Running your own Google Ads account? It can be time consuming and often baffling digging through reports and trying to analyse the data. There are so many variables to consider and tweak to keep ahead of the competition and squeeze every ounce of profitability from your ad spend, so you’d be forgiven for not getting everything right. However, there are some fatal Google Ads mistakes we see being made on a regular basis, so here’s what to avoid when setting up and managing your ad campaigns.
Mistake #1: Not having a plan
If you’re brand new to Google Ads and you’re about to embark on setting up your first campaign, before you even navigate to the Google Ads website and start the sign up process, you need to have a plan!
As you set up your account you’ll be asked to create a campaign as part of the setup process. This process is quite in-depth and if you’re not prepared, you could end up with a mess of a campaign. So, before you start, make sure to create a plan.
It doesn’t need to be anything fancy, simply open up a text editor like Notepad and write down:
- the campaigns you plan to set up and how the account will be structured
- which landing pages you want to promote
- which keywords and phrases you want to target
- locations and languages you’re targeting
- what messaging you will use in your ads (aim for at least 10 headlines and 3 descriptions for each campaign)
- ad extensions (sitelinks (links to other key pages on your website), phone number, location, prices, callouts (think USPs)
Whilst the above isn’t everything you need to create a campaign, it will save you time setting up your account and ensure you’re not trying to think of critical ad copy on the spot.
Mistake #2: Combining Search & Display Ads
When you create a search campaign, Google will automatically include Display placements, meaning your ads will also show on other websites as well as Google search results. The problem with this is that you’ve created your ads to display when someone searches for your products or services on Google, not show up as a banner ad on a random website when people are looking for something entirely different.
Display ads are a different animal all together and should be run in a separate campaign.
Mistake #3: Adding broad match keywords
Just typing in all the keywords you can think of without thinking about match types can lead to more traffic, but for completely irrelevant search queries.
[Related article: A Guide to Keyword Match Types in Google Ads 2021]
Mistake #4: Using the Maximise Conversions bid strategy from day 1
Google may recommend it, but optimising your bids for conversions will only be affective if you have enough conversion data in your account. Therefore, if your account is brand new or you haven’t set up conversion tracking yet (see mistake #6), there’s no conversion data for Google to use to optimise your bids and you could end up spending whatever Google feels you should. This doesn’t give you much control over how your budget is spent, so opt for a different bid strategy such as Maximise Clicks until you have enough conversion data.
Mistake #5: Not using Ad Extensions
They may seem like optional extras, but ad extensions can massively improve your click through rate and make your ads stand out from the competition. Make sure to use as many ad extensions as you can to improve engagement with your ads.
Mistake #6: Not setting up conversion tracking
If you’re spending money on advertising, you want to know you’re making money too, so setting up conversion tracking is essential to measure your return on investment. Whether you’re selling products online or generating leads through your website, you can set up tracking to measure when someone completes a sale or submits their details.
Mistake #7: Not using bid adjustments
Not all clicks have the same value or the same chance of turning into a conversion, so using bid adjustments is the key to really refining your targeting. You can set bid adjustments for different locations, devices, audiences and different days of the week or times of the day.
[Related article: Bid Adjustments in Google Ads]
Mistake #8: Not adding negative keywords
If you’re using phrase or broad match keywords, you’ll see in your search terms report the phrases that people type in to trigger your ad. It’s common to see search terms that are not relevant to your products or services, or terms you wouldn’t associate with someone ready to buy, so use negative keywords to keep a tighter control on when your ads are served.
Mistake #9: Not checking in on your campaigns
If running Google Ads isn’t your full-time job, you might find other tasks get in the way of keeping an eye on your campaigns. We can highly recommend scheduling time in your diary to check on campaigns weekly. Check for any changes in traffic volume, new search terms triggering your ads and any underperforming or non-serving keywords. Are there any new keywords you could add to increase your traffic? Are there opportunities to add more relevant headlines and descriptions to ads?
What you need to check for will depend on how your account and campaigns are set up and what changes or additions you have made recently, but it’s important to check in regularly so you can spot any new opportunities and prevent any wasted ad spend.
Managing your own Google Ads account may seem like a cost effective solution, but making these mistakes can be costly.
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