9 Cost-Per-Lead Fixes That Actually Work

Most people think of PPC account management as a way to grow and continue moving forward. This is most likely how the majority of PPC companies have built a successful business. After all, doesn’t everyone want the entire cotton candy experience instead of just enjoying a single flavor? So, what would it take for someone to receive all three?

The second question is how do we get more conversions for our account?

Eventually, we need to evaluate and determine what cost per lead (CPL) to use when evaluating how many are coming in and figuring out how to develop an effective strategy for decreasing CPL.

The debate over whether to concentrate on decreasing CPL or enhancing lead volume (with segmented CPLs being around margins) is always heated. After a discussion about either issue has already been taken place or lead volume has been maximized and decreasing CPL becomes the next option, use the following 9 recommendations to assist you in starting the process:

1. Decreasing Your Cost per Lead (CPL)

Before you go looking for things to cut/break/change/webpage edit/etc., be sure you are making an informed decision. In this process, you may end up cutting leads down to 0 (or near to) for the “greater good”! But do you want to lose all of those leads? Should you segment out those lead types (likely with a lower CPL)? And before you start cutting leads, please confirm that you are cutting both the lead level and the cost of the lead you are cutting.

2. Cut Down on Non-Converting Keywords and Ad Spend

Depending on your specific campaign type, find keywords that get buried in your ad groups, causing you an increase in costs but not converting. When looking for hidden keywords be sure to look at words that may still contribute to your overall ad dollars without actually being your first, last click, or middle click Ad clicks. Therefore, where are these lists of terms that have been spending for you, but are no longer producing results for you?

A cost and conversion matrix might be useful to benchmark how keywords were used in previous campaign(s), which keywords were still performing, and which keywords were no longer performing. This matrix may also help highlight some exact match search terms that were likely selected in the original keyword set but have yet to convert beyond their initial impressions or clicks. In other words, using a cost and conversion matrix will allow advertisers to find those smaller keyword buckets that over time may add up to significant wasted media spend and higher cost per lead.

3. Review Account Exclusions

The third suggestion on this list is to review any exclusions made in Google Ads accounts. How often have you looked at all types of exclusions made to the account? Auditing exclusions annually; at least every six months will help to decrease CPL as advertisers will typically add negative keywords to refine their targeted audience. Occasionally, however, removing previous exclusions can decrease lead costs.

For instance, an advertiser once excluded a display placement that performed poorly, but now there may be improved ad placements. Therefore, if the advertiser bids appropriately, top-level funnel leads can now convert to valuable long-term leads. These placements may be removed from the “exclusions list” during testing.

4. Update the Ad Text and/or URLs Used In Your Ads

Simply put, it is essential that the ad’s content matches what is seen when a user clicks on the ad. It might seem straightforward, but if the ad says that the link takes the user to a page related to a specific product/service, there should not be confusion when the user clicks the ad link and ends up on a page that could lead them to another link to find the desired content.

Ad copy should be consistently tested and improved in order to guide the user to a relevant page with the minimal number of clicks. Users should also know, from the ad copy alone, what kind of page they are being sent to. Therefore, test different ways of presenting this message in the character limit provided on the ad.

5. Review Your Entire Audit Device Bid Modifiers and Every Modifier

Even as our account managers get more access to more and more different types and segments of modifier options, it also means we are getting further from having to constantly review these bid modifications to ensure they are set correctly. When it comes to using mobile device modifier systems like mobile CPC or mobile PPC bidding, it is important to take the time to review what adjustments have been made and whether or not they require any further adjustment after a review period.

An example of this would be when an account has upgraded its website to make it easier for users to use their phones or tablets to view web pages and make PPC (pay per click) click-throughs, do we still want to keep the same low-level bids we were using prior to making the upgrade? Additionally, the same holds true for times of the day, regions where ads are served, etc. Find areas where you may be able to provide increased volume to both recruitment and sales in exchange for decreased CPL.

6. After Exploring Post-Click Opportunities, Analyze and Improve on the Metrics Leading to the Changes in CPL

Conversion Rate Optimization – You should not only analyze your conversion paths through clicks but also make sure potential customers (prospective customers) do not make any stumbling blocks when they try to complete the conversion process. The more difficult it becomes for them to complete the process, the higher your lead costs will be. Look into your goals/conversion paths and find areas where customers are leaving the funnel, and also look at the heat map for each landing page to discover if an area is causing visitors to leave the funnel.

7. Analyze & Optimize

Once you have discovered how to decrease your CPL, identify which metrics are contributing to the decrease and determine if there is a way to adjust them slowly over time. So you do not lose too many leads as you are making the adjustments. While adjusting your bids on keywords with the highest CPL, always look for deeper issues, such as an increase in competition, etc.

8. While you are reviewing your short-term (CPL) goals, also consider long-term metrics

Quality scores are some of the most difficult metrics to manage due to their multiple influences. However, when decreasing your cost per lead (CPL), placing more emphasis on long-term (metrics) will increase your chances of establishing a strong presence within the marketplace and lowering your overall cost per lead across all campaigns.

For example, suppose you have specific keywords that are very expensive on (PPC) networks but you want to stay competitive. Rather than focusing on these keywords alone, create individual landing pages or custom-designed websites for them. Creating these individual landing pages will help to improve your quality score over time. Therefore, you are likely to obtain better placements at lower rates.

For instance, you may discover that you have campaigns that generate leads at $50 per lead more than another campaign, and yet you discover that they also generate 5% more customers for long-term subscriptions once they sign up for your free trial.

9. Experimenting with Bid Strategy and Average Position

Every penny counts and reducing CPL (cost-per-leads) can be a complex optimization process that requires focus and time to achieve positive results. Due to changes in competition, it may take a little longer for the average CPC (cost-per-click) of a client to decrease.

Conversely, some advertisers tend to keep their average CPC at a level where it is slightly above what it needs to be in order to maintain the position of the client due to the fluctuations in their competitors’ average CPCs. As a result, clients should regularly check their average CPC and adjust their bids accordingly to test how much of an effect the way they structure their average CPC has on their ad position.

In addition, experiment with your CPL conversion rates in position 2 and 3; is there a significant difference? Lastly, see how your CPL would be affected if you continue to make very small adjustments to both positions and bids before moving up in positions.

Conclusion

To decrease the amount of money spent for each lead, marketers must adopt a strategic and data-oriented approach when optimizing pay-per-click (PPC) ads. Marketers can continuously bring down CPL and improve lead quality by analyzing keyword usage, relevance between ad copy and the intended user, adjusting bidding methods, and applying logic to landing pages.

Marketers should monitor both the short-term performance of their PPC campaigns as well as the long-term performance measured by quality score. This helps create scalable and efficient campaigns that provide an ongoing growth opportunity, produce superior conversion rates and generate higher return on investment from paid advertising.

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