AdWords can be an effective platform that you could use to grow your business. But the reality is, a lot of businesses are wasting hundreds (if not thousands) of ad budget each month because of an underperforming campaign.
If you feel that you still could be generating more revenue from AdWords, then you could be making these most common AdWords mistakes that inhibit your performance.
Starting AdWords with any keyword
Not all keywords are created equal. Keywords that have a low search volume and are irrelevant does not do much for your quality score. If you are not getting any good results, then maybe it is time to think about how you can revise those keywords.
Ideally, you should create an ad group that is comprised of not more than 20 keywords. Why? Because this could mean that your ad copies and keywords are not directly related.
So, it is high time to pause those irrelevant keywords or those that do not convert to avoid overspending.
You can also make use of a keyword planner to place fresh keywords that are getting high search volumes.
Finally, use keyword matches that give you a bang for the buck. To create impressions, use broad match. When you want to drive in conversions, utilize exact matches and phrases.
Set and forget Google Shopping
There are a lot of advertisers that more or less ignore their shopping campaigns just because it is performing well. It could also be due to the fact that it is part of their regular optimization habits.
But the reality is, most of these shopping campaigns work mainly because of these three factors:
- A lot of search queries are specific to the product.
- The promotions, reviews, price, and product image pre-qualifies the user when they click on the ad.
- The landing page features precisely what was promised on the ad.
All of these factors work automatically, but it does not mean that you just have to sit there and do nothing to achieve results. Meaning, you cannot just set it and then forget all about it.
As we always say in Voy Media, our NYC PPC company, Google Shopping can give you a false sense of security, and it is not quite obvious how you can go and optimize your ads.
On the flip side, once you have the right knowledge, and do some practice, optimizing Google shopping does not seem that hard, and in fact, it can give you exceptional results.
Not writing a compelling ad copy
Just like the headline of your blog post, you need to write a compelling ad copy.
If you want to write an ad copy that stands out, then you have to know what works and what does not.
So, when writing an ad copy that encourages the user to click, you need to understand what is effective from what is not.
Not using remarketing
The usual ecommerce buyer will visit your page at least nine times before ultimately buying something from you. It requires multiple visits on their end before making a purchase.
There are only a few customers who will visit your site for the first time, and buy something from you right off the bat.
Meaning, you should always stay on top of your customers' minds when they are planning to make a purchase. That's where remarketing comes in.
Having an effective remarketing strategy is the key to making your business stay on top of your customers' minds up until they are ready to buy.
It also gives you an excellent opportunity to get in front of your toughest competitors.
The good news is, Google AdWords gives you a whole lot of targeting options. At the very least, you should be using these Google remarketing options:
- Remarketing Lists for Search Ads
- Display Network Marketing
- Dynamic Marketing
Then, you can use those options to target the following:
- Cart Abandoners
- Users who visited specific pages on your site but did not buy something.
- Previous buyers from your customer email list.
- People who have just made their first purchase.
- Users who have interacted with your videos in the past.
Therefore, what you need to do is to check your account and see what kind of remarketing you currently have set up.
Not making search page as a primary landing page
One of the most frustrating experiences of a user is clicking on an exciting ad that would mention what they like or looking for, only to be redirected to a random category.
Although you cannot build a custom landing page, what you can do is use your website’s search page as your primary landing page. This strategy is so effective because it allows you to do deep linking at scale.
Not Using Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are an effective way to drive more clicks. You can place site link extensions, which feature different links on your site and then send users to relevant pages.
You can also add callout extensions, which allows you to highlight the unique selling points that you have.
Other types of extensions that you can use are location extensions, price extensions, structured snippet extensions, message extensions, and so on.
Keep in mind though that you cannot control how these extensions will show up. Google decides which extensions will appear for that particular ad. So, your goal is to look for an extension tab from time to time, and then see which extensions work best.
Not using Google Analytics
Google AdWords has a great reporting interface as compared to other PPC platforms. But it does not compare to Google Analytics.
While a lot of people are aware of the fact that Analytics gives an extensive view of all your website traffic, they are pretty much oblivious of the ecommerce and AdWords data that it can give.
When you use Analytics along with the data that you have gathered from AdWords, you can make more informed decisions on working out what is possible. As a result, you can better decide how much you want to spend and get the best results.
Analytics might be a bit overwhelming at first, but if you tap to its potential regularly, then you are sure that you are in a much better place, as compared to not using it at all.
Over to You
So, there you have it. Those are the top AdWords mistakes that you could be making.
If that is the case, then you might consider revising your campaign as well as knowing what are potentially hindering your campaign's performance.