Why You Shouldn’t Click Your Own PPC Ads

March 26 / Clare J. / filed under Pay-Per-Click

google search on laptop

Online pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most effective ways to grow your business, and it can be exciting to launch an online advertising campaign. You may wish to check and see your ads in the search engine for many reasons – to check that they are showing up, see how they look, or just because you are excited to see them! However, as harmless as it may seem, it is critical that you do not search for your own PPC ads. Here’s why:

Clicking on Your Own Ads Wastes Your Budget

Just as it sounds in the name, pay-per-click advertising means that you pay per click! If you are clicking your own ads, you are spending your own budget. This is not ideal for many reasons – primarily, your click is not going to lead to a conversion. If you click on your ads to ensure they are appearing, you could unintentionally lower your conversion rate and raise your cost per conversion. Searching for and not clicking on your ads can also negatively impact your ads’ quality score. Clicking on your own ads can negatively affect the performance of your campaign.

Daily Budget Restrictions Can Limit How Frequently Your Ad Appears

In most PPC advertising platforms, your monthly budget is divided up into a daily budget. Your campaigns are optimized so they spend, on average, this amount each day. This means that on some days, your account may run out of budget before the end of the day.

When business owners or employees search and click on their own ads, they are using campaign budget, which may prevent potential customers from seeing your ads later in the day. It is also possible you will search your ad at a time of day when your campaign has already run out of daily budget. Searching for your ads and not seeing them can cause anxiety, and you may feel like you want to search for your ads more frequently to confirm they are there, which can lead to the negative performance results. It can be nerve-wracking to not see your ad, but this is a normal function of Google Ads.

Google Ads Will Stop Showing Ads to Users That Don’t Click on Them

If you are searching for your ads, but refraining from clicking on them, it can still have a negative effect on your ad campaign. Over time, the Google algorithm recognizes that you are not clicking on the ads it is showing you. This means that Google will stop showing you your ads because it thinks that you are not interested in them. The more you search your ads, even if you don’t click, the less likely you are to see them!

What To Do Instead

If you suspect that your ads may not be showing for some reason, Google Ads has a handy tool called the Ad Preview, in which you can search and view your ads without affecting your ad’s performance or data. You can always contact your Chair 10 account manager to perform this check if you notice any changes in your account. All Chair 10 PPC clients also have access to a dashboard where they can review top-performing ad copy.

If you’re interested in starting a PPC advertising campaign but aren’t sure where you should start, the experienced professionals at Chair 10 Marketing can help. Please feel free to reach out today with any questions, to get more information, or to schedule a consultation to develop an effective strategy for your business needs.