Let’s face it; pay-per-click (PPC) advertising isn’t always a fan favorite in the office. Managing a Google Ads (formerly called AdWords) campaign can take a lot of work, and a lot of money, and like other marketing initiatives, there are never any guaranteed results.
If you’re ever confused about a feature in Google Ads, are finding yourself unorganized, or simply just can’t seem to find the success you were hoping for, PPC management and resource tools are the far underutilized trick you’ve been looking for. Consider these 24 PPC tools below, and let us know which are your favorites and what you would add to the list in the comment section below.
1. Google Ads Editor
The Gist
This is a desktop app that can be used to create campaigns offline. It is especially handy if you manage numerous and/or large Google Ad campaigns. It functions differently from the online AdWords tool, so it can save you a ton of time when working on complex campaigns.
Main Tool Features
One big difference between the Ads Editor and Ads Interface is that it’s very quick and easy to move information around, such as keywords, groups, ads, etc. It also has the ability to import and export information to either use in Microsoft Excel or to share with collaborators. All in all, it’s an extremely useful tool that can save you a ton of time and is definitely worth checking out for PPC support.
2. Microsoft Bing Ads Editor
The Gist
If you’re using Bing Ads, this tool is a must. It doesn’t do quite as much as the Google Ads Editor, but it definitely still has a lot of potential. This is a desktop app that makes it easy to manage all your Bing Ad campaigns.
Main Tool Features
According to Search Engine Land, some of BAE’s best features are its “advanced search and advanced options capabilities. You can easily build and save multi-dimensional queries with advanced search.” You can also import campaigns from Google Ads and adjust your budget(s). The layout is similar to Google Ads, and the tool functions at a very high speed, making it an easy-to-use, quality product worth exploring.
3. Google Analytics
The Gist
Google Analytics goes beyond the capabilities of Bing and Google Ads because it reveals relevant data that occurs after someone clicks on the ad and arrives at the website. It explains the “why” behind typical actions like repeat purchases, conversions, and pages visited.
Main Tool Features
Google Analytics gives users the ability to analyze important information like bounce rates, pages visited, customer data, etc. Analytics offers a wide variety of tools within a tool, such as data collection and management, data consolidation, analytics and reporting, and data activation. All of these options help you to best optimize your ad campaign so you can figure out where customers are coming from, why they’re coming to your site, and how to keep them coming back.
4. Google Keyword Planner
The Gist
This tool is a combination of Google’s Keyword Tool and Traffic Estimator, and it can be used to build your Google Ads campaign. You type in a limited amount of information (like a website URL or keyword ideas) and the tool comes back with related keywords and sample ad groups. This is particularly helpful during the brainstorming process.
Main Tool Features
Once you’ve determined what keywords you want to use (whether through the tool’s brainstorming process or on your own) you upload them, and the Keyword Planner comes back with an estimate on how many clicks you might get, as well as how much each click will cost. In addition, you can get traffic estimates for various cities and other more specific locations (in the regular keyword tool you can only get estimates for the US as a whole). This tool is very helpful for optimizing your keyword planning to meet your needs and budget.
5. Google Adwords Scripts
The Gist
This tool is a way to automate your Google Ads campaign(s) using Javascript, and it can be applied toward one or many different campaigns. The scripts automate procedures and manipulate external data so that you don’t have to waste valuable time doing this yourself. You only need to be familiar with the basics of Java Script for this tool to benefit you; it’s easy to use and more powerful than Google Ads Editor. Just set up Scripts the way you want and let it do the work for you.
Main Tool Features
AdWords Scripts can be used for exception reporting, daily stats, and client reporting, among other things. It is easily integrated with Spreadsheets, Gmail, and other Google services. Use it to figure out which keywords are not performing optimally, to automate bulk actions so that you can devote time to ones that can’t be automated, and to create a historical quality score report.
6. SpyFu
The Gist
Similar to ISpionage, SpyFu is used to spy on your competitors so you can figure out the secrets to their marketing success. SpyFu can help you increase your website traffic, track your keyword rankings, and make better connections to help generate leads. It boasts the ability to show you your competitor’s data from the last ten years: all the keywords they’ve bought, their rankings, and ad variations.
