Google Ads enthusiasts always cite the power and scope of Google’s search engine, while critics point out how expensive it usually is to run ads on the search engine. However, if you can get to grips with a few tricks and apply a number of those tips, you will be able to convert your Google Ads campaign into a wealth generation channel.
Here in this article are some tips that will significantly increase the chance of a strong Google Ads campaign.
1. Attach a value to your conversion
Which conversion is the most valuable for your company? As a company, you have short term commercial objectives, but also corporate objectives for the long term. Not all conversions are the same. Some conversions are worth more and you want to be able to optimize them better.
How do you do this?
Define the different types of conversions that you get from your Google Ads and attach a value to each conversion. Based on these different values you get a better view of the return of your campaigns. This provides a solid foundation to further and better optimize your current and future campaigns on ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) instead of on conversions and costs per conversion.
Examples of conversions are: requesting a newsletter, contact form and e-commerce transactions. But also soft goals such as a click on a call-to-action, requesting directions or clicking on a telephone number.
2. Do not create internal competition between ad groups
Watch out that your own ad A does not have a bad influence on your ad B. Make sure you use the right keywords so that your ad groups do not compete with each other. If you do not do this, you will increase the bids unnecessarily and your return will fall sharply.
3. Determine the right target group
"We want to conquer the world with our product" is a noble ambition, but don't take it too literally when you determine the target audience of your Google Ads campaign. The more specific the target group, the more qualitative the conversions are.
Google Ads offers many parameters to make the determination of your target group as specific as possible. This allows you to focus on provinces, regions or cities to target the most relevant target audience.
4. Do not switch to an automatic bidding strategy too quickly
An automatic bidding strategy allows you to set a daily budget while Google manages that budget for you. Google will then ensure that you get as many clicks or conversions as possible, depending on your objective.
Advice: Wait with the automatic bidding strategy. First apply a manual bidding strategy, setting bids for each keyword and placement. This way you maintain full control over the CPC (Cost Per Click) and/or CPA (Cost Per Action) and you can make adjustments long enough where necessary. Only when you have gathered enough results, data and insights about the return, should you consider switching to an automatic bidding strategy.
5. Add extensions
With extensions within Google Ads, you have the option to add extra information to your ad. This way you increase your company's visibility in Google and you give your advertisement more content that makes it stand out. In addition, you also receive an extra bonus in the Ad Rank from Google, which means that you pay less for the same ad position.
The Ad Rank is used to determine the position of the ad (how the ad is displayed relative to other ads) and whether the ad is actually being shown to potential customers. This Ad Rank is calculated based on your bid set, the components of the quality score (Expected CTR, landing page experience and ad relevance) and therefore the presence of extensions.
You can choose between different types of extensions, such as a link, location, call, price, message/content, promotion or highlight. You pay no extra costs, only per click on the extension. I recommend adding as many types of extensions as possible.
6. Improve your quality score
The quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages is expressed in a quality score. It is important to pay sufficient attention to this when optimizing your Google Ads. The quality score has a major influence on the Ad Rank. An ad with a low-quality score will lead to a higher CPC (Cost per Click) and a lower ad position. "Simply offer more" does not always ensure that you get a better position.
How do you improve the quality score?
Provide relevant advertisements
Select keywords that are as specific as possible: rather a group of two or three words (long-tail keywords) than one general term. Example: "buy white Adidas sneakers" and "buy white Adidas Original medium sneakers" have a higher purchase intention than "buy white sneakers".
Make sure you're sending interested customers to the correct landing page (this is usually not the homepage).
Use a strong call-to-action so that the click-through ratio (CTR) can increase.
Make your ads attractive by emphasizing the USPs (Unique Selling Points) of your product or service.
7. Add remarketing target groups (RLSA) to your campaign
In Google Ads, you can create remarketing target groups and add them to specific campaigns. Consider the website visitors for the past 180 days. If visitors leave your site without making a purchase, you can contact them again this way.
With RLSA ads (Remarketing lists for search ads) you can increase the bid for a certain keyword if a visitor belongs to that specific target group. Thanks to RLSA, you are constantly shifting the focus of your campaign.
From this point of view, it is only relevant to a manual bidding strategy. You can also add RLSA lists with an automatic bidding strategy. On the basis of that data, Google will "learn" faster and in this way provide additional information to the automatic bidding strategy.
8. Add exclusion lists
Just as certain keywords are relevant to your business, there are also keywords that may be disastrous for your products or services. For example, if you sell handmade and expensive artisan design tables, you would not be found by people looking for "second-hand or free tables" on the Google search engine.
You can exclude these keywords individually at the ad group level or campaign level, but you can also create a list of negative keywords that will not help your ad campaign. You can then add these lists to the relevant campaigns yourself. In this way, you make the campaigns even more focused and profitable.
9. Advertise on your own brand name
Advertising on products and specific promotions leads to clicks from people interested in those products or services. However, do not forget to also advertise on your own brand name. This is not expensive and gives a boost to the quality score of your account.
10. Increase the impression share of your ad
The impression share is the percentage that indicates how often your ad will be shown when people search for specific keywords. Certainly, with the cheapest converting keywords, you must ensure that you have the highest possible share of impressions.
Strive for an impression share of one hundred per cent, so that you can use the full potential.
11. Make the content of your ad relevant
The ad text determines how successful the message is. Adjust the content, the tone of voice and the writing style to the target group. But also to the purpose of communication.
Do you want to inform your target audience about future launches or do you want to generate instant sales? In the first case, the call-to-action will be important in the text. If necessary, use extensions to add USPs, additional messages, keywords or links.
12. Logically build the campaign
Clearly define the naming conventions. These help you to organize the campaigns thematically, to distinguish terms and product categories and to create your own account structure. For example, in a structured account, it will be easier to determine the target group.
A clear (internal) campaign structure also helps to keep an overview if you are working on a Google Ads campaign with several people.
13. Test and optimize your Google Ads constantly
Make an advertisement, determine the target group and "Ready is Kees"? Nope. A good Google Ads campaign is like a child you need to raise. Keep an eye on the results, shift the budgets according to the results, view the search terms and adjust the bids regularly.
Put all your keywords on the first page and eliminate loss-making campaigns in time. This way you free up the budget for campaigns that do produce the desired conversions and run into the daily budget.
