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The average conversion rate for Google Ads campaigns is 2.70% across all industries. How does yours compare?
Increasing the conversion rate of a campaign or individual keywords and ads results in more sales without the need for any traffic increase.
That means you could be generating more revenue by simply optimizing small details.
That’s why today we’re going to be teaching you how to increase conversion rates step-by-step.
Keep reading if you want to learn how and try Morpio’s AI marketing software that will automate PPC optimization for free.
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1. Run A/B split tests on ad elements
An A/B split test takes two different variables and puts them against each other to determine which is more effective.
You can then double down on these great performers to increase campaign performance and weed out the elements of campaigns that are draining your pocket.
It looks something like this:
So, what kind of results can you see from split testing exactly?
Let’s look at Search Labratory’s PPC management study they did for Hootsuite, for example.
They helped the social media marketing company increase account growth by 200% and reduce cost per conversion by 28%.
How? By split testing.
The project began by creating a list of new keywords, removing poor performing search terms, and expanding into broader keywords.
These are steps you can take right now to begin improving your own campaigns.
Next, Search Laboratory began split testing the copy of ads to find the most effective messages.
This ultimately allowed them to increase their client’s conversion rates by 38%, improve quality score by 1.7 across the board, and more.
Don’t you want to get numbers like that?
Remember that split testing doesn’t have to be extremely complex. You can test out different images, calls to action, or headlines and that can make a drastic difference.
Follow along as we show you how to set up a split test with Facebook ads.
Create a new campaign and select split test
Navigate to the Facebook Ads Manager and create a new campaign. Set the desired goal and click the “Create Split Test Option.”
You can choose between the variables:
- Creative
- Delivery optimization
- Audience
- Placement
Optionally you can import ad sets and settings from other campaigns if you wish below the dropbox.
Click the “Continue” button to move onto the next step.
Edit the variable
Depending on which variable you choose will change how the rest of the Ads Manager process changes.
For example, if you chose to split test the placement of your ad, you will see new options like this:
There are two ad sets, “Ad Set A” and “Ad Set B” by default. However you can add further ad sets to test by clicking the “Test Another Ad Set” button.
Edit each ad set to have a different strategy, copy, audience, etc.
Also note that Facebook will display a percentage of your odds of finding a winning variable in the budget section.
Once you’re satisfied with the variable and campaign settings, submit it for acceptance.
Run the campaign and study the data
Facebook makes split testing very easy. Once your campaign begins running, you simply have to observe how the different ad sets perform now.
But what exactly should you be looking for?
Here are some Facebook ad KPIs to observe in the variables you’re testing:
- Which ad sets or placements are reaching a bigger audience.
- What variables offer a better CPM.
- The click-through rates of different variables.
- The cost of each click and conversion rate.
You can use these metrics to determine if specific creatives or elements are outperforming everything else.
Look at split testing as an investment. By spending some capital and time, you will be able to refine your ads continually to generate your business more sales.
2. Understand keyword intent and how it affects ads
Not all keywords are the same.
Search queries have different goals audience searching for them. This is why it’s crucial to understand the different keyword intentions, and how they affect PPC campaigns.
Here’s a quick rundown of the main types of keywords.
Informational keywords
These are search terms with the end goal of learning something. If a user searches Google for “How to scale a marketing agency,” they most likely are interested in being taught how to grow their company.
You can use informational keywords in campaigns to educate consumers on your brand, product, and expertise which can get them into your funnel. Try using these types of search terms to direct users to content and lead magnets.
Transactional keywords
If your goal is to drive sales with PPC ads, then this will be your bread and butter. Transactional keywords, as you could guess, have a buying intent behind them. The user is interested in making a purchase or is at least somewhere along the later stages buyers journey.
Source: HubSpot
Examples of search terms with buying intent are:
- “Best dog food under $50”
- “Most affordable CRM software”
- “Cheap hotel in New York”
Transactional keywords are best used to drive traffic to landing pages, product pages, and other key points of a sales funnel.
Navigational keywords
Once you generated enough brand equity, users will begin searching for your company’s name or website. This is what we call a navigational search term since the goal is to find a specific business.
Businesses will commonly bid on their brand name for campaigns to take up more space on the search engine results pages. Look what happens if you search Google for “Nike.”
Their organic search website appears, but a paid ad for the term appears at the very top.
3. Align ads with landing pages
A landing page must completely align with the ads driving traffic to it if you want to maximize conversion rates. The branding, design, voice, copy, and more all need to feel familiar to the customer.
Look at this Facebook ad for the financial app Xoom by Paypal:
Clicking it brings you to the landing page where the color, logo, and copy matches the ad exactly.
This ensures that users continue throughout the sales funnel smoothly and with as little confusion as possible. If they saw a completely different logo or product, it would hurt conversions and the user experience.
4. Remarket to users that didn’t convert previously
Remarketing is the strategy of displaying ads to users that previously interacted with your business but didn’t take any action.
This allows you to not miss any opportunities or let users slip through the cracks. Remember that the average bounce rate for a website is 70%, which means most will leave without taking action, and you need to find a way to remarket to them.
Here’s how to do so with a Facebook pixel.
Step 1: Visit the Facebook Pixel manager
Sign into your Facebook Ads account and navigate to the pixel manager here. Click “Set up Pixel” afterwards.
Step 2: Choose your installation method
A Facebook Pixel can be installed by connecting to a partnering platform like Shopify, adding the code yourself, or sending the instructions to a developer.
Partnered websites have plugins and apps that make the process of adding a pixel very quick, so we recommend taking that route if possible.
If not, adding the code by hand isn’t difficult, either. Facebook will give you a snippet of code you can paste onto any page to track users.
Those that wish to outsource this task can simply hand off installation instructions to an employee with sufficient knowledge.
This brings us to the last step.
Step 3: Track important pages and create custom audiences
Key web pages to place a Facebook pixel on for retargeting include product pages, the cart page, and checkout.
Facebook will do all of the heavy lifting and collect data on these users. What you have to do is create a custom audience based on these behaviours.
One of the simplest ways to do this is by making audiences based on URL parameters. For example, you can create an audience for those that reached checkout like this:
The same approach can be done for the cart page, thank you page, or other key steps in your sales funnel.
Breaking down audiences into these different groups is important because they all need to be marketed towards differently. The message you use for a user that abandoned checkout will differ than the one made for someone that already converted, for example.
Wrapping up
Running PPC campaigns is an effective way to reach your target audience, increase brand awareness, and drive sales. You need to use the right strategies to maximize conversion rates, though.
One of the first ways to do is by split testing creatives, sales copy, and audiences. Facebook and most ad platforms have built-in split testing tools you can use to streamline this process.
It’s also crucial that you understand how the different types of keywords affects the audience you attract and how it shapes advertisements.
Your ads also need to align perfectly with their respective landing pages. If the copy, offer, and other elements don’t match up, users are more likely to bounce.
You can’t win every time, though. This is why remarketing is so powerful. By using techniques like Facebook pixels, you can track the users that didn’t take action on your website and send them new ads.
This also leads to the practice of refining your buyers persona. Use Google Analytics or campaign metrics to learn about what devices, behaviours, and demographics make up the average person buying from you.
Learn how Morphio can improve your advertising performance and decision making with machine learning today.
