If you’re just starting out with Google Ads, all the functionality and options can seem a little overwhelming.

There are a lot of settings to adjust and features to explore, which can be both time-consuming and frustrating. You may even find that you’re spending way too much time searching for information on the Google Ads help forums.

If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. We all want as many tools and controls as possible, but not at the expense of losing control over your ad campaigns.

So here are 10 tips for getting more out of your Google Ads account.

#1 – Take the Time to Understand Your Goals

When you first set up your Google Ads account, you’ll quickly start running some ads. You may even think: “Hey, this isn’t too bad!” and decide to leave your account alone.

However, before long you’ll start seeing less and less traffic, and your conversion rates and return on ad spend will drop — sometimes to zero!

This happens because we often skip the most important step of setting up our Google Ads account: identifying our business goals.

If you don’t set clear goals, you won’t know how to adjust your ad settings. And even if you do identify a goal, without knowing the right level of traffic to aim for, you may end up spending more than necessary.

#2 – Measure Everything — And Adjust for Success

Google Ads provides a lot of ways to measure your success in paid ad campaigns.

Everything from basic click-through rates (CTR) and conversion tracking to more advanced metrics like website engagement and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) can provide valuable insight into how your campaigns are performing.

If you’re able to track these statistics, it’s a good idea to revisit them on a regular basis — especially when you’re making significant changes to your Google Ads account.

While you’re conducting this review, be sure to pay attention to how your ad campaigns are performing as measured by these statistics.

To learn more about advantages of PPC Marketing, reach out to today.

#3 – Create a Landing Page That Is Relevant

Creating effective ads requires relevancy.

When someone clicks on an ad, they should arrive at a landing page that immediately gives them the information they’re looking for.

If you don’t provide adequate information, or if you send your users to a general homepage, you’ll likely see fewer conversions in your Google Ads account. You may even see your click-through rate drop due to usability issues with landing pages.

To get the most out of your Google Ads account, you’ll want to make sure that your landing pages are relevant.

#4 – Use Negative Keywords to Avoid Wasted Spend

There are two sides to every ad: the buying side and the selling side, or the advertiser and the user.

If you’re not careful, you can waste a lot of money on ads that indirectly bring users to your site through impressions and clicks but do nothing for your goals.

To avoid this wasted spend, it’s a good idea to use Google Ads’ AdWords Keyword Tool at least once a month to discover your highest-performing keywords.

You can then add those keywords to your negative keyword list so that your ads aren’t triggered by irrelevant searches.

To learn more about how to get the most out of your digital marketing budget, reach out to today.

#5 – Use Mobile Targeting to Adjust Your Strategy

If you’ve been struggling with low mobile click-through rates, you may want to adjust how you’re targeting mobile users in Google Ads.

Depending on your business goals, you may want to create separate mobile ads campaigns and landing pages from your desktop campaigns.

If so, you’ll want to make sure that you’re adjusting your ad and landing page copy based on the screen size of the device being used.

#6 – Give Yourself Plenty of Time to Set Up your Campaign before Launching

Don’t rush into your campaign without giving yourself enough time to get it up and running.

A rushed campaign launch can have negative ramifications on your business. Don’t start a campaign without knowing exactly how much time you’ll need, and then resenting the extra time you didn’t give yourself by launching too early.

Similarly, do not launch before thoroughly researching.

The more ad campaigns that are running, the more efficient your campaigns will be. So, if you wait to launch until you’ve tested the campaign extensively, you’ll be glad that you waited.

#7 – Make your Ads Stand Out with the Right Extensions

Extensions are a great way to drive more revenue from the same amount of ad spend.

In fact, extensions can drive up to double the revenue compared to ads without extensions.

But to get the most out of extensions, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using the right ones for your campaign.

For example, if your campaign aims to drive awareness for your brand, then the Sitelinks and Callout extensions may be a good fit.

You may also want to consider using extensions designed for mobile devices — such as the App Promotion extension, which is great for mobile app-store optimization.

#8 – Look for Opportunities that Provide Good Ad Copywriting

Most people don’t think about the quality of their ad copy, but without it, your ads may not bring in the results you’re hoping for.

In fact, a study by AdRoll showed that ads with low-quality ad copy have lower conversion rates than ads using high-quality advertising platforms like Google Ads.

By providing an ad with high-quality copy, you’ll improve your chances of getting the right people to your landing page. In turn, this will increase your chances of converting those users into customers.

Also remember when you’re spending time writing good ad copy, you’re not spending time attracting more business — that’s what the ads are for.

#9 – Set Up Conversion Tracking

If you’re unable to track conversions, you won’t be able to optimize your campaign.

