Google Ads – One of the most effective forms of lead generation and of course expansion of the sales funnel. They are extremely adequate in terms of higher ROIs in a short period of time, when used in the right way. With the market being as saturated as it is today, there is more than one way things can go south because of simple Google Ads mistakes. Some simple mistakes such as improper use of SEO or wasting money on retargeting an ad can prove costly- both on your pocket and your time & resources. More often, these simple issues are ignored and can pile up leading to a failure in achieving the target goals.
One of the basic and beginner’s Google Ads mistakes is resorting to the default settings recommendation. Not only will this be a waste of time and money, but this also is not effective in generating sales as the main agenda for the default settings is to generate “clicks” rather than to generate sales. The ultimate goal of a successful Google Ads campaign is to drive more organic traffic and rev up your marketing efforts to drive more conversions. By avoiding these evident but simple mistakes, you can ensure all your end goals are met and the ads to give you results exactly as they should
Let us take a closer look at the top ten Google Ads mistakes and how to suave through them to success!
8 Biggest Google Ads Mistakes to Avoid
Following are the ten Google Ads mistakes you should avoid:
- Wrong Keyword Match
- Avoiding Negative Keywords
- Not Adding Ad Extensions
- Lack of Testing + Experimenting
- Sticking to One Ad Variation
- Neglecting Geotargeting
- Not Targeting Correctly
- Overlooking Optimizing for Smartphone
Wrong Keyword Match
Keywords and their appropriate usage form the basis of a Google Ads campaign. Knowing which keywords to use where is important to ensure the ad campaign is fruitful. Keywords can be categorized into three main types: broad match, exact and phrase match. The keywords you choose depend on the type of search word someone might use to find your business. If you are looking at targeting a broad range of generic audiences, broad keywords would be your go-to type. They are more often used in B2C targeting. For targeting a specific group audience, the use of exact or phrase targeting would be more appropriate.
Avoiding Negative Keywords
Avoiding the usage of negative words can kill the purpose of your Google Ads. Negative keywords are essentially words that don’t exactly describe your business or product. By using negative keywords you can ensure that the keywords you use are
of the highest quality and avoid words that are a liability to your target. If you do not choose negative keywords, Google Ads will automatically match broad terms meaning any words related to your business will be matched with your ad.
Here is an example of using negative keywords (broad match) for running shoes:
With an exact match negative keyword, the ad will show if the keyword contains the keyword terms in any order with additional words as well.
Not Adding Ad Extensions
The power of using ad extensions has been largely miscalculated. For the most part, ad extensions allow for highly-optimized ads which would invariably drive high-qualified traffic your way. Ad extensions are a great way to leverage your uniqueness and highlight features that would make your ad (and your brand) stand out in an otherwise cluttered market. Extensions provide additional information about your product thus providing customers an opportunity to learn more about your business, urging them to highly consider your business.
A good practice to increase pre-qualified clicks is to add sitelinks as an extension which would divert potential leads to relevant pages on your website. Other types of extensions which would optimize your ad include message extensions, callout extensions, and location and price extensions. Not using ad extensions is a typical Google Ads mistake that easily can decrease your ROI.
Lack of Testing & Experimenting
How do you ensure your ad is running perfectly as you need it to? How do you measure the expected turnover?
By testing or experimenting, of course. Testing your ad before it is live can be seen as a time-consuming and unnecessary task, but it is an important step to ensure your ad is doing what it needs to do. Google Ads has an experiment feature through which you can test every type of element before your ad is running. These include bidding mechanisms for landing pages, variables, and metrics.
Running tests will also help you identify the weak points of the ad and hence you can fine-tune the ad for better optimization. It is also a great way to analyze your setup and see how it will perform. Record these tests and prioritize implementing the features that have the best results. The results can be standardized into a template that would act as a benchmark for your future ad campaigns.
Sticking to One Ad Variation
A common Google Ads mistake that is easy to avoid is using just one ad variation per ad group. Creating several variations will ensure all types of client profiles are covered, thus boosting conversation rates and cutting costs. Start by creating relevant ads with typical variations. Run tests to see which variations perform the best and fine-tune from there on. For instance, a call to action variation could be “buy now”, “buy today” or “contact us today”. Depending on which CTA is the most responsive, you could get the best outcome from implementing them. Ad variations are used especially to test one alteration across multiple channels.
Neglecting Geotargeting
As a business gaining the maximum reach is imperative.
Location-based optimization is one such way to ensure your ad reaches a wider audience. Not optimizing according to your geographic region is a vital Google Ads mistake and will make your brand lose important local or international clients, depending upon the nature of your business. For a business that is not sure how they fit in, targeting a larger geographic region may prove fruitful. Location targeting or geotargeting helps find the right clients based on location parameters.
To give you an idea, a local cafe would ideally want to target a local crowd within a 10-mile radius to get the best results. By geotargeting their google ads to this specific 10-mile radius, people located in the vicinity would be prompted to visit the cafe and might often do so. In contrast, say a car showroom wants to be known for their special decal offer which is one of a kind in the city. The target net, in this case, is much further and they would want to be known throughout the city and beyond. Their ads would be targeted across the city or state. The best way to get started is to check the location setting or section in your campaign and work backward by looking at opportunities that are most likely favorable to your business and setting targets according to the specific region.
Not Targeting Correctly
Reaching new customers is an attainable goal through Google Ads if and only if your targeting is done right. Audience targeting is one such tool where you can hyper-target who sees your ads based on different aspects such as demographics, interests, age, gender, etc. With the help of audience targeting, you can also focus on groups of people based on those who visited your website or people who searched for similar products. This is a win-win situation for everyone as this allows you to target the specific groups and ensure you have only highly qualified leads landing on your pages, and customers will find the product they need the most effortlessly.
Not Optimizing For Smartphone
One of the rookie Google Ads mistakes which can be quite easily avoided is not optimizing for mobile or tablet. 70% of people have bought something after discovering the brand on their smartphone. By not optimizing for mobile you are losing out on the majority of leads which could lead to detrimental results for your ad campaign. Mobile optimization will also ensure more people find your brand on a daily basis thus increasing your reach. Ensure your ad campaign is tweaked to run on smartphone devices to get the best results from your ad campaign.
Conclusion
The Google Ads mistakes we’ve covered are quite easily overlooked by most marketers and among the top errors to commit. It is rarely the full story as to why your campaign is not reaping the best results. Google Ad campaigns need to constantly be optimized and fine-tuned for the best performance. Keep the above points in mind when you start your ad campaign to ensure you get the most out of it, cost-wise and success-wise.
