Mistake #1:
Using The Wrong Settings
Setting up your
campaign correctly is the key to success and if you’re using the wrong settings,
you’re guaranteed to end up wasting money.
For example, when
setting up your keyword settings you can waste a lot of money on
irrelevant clicks if you choose Broad match keywords instead of Exact
or Phrase match.
Choosing the right
settings is easy if you know what to look for. Click here for more tips on
choosing the right settings for your Google Ads campaign correctly.
Mistake #2:
Using The Wrong Definition of Success
In order to be
successful, you must understand how to measure success with Google Ads.
I’ve spoken to more
than a few business owners about Google Ads, and when I asked how their
campaigns were going they said “Great!”
But when I asked, “How
do you know?“
They say, “I’m
getting a lot of clicks.”
This is critical -
clicks are the WRONG definition of success. Clicks do NOT equal
customers!
If you’re getting lots
of clicks but no leads or sales, you’re losing money hand over fist.
The only one profiting from that situation is Google.
Instead of aiming for
clicks, your goal is to attract new paying customers… and to earn a
healthy return on investment (ROI) from your advertising.
It's very important to
understand this difference when considering whether your campaign is
performing successfully.
Mistake #3: NOT
Tracking
Understanding the
definition of success is important, but unless you're tracking the
results of your advertising you'll never know if your ads are
profitable.
Most likely, you're
losing money every month by not updating the campaigns that aren't
working.
From what I've heard
when speaking with small business owners, the vast majority of people
are making this mistake and are NOT tracking the results of their
advertising.
The shame of it is,
proper tracking isn’t hard. Click here for some tips to
get you started.
Make sure to always
track your advertising. Even if your ads are generating an ROI, you
should still be tracking so you can improve your ROI.
Mistake #4: Not
Analyzing the Right Reports
Once you set up
tracking, it's important to generate the correct reports.
When you first log into
Google Ads, you'll see a list of all of your campaigns. It's almost
impossible to tell what's wrong with a campaign by looking at these
aggregate reports. You need to dig deeper and generate reports on
individual keywords (for search) and placements (for display).
But, running keyword
and placement level reports, still won't give you the entire picture
because there are a LOT of factors at play. Segmenting your reports
even further will give you more exact results. For example, your
performance may vary across Google and the Search Partner network.
In addition to
segmenting by network, look at performance by time of day, the day of
the week, geography, and device. You’ll likely find that performance
varies by all of those segments and by reviewing them you’ll find ideas
to improve your campaign.
Mistake #5:
Ignoring Search Partner Traffic
The Search network is a
combination of Google.com and Search partners like AOL, Ask, and even
Amazon.
If you find that your
performance in the Search Partner network is poor, you have the option
to turn it off. And, while there's no way to figure out which partner
websites are working and which ones are not working, you can still
optimize your Search Partner traffic.
For example, I reviewed
a campaign for a consultant not too long ago. When I ran the search
query report to see which keywords were driving sales, I noticed a
tell-tale Search Partner sign: very long search phrases that no one
would actually type into Google.com.
As I dug deeper I found
that the majority of the sales for this Search campaign were not
coming from Google… they were coming from Amazon.com! That’s why it
was so hard to figure out how to optimize the campaign. Knowing the
sales were from Amazon, not Google, meant he would need to use a
different strategy for keyword selection and ad copywriting.
So while it’s fresh in
your mind, go log into your Google Ads campaign to see if you’re making
this mistake. Google Ads can be overwhelming, but when you’re looking
at the right reports, then things start to look a whole lot clearer.
Mistake #6:
Treating Desktop and Mobile the Same
Mobile is officially
the most popular way to search online. The thing is, advertising on
mobile and desktop yields different performance.
It is still possible to
block your ads from showing on mobile devices, which I typically
recommend when you’re just getting started. If you do target mobile
devices, then make sure you optimize your pages for mobile. Users have
come to expect mobile-friendly pages, so your standard “desktop
optimized” website probably won’t cut it.
Mistake #7: Not
Knowing When to Delegate
Managing Google Ads can
be very time consuming, which is why people often hire an agency to
manage it for them. But, when it comes to delegating the management of
your campaigns, you want to make sure the timing is right.
If you delegate the
management of your Google Ads campaign before you fully understand how
it works, you’re taking a big gamble. We recommend learning how Google
Ads works before you hand it off to an employee or an agency. That way,
you'll know whether your campaign is being managed properly or not.
It's also important to
recognize when it's time to invest in some help. If you're having
success with your campaigns but feel like you've plateaued, then it may
be time to hire an agency to manage your campaigns. With an agency, an
analyst who specializes in Google Ads will be able to audit your
campaign and quickly identify ways to improve it. They'll also be
constantly optimizing your campaigns to make sure you're getting the
best ROI.
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