OK so last time out we gave you a brief introduction into the weird and wonderful world of Google AdWords, giving you some tips on how to improve your click through rate.
We talked about (1) how to write effective ads, (2) targeting the right keywords and (3) which negative keywords to consider.
But that’s only the start. In this second and final part of our AdWords tips we’ll try our best to cover everything else you need to know to create a winning campaign. Ok deep breath and off we go:-
4 Split your campaign into specific ad groups and target accordingly
Make sure your campaigns are split into very specific and targeted ad groups. The groups should be powered by similar keywords – meaning we group users with similar searches together.
Using a client we told you about – the jazz band – as an example, we’ve created one ad group for jazz bands at weddings, one for jazz bands at restaurants, one for jazz duos, one for trios etc etc.
By breaking up our keywords into small defined groups and linking them to the relevant ad groups you ensure the right ads appear for the right people.
This is crucial if your site offers a range of products or services.
Let’s pretend we are running a PPC campaign for an online shoe shop and we have one big bucket of keywords that covers everything from slippers to trainers, from high heels to brogues.
If this big bucket of keywords services various ads for all these shoes then people searching for “red high heels” might see ads for “Adidas men’s trainers” and vice versa.
For example. You’d be far better off having a small bucket of keywords all relating to red high heels which all point to an ad group about red high heels. For example.
Then do the same for Adidas men’s trainers. And so on – you get the picture.
That will ensure the right people will see the right ads and your chances of generating interest are far higher.
Here’s an example of how we’ve split one client’s AdWords into four distinct campaigns – all of which have various ad groups. As you can see the CTRs are ticking along nicely, with three of the four well over 10%. Easy eh?
5 Your landing page is key – give users exactly what they want
Think long and hard before making the homepage your landing page, especially if you sell a variety of products or services.
All things being equal, a user who is specifically searching for red high heels has a reasonable chance of turning into a customer if they land on a page all about red high heels.
If they land on your homepage – which talks about all kinds of shoe from cowboy boots to sandals – they are far less likely to convert. The more hurdles potential customers have to jump to get where they want to be, the greater chance you’ve got of losing them.
With that in mind, your landing page should quickly and efficiently get your message across, demonstrating what’s so great about your products or services and making it as easy as possible for the user to put their hands in their pockets.
It’s hard to generalise – all businesses are different – but more often than not some prominent mentions of your USPs and nice, clear, well-positioned calls to action tend to do the job nicely.
6 Make sure your ads appear in the right part of the country
Don’t let your AdWords budget leak away in wasted clicks – if your business operates in a specific local area be sure to target it.
Going back to the example of the tutoring agency, before we started working for them some of their campaigns were targeting the whole of the UK – even though they only provided tutors in London and the surrounding area.
Again an easy fix that can make a huge difference – you don’t want your ads appearing all over the country if you only service part of it.
AdWords lets you pick defined areas like specific boroughs of London or input a specific radius around a location you want the ads to appear in.
In other words you can target more or less any area you like. Use this power wisely because it could save you plenty of wasted clicks.
Changes like these helped us get our client a click through rate in double figures – but, like we keep saying, CTRs aren’t the be-all and end-all. It’s no good if it doesn’t translate to paying customers. Fortunately for our client, in their case it has.
They typically used to get about 30 new enquiries a month – with July reaching 33, August 28 and only two months this year just about creeping up to the 40 mark.
They had 68 for September – the first month we’ve been involved – and are hoping to beat that this time around. Proof that PPC can make you a lot of money if you play your cards right.
7 Make sure your ads are appearing at the best possible times
It’s important to think about the time of day your Ads are showing. Are potential clients likely to be searching for your service between 9 and 5 on Monday to Friday?
For our jazz band, the answer for most – but not all – of their campaigns was yes because most of their enquiries came from secretaries during working hours.
However, that’s not always the case. We have another client who requires his customers to fill out six pages of online forms.
That doesn’t exactly help the conversion process but there’s no getting around it I’m afraid – it’s an essential part of the procedure.
However, there are various things we can do, such as experiment with the times of day the ad is shown.
Are people going to find the time to fill out six pages during their working day or would weekends or evenings be more effective?
Once again our advice would be to test, test and test again. We don’t have the answers yet but we are about to trial it and are hopeful a change in times will mean an increased conversion rate. Only time will tell.
The bottom line is you should try to get into the heads of your potential customers as much as you possibly can.
Little changes like the time of day your ads are shown, the area they are shown in and a shrewd use of negative keywords can make a huge difference.
Then it’s down to the nitty gritty of making sure the ads and keywords are bang on, everything is divided up into specific, tailored ad groups and the user gets exactly what they are looking for when they reach your landing pages.
In conclusion: How to create a winning AdWords campaign
According to Google, businesses typically make twice their money back on AdWords. It’s well worth considering if you know what you are doing.
Let’s just have a speedy recap of the key boxes you need to tick for a successful AdWords campaign:-
-Pack your ads with value. Use your space wisely, including keywords and calls to action
-Study up on your keywords – positive and negative. Take your time and get these right
-Organise into specific ad groups so the right ads are appearing for the right people
-Consider different times of day and geographical locations – get into your customers’ heads
-Make sure your landing page does what the user wants, making it easy for them to convert
-Monitor everything: Check the data and amend constantly. Improve, improve, improve!
If you fancy a no-obligation chat about AdWords drop us a line. Failing that we wish you all the very best of luck.
It’s been emotional. See you next time.