With its unrivalled customisation, a plethora of features, and great targeting options, Google Ads make a brilliant option for generating sales and leads. However, the things that led to the tool’s success also happen to be the things that may limit your ROI.
As with many default software settings, Google’s default campaign settings can generally turn out to be an expensive mistake. In addition, these settings are not helpful with sales.
This is one of the most common mistakes people make with Google ads, but what about the rest? Let’s take a look:
Forgetting about negative keywords
Are you not using negative keywords?
It’s important to keep expanding your negative keywords list based on your search term report every week. SEMrush’s keyword planner is an excellent way to find negative keywords to start with, as are Google suggestions or Ubersuggest.
For a complete list of negative words, look at a tool like Google Ads Keyword Planner. A list of keywords like this will save you immeasurable money and time in your use of Google Ads – not only will this list help you attract more qualified leads, but it will also nullify those searches not about to convert.
When you’ve uploaded this initial list, head to Search Terms in the Keywords tab. You can find the search terms people use to find your ads here. You may come across keywords irrelevant to your campaign – if this is the case, add these words to your negative keyword list.
Search and display network default targeting options
As you create your Search campaign, you get the option to search or display the network. You can also choose both. As well as this, you can include Google search partners for both networks.
If the goal of your Search campaign is sales or lead generation, you should select the Search Network only. This is because the click conversion rate on the Display Network is unbelievably low compared to Search. But, unfortunately, this would mean you pay a higher Cost Per Acquisition without getting any benefit.
When you target a keyword with Search Network, that keyword only appears on Google and search partners. However, if you select Display Network also, though Google will attempt to show your ads on relevant websites, it won’t show them to the people actively searching for you. So, since you won’t get traffic that converts, the Display network is a waste of time.
Not preparing for conversions testing
It’s unbelievable how many ad campaigns people still set up without putting conversion testing into place. Without conversion testing, you won’t know how much you pay to obtain a sale or lead from your campaigns, which keywords are or aren’t currently driving your sales, and other things.
Optimising your Ads campaign is the way to go if you want to make the most of your money. First, head to Settings>Measurement>Conversions. Then, add every possible conversion action based on what people do on your platform when you’re there.
Google Ads’ sole purpose is to be a source for your leads and sales. But this isn’t going to happen unless you optimise your campaign for conversions.
Not testing out your bidding strategies
We get it – it can be pretty daunting to find the right bidding strategy when there are so many. But it is a good idea to try at least a few different ones before making your decision.
Some advertisers use manual CPC, while others use maximised conversions or enhanced CPC. For example, if you want to test your campaign over a couple of weeks, you could choose enhanced CPC or maximise your clicks. These two bid strategies let Google give you the most clicks at the best price possible.
Two of the best bid strategies are target CPA and target ROAS. These strategies let you bid according to your ideal cost per action or return on your ad spend. They will let you spend just the right amount on ads to reach your ROI and boost your investment.
Bad keyword research
Flawed keyword research is one of the people’s most common mistakes with Google Ads. However, performing good keyword research is imperative. You can’t just choose keywords based on what you think people search for or based on what you search. Instead, you must use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner to get what you need.
On top of just doing keyword research, choosing the right match type for your keywords is also essential. The broad match, for example, is something you’ll probably want to avoid. This is because it generally brings in a lot of irrelevant traffic. This traffic would drive up your costs and CPA while also driving your account rank down.
Getting to grips with keyword match types is crucial for your Google Ad campaign’s success. First, try finding 10 to 15 basic keywords before trying them out in the three variants – broad match modifier, phrase match, and exact match. In doing so, you will have three similar variations closely related to the term’s meaning.
Another good thing to do is to create specific ad groups that target particular landing groups and have their own keywords. Then, spread your keywords across ad groups as you see fit.
Not paying attention to regional trends
Different types of advertisers like to focus on different types of advertising. For example, some people like their ads to traverse the world, using aggressive international advertising. Others want to focus on a small, local area.
This is something you should think about when you advertise. If your business is local, like hairdressers or a restaurant, it stands to reason that you would only want to run ads in your local vicinity. But if your business is larger, trying to appeal to a larger geographic area is a good idea.
You can look at your ad performance and make calls as soon as you have data to work with. In this case, you can focus on the higher-yielding area. Do the same for different devices, too.
