1.- Separate Content from Search
Online Marketers need to view their contextual listings campaigns differently from search, because the results and the customer are different. It is normal to expect lower clicks and conversion rates, with it not being a qualified, targeted lead. This does not necessarily mean an advertiser should not participate in content buys that decision is ultimately up to the statistics. The separation provides much more insight into what is working, and more importantly what is not working.

2.- Control spending by adjusting bid amounts, not daily spend budget
Often, the funds are simply not available to meet the demand (which that in itself could use some analyzing; because if a campaign is optimized correctly then the return should justify any spend.)

It is important not to control spending based on the daily budget. Advertisers need to lower the bidding cost, to reach the maximum amount of target customers. Controlling spending based on daily budget, leaves too many customers on the table.

3.- Create a negative keyword list
Eliminating unwanted traffic is an easy step to lower cost and improve conversion. All of the major pay-per-click providers allow an advertiser to create a negative list of keywords. In this case, less is more. Although this results in less traffic, the traffic that is eliminated is unwanted (non-buyers).

An example of negative keywords would be a site selling soap. If the consumer searches for any of the following, the advertiser would not want to pay for that visit: “soap opera”, “soap digest”, etc. The list of negative words could be: -opera, -digest, -abc

4.- Conversion matters, not click-through rate (CTR)
This point seems to finally be making its way to marketers. However, there are still a few that seem to think that quantity is better than quality. As any pay-per-click expert can tell you, it is easy to get traffic. Getting that traffic to buys is another story. By using all of the other habits listed here, the pay-per-click advertiser can weed-out unwanted traffic and only pay for conversions. It is important to keep an eye on the Cost per Conversion. How much does a customer cost? Not a click.

5.- Avoid #1
Bottom line: The number one position is a bad ROI.

Often times that can also be said about the #2 and #3 position. The traffic coming from the top positions are not buyers, they are just researching. Serious buyers WILL go to the 3, 4, 5 position. When the consumers are ready to buy, they will be back. Be patient.

6.- Bid Exact, Avoid Broad
This one takes time and a lot of work, but probably one of the best ways to get strong ROI on pay-per-click marketing. By using exact matching, the advertiser is eliminating the researcher and getting straight to the buyer. Like many of these habits the traffic will decrease, however conversion and online revenue should increase. The best way an advertiser can start is to triple the keywords by creating broad, exact and phase of every keyword. Then, after reviewing analytics, gradually eliminate broad, and possibly phrase keywords that result in lower conversion.

7.- Good Analytics
All of the above habits can not be truly comprehended with out strong analytics. A reliable analytics program is the backbone of any online (and often offline) marketing campaign. Determining the cost per conversion, the unwanted visitors, the negative keyword list, the ROI – all require dependable analytics.