With the changes Google made to its Google Ads PPC platform over the past few years, it can be very confusing for businesses to know what tactics are best. The golden days of drive-by traffic are behind us, and there’s no better time than now to start taking advantage of paid search campaigns if you aren’t already. But with so many options available, where do you begin?
To help out, we’ve scoured the web looking for every great blog post or white paper that talks about some aspect of Google Ads PPC campaign management. After hours of research, here’s what was came up with:
1) Map out your customer journey and find opportunities for paid search
First, find your customers. Where do they go? Now, think about how to meet them there. Google Ads is the best place for this because it helps you put messages in front of people when they already are looking for what you have to offer.
2) Decide if you should use broad or exact match types
Broad match types give you more reach and can help get your ads in front of people who may not be looking for your products yet. However, your ads can show up when they shouldn’t, and you don’t know for sure which search terms triggered your ads. Exact match types will help you target only the people who are looking for your products, but you’ll pay more because they’re so targeted.
3) Learn how to write a winning ad with the 20/80 rule of thumb
Your ads should include your best keywords without overwhelming searchers. According to the 20/80 rule of thumb, you need 20 percent text in your ad, and 80 percent should be keywords. That way, your ad will show up for all the relevant words you target, but it won’t seem like keyword spam.
4) Create custom campaigns and ad groups that get results, not just clicks
Always be testing. Always track conversions, not just clicks. You need to know your average position (how high you’re showing on the list of results), clicks per day, cost per click, and more. Then, test different keywords and ad text to see what gets the most conversions.
5) Don’t underestimate the importance of negative keywords…or proper management of them
Negative keywords will help you avoid spending money on irrelevant words. They’re especially important if your website is new, or you have a small budget. On the other hand, if you spend too much time and effort on negative keywords, then you could also miss out on some conversions that would have happened.
6) Optimize your Google Ads PPC account for conversions instead of clicks early on in your campaign
When you first start a Google Ads PPC account, it’s going to be expensive. That’s why you need to track your conversions from early on. If you don’t, then there’s no way to tell if your ads are driving sales or not. And remember: it takes time for your website to start generating conversions. You have to be patient.
7) Use landing page testing to increase conversions and decrease bounce rates. This will make your ads more relevant, which will lead to both greater cost efficiency and higher conversion rates.
A/B testing is a great way for your to figure out the best combination of keyword, ad text, and landing page content to maximize conversions. Start with one version of your landing page, ad text, and keyword (for example: “shoes”). After you get the results in Google Analytics, you can figure out which one got the best conversions and which one made people leave your site immediately. Then, run A/B testing with your two winners.
8) Always keep an eye on competitors’ Google ads accounts to see where they are getting the most bang for their buck. This is a great way to find new keywords, ad creative, and landing pages that can work for you.
If you want to be successful in Google AdWords, then you need to do your research. First, take a look at what keywords and types of ads your competitors are using. Then, figure out how their landing pages work. Try to put yourself in the searcher’s shoes, and think about how you would respond.
9) Use Google Analytics to figure out where your website visitors are coming from, which ads are getting the most clicks, and what people are doing on your website after clicking an ad
Once you know where visitors are coming from — whether it’s a search ad, a banner ad, or a referral from another website — you can figure out the best keywords to target with your ads. Plus, Google Analytics will tell you how many page views each ad is getting, which ads are getting the most clicks, and what people are doing on your website after clicking an ad.
10) If you have a low to medium budget, focus on maximizing your conversion rates using Ads’ automated rules feature. This will save you tons of time managing your campaigns daily or weekly instead of every month or so.
You can automate some of your rules using Google’s automated rules feature, which will save you time. For example, Google might pause all your ads that are showing on the weekends, even if you’re targeting business days. Or, Google might pause your ads that usually have a low click-through rate on the weekends.
And that’s it! These 10 tips should help get you headed in the right direction when it comes to paid search campaign management. For more information on how to manage PPC campaigns well, check out these top 5 blogging sites: