3 trillion in 2018 (via eMarketer). Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) is crucial to a holistic ecommerce internet advertising strategy, but there are still some misconceptions about ecommerce PPC. Here are four below.
1. The more keywords you have, the more successful you will be
While it’s clearly true that you have to have keywords to be successful, the sheer amount of them doesn’t matter if you aren't using the correct strategy. We suggest using a long tail keyword strategy, which uses longer and more specific keyword phrases that visitors to your site are more likely to use when they are in buying mode. For example, if you sell couches, a long tail keyword might be “red leather couches for sale online.” People that type that in are ready to buy!
2. It is best to link your ad to your website homepage
You may think that directing users to your homepage is a good idea because they can look at all of your products, but in reality, you should direct your user to a landing page that is specifically designed to the keywords that your ad used. If a user clicked on your ad for “red leather couches for sale online,” then they should see a page that is dedicated to red leather couches. Make sure there is a clear call to action for the user and that they know exactly what to do when they are ready to buy those couches.
3. The higher your click-through rate, the more successful you will be
This is only one of the metrics that determines how successful your ecommerce website will be. If you get a ton of traffic but your conversion rate is low, then you won’t be successful. We know that the 3 most important metrics in ecommerce PPC are traffic, conversion rate, and average order value. Multiply all 3 of those together, and you get revenue. A 10% increase in traffic is the same as a 10% increase in conversion rate. Imagine the growth of your business when you drive users to your website through a long tail keyword strategy coupled with a relevant landing page with call to actions!
4. Users who click on your ad become customers on the same day
Not so fast! While we can’t necessarily expect users to become customers so quickly, just because they clicked on your ad and did not make a purchase does not mean that you should forget about them. Utilizing a robust remarketing strategy with your PPC campaign is critical to your strategy. Remarketing uses banner ads that target users after they have visited your site. For example, if a potential customer goes to AccuWeather.com to check the weather, they could see your ad for red leather couches. The idea is to bring them back to your site to make a purchase. Of the people that visited your site the first time, 67% of them who visit your site again will end up making a purchase! (via SearchEngine Journal)