Last week I conducted a fascinating interview with SEM expert Alan Rimm-Kaufman. You can find the output of it here. Alan made many great points; this one, regarding common mistakes in Paid Search, really stood out:

Typical mistakes made by newcomers to paid search include using an insufficiently large term list, not understanding the strengths and limitations of their tracking systems, not customizing copy to match the search phrase, not having a firm grasp of their online acquisition economics, and not bidding wisely.

Typical mistakes made by more experienced search marketers include not separating their brand from their non-brand results in reporting and bidding; not understanding the (non)incremental value of their affiliate programs; mishandling dayparting; and overbidding on broad generic terms.

BTW, Alan isn’t the only large brain over at the Rimm-Kaufman Group. George Michie justed posted some excellent tips on giving your PPC campaigns a check-up, which should prove helpful in exposing your own PPC mistakes.