Wouldn’t it be great if you were working with an unlimited PPC advertising budget? You’d never have to worry about daily ad spend, choosing the right keywords, and tracking what is and isn’t working. Instead, you could spend recklessly with no consequences.

Of course, this isn’t the world most of us live in. Instead, if you’re going to get involved with PPC advertising, it’s imperative to know your budget and stay within the lines. If you continually outspend your budget, it won’t be long before you’re second-guessing your approach.

It’s one thing to recognize a problem with your spending and say you’re going to make a change. It’s another thing entirely to take action. Here are three things you can do today if you find that you’re overspending:

•    Calculate your return on investment (ROI). Before you do anything else, calculate your ROI. How much money are you spending on PPC advertising, and what are you getting in return in regards to new business? A positive number is better than a negative number, but it’s safe to assume that you know where things need to be in order to confidently continue down the same path.
•    Do more keyword research. It’s easy to get stuck on a set of keywords and ride them all the way to the poorhouse. Don’t continue to spend money on keywords that aren’t converting, as this will never allow you to reach your full potential. With additional keyword research, you can uncover long tail terms that are not only more affordable but more likely to attract your target audience.
•    Run all sorts of reports. Like most, you’re probably super excited about your PPC advertising strategy. So, you spend a good portion of your day running reports, checking numbers, and making changes. While there’s nothing wrong with this, there are benefits of viewing long-term reports as well. Run 30 day, 60 day, and 90 day reports with the idea of pinpointing trends. This overview may change your thinking on a variety of details associated with your campaign.

There will be times when you overspend on PPC advertising. There’s no way around this, and it’s all part of the game. However, you must make sure you’re not throwing your money away.

There are steps you can take to curb your spending, all with the idea of generating more leads for less.