How to Improve PPC Performance: 7 Reasons for Below-Average Results

There are multiple reasons why the performance of a particular account may suffer. The online advertising world is a constantly changing landscape.

Competition intensity changes, user behavior varies, external events like weather or politics all affect how Ads campaigns perform over time.

Another factor affecting the performance of your account is the changes you or the tools you use do.

Before you go into panic mode and frantically try to apply solutions on how to improve PPC performance (and your PPC bidding), first spend some time and try to identify the possible cause.

Here are 7 common reasons for poor performance of your online advertising account, regardless of the platform:

1. Changes In Your PPC Ads Account

PPC Keyword Changes

Did you pause or reactivate keywords recently? Were there new keywords added that might have increased cost too much? This is usually a case where you will see significant cost changes.

Ad Text Changes

Did you change ads recently? Failure to recognize and evaluate changes in ads can also lead to weaker performance.

Ad Targeting Changes

Changing targeting options leads to shifts in your target audience. The new audience may be bigger, smaller, react differently to the same ads and have different purchasing patterns. False targeting options may also shut you off from all of your traffic.

2. You Changed Your Website or Products

Website Design Changes

Did you change your website recently? Did you move a button or change website colours and texts? These changes may have a critical effect on your website conversion rate and how your users find the products and information they need. Testing is key.

Tracking Pixel Changes

Did you move your conversion tracking code? Is it still working? Check with the person responsible if everything is running.

Products Changes

Changes in pricing or adding shipping costs will affect how competitive you are in comparison to other businesses. This will affect how often your website visitors make purchases.

3. New Settings In Your PPC Management Tool

PPC Goals

Double-check your goals. Are they realistic? Were there any changes made recently? Did you adjust them after important events like sales or Christmas periods?

You Didn’t Set Any Goals

Letting your account run with a bid management tool is like telling a car to drive by itself. Yes it will go fast, but you have to tell it where you want to go to reach your destination. Setting a realistic goal should be your first task after starting with any bid management tool.

4. Competition

New Competitors in the Market

New entrants in the marketplace usually cause CPCs to inflate and worsen the performance of everybody else advertising. One good tip on how to improve PPC performance? Stay ahead of the competition!

Competitor Bidding

Competition is fierce and CPCs may get expensive if competitors decide to bid more aggressively for the same keywords you are using.

Brand Bidding

Bidding on competitor brand keywords is a shady area, but there are cases where your brand keywords get under huge competitor pressure. Either you keep fighting or settle for a lower position.

5. Seasonality and Benchmarking

Seasonality

Your account may have a seasonality which will affect results. Comparing January to December when your main business happens over Christmas will always provide you with a gloomy performance outlook. While evaluating campaigns with seasonal effects, take those into account when setting expectations.

Benchmarking Issues

Results may dramatically vary if you take a too short time period especially if your account performance varies every day.

Conversion Delay

If you know your users need some time between the click and the purchase, do take this into account while evaluating performance. Sometimes the time delay between the click on the ad and the actual purchase may be weeks. This leads to a paradox where the last few days or weeks always look worse in comparison to earlier periods.

6. User Behavior

User behavior is a factor which will also affect performance. There are days where users simply do not convert as well, and there is relatively little you can do about it.

7. External Events

Weather

It affects users not only in the offline world. Sudden spikes in temperature, or extreme weather conditions as storms can affect clickthrough rates (CTRs) on keywords and the conversion rate on your website (both in positive and negative ways).

Political Events

These events happen rarely, but if they concern the area you work in, you may experience huge shocks in demand.

Fashion

If your products go out of fashion, user interest will drop and hence your online advertising performance will stagger.

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, when faced with underperforming PPC accounts, it is crucial to approach the situation with a systematic troubleshooting mindset. By considering the various factors outlined in this article, you can identify the possible causes behind the drop in performance.

Remember to thoroughly assess recent changes, conduct rigorous testing, and set realistic goals aligned with your business objectives. By understanding the intricacies of online advertising and actively addressing potential roadblocks, you can enhance your account’s performance, maximize conversions, and achieve your marketing goals.

With a focused troubleshooting approach, you can pave the way to getting the answers to how to improve PPC performance and act fast.

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