If you are interested in driving new business to your website, then there is no better way to do it than with Google Ads. In fact, PPC company has been known to drive instant traffic to websites. And this often results in a bunch of new leads, sales, and customers.
If you own a business in Singapore and do not have Adwords certification or don’t have much time to manage your own campaign, it may be a good idea to hire a search marketing agency. However, it’s important that you choose carefully, as the wrong company could actually do more harm than good. The best way to qualify your PPC company is with a few essential questions.
1. Do you offer search term results?
In order to get an accurate gauge on the quality of your traffic and how much is being driven by your PPC campaign, you need to make sure that you are analysing your search term results. And it’s important to note that there is a huge difference between search terms and keywords.
Search terms are the exact words or set of words that customers type in when searching on Google. Keywords are the words or set of words that AdWords advertisers will create for given ad groups in order to target ads to customers. When you know the search term, then you will know what will and will not convert.
. When it comes to adding negative keywords, how are you?
Negative keywords are those that will prevent your ad from being triggered by specific phrases or words. Once your low-performing keywords have been identified, your agency needs to be proactive about adding negative keywords either at the campaign or ad group level. This will drastically improve the quality of the search terms that come in from your ads.
3. How much time do you plan to invest in understanding my business?
No matter how skilled a PPC agency is, there are bound to be some industries that they are not experts in. And this means that they will need to spend time getting to know more about it so that they can offer the best services possible. Singapore businesses need to ensure that the company is willing to invest this time and is asking all of the right questions. They may not know your industry inside and out, but they should at minimum know your geo-specific area, you top performing services and your most profitable products. They should also check in with you about your negative keywords.
4. How do you plan to track conversions?
There is a lot of business who run ad campaigns without ever properly tracking them. And it usually results in their under-counting their conversions. Without proper tracking, you will be able to make the best decisions. And this can cost you a significant amount of money. Luckily, Google Adwords offers excellent tracking options. So make sure your PPC company is familiar with them and find out how they plan to track your conversions.
5. What’s your online advertising niche?
Sure, the PPC agency may be great at what they do, but that does not mean that they are proficient in Google Shopping. If you own an e-commerce business then you need to find out the niche of your PPC company. If they say that they have experience in all areas, then ask them what percentage of their customers’ ad spend is put towards Google Shopping versus the standard PPC. Which industries so they have the most knowledge about?
When it comes to Singapore e-commerce businesses, Google Shopping is much different in comparison to PPC. You need to work with a company who is familiar with product catalogs. Ask the company how much money it manages for their clients. This may seem like a personal question, but you need to be on the lookout for a company that is transparent. The best companies will offer at least a ballpark figure. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for a few references to verify their claims.
6. Will they have ownership of your Adwords account?
One of the most important questions to ask your potential PPC company is if you will maintain ownership of and control of your Adwords account. There are many agencies that create your account within their own Adwords accounts and refuse to relinquish access if you try to take control of the campaign or choose to work with someone else. In some cases, they may also withhold information from you if you can’t access the account. This includes things like your search terms report.
So when setting up the Adwords account, you need to make sure to use your own Gmail account. This way, you can provide the PPC agency with access without completely giving away ownership. This is the most important data that you will ever collect.
7. What is your fee structure?
There are certain agencies that will take percentages of your ad spend. Others work according to flat fees. The more money your company spends, the more likely you will be able to negotiate for flat fees. In most cases, agency fees can range from 10-20 percent, so you need to keep that in mind when are running your numbers. Some agencies have minimum monthly requirements.
If you are working with a small budget and you would like the assistance of a professional, then you may want to consider getting a simple. This way, you will know that your company was set up properly. This way, if you see positive results, you can then consider spending more on advertising.
8. Do you expertise in development and design expertise?
Many businesses are often surprised to learn that the PPC company they have chosen doesn’t have the skills to implement pixels on their website. This means that they will inevitably have to spend more money to hire a website developer. And these costs can really add up. So before you make the decision to hire the agency, ask them if they know how to implement code.
These rules also apply in the case of landing pages. It’s very important that you have a great landing page. So you need to make sure that the company you choose knows how to design landing page and that it is apart of their core service.
Sure, there may be great landing page sites such as Unbounce and Instapage that do not require you to be a developer or designer to use them. These sites give you the ability to create a lander using customised templates. However, it’s still a good idea to have someone who can make your page look good.
Conclusion
If you want to ensure that your PPC campaign is successful, then it’s important that you choose the right sem manager. Not only will this person have a wealth of knowledge, but they will also be able to cater to your specific needs. Ideally, you should work with someone who has experience in your niche and is familiar with the basics. You should also make sure that there are no hidden costs that could significantly affect your budget. By asking the above questions, you can save a lot of time and frustration.
