New to PPC

[jannmirch]

I am going to be working with a client on a PPC campaign. I've never really tried this before but think I have the basics.

I'm looking for a reality check here to make sure I'm not missing something obvious. I appreciate anything you vets have to offer.

He sells boxed candy/fruit snacks to schools/PTA etc for fundraising. He doesn't want to sell online, but wants to drive traffic to his (as-yet-unbuilt) site. From there he wants the phone calls and emails.

I know I need to do research to get good keywords for his market niche/geographic region to get the right traffic and make a realistic recommendation for a budget.

a) am I missing anything obvious?
b) how much time can I expect to put into this each week/month to track what's going on?

Thanks in advance!

[incrediblehelp]

Tough question Jann. Since your new i would be expecting to put much more time in it compared to seasoned user of AdWords. Here are some helpful links to start:

AdWords Learning Center
Inside AdWords

Amazon.com: Winning Results with Google AdWords: Andrew Goodman: Books

5 Steps To A Successful Adwords Campaign

5 ways to waste money with PPC advertising - DMNews

Landing Page Quick Reference Guide | WebProNews

SEOmoz | The AdWords Ad Optimization Process - Little Changes Have a Big Effect

[jannmirch]

Thanks for the jump start. I'll check it out.

[Peter (IMC)]

Sounds like your goal is to get as many phone calls and emails as possible.

That means you have to focus on your cost per conversion. It needs to be as low as possible. So you first need to make sure you´re able to measure it.

Measuring the number of conversions you can do with the right type of form together with some tracking code of Adwords. Then you need to make sure he counts the number of phone calls he gets from the website and use that information to calculate the real cost per conversion.

Organize your campaigns and adgroups based on the keywords you found. Make sure every adgroup has a related keyword. (in other words, every keyword in the same group has to show up (at least partially) in your ad. That will increase your CTR which will reduce your cost per click.

Then you need to make sure that for each ad there is a proper landing page. This will increase relevance which will reduce cost per click and increase conversion rates.

Practically you just start with an initial set up and then you start testing to get better results. That takes time. You'll likely spend at least an hour a day on this. Setting up the whole campaign, including the keyword research will take at least a couple of hours. The more you are allowed to spend, the more keywords you'll need, the more time you'll spend on this.