Cleaning Your PPC Accounts - #seopodcast 221

Create separate lists for visitors who did not convert, visitors who started but did not finish a purchase, and visitors who completed a purchase. Show each group tailored ads, such as a reminder of the item left behind or related products after checkout, because these people have already shown interest and are more likely to convert.

The hosts prefer managing bids manually for accounts ranging from one thousand to twenty thousand dollars per month. They suggest automated bids may make more sense when managing very large accounts, but for typical small to mid-sized budgets, manual management gives more control over performance.

Product listing ads, or PLAs, are managed through AdWords after Google replaced Google Base and Google Merchant. For e-commerce sites, make sure the price submitted to Google matches the price on your site exactly. Start with your most profitable products if you are new to PLAs to reduce risk of errors.

Adding ad extensions such as phone numbers, site links, newsletter signups, or downloads does increase your cost per click initially. However, if an extension performs well and drives conversions, your quality score improves and the cost per click for that extension can come back down over time.