You’re not alone if you’re constantly searching for a better way to do things, and to get more out of your marketing efforts. It’s a continuous struggle for many businesses in an ever-increasingly competitive world, where consumers can purchase on a whim with the click of a button.
If you haven’t delved into the world of Google Adwords pay-per-click ads then you may be missing out on many clicks, traffic, leads and ultimately customers.
You can start seeing results quite quickly, if these common mistakes, made by many marketers and advertisers alike, are avoided. There’s a definite knack to setting up high-converting Google Ads, but a few simple things can be the difference between a high conversion rate and a below average one.
If you’re embarking on the Adwords journey, then it’s best to get it right at the start.
Don’t waste those precious advertising dollars by making these common errors; avoid them and you’ll get a much better return on investment (ROI) when it comes to your Google Adwords management.
Here are the top 5 mistakes to avoid with Adwords management in Melbourne:
1. Keyword Blunders
While keywords aren’t everything when it comes to Adwords management, they are important. Keywords act as a base to an Adwords campaign; get them right at the start and your Adwords journey will be much smoother sailing.
There are several elements to keywords, and therefore common mistakes that are regularly made.
Here are the most important mistakes to avoid in relation to keywords:
A. Too Many Keywords
You’ve done your keyword research, now you need to try and figure out which search terms are right for you. But does that mean using everything you can come up with? No, of course not.
Using too many keywords can mean having too many ad groups, writing too many ads and optimising too many landing pages. This is hugely time consuming and can distract you from the keywords that are most important.
The campaigns holding specific types of keywords may simply not be worth the effort. Some keywords that seem relevant might not be as effective as you expect. No matter how much you try to optimise them, they just won’t get you the ROI you’re aiming for.
Rather, focus on the keywords that are truly right for you. This frees you up to give them the time and attention they need. It’ll allow you to optimise them to the max, as well as allocate your budget to the right campaigns and keywords.
B. Duplicate Keywords
If you’re not careful with your keyword matching, you’ll find the same keyword matching to multiple ad groups.
The easiest way to find the multiples is to use the AdWords tool for finding duplicate keywords. Analyse the performance data to help you choose where to keep running them, and where to pause or remove them all together.
C. Not Using The Right Keyword Matches
Using the wrong keyword match is a commonly seen error which can be easily fixed.
You can run your ads in any of the three keyword matches available, so it’s your responsibility to decide which one(s) to use.
The three categories of keywords are:
Broad match: Your ads will show when people search for your keywords regardless of the order of the words in the search string. It also means that your ads will show regardless of the user intent.
Phrase match: When you target phrase matches keywords, your ads will appear when people search for your keywords in that exact order, with other words on each end of the phrase being allowed.
Exact match: Your ads will only display when the exact keyword that you’re targeting is typed in as a search term. Exact match keywords generally convert better than broad and phrase match keywords, but the number of average monthly keyword searches is usually lower than broad match.
D. Not Using Negative keywords
Forgetting to use negative keywords is one of the biggest AdWords management mistakes out there.
By using negative keywords, you can exclude those keywords that aren’t a good match for your offering. In doing so, you can lower your cost and increase your revenue.
Countless Google advertisers overlook the importance of compiling a negative keyword list, and then wonder why their ads aren’t converting the way they should be. Not using negative keywords basically means that your ads will be shown to people who aren’t interested in your offering.
They’re the easiest way to reach the most targeted audience, reduce your costs, improve your ROI and increase your Quality Score (Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of both your keywords and pay-per click (PPC) ads).
If you set up your Google Ads to appear on both search (text ads in the search engine results) and display (ads on a large network of sites across the internet) networks, your negative keyword list will help you increase your conversions.
When using negative keywords, don’t use too many or their results become hard to monitor, customise them (don’t just copy and paste them across your whole campaign), and use a spreadsheet to keep track of which keywords they correspond to.
2. Not maximising Ad Extensions and Writing Second-rate Ads
Now that you’ve mastered your keywords, especially your keyword match types, you’re expecting to see results, right? Well, that might not be the case if you’re not maximising your use of ad extensions and writing substandard ads.
Google has made it much easier for you to write better ad copy, and adjust your settings so you can achieve the highest ROI. With ad extensions, you can enhance your ad by using sitelinks, call and location extensions, user reviews and more..
By adding extra pieces of information or links to your ad, you give your audience added snippets which means more reasons to click your ads.
Properly utilising ad extensions can be very effective method to increase your click-through rate (CTR). They give you several opportunities to create a call to action (CTA) and motivate the user to visit your site.