Main Tool Features
In terms of SEO, Spyfu helps improve rankings by determining the keyword strategies of your competitors, makes sure your keywords land you on the first page, and sells branded reports. Their PPC features include discovering lucrative keywords, eliminating negative keywords through negative match suggestions, and determining the best ad copy by analyzing the successes and fails of your competitors.
7. Ignitur
The Gist
The Gist of Ignitur is that it’s a comprehensive web marketing tool designed to make marketing collaboration easy and uncomplicated. They call themselves an “innovative and time-saving tool” that provides guidance for web marketers in order to increase productivity. Ignitur tells you the “what”, “why”, and “how” in order to overcome common obstacles.
Main Tool Features
Ignitur offers three key features to help you become a professional web marketer such as a customizable dashboard, task management software, and professional reports that include key data. The dashboard provides any and all data on one screen to eliminate the needs to switch back and forth between windows, along with customizable widgets and concise data charts. The task management software allows you to collaborate with a team through flexible task-lists, and it can even tell you exactly what you need to do and how to do it- no guesswork needed. Finally, the reports include information on user activity, time tracking, notes, and completed tasks, and you have the option to add in custom text and HTML.
8. Microsoft Excel
The Gist
There are many, many different ways that Microsoft Excel can help with ad campaigns. Excel goes beyond the capabilities of Google Adwords and Analytics by giving users the ability to plan and organize their ad campaigns, calculate and analyze their PPC, and create and edit keywords. Using Excel makes it fast and easy to take large amounts of data and quickly see the value in it by manipulating various cells in order to optimize your plan.
Main Tool Features
Some of the most important features of Excel are the ability to:
- Compare how specific ad copy (headlines, description lines, etc.) is performing across an entire campaign
- Analyze the performance of different match types
- Check the Quality Score of keywords
- Evaluate the performance of specific placements on the display network
9. iSpionage
The Gist
ISpionage is exactly what it sounds like- a “spy” tool that lets you check out the competition. You can use it in both Bing and Google to find out how other companies are doing in terms of both PPC and SEO. It can give you valuable insight into why your business may not be succeeding while others’ are, and you can then take that information in order to optimize your campaigns.
Main Tool Features
The tool lets you keep track of what changes your competitors are making in terms of new ads and keywords. You can also use it to monitor specific keywords that you deem important to your own campaign- you can see your ranking as well as the ranking of your competitors, and you can track this and see trends over time. In addition, you can use Ispionage for keyword research; all you have to do is go to your competitor’s websites and the tool will analyze what keywords they’re bidding on at any given time.
10. Visual Website Optimizer (VWO)
The Gist
The gist of this tool is that its purpose is to help users figure out which parts of their website are functioning optimally and which sections need work in order to increase sales and conversions. It is constantly working to analyze your site, and then it gives you suggestions and options for improvement. It’s relatively cheap ($49 a month for a start-up) and it’s easy to use and implement.
Main Tool Features
The best features of this tool are its ability to help you create complex test ideas, it has no added fees for additional features, and it includes other A/B testing tools (like visitor click heat maps). Furthermore, the Visual Website Optimizer can be customized and targeted to meet your needs, and it offers thorough reports for analysis. In addition, it works for both your website and mobile landing pages.
11. Keyword Typo Generator
The Gist
This tool works by typing in a keyword or key term into the generator, and then it spits out a list of possible human errors/ misspellings. It bases the results on where the keys are listed on a typical QWERTY keyboard, as well as a database of common errors. While the results are based on estimation and not an exact science, it’s definitely more beneficial to use a tool like this than nothing at all.
Main Tool Features
A tool like this used to work better when search engines were less sophisticated, but now that they’re pretty advanced in catching spelling mistakes it’s not quite as relevant. That being said, it can still be used to find domain name errors in order to “minimize the risk of cybersquatting [as well as to] help protect a brand.” It’s also very advanced when it comes to handling spelling errors; it gives you the option to select which errors you’re interested in, such as: skipped, doubled, and reversed letters, skipped spaces, and missed and inserted keys.
12. KeywordSpy
The Gist
Keyword Spy does exactly what it sounds like it would do; it spies on the keywords of your competitors. You essentially just type a domain into the search box and wait for the results! The tool provides an extensive list of information about your competitors; all you have to do is figure out what to do with your newfound intel.
