Using the Right Keywords for an Auto Body Shop PPC Ad Campaign

Last week we spoke about getting a PPC ad campaign launched for your marketing efforts.  A very important aspect to that is bidding on good keywords.  Selecting the right keywords is essential if you wish to see any return on your investment. So many people waste thousands on PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing because they misunderstand the concept. The aim of PPC marketing is to drive as much TARGETED traffic to your landing page as possible. The keywords you pick should be based on deep research and analysis of your potential customers search and online habits. There are lots of online tools that will show you the keywords/keyphrases that the many online users are typing in, but this should not affect your decision when selecting your keywords. A hundred million people could search for the same keyword every day, but if none of them are searching for your products, then it does not matter how many people click on your advert. None of them will convert into sales and the money you pay on clicks will be wasted.  Check out the Google AdWords Keyword Tool to find keywords that your business is relevant to.

Bidding occurs when more than one person wants to run adverts under the same keyword. The person who agrees to pay the most per click on their advert will be featured first and/or at the top. You may pay a certain amount of money per click, but you should set a budget limit so that you do not spend too much money per day. Start by setting your bid per advert/keyword extremely low manually. If you are new to bidding for keywords, then set your daily budget exceptionally low and allow the platform to bid for you automatically. Do not be fooled by the figures shown on the PPC platform. There are times during the day when your low cost adverts will run, because other peoples budgets are maxed or other people have picked different time to run their adverts.

Slowly increase the amount you spend per keyword/advert per day and see what difference it makes. When you start receiving traffic, check which keywords are pulling in the most and figure which are converting into sales. Those are the keywords/phrases on which you should concentrate your future effort.

If you fancy some cheaper keywords, then try long tailed keywords. Examine what your potential customers may search for and use those. So, for example, instead of having "auto body shops", try "auto body shop cheap repairs". Better still, add your location in there, for example, "auto body shops Sandusky OH". The bid price for key phrases such as these will be lower and will bring in far more targeted traffic.  Check this article out to see some other good tips on developing good keywords for your PPC ad campaign.