Top 5 Successful PPC Strategies for Hotels in 2011

Contributed by Jonas Pauliukonis & Soumya Nath

As 2011 comes to a close, we took a look back on several PPC tests and case studies Milestone developed over the last year and selected the most successful strategies to share. From device targeting on mobile PPC campaigns to leveraging organic and local search results for cross-channel optimization, we’ve discovered new opportunities for maximizing return on paid search.

1. Quality Score Management
   • Strategy: identify keywords Google finds most relevant in your campaign and spend less time and money on poor performing keywords
   • Results: increased clicks, higher ranking position, and higher ROI ratio

   

   Before and after results of Quality Score management.

   • Further reading: http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/industry-news/quality-score-analysis-and-management/
2. Google Adwords Express (formerly Google Boost)
   • Strategy: a hybrid of local and paid search, Adwords Express gives greater prominence to Google Places results and directs traffic to a specific website
   • Results: in one case study, Google Adwords Express produced 315 clicks, a CTR of 5.81% and generated $5,376 in revenue at a total cost of $46.53.

   

   Example of an Adwords Express result – includes address, phone number, and directions

   • Further reading: http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/website-promotion/top10-ppc-best-practices/
     
3. Mobile-targeted PPC
   • Strategy: Saturate PPC markets and include mobile as this is the future of search according to Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt.
   • Facts:
     • Major growth in the use of mobile devices for search
     • Click-to-call number displayed with ad;  regular campaigns do not offer this
     • More cost effective

     

     Comparing results from Google Adwords, Facebook, and mobile campaign

     • Further reading: http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/web-2/mobile-paid-search-success/
       
4. Custom PPC Landing Pages
   • Strategy: designing landing pages tailored for keyword relevancy and quick conversions
   • Results: in one case study, changes to a landing page resulted in a 3x increase in revenue and a 2X increase in click-through-rate (CTR) month-over-month.  Running new ad copy and a new, relevant landing page will help increase click-through-rate and qualified clicks.

   

   Example of the purchase path – ad copy offers are reflected in the landing page call-to-action

   • Further reading: http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/web-development/landing-pages-for-ppc-optimization/
     
5. Cross-channel optimization:
   • Strategy: apply the top performing keywords, specials, and packages in organic and local search data to a PPC campaign and vice versa
   • Results: By applying the top keyword in Google Analytics, 5 clicks generated $2,129.40 for a single account. In another example, a Facebook ad that ran for three weeks, generated almost 500 “likes” – increasing brand awareness in their social media.

   

   Three weeks of running Facebook ads produced nearly 500 new Facebook fans

   • Further reading: http://blog.milestoneinternet.com/website-promotion/paid-search-for-cross-platform-optimization/