To get the most out of your campaign, you’ll want to make sure that you can track conversions as well as conversion rates.

It’s critical that you don’t launch a Google Ads campaign without setting up conversion tracking. If you do, then any improvements that come from making optimizations in your ad settings could be lost.

Also, making sure you’re tracking conversions is important.

If you’re trying to make micro-payments, then you’ll want to be able to look at the details of those transactions so that you can optimize your conversion rates.

For additional help with setting up the correct conversion tracking, reach out today!

#10 – Check the Quality of your Ads and Make Sure They Look Professional

There’s nothing worse than seeing a Google Ads ad that doesn’t look professional. The ads that are most likely to succeed are those that look professional, even if it’s only a few people you’re targeting.

It’s important to remember that impression counts — but conversion counts even more. You don’t want to spend your time and money on campaigns that aren’t going to produce any results.

#11 – Reach Past Visitors with Remarketing

One of the most effective ways to get visitors that previously visited your site to return is to run a display remarketing campaign.

With display remarketing, you can show users ads as they browse sites that are like your own.

This method of retargeting is most effective when used in conjunction with another campaign since you’ll be reaching your prospects at the right moment. You can run remarketing campaigns using Google Ads to reach past site visitors on both desktop and mobile devices.

#12 – Include Keywords in your Ad Copy

If you want to rank your ad above the competition, you need to include keywords in your ad copy.

You can use Google Keyword Planner to find relevant keywords for your ads.

Keyword research is not just important for optimizing your organic keyword search efforts, it’s also important for optimizing your AdWords campaign.

After all, if people aren’t searching for the keyword in the search field, then there is no possibility of that keyword being driven by a sponsored ad campaign.

The only way that adverts are going to be found is if they’re included in a relevant search query. So, make sure your keyword research is spot on.

#13 – Don’t Forget About your Audience’s Behaviors

For an ad campaign to be successful, you need to know your target audience. Not just the things that their mouths are saying, but the things that they do.

A good way of gaining more insight into your audience’s behaviors is using web analytics tools like Google Analytics to see how long people stay on a page before they leave.

If you see that people are leaving the site within a few seconds of arriving, then you know that something is wrong with your site.

Start looking at improving your site’s navigation and page structure so that the people who have come to view the site are greeted with a message that encourages them to stay on the page longer.

#14 – Be Aware of the Changing World Around You

You may be surprised to know that Google Ads is not just a static set of rules — it’s constantly changing.

For example, Google has changed its requirements for showing ads in the search results recently (and we’re not talking about how many times you can use an ad).

To minimize the risks of having your ads blocked, you need to keep abreast of these changes.

You may also want to be aware of the latest and most effective conversion tracking methods.

Google AdWords provides different levels of tracking depending on the level you are willing to invest in.

These can range from basic click-level tracking (which is extremely inexpensive) all the way up to PPC conversion tracking (very expensive).

Choosing the right level of tracking is important when you’re trying to determine the ROI of your Google Ads campaign.

#15 – Know What You Shouldn’t Be Doing with your Ads Account…

Before you do anything else with your account, don’t forget to read the policies! Here’s the link to all policies: AdWords Policy Center

Of course, they’re pretty boring to read, so maybe not everyone will read them all. But before you do anything in your account, take a quick look through the policies first.

If there are policies you think you should be following, please read the Help Center to help clarify your questions. If you have a question that’s not already answered there and it’s still not clear, please submit a question to the Help Center.

If it turns out that your account will offend any policies, then please don’t do anything with it until you’ve followed all the policies. Google will take appropriate action if needed.

This will help you avoid some serious problems later down the line when you must comply with their rules.

#16 – Think Like a Prospect When You Create Ads

Before you create an ad, ask yourself whether you would click on it if it appeared in front of you. If not, then think about why that is.

If you can’t come up with a reason why someone would click on your ad, then change the ad until you can think of one.

Of course, you can’t always think of the reasons why something is appealing to your target audience. So, you also need to try and think of other ways that ads can be persuasive once they’ve been placed on the page.

#17 – Find Out What Works and What Doesn’t

The best way to improve your campaign is to look at the statistics and see which keywords, ads, and placements are working and which aren’t. Then optimize the ones that aren’t working.

This way, you’ll be able to stop wasting time and money on things that aren’t producing results and on content that’s not going to attract your target audience.

Conclusion…

Today, there are more ways to influence others to do your bidding than ever before.

Google AdWords is a great way to get your message out there for people to see and understand.

Your AdWords campaign page can really shine if you follow the tips we’ve listed here today.

If you want to speak with a professional, please feel free to contact AZ Creates. Our team can help you with any questions or issues that may arise while you’re using Google AdWords.