Your local business ad strategy is very much like an automobile – it won’t run itself (except downhill). What would happen if you ignored all the warning lights and skipped your scheduled service tune-ups?
Like your car, it’s even worse when you suspect something may be wrong, but you ignore it. You know, like that time when your car was making noise that you knew wasn’t normal. We all know there are two very obvious choices to “fix” the issue:
- Schedule an appointment to get your car checked out, or…
- Turn up the radio. If you can’t hear it – is there really a problem?
Sounds funny doesn’t it? But what if I told you that you may be “turning up the radio” when it comes to your ad buy? You know – that huge expenditure you hope is responsible for bringing in new customers? Now it doesn’t sounds so funny anymore.Hence, the same is true with advertising on Google Ads; only one huge difference is there…
Google Ads Has No “Idiot Lights”
We take it for granted now, but cars were not always equipped with self-diagnostic tools and “idiot lights” to tell us there was a problem. Can you imagine if there was no “check engine” or “brake fluid” light? How would you ever know if your car needed a quick tune-up?
Most likely you would not know you needed help until it was too late and your was stalled in the breakdown lane. Luckily all cars now come with plenty of warning lights so you don’t have to be motor head to maintain your car.But this is certainly not the case with Google Ads.
There is no “idiot lights” that illuminate red when your campaigns are under performing to indicate you need a tune-up. Instead, you need to do a manual audit. In this article, I put together a checklist that highlights some potential problems in your campaigns. Use this list to see if you have any flashing “red lights” indicating your campaign needs a tune-up.Remember, it’s less costly to continually tune up your ads than it is to ignore then and later have to fix a completely broken down campaign.
THE “CHECK KEYWORDS” LIGHT:
The first warning sign is your keyword list in a Google Ads Search Campaign. The “check keywords” light will illuminate red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are true:
- You’re using all Broad match keywords instead of Phrase and Exact match. This leads to poor Google Ads Quality Scores, low ad rank, higher CPCs or wasteful clicks on irrelevant search phrases.
- You’re using some Broad match keywords with no Negative keywords. Again, this leads to poor Quality Scores, low ad rank, higher CPCs or wasteful clicks on irrelevant phrases.
- All or most of your keywords are in a single Ad Group. This leads to poor Quality Scores and low ad click-through rates because the ads are not 100% relevant for all keywords in the Ad Group.
If your “check keywords” light is on, then take action immediately and check to change your keyword match types, add negative keywords and restructure your ad groups. Until you fix this problem your ad campaign will struggle to get back on lane.
THE “CHECK ADS” LIGHT:
The second warning is your ad copy. The “check ads” light will illuminate red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are true:
- There is only one ad in any Ad Group. This means you’re missing an opportunity to split test to find better performing ad copy. By testing multiple ads at the same time you’ll discover which ads will get a higher click-through rates and a higher conversion rate, which ultimately leads to high Quality Scores.
- You’re missing Ad Extensions. Ever Ad Extension available should be used whenever appropriate to increase your response rates. Plus, missing Ad Extension can lead to poor Quality Scores now that Google Ads uses Ad Extension performance to calculate your Quality Scores.
- The ad copy does not match all keywords in the Ad Group. This leads to poor Quality Scores and low ad click-through rates because the ads are not 100% relevant for all keywords in the Ad Group.
If your “check ads” light is on, then take action immediately to add ads to your ad groups, set up all appropriated ad extensions and restructure your ad groups so that your ads are 100% relevant to all keywords in the ad group. By fixing your keywords and ads you’ll ensure you’re targeting your ideal customers and driving as many prospects to your website as possible.
Next, we need to review what happens when your prospect “lands” on your website…
THE “CHECK LANDING PAGES” LIGHT:
The third warning sign is your landing page copy and layout. The “check landing pages” light will illuminate red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are true:
- Your landing page is your homepage. This leads to low conversion rates because website homepages are too broad in scope. For instance, homepages talk about every product and service offered and appeal to every different type of customer. In contrast, high – converting landing pages are laser – focused on one product or service and appeal to the subset of your prospects that would be searching the keyword you’re advertising on.
- You’re using one landing page for more than one product or service. Again, this leads to low conversion rates because your prospect can get distracted or think your offer is not as relevant as your competitor’s offers that are more laser focused.
- Your landing page is not 100% congruent with your ads. This leads to low conversion rates because your prospect does not find the same offer and the same product or service promised in the ad copy.
If your “check landing pages” light is on, then take the action immediately to create a unique landing page or each product or service you’re advertising, and make sure your landing page copy is 100% congruent with your ads.
At this point, your know your keywords, ads and landing pages are all set up properly to maximize your advertising investment. However, we’re not done yet. The only way to continually improve your campaign is to track your key performance indicators.
This brings us to the last warning...
THE “CHECK TRACKING” LIGHT:
The fourth and final warning sign is your conversion tracking. The “check tracking” light will illuminate red indicating a problem if any of the following conditions are true:
- Conversion tracking is not set up for webforms. This means you do not know when prospects click on ads and then complete a webform. Therefore, there’s no way to optimize your bids to increase leads and eliminate wasted ad spend on under-performing keywords.
- Conversion revenue tracking is not set up for shopping carts. If you have an e- commerce website, then it’s possible to send revenue data back to Google Ads so you can calculate your return on investment for each keyword. If this is not set up then again you can not optimize your bids to increase sales and eliminate wasted ad spend.
- Website Call Tracking is not set up. This means you do not know how many prospects are calling your business after clicking on one of your ads. Therefore, you can not optimize your bids to drive more calls.
- Call Extension Tracking is not set up. This means you do not know how many prospects are calling your business using the phone number listed on the ad. Therefore, you can not optimize your bids to drive more of these calls.
- Offline Sales Import Conversion Tracking is not set up. This means you’re not tracking sales and revenue from prospects that click on an ad, complete a webform and then convert to customers via phone or in-person sales. Therefore, you can’t optimize your bids to drive more offline sales.
If your “checking track” light is on,then take action immediately to set up webform conversion tracking (and revenue tracking if you’ve an e-commerce website), website call tracking, call extension tracking and offline sales import conversion tracking.
DOES YOUR CAMPAIGN NEED A TUNE – UP?
Now that you’ve completed the 4 steps above, does your Google Ads Campaign need a tune – up? Then, you can feel free to contact us DIGITAL MANOHAR or any of our team member will advice you and help you to get over from this problem. We provide you the best solutions of your problems.