Main Tool Features
The free version comes with a lot of useful features. The tabs across the top include: Ads, PPC keywords, Organic Keywords, and Competitors. These options tell you what the website is spending in paid search, who their competitors are, what keywords they spend the most money on, and more. The ads page shows top ad copies and what keywords are in each ad group, and all the lists can be exported into Excel, Google Spreadsheets, or CSV.
13. UberSuggest
The Gist
If you’re looking for another way to find keywords, this is it. It’s quick and easy to use, and its return is hundreds, if not thousands, of PPC and SEO-friendly keywords. You basically enter your suggestion into the search bar, choose a source from the drop down menu, select a language, and wait for your results to appear.
Main Tool Features
You can easily copy and paste to Excel spreadsheets or Word documents. It’s also easy to filter search terms and it incorporates Google Trends. It comes with the option to download a free Chrome browser extension called Keywords Everywhere that gives you even more added keyword insight through search volume and CPC.
14. Phrase Builder
The Gist
The Phrase Builder tool gets phrases from the first set of phrases or keywords (Set A) one by one and generates new phrase combinations by combining Set A with phrases or keywords from the second set (Set B).
Main Tool Features
You have the option to select what kind of match you want (Broad, Phrase, or Exact) as well as whether you would like the words/phrases shuffled by Diacritics or ASCII (or both). You can choose in what order you would like the sets to be combined, for example: A-B, B-A, or A-B and then B-A. Finally, you have the option to determine if you want to output A or B directly, or both, and whether or not you want to save the results of your combinations.
15. WhatRunsWhere
The Gist
What Runs Where is an app that helps you determine which advertisements work and which ones don’t so that you can optimize your conversions and ROI without making a lot of costly mistakes. It keeps track of, and gives you insight on, the competition’s strategies.
Main Tool Features
Some of the best features of What Runs Where are its technology of over 120,000 publishers in multiple countries. These publishers are who determines what companies are using their ad space. In addition to where your competitors are advertising, it tells you what ads they’re using, who they’re buying them from, and which ones are working. The data provided is updated daily, and there is also an archive of data saved from the past 5 years so that you know what’s trending now as well as what has worked (and failed) in the past.
16. SEMRush
The Gist
SEMRush is an extremely complex and powerful tool that has the potential to deliver a ton of information.
It has features related to organic rankings, keyword research, mobile user experience, competitor insights, and backlink data.
Main Tool Features
A few of the tool’s most beneficial features are its ability to filter your results to best meet your needs, find all of a website’s, subdomain’s, page’s, or URL rankings, filter specific keywords, determine competitors and compare their rankings, figure out which domains are not mobile-friendly, and extensively analyze backlink data.
17. Soovle
The Gist
Soovle is essentially a “search engine for search engines.” You type keywords into the search box, and then Soovle puts together suggestions from approximately 15 different search engines. You can customize Soovle to determine which search engines are used.
Main Tool Features
You can add your company logo to the top left corner of Soovle, you can save your searches to view later, and you can download, print, or just view your list(s) of keywords in Google Trends. In addition, you can see how your saved terms have behaved over time, which can help give you an idea about what works and what does not.
18. Wordtracker
The Gist
This is a tool that allows you to quickly find high-performing keywords. It can help you better understand your target market, bring more traffic to your site, optimize your SEO, and find unique, unheard of keywords. There are 3 different payment plans to fit your company’s individual needs.
Main Tool Features
Wordtracker gives users direct access to the newest data, it comes with a trustworthy database, and the results are based on real searches by real people, as opposed to computer-generated databases. It works quickly and is based on reliable data, so you no longer have to play a guessing game when it comes to determining keywords. You have access to your data 24/7 and from any device, and there are no spreadsheets involved. Furthermore, Wordtracker can help you identify possible profitable niche markets, and it helps you keep track of your competition.
19. Adbeat
The Gist
Adbeat can be used to learn more about the advertising strategies of your competitors. This is extremely helpful in that you can learn from their successes and failures to optimize your own results, without wasting valuable time and effort making common mistakes. This is guaranteed to improve your advertising ROI.
Main Tool Features
Adbeat gives users insight on publishers, competitors, and ad agencies. Adbeat Spider, Crawler, and Collector work together to scan thousands of databases to get the most up-to-date, useful information. The data is accurate up to 24 hours. There is no waiting for results- with Adbeat, you get instant information in order to leverage yourself above the competition.
And there you have it. Is there a tool you would add to the list? Let us know in the comment section below!
