|
Think
of Google Ads like owning a car.
What
would happen if you ignored all the warning lights and skipped your
scheduled service tune-ups?
Eventually
your car would break down. Something would stop working and you would
likely be forced to spend a lot of money to fix a problem that could
have been avoided altogether if you had followed the recommended
service schedule. In other words, it costs more money to ignore the
warning signs and be forced to fix a broken car than it does to have
your car regularly tuned up.
The
same is true with advertising on Google Ads.
|
|
|
|
However, there is one huge
difference…
Google Ads Has No “Idiot
Lights”
We take it for granted now, but
cars were not always equipped with self-diagnostic tools and “idiot lights” to
tell us there was a problem. Can you imagine if there was no “check engine” or
“brake fluid” light? How would you ever know if your car needed a quick
tune-up?
Most likely you would not know
you needed help until it was too late and your car was stalled in the breakdown
lane. Luckily all cars now come with plenty of warning lights so you don’t have
to be a motor head to maintain your car.
But this is certainly not the
case with Google Ads.
There are no “idiot lights”
that illuminate red when your campaigns are underperforming to indicate you
need a tune-up. Instead, you’ll need to do a manual audit. In this article, I
put together a checklist that highlights some potential problems in your
campaigns. Use this list to see if you have any flashing “red lights”
indicating your campaign needs a tune-up.
Remember, it’s less costly to continually
tune up your ads than it is to ignore them and later have to fix a completely
broken down campaign.
The “Check Keywords”
Light
The first warning sign is your
keyword list in a Google Ads Search campaign. The “check keywords” light will
illuminate red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are
true:
- You’re using all Broad match
keywords instead of Phrase and Exact match. This leads to poor Google Ads Quality Scores, low ad rank,
higher CPCs and wasteful clicks on irrelevant search phrases.
- You’re using some Broad match
keywords with no Negative keywords.
Again, this leads to poor Quality Scores, low ad rank, higher CPCs and
wasteful clicks on irrelevant search phrases.
- All or most of your keywords
are in a single Ad Group.
This leads to poor Quality Scores and low ad click-through rates because
the ads are not 100% relevant for all keywords in the Ad Group.
If your “check keywords” light
is on, then take action immediately to change your keyword match types, add
negative keywords and restructure your ad groups. Until you fix this problem
your ad campaign will struggle to get out of the breakdown lane.
Next, let’s move on to your
ads…
The “Check Ads” Light
The second warning sign is your
ad copy. The “check ads” light will illuminate red indicating a problem if any
of the following conditions are true:
- There is only one ad in any Ad
Group. This means you’re missing an
opportunity to split test to find better performing ad copy. By testing
multiple ads at the same time you’ll discover which ads get a higher
click-through rate and a higher conversion rate, which ultimately leads to
higher Quality Scores.
- You’re missing Ad Extensions. Every Ad Extension available should be used whenever
appropriate to increase your response rates. Plus, missing Ad Extensions
can lead to poor Quality Scores now that Google Ads uses Ad Extension
performance to calculate your Quality Scores.
- The ad copy does not match all
keywords in the Ad Group.
This leads to poor Quality Scores and low ad click-through rates because
the ads are not 100% relevant for all keywords in the Ad Group.
If your “check ads” light is
on, then take action immediately to add ads to your ad groups, set up all
appropriate ad extensions and restructure your ad groups so that your ads are
100% relevant to all keywords in the ad group. By fixing your keywords and your
ads you’ll ensure you’re targeting your ideal customers and driving as many
prospects to your website as possible.
Next, we need to review what
happens when your prospect “lands” on your website…
The “Check Landing
Pages” Light
The third warning sign is your
landing page copy and layout. The “check landing pages” light will illuminate
red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are true:
- Your landing page is your
homepage. This leads to low conversion
rates because website homepages are too broad in scope. For example,
homepages talk about every product and service offered and appeal to every
different type of customer. In contrast, high-converting landing pages are
laser-focused on one product or service and appeal to the subset of your
prospects that would be searching the keyword you’re advertising on.
- You’re using one landing page
for more than one product or service.
Again, this leads to low conversion rates because your prospect can get
distracted or think your offer is not as relevant as your competitors’
offers that are more laser focused.
- Your landing page is not 100%
congruent with your ads.
This leads to low conversion rates because your prospect does not find the
same offer and the same product or service promised in the ad copy.
If your “check landing pages”
light is on, then take action immediately to create a unique landing page for
each product or service you’re advertising, and make sure your landing page
copy is 100% congruent with your ads.
At this point, you know your
keywords, ads, and landing pages are all set up properly to maximize your
advertising investment. However, we’re not done yet. The only way to
continually improve your campaign is to track your key performance indicators.
This brings us to the last
warning sign…
The “Check Tracking”
Light
The fourth and final warning
sign is your conversion tracking. The “check tracking” light will illuminate
red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are true:
- Conversion tracking is not set
up for webforms. This means you do not know
when prospects click on your ads and then complete a webform. Therefore,
there’s no way to optimize your bids to increase leads and eliminate
wasted ad spend on under-performing keywords.
- Conversion revenue tracking is
not set up for shopping carts.
If you have an e-commerce website, then it’s possible to automatically
send revenue data back to Google Ads so you can calculate your return on
investment for each keyword. If this is not set up then again you can not
optimize your bids to increase sales and eliminate wasted ad spend.
- Website Call Tracking is not
set up. This means you do not know
how many prospects are calling your business after clicking on one of your
ads. Therefore, you can’t optimize your bids to drive more calls.
- Call Extension Tracking is not
set up. This means you do not know
how many prospects are calling your business using the phone number listed
on the ad. Therefore, you can’t optimize your bids to drive more of these
calls.
- Offline Sales Import Conversion tracking is not set up. This means you’re not
tracking sales and revenue from prospects that click on an ad, complete a
webform and then convert to customers via phone or in-person sales.
Therefore, you can’t optimize your bids to drive more offline sales.
If your “check tracking” light
is on, then take action immediately to set up webform conversion tracking (and
revenue tracking if you have an e-commerce website), website call tracking,
call extension tracking and offline sales import conversion tracking.
Does Your Campaign Need
a Tune-Up?
Now that you’ve completed the 4
steps above, does your Google Ads campaign need a tune-up?
If
you would like hands-on help, click here to request a Google Ads quote
No comments:
Post a Comment