8 Effective Ways to Reduce CPC
Lowering your CPC requires knowing your audiences, your bidding strategies, and the relevance of your ads. Here are 8 strategies that PPC management services use effectively to get a lower CPC.
1. Best match types
Consider using new match types for your keywords. This means that you will have to research your target field or industry and find keywords relevant to you. You'll likely find slight differences in CPCs for the exact same keyword with different match types. It's always a good idea to experiment in this area.
You should remember that broad match types generally attract more traffic as they tend to be much less restrictive. When you look at your search terms, you'll notice that you're getting clicks for queries that include phrases that are similar to, but not exactly the same as, your campaign keywords. This is why broad match types tend to be a little less expensive than phrase match or exact match keywords. Each of these approaches has its own benefits, so it might be worth trying them out to see which works best for you and your brand. You can try them all and then expand on the match types that are beneficial.
2. Search term audits
It's important to note that Google's specifications have changed for these match types, and instead of focusing on the keywords themselves, Google now focuses on their meaning. Broad match type ads will show on queries related to your keyword, phrase match type ads will show for queries that include the meaning of your keyword, and exact match type ads will show for queries that have the same meaning as your advertisement. . This basically means that search queries no longer have to have the exact same words as your keywords, even for an exact match.
This could become a problem when your ads start showing for queries that are not supported by your products or services. This also increases costs per click. A good way to avoid this is to audit your search terms frequently, to see which searches trigger your search. From there, you need to select the necessary terms and add them to your negative keyword list. This way you can tell Google which search queries it should not show your ads for.
3. Take advantage of exclusions
Similar to the negative keyword list, Google also allows you to choose exclusions for all of your campaign types, such as location. You can use location exclusion to prevent Google from showing your ads in locations where you know you won't get conversions. There are several specific exclusions from display ads that you should also be aware of. There may be certain types of pages or topics that you think your ads would not be suitable for. There may also be certain specific audiences that you do not want to show display ads to, for example, remarketing or conversion audiences. Likewise, you may also not want your ads to be placed in certain types of apps, such as mobile gaming apps, which could lead to a lot of accidental clicks.
4. Long-tail keywords
These are general phrases that contain 3 or more words. They have significantly lower search volume compared to the shorter ones, which means they will also have significantly less competition for offers. Compared to broader and shorter keywords, they are significantly less expensive. Of course, it may also mean fewer visitors to your website, but you will certainly get greater visibility among the long-tail keywords you choose. Since they are more specific, they can also improve your chances of conversion. For example, someone who searches for "men's shoes" is much less likely to make a purchase than a user who searches for "men's black leather shoes." Someone who types this longer keyword already knows what they are looking for and, therefore, is already further along in their purchasing decision.
Here are some simple ways you can find long-tail keywords:
- Use the Google Ads Keyword Planner. This tool allows you to easily assign search volumes and estimated CPCs to any keyword.
- As with the previous step, conduct regular search term audits. This will introduce many new possible keywords that users are searching for that you may not have considered.
- When you type a keyword into Google's search bar, you get a drop-down menu with suggestions to finish your phrase. These are commonly searched keywords, and you can try putting some of them in the keyword and find an estimate of CPC and search volumes.
- Almost 85% of Google searches receive the “People also ask” section. This feature allows you to understand what people are asking about and is a great way to find new, longer keywords.
- The SERP footer also displays search terms that are similar to what you searched for. This is also a section that you can use effectively to find out what people are searching for.
5. Better bidding strategies
You may also want to consider changing your bidding strategies. Google offers multiple types of bidding strategies, including some automated bidding strategies as well. These include strategies like better CPC, more clicks, more conversions, target CPA, and a few more. Many advertisers don't opt for automated bidding strategies as they like to have maximum control over their CPC numbers. However, as long as you have enough conversion data in your Google Ads account, feel free to choose one of the many semi-automated bidding strategies that Google offers.
Our main focus here is the automated Enhanced CPC strategy. By doing this, you provide Google with information about the maximum amount you are willing to bid for any given keyword. Then, based on your parameters, an algorithm will optimize your ad serving for you. This saves you considerable time and effort that you would otherwise have to spend monitoring your ads and CPC. Of course, since it is a semi-automatic process, you will still have to keep an eye on the process. This is because the algorithm will require some time to go through its learning phase and get the best results. You'll need to make sure your bid amounts don't increase and your conversions don't suddenly decrease while the algorithm learns the ropes.
6. Quality level
Quality Score is essentially Google's rating of the quality of your ad. This is calculated through the relevance of your keywords, your CTR, the quality of your landing pages, and your SERP performance in the past. It can significantly affect the position of your ads in the SERP, as well as how much you will have to pay for each click. The better your quality score, the higher your ad rank and the lower your CPC.
When you improve ad-keyword match, you also improve your ad's relevance. This is another important factor in calculating your quality score. Likewise, when you match your landing pages to keywords, your landing page experience also improves, which is another important component in deciding your quality score.
7. Smartly Written Responsive Search Ads
As of June 2022, Google has stopped expanded text ads for marketing. Advertisers now only have responsive search ads to appear in Google search results. Google requires you to enter 15 titles and 4 descriptions, from which the algorithm will randomly choose and create combinations of titles and descriptions for your ads. Google makes this decision based on the number of impressions and clicks each of your titles or descriptions gets, based on which it decides the strength and relevance of your ad.
A big consideration for your Ad Intensity metric is the number of titles and descriptions you provide. It can be difficult to find 15 headlines, but not only is it useful for Google split testing, it is also important for your ad strength to stay high. However, during this test-and-learn period, Google might create headline combinations that don't make sense or misrepresent its services. That is why it is very important to write your responsive search ads very smartly. Consider following these tips for writing your ads:
- Add required titles
- Avoid any redundancy
- Make sure all combinations make sense as much as possible
- Highlight your key-value propositions
- Be smart with keyword insertion
- Set your USPs so they always appear
- Track the performance of all your assets
8. Compelling landing page
The top of landing pages is where most businesses lose the most customers. This refers to the part of the page that is immediately visible before the user has to scroll. This means that the design must not only be really good, but it must also include copy that speaks to the user and makes them want to navigate through your website. A compelling landing page design and copy will not only drive traffic that will offset any CPC, but will also significantly reduce your cost per conversion.
Conclusion
As you may have noticed, lowering your CPC usually includes refining both your ads and your audience to get rid of unnecessary ad spend and unnecessary clicks. The better you understand your audience and their wants, the better you can create ads that reach your ideal customers, and the better your CTR will be and the lower your CPC will be.
