Should I change my SEO / PPC provider

should, i, change, seo, ppc, provider

This articles long title length, is a reflection of all the considerations it will take to truly answer this question of “should I change my SEO / PPC provider”. But i’ll try to condense it. 

So you may have decided to run an seo / ppc (pay per click) campaign using Google Adwords, via a provider for six months or more, but you feel that results are not coming fast enough. You are contemplating a change, as another provider has promised you the same service, with different results. Before you jump ship, there are some things you should consider.

With any PPC campaign, the main beneficiary will be the ads provider. Which in most peoples case, will be Google (no it won’t be the company who is managing your campaign). However changing the company who is managing your campaign after six months, will make Google even more rich, before you see the results you desire. Let me explain. With such campaigns data is key, and one size doesn’t fit all. When you change provider, they too have to build up there own store of data based around your business in order to be effective.

Remember we are talking about real people, which you are trying to reach and convert to customers; Not products on a shelf which you put into a basket, pay for them and there yours. So bear this in mind, when you are receiving visitors, who are not yet your customers. There is a common rule, which you may even find yourself doing. Most people do not purchase on there first visit, and may return more than once before taking action.

Looking firstly at what is happening with your campaign is the first step. How relevant is your content to the prospected visitors. Do they spend a few seconds on a page and leave. If this is happening often, you need to drill down into the data and see what is going wrong. 

I have seen first hand malicious acts from large marketing companies, which purposely click on competitors ads, in order to use up there daily budget, so there customers sites get seen. Firstly being aware of such behaviour, and knowing what ip addresses they use, will allow you to ban them from seeing your ads.

How much you spend on your ads campaign is very important. The data which is collected through your ads campaign allows you to best manage that budget. Remember depending on your market, competition, keywords and phrases you wish to target, this will have a direct affect on how much you will be charged per click. Additionally refining what words and phrases to omit from your campaign, showing your ads to selective locations at selective times will help you to best spend the budget.

Once enough data is collected and the above has been analysed, this is when you should increase your spend, as you are primed to have your ads seen by only those who need to see it. Unfortunately the sad truth of the story for many website owners is, at this stage they may feel as though the campaign is not working and look to swap provider or give up with ads altogether. Unfortunately, it puts them in a cycle doomed to repeat the same steps again.

So firstly i would say, as a website owner, get a general understanding of the process. Which if your reading this, your off to a good start. Secondly, build a good relationship with the business who is providing the service, as you don’t just want to be a figure on there bank balance, but an individual who’s needs really matter.

Competition in your market means, there are countless other individuals, trying to leverage similar techniques, essentially fighting over the same potential customers. So don’t be afraid to get creative with your marketing approach. The more you do yourself, the less you have to pay others. However there is nothing wrong with employing the services of others to facilitate this, if it aligns with your goals. 

Don’t be afraid to change your content, both by editing current material and creating target specific content to reach your ideal customer. But most importantly, understand it is a process which may take time. However, if you can create enough engaging content for your website to organically attract users, you will be able to, over time, reduce your ads spend if you optionally wanted. Remember ppc should be part of a marketing stratergy, as this is not the only way to target individuals. Having all relevant marketing tools working in tandem, will garentee an overall success.

If you need any advice on your PPC campaign, please dont hesitate to contact us. We continually provide free content to help you succeed online, so feel free to check out our other articles.