As any online digital marketing expert will tell you, there are many different ways to execute a PPC strategy and you don’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to see results. In fact, there are many small businesses that get PPC right and have very impressive ROI with a modest budget.
On the other hand, you see PPC accounts that fail not because they have a bad strategy on their hands, but because they make easily avoidable mistakes in their execution of that strategy. Many of them don’t realise that they are committing these mistakes in the first place, and that’s exactly what we’re going to help you avoid with this post.
The following is a list of 10 Google AdWords (recently rebranded as Google Ads) mistakes that you must avoid if you want your online marketing campaign to yield impressive results.
Using Display Network Unintentionally
A lot of newbie PPC advertisers make this mistake due to the belief that it’ll bring them an increase in traffic. However, through experience, they learn that it’s best to use display network as a distinct campaign instead of making it part and parcel of your first campaign. Or better yet, stay off the display network altogether in the beginning and go for it at a later stage.
Using Only Broad Match.
Unless you have a huge budget to work with, it’s best to steer clear of Broad Match as it’s quite costly and requires a hefty daily cash commitment. Its default setting is also quite dubious. That said, it’s still a better option than content network if you’re new to PPC, even though it’s not the best or the most cost-effective one.
Targeting Nationwide for Local Business
As the old adage goes “you can’t make everyone happy”, but that’s exactly what this default setting makes you believe and erroneously so. The truth is that one of the most important things for any business (especially small enterprises) is to hone in on the specifics of their target audience, and that includes knowing their geographical location, whether it’s in a few niche locations or the whole of Australia. The good news is that you can always modify your targeting according to the needs of each campaign. Usually, the best way to get results is to be very specific with the location so that the campaign can help you achieve the reach you want.
Using Automatic Bidding
According to Google, automatic bidding enables advertisers to enjoy automated adjustments on their bids for maximum cost-per-click. However, automated bidding doesn’t take into account how much each click to your website is worth. That’s why your best bet is to learn by doing and experiment on your own so that you’ll know how to bid your PPC ads yourself.
Bidding on the Wrong Keywords
Many new PPC advertisers make the mistake of thinking that the keywords found in the Google Keyword Tool will be relevant to them, but that’s actually not always the case. In fact, there’s no guarantee that the people who search for the keywords you pick do so in order to find businesses like yours. So, always keep search intent in mind when picking keywords because at the end of the day you are paying for those clicks, so you have to make sure that they yield results. For example, businesses that sell swimwear should bid on keywords related to swimwear etc.
Not Using Negative Keywords
A lot of people sleep on negative keywords because they don’t appreciate the impact that these keywords can have on their campaign. Negative keywords will help you weed out keywords that are irrelevant to your particular business offerings, which can considerably improve the results of your PPC campaigns. In order to apply this tip, look for AdWords “Search Terms” in order to find the most effective user queries on which to base your keyword picks.
Not Monitoring Results
As with any business investment, it’s always a good idea to keep tabs on your PPC account to find out how it’s doing so that you can make adjustments when needed, and double down on the strategies that work if necessary. The last thing you want to do is leave your account unattended and on autopilot for long periods of time, as that’ll cause redundancy in your campaigns and you ultimately won’t see the results you want to over time. So, be proactive and take a hands-on approach when managing your PPC account.
Not Doing A/B Testing
Regular A/B testing is incredibly important if you want to have a successful PPC campaign as it enables you to understand and make the most out of your strategies. This could be anything from large-scale tests like “International Free Shipping” and “15% Off Discount”, to even small-scale ones like “Call Us Today” or similar calls to action. Whatever you choose to go with, make sure that your landing pages, ads and other creative aspects of your account are regularly tested for effectiveness and efficiency.
Ignoring Bidding Times
If you want to have a perfectly optimised AdWords account, then you should review its performance on an hourly, daily and weekly basis. As you do this on a regular basis, you’ll start to notice inconsistencies in the general performance of your AdWords account, which is often due to factors like customer psychology or competitive dynamics.
For the best results, make sure you review your reports on a daily and weekly basis so that you can fine-tune your ads and bid schedules according to proven stats.
Blindly Bidding for First Position
Bidding for the highest AdWord position might seem like a marvellous idea at first but when you really think about it, this can turn out to be very expensive. The best thing for you to do in this situation is to perform a thorough conversion analysis which will help you figure out which position is the most effective at yielding high ROI and low CPL. That way, you’ll find an appropriate position that yields high ROI without necessarily breaking the bank.