They can be scheduled to start/end on certain dates or run during specific days of the week, be easily analysed so you can track results, as well as be optimised to maximise effectiveness.
If you want to write appealing ad copy, you’ve got to understand what’s effective. Make sure you’re using the right ad extensions, because the wrong ones won’t appeal to your users, and might even scare them off.
You can use extensions at a campaign level or ad group level and match them to what your ad group is about.
You can either use a few general sitelink extensions, and add them at an account level, or use more types of ad extensions and make them much more accurate, producing better results. If you already have sitelink extensions, add more and test them out. If your campaigns are mobile-enabled, you can add a call extension, allowing a click to call straight from the ad.
3. Using Too Few Landing Pages
A key error that’s seen in Adwords management in Melbourne is not giving landing pages the attention they deserve.
Now that you’ve got your ad extensions optimised, the challenge is to ensure that your linked landing page is high-converting, so that when visitors get there, they’ll easily find what they’re looking for.
But before we delve into that, let’s get one thing straight. The biggest rookie mistake out there is sending all your traffic to your website’s homepage. This is a huge no, no!
Now that we’ve got that clear, let’s focus on landing pages. Your landing pages should completely answer what the user is searching for. You need to create a designated landing page for every set of keywords in your account that answer the same user intent.
It may seem like a big job, but it’s not. And it leads to better Quality Scores and conversion rates.
4. Not Understanding (or ignoring) Profit Margins And Conversions
Ultimately, when you’re running a business, you’ll need to track conversions as well as your profit margins. Improving your revenue, not just your short-term profit, will ensure that your business lasts.
The same principle applies to your PPC ads, you’ll need to monitor conversions for inquiries and sales. Not understanding profit margins and conversions when it comes to Adwords in Melbourne is one thing, turning a blind eye is another; a very expensive mistake that ultimately costs the advertiser (not the Adwords management company).
There’s a simple formula that marketers use to calculate profit margins for Google ads campaign:
[{Revenue per Click x Margin} x Clicks] – (Cost per click x Clicks) / Total Cost
It may not produce exact results, but having an estimated profit margin is a great way to set up a winning Google AdWords campaign; it gives a benchmark to work with.
5. Not Testing The Optimal Ad Position
Coming in second or third place may not be such a bad thing when it comes to Google Adwords management.
Many marketers make the mistake of only focusing on the top position, but often, that position isn’t the only one that works.
The formula that Google uses to rank ads is: Cost-per-click bid x Quality Score
The quality of your ad is largely reliant on the quality of your keywords, click rate and targeted keywords; that score determines where your ad gets placed.
Higher ad rankings generally get the most clicks, but they don’t get the most conversions. You don’t have to rank number one for your ads to start producing quality clicks, traffic and ultimately conversions; positions 3 to 5 work best.
Assuming you have the same Quality Score as other advertisers who are targeting the same keywords, if you bid more, your ad is more likely to appear at the top.
But, if your competitor is a large brand with an unlimited Google Adwords management budget, you shouldn’t try to bid higher than them. Rather, focus on increasing your Quality Score; a high Quality Score will give you a better ad rank position.
When it comes to ad positioning in Google AdWords, you’ve got to test what’s best for you. Being in the top spot may work best for you, depending on your industry and ad copy. But, overall, positions 3-5 tend to be more effective for most businesses, as they’ll yield the best ROI.
Lowering or increasing your bid or CPC is how you should test your ad copy to find the best position.
When you lower your bid, monitor what happens.
Google usually provides a specific suggested bid amount, so you can start with the suggested bid or increase it a bit. Keep checking your ad positions and make changes as you see results.
Conclusion
Google Adwords management doesn’t have to be too complicated, but there are common errors that many Adwords management companies make. This happens when they really aren’t that invested in producing the desired results for their customers; they get sloppy and careless.
On the other hand, an Adwords management company that cares as much as you do, will make sure that they avoid these mistakes entirely. They’ll take time to understand your goals, and put smart strategies into place, to ensure those goals are achieved.
If you’ve previously asked yourself: “What is PPC?”, or you’ve considered dabbling in Adwords but you’re unsure where to start, then reach out. ADV Marketing is here to guide you in the right direction. We’ve been in the business long enough to know how to deliver proven strategies that produce impactful and meaningful results. You’ll start to see those results that you’ve been hoping for, come to life.
For professional Adwords management in Melbourne, get in touch with our team on 1300 127 128 today!