How to Use PPC Advertising to Grow Your Pool Business!

How to Use PPC Advertising to Grow Your Pool Business!

Welcome From print materials to online marketing, there is no shortage of ways to spend your marketing budget. And whether your annual budget is $1000 or $10,000, you want to make sure every dollar spent counts. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a great way to get some bang for your buck. While the thought of online advertising can be intimidating, it s not something you necessarily have to hire an agency to do. Let's take a look at PPC, what it is and how it works, so you can try it on for yourself.

Section 1: The Basics

What are Keywords? Keywords are single words or phrases that people search for online. Some examples in the pool industry: Fiberglass pools Inground pools Fiberglass pools dealers near me Pool dealers in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Organic Search Ranking Showing up on search results pages without paying for placement is known as organic ranking. To organically show up within the first few pages of Google s results takes time and effort. Here are some factors that affect your organic search rankings: How often new content is added to the site. (For example, blogging and video.) How relevant that content is to the search terms that folks are using. This factor is also known as keyword density. How established the website is. How popular the site is. And how long people stay on the site. If your website is fairly new, not written with relevant keywords in mind, or not updated very often, Google needs to be reminded that you're there. You can do this by adding new content and paying attention to keywords, but improvement won't happen overnight. If you want immediate results, you can get them with PPC.

What is Pay-Per-Click (PPC)? PPC is a form of online advertising in which advertisers bid on particular search terms (keywords) in order to show up in the top spots on a search results page. Advertisers are only charged if their ad is clicked on.

What Does PPC Look Like? The first four results in this search are PPC. The fifth result is organic.

How Does PPC Work? PPC is basically an auction. You decide on the keywords you want to bid on and how much you want to spend on those keywords. However, even if you make the highest bid, you might not win top position if there's a tie. The winner of the auction is determined by the max bid and the quality score, in addition to how relevant the ad and landing page are.

How Google Figures Your PPC Ad Position Google uses the following formula to determine where your ad will appear on the search results page: Max Bid x Quality Score = Ad Position Quality Score Factors Your quality score is based on the following: Ad relevancy Keyword relevancy Click-through rate Quality of your landing page Historical performance Other, more mysterious relevancy factors Historical Performance Mystery Landing Page Quality Ad Relevancy Click- Through Rate Keyword Relevance

Section 2: Creating Your PPC Campaign

4 Easy Steps to Your First PPC Campaign 1. Set up an account at www.adwords.google.com 2. Use the keyword planner tool to create a campaign. 3. Create a great ad that gives helpful information. 4. Link your ad to a great landing page Let s get started.

Step 1: Set up an account First, you will need an AdWords account. Navigate to www.adwords.google.com, and create a free account.

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool Navigate to the Keyword Planner from the Tools icon.

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool First, you will need an AdWords account. Navigate to Click the blue arrow to enter keywords and get keyword ideas. TIPS: Enter words or phrases that describe what you're advertising. Or the URL of a webpage or entire website related to your business. www.adwords.google.com, and create a free account.

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool Consider how often the word is searched, how much competition there is for the keyword and how much it costs.

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool You can get a forecast by selecting one or more keywords and adding them to your plan.

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool To adjust costs, you can select fewer or more keywords and change your targeted locations.

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool Click CREATE CAMPAIGN to use the selected keywords in a new PPC ad campaign, fill in pop-up, and select SAVE

Step 2: Use the Keyword Planning Tool Click CREATE ADS to get started

Step 3: Create a Great PPC Ad 5 Elements Timing The center of the diagram represents a great PPC ad because it contains all five elements of a great ad: Sense of Urgency Purchase an inground fiberglass pool from us and receive 3 months of FREE pool service! This exclusive offer is limited to the first 20 responses and won t be found elsewhere. Offer 1. Timing 2. Offer 3. Incentive 4. Missed Opportunity 5. Sense Of Urgency Missed Opportunity Incentive Let s take a closer look at the ad to see how it meets the requirements for each element.

Step 3: Create a Great PPC Ad Timing PPC Ad Purchase an inground fiberglass pool from us and receive 3 months of FREE pool service! This exclusive offer is limited to the first 20 responses and won t be found elsewhere. We love our neighbor s pool. Let s look into one for us. The Customer Journey How much is a fiberglass pool? Who are the fiberglass pool dealers near me? Awareness Consideration Purchase Timing your ad is key to your PPC ad success. If you want an audience that is ready to buy, aim your ad at people in the purchase phase of the customer journey. Those users searching the term fiberglass pool dealers near me, are probably ready to buy. Meanwhile, people in the awareness phase of their journey are not likely to be persuaded by the free pool service offer.

Step 3: Create a Great PPC Ad Sense of Urgency PPC Ad Purchase an inground fiberglass pool from us and receive 3 months of FREE pool service! This exclusive offer is limited to the first 20 responses and won t be found elsewhere. We need to act now! A sense of urgency is achieved when you limit your offer. You may choose to only give the offer to a certain number of people or limit the time that the offer is available.

Step 3: Create a Great PPC Ad Missed Opportunity Purchase an inground fiberglass pool from us and receive 3 months of FREE pool service! This exclusive offer is limited to the first 20 responses and won t be found elsewhere. We are going to buy. We don t want to miss our chance for added benefits! To create the concern for missed opportunity, make sure that your offer communicates limited availability. Offer something competitors won t Make it exclusively available through the PPC ad Encourage them to act quickly so they will not miss out

Step 3: Create a Great PPC Ad Incentive Purchase an inground fiberglass pool from us and receive 3 months of FREE pool service! This exclusive offer is limited to the first 20 responses and won t be found elsewhere. We get something free? That s worth it! Remember that we are targeting people in the purchase phase of their journey, so they are going to buy from someone. If your ad gives them an added incentive, they will buy from you instead of a competitor.

