We know how tempting it can be to Google search your own business. If you’re spending your business dollars on a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign, you want to be sure that your ads are showing up when your keyword terms are searched. For your own benefit, resist the urge to type your business name (or any associated keywords) into the search bar!
To give you a better understanding of how self-searches negatively impact your PPC campaign, take a look at what happens if you search (or even worse click) your ad.
IF YOU SEARCH…                                                                                           Â
Your total impressions will increase. Google counts every time your ad appears in search results as an impression. The keyword quality score will become inflated, thus costing you more money in the future to place the same ads.
Assuming that you do not click on your ad, Google will incorrectly determine that you’re uninterested in your business. The click-through-rate (CTR) for your campaign will decrease, thus lowering your Google score and increase your cost-per-click for future campaigns. Your ad will also no longer appear in your search results from the same IP address.
IF YOU CLICK…
You’re costing yourself more money! Google charges your campaign budget for every click regardless of the source.
Assuming that you do not fully engage with your website, your click with register as a bounce. A higher bounce rate will decrease your keyword quality score, and your ads will be served less in search results. And again, your ad will no longer appear in your search results from the same IP address.
If you’ve already gotten into the habit of searching for your business during a PPC campaign, you may have incorrectly come to the conclusion that your PPC campaigns do not yield positive results. Consider the technical reasons your ads do not appear when you searched your business or keywords in the past:
- Google displays your ads on a rotating schedule. Your ad may not appear to users every time they search your keywords, but rather every other time, every third time, etc.
- Google distributes your PPC budget evenly throughout the day. If a user recently clicked on your ad, the search engine will wait to display your ad to another user.
Your Digital Marketing team dedicates a lot of time and effort to optimizing your PPC campaigns with relevant keywords, quality images, and effective spending.
If you’d like an update on your PPC campaign results, contact your Customer Success Coordinator. We’d be happy to collect some data for you!
