Building a formidable marketing presence across multiple ad channels is a strenuous and complicated exercise. Learning the ropes of how to embrace and improve PPC ad campaigns takes time, and operating the enterprise can quickly turn into a full-time affair.

One of the most popular platforms for ads – Google AdWords – uses a variety of complex algorithms to ensure that the right messages are seen by the right audiences. However, that doesn’t mean that everything will work from the get-go, nor does it mean that you’re getting the best bang for your buck automatically.

Let’s examine a few tips for getting your cost per click via AdWords as low as possible.

Target Longer Keywords

One of the biggest indicators of how much a particular ad set will cost via AdWords is the length of the keywords themselves. Generally speaking, the shorter the keyword or phrase, the more competition there tends to be. The more competition, the higher the price. Ultimately, finding success via AdWords doesn’t revolve around spending the most money or even being seen by the most people: it revolves around earning clicks from the right people and for the best rates.

As such, long-tail keywords can be a highly effective way to target the same audience at a more affordable price. While the volume of users seeing your ads might decrease, so will the number of competitors. The end result is a lower CPC due to less competition.

Focus on Relevance

Targeting users via PPC campaigns or through AdWords isn’t much different than targeting people through organic search results. Above all, the most important factor in your ad’s success is sheer relevance. Whether you’re targeting a small group of people with a single ad or a larger audience with multiple variations, it is crucial that the message rings and resonates with them. Otherwise, you might as well be pinging noise out into the great beyond.

Consider what your competitors are doing in the same keywords and niches, ask yourself whether the ad(s) you’re creating really draw interest, and then get to work correcting any issues. You can also seek advice within AdWords by assessing the Ad Relevance of each ad.

Engage in A/B Testing

To truly unlock the maximum potential of your AdWords marketing, you must be open to experimentation. Ultimately, people are lost throughout all points of the sales funnel process. Most never even click on your ad, while some do but ultimately fail to follow through. This can be due to a variety of factors (including relevance), but may be something even more abstract.

Designing ad sets that utilize as many variations as possible can help you determine exactly which elements in your campaigns produce the best results: this is called A/B testing. Many brands then take the data collected from these experiments and attempt to combine the best elements from each into even more powerful and profitable ads.

By perfecting your ad copy, landing pages and other elements associated with each ad, you will reduce the effective cost per click by ensuring more people follow through with a purchase,  subscription or other action.

There are plenty of technical and expert-level tips and tricks that can be used to reduce CPC in AdWords, but some common sense can go a long way. By utilizing A/B testing, focusing on ad relevance and targeting longer (and more affordable) keywords, you’ll avoid pinging noise at your audience, lower costs and increase efficiency.