The Importance of Content for PPC

As my career in PPC has progressed, I have found myself delving far deeper than the bare bones of basic account optimisation. PPC management is about research, creating compelling ads and gaining the knowledge of what a client’s target audience is searching for. When you combine this with a client who is receptive and eager to follow the advice they are offered, this makes for a perfectly managed Google Ads account that not only maintains good results but grows and develops over time.

In this article, we will explore effective optimisation of a Google Ads account and dispel the misconception that a PPC expert can do it all without any input from the client.

As a PPC expert, my job is to provide my clients with a set of ads, images, sitelinks and ad extensions that will attract their target audience and lead them to an informative, relevant landing page to continue their journey. Not only that, it is my responsibility to get the best from the ads, and this can involve requesting changes to landing pages to improve the landing page experience.

Sometimes clients have particular ads in mind that they want me to create. This would apply to a client such as a beauty salon owner with specific services they want to promote. The process for this will include:

• Identify what the salon is being found for organically using Google Search Console
• Research competitors and identify commonly used keywords
• Use the keyword finder on Google Ads to determine the search volume behind the keywords they want to use

Once keywords are confirmed, you can create the ads to point to the most relevant landing page. These ads will need regular optimisation to keep them highly targeted.

Now consider a charity’s website. They want more exposure, more brand awareness, increased donations and might even be looking to find people to get involved with their charity so they enlist the help of a PPC expert to help them. In this instance, they would be eligible for a Google Ad Grant account, which provides USD10,000 a month of ad spend. They may not have any specific keywords in mind that they want to target but are happy to create ads that are going to target the correct audience in order to make the most of the ‘gift in kind’ ad spend from Google.

Considerable time then needs to be spent going through the charity’s website. Understanding what they offer, how they support people, who they are looking to reach and what their goals are is crucial. Then look at what similar charities are talking about and use Google and Google Search Console to discover what people are searching for that is relevant to the charity. By doing this you will come up with an account structure that targets all relevant keywords to generate a high search volume.

Once keywords and compelling ads have been created, you are ready to watch those clicks and conversions come flying in…as long as the content is there for the ad to point to. If it isn’t, that’s where the involvement and engagement from the client is essential. Make recommendations of relevant, popular content that they should create for the benefit of the ads. This could be a blog or even a hidden page that is not navigable from the website. It may even mean that the content suggested isn’t one of the charity’s main focuses but the research says that there is high interest from the charity’s target audience and by pulling them in with a compelling ad that leads to informative, relevant content, they will then be encouraged to look further into the website.

One example of the success of this process is a children’s charity that we work with who support vulnerable children and their families in the slums of Kampala. The work they do is invaluable; providing food and protection and catering to the futures of these families by offering skilling programmes.

Upon doing my research into what people search for around the topic of African children’s charities I came across popular content surrounding period poverty. There was little to no information surrounding this topic on their website so I suggested it as a content idea.

Soon after this, the charity published a dedicated blog based on this topic and incorporated the keywords we had suggested into the writing. Once we created the ad, they quickly began receiving clicks and conversions which have hugely helped the overall metrics of the account grow. This is an excellent example of the marriage between client and agency, and how both need to work together to achieve maximum growth. This is just one of the many ways we have worked together to grow this charity’s Google Ad Grant account. We have also made suggestions regarding their current landing pages to include more high-value keywords. Ultimately, for the success of the account, it is vital that ads point to a page that includes the keywords and is informative and beneficial to the user. This helps Google recognise that the page is relevant and is more likely to show the ad. In short, no matter how good the ads are, if the pages they point to are not highly relevant to the keywords you want to target, they will not rank well or lead to a conversion.

As you can see from the metrics below, “Period Poverty” has made a significant impact on the overall metrics for the account and this has only been possible by the client creating a relevant piece of content that compliments the ad I created for them.

Monthly catch up calls with our clients is another crucial way to help us work together more effectively. They will share content ideas with me and ask how they can make them more relevant to the ads. We will then do the necessary research and report back on our findings. We will discuss any upcoming events and how best to promote them and will make suggestions. We will also share ideas of topics and keywords that we have come across in our research that are highly relevant. If we have been unable to find a good enough landing page, we will suggest content for them to create.

When you enlist the help of a PPC expert, you should see it that you are entering into a partnership. Of course, we cannot demand this from our clients and will work to the best of our ability with what we have available to us. But when we are met with a client who brings their experience and knowledge of their business as well as a willingness to listen and act on the advice we offer, it creates the best possible outcome for their Google Ads account.