PPC Back-To-Basics Pt 3: Getting Your Account Structure Right in 3 Simple Steps

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Do you hear you should be paying attention to pay per click (PPC) advertising but worried it is complicated or time consuming to get started? No need to worry! In a bi-weekly series I’ll explain how it’s done so that at the end of it you and your business should have the foundations for a great pay per click (PPC) campaign.

What’s more – we’re online on Twitter and in our forums almost 24/7 to help answer any questions you have and to support you. This week’s subject is account set up to help you get the foundations of your pay per click (PPC) campaign right.

How to create a good account structure (brainstorm!)

When you start to set up your account it is good to step away from the details of registering (don’t forget to do so though!) and think of your business in a structured manner. A good structure is the start of a successful campaign and makes it easier to monitor. Anyone can do it - so get a coffee and start thinking about the following:

Image 1 account set up

1. What do you sell? Services, goods or both, whatever is applicable to your business. Divide what you come up with in a couple of main, logical groups almost like the departments in a shop. If you have a well-structured website your categories could be a good starting point:

image 2 account set up

In the case of this home shop I’m looking at (see menu bar above) you can think of the following ‘main groups’ that this business can create:

Image 3 account set up

1. Now think about if there are other main ‘services’ or things your customers would come to you for, separate from the ones just mentioned. Do you offer interior design? Upholstery? Add these to your list. In PPC terms these groups will be called your ‘campaigns’ .

2. Now, within each group you can probably think of sub-groups. If your site has a solid structure it can help you out once again. If you look at ‘bedrooms’ for example you see that the following products are offered underneath:

image 4 account set up

Take this list as a starting point to create sub-groups of the campaigns you came up with. These sub-groups are called ad groups and they are called ad groups as at this level you’ll be able to attach ads. For this reason it is good to ensure the groups are specific – you want to be able to write as targeted as possible ads for your products and services (about which more in later posts – I promised to keep it simple!)

Based on the above you could come up with the following ad groups (in green) I’ll added some thoughts around why I would create some ad groups in one place and some in another so that you get an idea on how you can go about deciding this for yourself:

image 5 account set up

There isn’t really a right or a wrong when it comes to where your ad groups are placed – we mainly give you an example of what your thought process could look like. Some tips to make things easy:

  • Follow the same logic through whilst drawing up your structure.
  • Be specific - don’t lump too many different products together in one ad group; remember you want to be able to direct your ad specifically to ensure the ads are relevant to who searches.
  • Get a second opinion from someone you trust to be just as smart as you.
  • Although it is kind of fun to start looking for keywords it is important to spend time on your planning phase. Time spend on the structure you’ll save later on and possibly some budget too as good foundations are the road to efficiency!

image 6 account set up

Wait there is more – Create Separate ad groups for Specific, Generic and Brand keywords

With the risk of running ahead of the Back to Basic series topics there is something we’ll touch on when we speak about keywords but that you may want to know now you’re creating your account structure. There are different kinds of keywords that – for the sake of the best possible return on investment(ROI) are best separated into different ad groups which you can plan for whilst thinking of your account structure:

  • Generic keywords: like ‘bed’ and ‘beds’
  • Specific keywords: like ‘comfy beds’.
  • Brand keywords: like ‘V-Spring beds’

The structure of your site may have guided you to create an ad group for the specific keywords & brand keywords (great!) but you may not have thought about an ad group for generic keywords.

Well there you are – possibly three coffees down the line – with a great start of your PPC account. It can be somewhat time consuming but trust me – it’s been worth it. In the next blog post we’ll take you through some technical set up details but time spend planning is never wasted!

Related account set up articles that may be of help:

Other blog posts in the PPC Back to Basic Series: