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GOOGLE ADS SET UP AND SETTINGS

Google Ads is a powerful marketing platform; it sends instant, high-quality traffic to your website. Investing in Google Ads is a smart decision. It has the potential to grow your business by sending valuable leads, sales, and calls to your site.

 

CONSTANT OPTIMIZATION

Google Ads can be expensive, especially in competitive markets; they also require constant optimization. Without optimization, your Google Ad campaign could be wasting your budget. The last thing you want is to waste money on low-converting clicks. This article will discuss 10 settings that are draining your Google Ads budget.

SEARCH PARTNERS SETTING

When setting up Google Search Campaigns, you can expand your reach outside of Google Search. By default, the ‘Search Partners’ checkbox is selected. The ‘Search Partners’ checkbox includes websites that have partnered up with Google, such as search engines and directories. Search Partner clicks have low conversion rates.

SOLUTION

Uncheck the Search Partners checkbox and click Save. We want to target Google’s search engine as it has high-converting traffic.

DISPLAY NETWORK SETTING

The Display network is composed of websites partnered with Google. The partner websites allow text and banner advertising to be displayed on their website. When you select the Display Network Settings in your Google Ad campaign, your advert will appear on these partner sites. These clicks are considered low-quality clicks.

SOLUTION

Uncheck the Display Network Setting and click Save. We only want high-quality traffic from Google.

BROAD MATCH KEYWORDS SETTING

When adding keywords to your Google Ad campaign, you must select the type of keyword you want to target, known as Keyword Match Types.

 

THERE ARE 3 TYPES OF KEYWORD MATCH TYPES:

A. Broad Match Keywords

B. Phrase Match Keywords

C. Exact Match Keywords

Broad Match Keywords reach the biggest audience and match anything related to your keyword, even if it’s vaguely related.

EXAMPLE

If you target the keyword “plumbing” as a broad match, your advert could appear when someone searches for “water issues” on Google.

SOLUTION

Broad Match Keywords works well for established businesses with big budgets. However, for small businesses, it is wise to select “phrase match” or “exact match” keywords.

PHRASE MATCH EXPLAINED

Phrase match keywords target the keyword you inserted, with variations added to the front or back. Add inverted commas (“keyword”) to your keywords to use this feature.

EXAMPLE

For instance, if you targeted the keyword “SEO Company”, your ad would appear for:

• Top Rated SEO Company

• SEO Company South Africa

• SEO Company Prices

• The best SEO company in Johannesburg

EXACT MATCH EXPLAINED

‘Exact Match’ keywords target the keyword without any variations (Unless it’s the same meaning). Add brackets [keyword] to your keywords to use this feature.

EXAMPLE

For Instance, if you targeted the keyword [SEO Services], your ad would appear for:

• SEO Services

• SEO Service

• Best SEO Services

AUTO APPLIED RECOMMENDATIONS

Google can automatically make changes to your Ads, Keywords, Bids, Assets, and Targeting. Google’s automatic changes are helpful but can hurt your performance. Constant monitoring is required to maintain the integrity of your campaigns.

COMMON UPDATES THAT CAN HURT YOUR BUDGET:

1. Switching to broad keywords, which get more clicks but fewer conversions.

2. Changing your bid strategy from CPA to Maximize clickS (lower-quality)

3. Adding irrelevant keywords with no buying intent.

4. Rotating Ads that are performing well

5. Expanding to audiences (Similar Audiences) but with low conversion rates.

6. Adding too many assets dilutes your message.

SOLUTION

• Select the Recommendations Tab on the left vertical menu.

• Now select the Auto Apply Settings tab.

• Decide which settings you would like to auto-apply to your campaigns.

LOCATION TARGETING SET TO “INTEREST”

When deciding on the areas to display your ad, you can choose to target:

1. People who are situated in those areas or

2. People interested in those areas but do not reside there.

Targeting people who have shown interest in those areas results in lower conversion rates, which wastes your budget.

SOLUTION

Select “Presence” and unselect “Interest” in the Location Target settings. This will focus your budget on people in your focus area.

LOW INTENT KEYWORDS

It’s important to track the keywords Google uses to showcase your ads. Google could show your ads to people searching for information, and not people with buying intent. You need to remove redundant keywords that do not benefit your campaign.

SOLUTION

1. Select the Overview Tab on the Left Vertical Menu.

2. Scroll down until you find “Top Searches and words within searches where people saw your ad”.

3. Hover over each term you don’t think is relevant and select “Add as a Negative Keyword.”

MOBILE APP PLACEMENTS WASTING BUDGET

This happens when your Display Network or Performance Max advert appears on mobile apps. Google can display your ads on free games and kids’ mobile apps, which have low conversion rates. People mistakenly click on these ads. Unless kids are your target audience, you should remove advertising from mobile apps.

SOLUTION

1. Go to campaign and select Settings.

2. Now select content exclusions.

3. Turn on App categories you want to exclude, like “Apps for Children” or “Games.”

WEAK AD SCHEDULE

The Ad schedule is the days and times you would like your advert to run. Many marketers leave this setting on default, which may run your ads at midnight or early in the morning. Your Ads should appear during your business working hours, unless your business operates 24 hours. Your ads shouldn’t appear when your business is closed on the weekends.

SOLUTION

1. Go to campaigns

2. Open settings

3. Scroll down to Ad schedule and select Edit Ad Schedule

4. Select the dates and times you would like Google to show your ads

5. Click Save

Consider looking at the times you receive the most conversions and increasing your bids to appear in those times.

BIDDING STRATEGY NOT MATCHING YOUR GOAL

Google can implement a default bidding strategy that doesn’t match your goals. At the beginning of Google Ad campaigns, you specify your marketing objectives:

• Sales

• Leads

• Website traffic

• App Promotion

• Awareness and Consideration

• Local Store visits

• Create a campaign without guidance

SALES

Who: E-Commerce Stores selling products

Bidding Suggestions: Maximize Conversion Value; Target ROAS (tROAS)

LEADS

Who: A business wanting to attract inquiries, calls, and leads.

Bidding Suggestions: Maximize Conversions; Target CPA (tCPA)

WEBSITE TRAFFIC

Who: A Business wanting to drive as many people as possible to their site.

Bidding Suggestions: Maximize Clicks; Manual CPC

APP PROMOTION

Who: A business wanting to drive app downloads and sales.

Bidding Suggestions: tCPA for App Installs; Maximize Install Volume

AWARENESS AND CONSIDERATIONS

Who: A business looking to build Brand Awareness

Bidding Suggestions: Maximize Clicks; Manual CPC; CPM

LOCAL STORE VISITS

Who: A business looking to increase foot traffic in their physical store.

Bidding Suggestions: Maximize Conversions; Maximize Conversion Value

CREATE CAMPAIGN WITHOUT GUIDANCE

Who: A Business that wants the freedom to create its own goals, not Google’s presets.

Bidding Suggestions: Manual CPC; Enhanced CPC; Maximize Clicks; Maximize Conversions

SOLUTION

It’s wise to start campaigns with the “Maximize Clicks” bidding strategy until you receive 15- 30 conversions in a month. Once your campaign has reached 15- 30 conversions, you can upgrade your Google Ad campaign to focus on “Maximize Conversions”.