Step 3: Create a Great PPC Ad Offer Purchase an inground fiberglass pool from us and receive 3 months of FREE pool service! Hurry! This offer is limited to the first 20 responses. 3 free months of pool service will save us money! The offer is what they will get for responding to your ad. Think carefully about what you offer. The offer should be something people will want Try to make your offer something you don t normally give with a purchase Make sure you have the resources to fulfill the promise

Step 4: Link to a Great Landing Page A landing page is a single page added to your website that is linked directly to your ad campaign. This allows you to track the results of ad campaign and, most importantly, capture a lead!

Step 4: Link to a Great Landing Page Your landing page should: 1. Have a headline that matches your ad 2. Have a URL that matches your ad 3. Match the style of the rest of your site 4. Have a great picture 5. Have easy navigation 6. Be cleanly laid out and load quickly 7. Be mobile-friendly

Creating a Great PPC Ad Bonus Tips Offer What s in it for ME?! Make sure your ad stresses what the benefits will be to your customer. Tell them what they will they get as opposed to what you have.

Creating a Great PPC Ad Bonus Tips Call to Action (CTA) Make sure to include a call to action that gives your audience the opportunity to act after seeing your ad?

Creating a Great PPC Ad Bonus Tips Your PPC ad should: Put keywords in the ad headline so that customers see exactly what they searched for Link to the exact landing page where the call to action is Have relevant ad copy (the headline of the ad is the part most likely to be read) Include ad extensions such as phone number, address and important pages on your website

Section 3: PPC Cost, Strategy and Budget

PPC Cost, Strategy and Budget Cost Keys to managing your costs: As with any auction, it costs what you re willing to pay You need to look at your ROI to see if your efforts are working You should start conservatively and monitor your results carefully

PPC Cost, Strategy and Budget Strategy Two bid strategies and when to use them. Max Clicks: You would use this strategy when your site or business is new and you just need to drive traffic and awareness. You could also use this strategy if you don t want to use a landing page. Max conversions This strategy to allow AdWords to spend your budget on maximizing conversions, by placing a tracking pixel on your form. This is our recommended strategy to collect leads and maximize your PPC ROI.

PPC Cost, Strategy and Budget Strategy When you set up your campaign, you'll choose between: Impressions Clicks Conversions Eyeballs on your ad Clicks through to your website Form on landing page completed

PPC Cost, Strategy and Budget Strategy Conversions = Leads Since you're spending money to get in front of people, you might as well be buying leads. Otherwise, you have no chance to follow up with the folks that clicked on your ad. Conversions rule. Showing up at the top of a search can get you more impressions, clicks and conversions, but conversions are leads that you can follow up with and take to the bank!

PPC Cost, Strategy and Budget Budget Setting your budget From the campaigns screen, click the edit pencil to change the daily budget. AdWords might spend 2x more in a day to maximize clicks, but it will never go over your daily budget x 30.4 days in a month

Section 4: How to Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Understanding key terms will help you analyze your PPC performance. Read through the following before moving on. Impressions: How many times an ad was displayed on a search results page Clicks: How many times an ad was clicked on Click-through rate (CTR): The % of impressions that led to clicks Cost per click (CPC): The actual average cost of each ad click Conversions: set by you, can be actions such as calling from an extension, filling out a form, signing up for a newsletter, or Conversion Rate: The % of ad clicks that perform the desired action (call, form fill, etc.) Average Position: The average position on the page that the ad shows, which depends on Ad rank

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Hover over the status of an ad or keyword to check its current performance. You have to keep an eye on PPC. This is not the type of advertising where you can set it and forget it.

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Use the graphs view to see how your ads perform over time and look for patterns that can give you insight into the best timing for your ads.

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Segments let you break down results from your campaigns. Use segments to show performance by different segments, such as months, day of the week, click type, device type, or keywords. In this example, segmenting by click type shows which extensions and sitelinks get the most clicks along with how many people are calling from the ad.

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Customize columns with the most relevant metrics. Run two campaigns at the same time and compare performance of your bid strategy types, costs per conversion and conversion rates to get a better idea about what may be working or not.

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Use filters to zoom in on specific campaigns, ad groups or ads with a certain text or landing URL. Continue to tweak your ads to find the best performance. Revise your budget and schedule accordingly.

Monitor and Analyze Your PPC Performance Use the demographics screen to see what age, gender, household income, or combination of these clicks on your ads the most. Adjust your ad s target audience accordingly.

Section 5: The Bottom Line

Summation PPC can be an effective way to gain awareness of your business and generate leads, if you: Do good research and choose effective keywords Build an ad and landing page that are relevant to those keywords Set a budget you re comfortable with and stick with it for a few months Carefully monitor, analyze and tweak your results to be sure you re getting the best bang for your buck

Should You Outsource PPC? Whether you should outsource or manage your PPC in-house depends on several factors. Use the comparison charts below to help with your decision. OUTSOURCE Agencies have more expertise Better tools and resources for bid management and competitor analysis Potential for much better ROI Less risk of small but costly mistakes Typically cheaper than hiring an inhouse PPC professional VS. MANAGE IN-HOUSE If your budget is small, there s no need to outsource If you feel comfortable with handling it yourself If you have enough time If your market is small or you re targeting a small geographic area

Join the Thursday Pools Family! We love our dealer family and we are committed to your success. If you have questions about becoming a Thursday Pools dealer, visit thursdaypools.com/become-a-dealer Or email Annie Brock at a.brock@thursdaypools.com