{"id":5602,"date":"2019-11-29T07:00:49","date_gmt":"2019-11-29T05:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=5602"},"modified":"2025-01-20T11:56:50","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T09:56:50","slug":"how-to-protect-your-ad-spend-from-irrelevant-traffic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/how-to-protect-your-ad-spend-from-irrelevant-traffic\/","title":{"rendered":"How to protect your ad spend from irrelevant traffic"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/i-paid_advertising-c-3-l-4-e1574947797860.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing - ad spend\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/i-paid_advertising-c-3-l-4-e1574947797860.jpg 700w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/i-paid_advertising-c-3-l-4-e1574947797860-600x423.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/digital-marketing-trends-for-2020\/\">Digital marketing<\/a> is indeed something to get excited about. The reasons for this are because it\u2019s instant, relatively simple and advertising is extremely cost-effective. However, a lot of companies are still trying to achieve digital marketing as well as social media success. Unfortunately, in the process they are spending far too much money on traffic that isn\u2019t relevant.<\/p>\n<p>The last twenty years or so have brought about a digital marketing revolution, with <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/national-certificate-of-advertising\/\">online advertising<\/a> completely revolutionising the manner in which businesses are reaching out to consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Ads on television as well as billboards on the side of the highway are giving way to online advertising. This is because the more traditional advertising methods are slowly fading away thanks to new habits that people are adopting. For example, a lot of individuals are preferring to stream video content as opposed to subscribing to paid-for television channels.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The benefits of digital marketing and online advertising<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Not only does online advertising allow companies the opportunity to reach out to more consumers at a fraction of the price, it also allows organisations to target particular demographics. When this powerful benefit is combined with real-time analytics &#8211; as well as the ability to monitor advertising spend closely &#8211; it\u2019s not surprising that online advertising has become so popular.<\/p>\n<p>Online and <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/paid-advertising-and-web-analytics-course\/\">pay-per-click (PPC) advertising<\/a> has seen a broad variety of advertising models during its history. Some of these are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Banners with fixed monthly fees, and<\/li>\n<li>Ads that run on a cost-per-impression basis.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Models are constantly evolving, which means that advertisers have the ability to tap into the potential of online advertising like they never were able to do before.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Vimeo video player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/280366318?autoplay=0&loop=0&autopause=0&color=00adef&portrait=0&byline=1&title=1&controls=1&muted=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2><strong>What is irrelevant (invalid) traffic?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The term \u2018invalid traffic\u2019 (which is also called Non-Human Traffic) (IVT) refers to traffic that is not created by humans but rather from the bot activity on a site. While IVT can consist of good bots \u2013 for example search engine crawlers that catalogue content for users to find &#8211; IVT is mostly used to refer to malicious and\/or fraudulent bots.<\/p>\n<p>Put another way, IVT refers to traffic which does not meet a particular ad-serving quality or, alternatively, completeness criteria. IVT otherwise does not represent legitimate ad traffic which could be included in measurement counts.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>How to get around IVT<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>IVT is rampant in online advertising. In addition, it inflates an advertiser\u2019s budget with ad clicks or impressions that were not seen by a correct user. Although this practice is all-pervasive, there are a number of ways that you can get around this. Here are some of them.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Insert Long Tail Keywords<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Long-tail keywords are those keywords which have a low search volume with clearly identifiable search intent. The more generic that a keyword is, increased numbers of people bid on it. This means that the bid is higher.<\/p>\n<p>Conversely, Long Tail Keywords are particular keywords which have a low search volume. This means that they are not prone to irrelevant search queries which saves you money on your ad budget. In addition, long-tail keywords tend to have an increased Quality Score which is the most effective way to lower the CPC.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Target the keywords which have low bids<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When targeting the keywords which are appropriate to your company, search for keywords which\u00a0 have fairly low bids. This is because these keywords may well have a lower cost per click (CPC ).<\/p>\n<p>The CPC of keywords also depends on the competitiveness of your industry. Some of the keywords are extremely competitive which means that they have a high CPC. Try to steer clear of using competitive keywords.<\/p>\n<p>Switch your bidding from automatic to manual. This is because manual CPC bidding allows you to have more control over your CPC.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Make use of negative keywords<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/why-you-should-be-using-negative-keywords-on-google-ads\/\">Negative keywords<\/a> also assist with lowering your CPC because these prevent your ads from being triggered by irrelevant search queries which can lower your click-through rate (CTR). A CTR which is healthy is vital as a lower CTR would lower your Quality Score so increasing your CPC.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>Want to learn more about paid-for advertising and how this can help your business? If you do, then you definitely need to do our PPC course. For more information, please follow this <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/paid-advertising-and-web-analytics-course\/\">link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/paid-advertising-and-web-analytics-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-760 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSM_Footer05-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing Paid advertising and web analyics course registration\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. Find out more.<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/you-can-convey-a-lot-of-meaning-with-just-one-graphic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">You Can Convey a Lot Of Meaning With Just One Graphic<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/would-you-make-a-great-marketing-manager\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Would you make a great marketing manager?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/in-the-press\/win-with-bona-magazine-and-the-digital-school-of-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Win with Bona Magazine and the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/in-the-press\/win-a-digital-marketing-course-valued-at-r12-000\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Win a Digital Marketing Course Valued at  R12 000<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Top Selling COurses<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/courses\/digital-marketing-course\/\">Intermediate Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/courses\/advanced-digital-marketing-course\/\">Advanced Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/courses\/social-media-marketing-course\/\">Intermediate Social media marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/courses\/digital-brand-management-course\/\">Brand Management<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/courses\/graphic-design-course\/\">Basic Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-6\"><a href=\"\/courses\/advanced-graphic-design-course\/\">Advanced Graphic design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-7\"><a href=\"\/courses\/national-certificate-of-advertising\/\">National Certificate of Advertising<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-8\"><a href=\"\/courses\/national-diploma-of-copywriting-course\/\">National Diploma of Copyrighting<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section><section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Youtube video player\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xg4AbuOl5SI?autoplay=0&controls=1&origin=https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za&loop=0&mute=0\" allowfullscreen=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5603,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[262,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-marketing-blog","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}