How to Make the Most of Paid Search

Mobile phones are making it easier and easier for consumers to get in touch with businesses with a simple click.  And although calling a business rather than filling out a web form might sound old school, the reality is that click-to-call advertising has led more consumers than ever to contact businesses by making a phone call.  In fact, not only have most people used click-to-call to talk to a company on their mobile, but the majority of people prefer it over filling out a web form.

This information means it’s time for businesses to start considering how they can improve upon their mobile search campaigns.  Below we’ll tell you more about strategies you can start using today to get your paid search to yield more calls.

 

When and When Not to Use Call-Only Campaigns

It’s important to remember that with call-only campaigns, people can call you in response to an ad, but they won’t be sent to a landing page.  In many cases it makes sense that someone will see an ad and want to call the company directly, but this isn’t always true.

If you can safely assume that someone who comes into contact with your company online will probably want more information before they contact you, using a call-only ad will be a waste of time and money; instead, you should make sure they are sent to your landing page.  The best time to use a call-only ad is when you know a product or service will create a feeling of urgency in the person who sees it and they will immediately want to call.

Track Your Ad and Landing Page Calls

In order to get the most out of paid search, you’ll need to rely on data from Google Adwords, Invoca, or another solution that will let you track calls that originate with an ad or a landing page.  Start by using call extensions or call-only ads with tracking numbers within your ads, or populating your website with tracking phone numbers via AdWords’ website call conversion option.

Remember that it’s essential to get as much information from the caller as possible, and you should always grab the keyword, campaign group, and landing page that led someone to call.  Once you have substantial information, you can integrate it with Google AdWords, compare call and click conversions, and get insights into the best keywords to prompt prospects to call.

Identify Top Call Keywords

Your next step is to find which keywords are most effective in getting people to call you.   You can do this by reviewing your keyword reports for different devices and making a list of keywords that result in the highest rates of mobile clicks.  You should always focus on active keywords that are most likely to get people to call.

Creating Ads

Once you’ve identified keywords, you’ll want to create mobile preferred ads using keywords you’ve determined to be most effective in encouraging calls.  To create a mobile-preferred ad, you can simply edit the ad and check “mobile.”

Since call-only ads only allow you two description lines and a URL but no headline, you’ll need the writing to really pack a punch.  It’s essential to create crafted ads that will encourage people to call by explaining why they should.  If you have a free offer or service that they’ll call about, make sure to mention it.  If there’s a specific service you’ll provide, be clear about it.  If users don’t have a reason to call, it will never happen.

Use Click-to-Call Buttons on Mobile Landing Pages

Another great way to reach people who don’t want to fill out forms is to include a click-to-call button on your mobile landing page.  To do this, emphasize the phone number by using large, bold text and placing it within the header of your page close to your form.  While this may sound like a small change, it can give visitors many to your site a more preferable option for getting in touch.

As you move further into your campaign, you can test out different ways of structuring your landing page.  Try adjusting the position, color, and size of your click-to-call button and see if it impacts conversions.  You can also adjust where you locate the form and how much you emphasize it to see how that affects your call numbers.

Listen Carefully During Calls

Whether you or an employee is taking calls from customers, make sure to listen carefully so you can gather new insights about your customers’ needs and preferences.  You can make sure you write down key information, or enlist the help of a tool that offers you the ability to record calls.  The benefit of this is that you can replay them later when you aren’t focused on trying to listen and type at once.  It’s likely that you’ll get a lot more detail about the call by using this message.

As you listen to your calls, be on the lookout for new keywords you may be able to use.  Pay attention to how you might improve the call process.  And of course track the outcomes of your calls so you know which keywords created the most high-quality calls.  If you sync your call data with retargeting campaigns, you can easily get in touch with callers who have not yet converted and provide them with special offers, upsell callers who have already converted, and more.

Optimize Your Campaign

To optimize your campaign, you’ll need to scour your reports to find the top keywords that are driving calls.  You can start by counting how many calls are the result of specific keywords, but don’t forget to look at things like call duration to get a sense of which keywords are resulting in quality calls and to monitor your peak call times.

After you’ve collected this data, you can adjust your bids so your top keywords are in top position and increase bid modifiers so you know your ads are going out at the right times.  Finally, remember to look at locations that are driving the highest numbers of calls and set target locations based on them.  This will ensure that the right people will see your ads.  Don’t forget to modify your bids regionally in GoogleAdWords!

Try these tips today to maximize your paid search campaigns.  To find out more about how you can improve your click-to-call conversion rate, contact Blueprint Internet Marketing at 1.888.533.4886 or info@blueprintim.com.