How to Improve Your Google Ads
It’s the age old question: how can you optimize Google Ads to get the most amount of qualified traffic while spending the least amount of money possible? Of course every account will have major differences: timing, budget, industry, keywords, etc., but there are a few things every advertiser can do to improve their performance while advertising on Google.
The first recommendation I would make is to do your research before running your ads - and if they are already running, do this now! Conduct keyword research with tools like Moz, AnswerthePublic, and even Google itself (search your industry and scroll to the bottom for ideas). Take some time to write down questions that your business would answer and search terms your ideal customer would use to find the service or product you offer. Some examples:
Auto repair shop near me
How much does it cost to rent a portable restroom?
Digital Etsy shop help
After your ads have been running for awhile, look into the keywords and search terms that cause your ads to appear in the user’s feed. Are these relevant to your business? Are they high quality - meaning, do they lead to actual conversions on your website? If they are not serving you well, or they are not relevant, either turn the keyword ‘off’ by toggling the switch next to it, or make it a negative keyword so you do not appear in these searches again.
The #1 recommendation I would make, though, is to track conversions on your website or lead form. Google makes this easy (click here for instructions), but without conversion tracking you will have a hard time knowing the value of your ads. What if a particular keyword generates a lot of traffic - therefore costing a lot of money - but the traffic is fairly useless and almost nobody who clicks on the ad actually wants what your business offers? Conversely, you could have a keyword that costs $10 per click, but if you don’t know that the conversion rate is higher on that term than any other, you may lower the bid or turn it off altogether, thereby hurting your results.
Traffic is good. Clicks are good. But conversions mean more than both of those. Make sure to do your research and check back on your Google Ads regularly, but without conversion tracking you are likely missing some key data about the effectiveness of your copy or specific keywords.
Need help figuring out how to run your ads or track conversions? Contact me and I would be happy to point you in the right direction!