AdWords secrets – get that magic wand out

So, you came here for a secret, and I will probably send you away in droves disappointed and disillusioned: there is no secret button or magic wand that will suddenly turn your AdWords account from corner shop to superstore over night. But there is plenty you can do that will help. Here is a simple guide to optimising your account – that is assuming you want to do it yourself, rather than allow a trained PPC person or company to get out their secret magic wands ;-) .

Step one is to learn about the AdWords system, and below are some links to Google resources which you should be visiting and using. If you’re serious about managing your own account then there is no quick fix. Knowledge is power and the system, features and interface is constantly changing so you need to learn all about it and then keep learning. It’s probably not what you want to hear but it’s the truth. So below are some vital links that you should use:

AdWords Help Center Find out pretty much anything you need to know about your AdWords account.
AdWords Video Tutorials and Online Classroom Watch some videos on variousAdWords subjects.
Google AdWords Blog Google’s official AdWords blog for all news, information and tips.
Google AdWords Support forum Post a question and get an answer from one of the many people on this forum who spend their time helping others out.

Assuming you are up to speed and have a good knowledge of the AdWords system, then you will want to know how to put these skills into action and create your own ‘magic wand’.

Firstly, you’ll need a plan. Why are you using AdWords? Branding exercise, page views, newsletter sign ups, client contacts, sales, etc. – there are many possible reasons and it’s important to have a firm idea of your reasons and keep your eye on them at all time.

It’s like writing a story. If you know how it ends then it’s going to be easier to plan the whole story.

So, with your plan in place, what next… A good account structure is vital, so where to start? Well, look at your account like this:

Campaigns

  • Split campaigns based on networks. The Display and Search Networks are very different and should be treated accordingly with different budgets, ads and keywords.
  • Split your campaigns based on your products or services. It may not always be right to separate each individual product, but certainly the main categories should be split.
  • Split campaigns based on location targeting. Traffic will vary in quality, price, scheduling and other factors so if possible they should be grouped separately for more control.

Adgroups

  • You can have 2,000 ad groups per campaign, so don’t be afraid to use up your allocation. If in doubt about grouping keywords, then create a new ad group.
  • Name your ad groups clearly, to represent the keywords within that group. It makes life much easier when it comes to monitoring your account.

Keywords

  • Research, plan then analyse. Getting your keywords right is important, especially if working off a budget. You could be using 1,000 keywords and getting plenty of traffic, but are they the right keywords and do they give you the best ROI? So research, plan then analyse. Sounds like fun!
  • Test different matching options and attribute different values to each match. In most cases you’re going to be prepared to pay more for an exact match than a phrase or broad match.
  • Use negatives. I’ll say again, use negatives. Unless your account is full of exact match keywords, which is unlikely. Negatives can be used at campaign or ad group level and you can also take advantage of the different keyword matching options. So unless you’re promoting “free” products then set that as a broad match negative. Or, if you see an exact phrase that you don’t want your ads to appear for, set that negative as an exact negative. Most importantly, constantly improve you negative keyword list.

Ads

  • Speak to the potential client through your ad. Make sure the ad makes sense and relates to what they’re searching for.
  • Make you ad stand out, with great copy but also use the ad extension tools. Show your location, add ad site links so there are more options to click on, and add phone extensions so you can be called directly from your ad.
  • Make use of the display URL. Show the user you’re taking them to the right page on your website, and not just taking them to your home page.
  • Test ad variations with small changes to find the optimum performer.
  • Everything is important in your account but it’s your ads that are visible, so pay particular attention to them.

Analysis

This is a big one, and also not so simple to explain. You’re probably also busy which is why you were looking for the magic wand in the first place. But it’s still vital that you keep a close eye on certain important factors in your account.

  • Every account works differently. Different keywords will mean different Click Through Rates (CTR), Quality Scores (QS) and Costs Per Click (CPC). So it’s not possible to tell you what your CTR should be, but these are the basics you should be analysing and improving. You can find these stats in the columns on the green tabs in your account. Your QS can only be seen on the keyword tab or by running a report.
  • Impression Share tells you the % of the available market your ad is being shown to. If it’s low then it may mean your budgets are low, your rank is low or your account is not working well so is being beaten to the punch by everybody else in your industry. It is worth noting that if you market on Google Partners then some only show the top three ads. If you are below position three your ad won’t get shown but will be recorded as a lost impression, so be aware it’s not always possible to achieve 100% and you shouldn’t worry too much if you don’t.
  • Run search query reports. Find out what search terms your ads are actually triggering for. You may find some bad ones in there if you haven’t been checking.
  • Identify keywords that work well for you and focus on them. Improve the ads, focus on the max CPC, improve their impression share, etc.
  • Test different destination URLs on your website or, better still, A/B  test the same page with small differences to see what effect that has on returns.
  • Use an analytics package like Google Analytics and look at your bounce rates, average time on site, etc.

So, in conclusion

There is no secret. Well, there is, but not a simple one. Google want your money, so mostly the system is transparent; even Quality Score is well documented these days. The system itself is complicated if you don’t learn how it works. The actual work and analysis may be daunting but the information is there for you if you want to learn it. However, time is money, so the question most business owners should be asking is how much is my time worth and would it be more cost-effective to have somebody else do the management?

The information above by no means covers every aspect of what should be done, or indeed what a professional would do or look out for. But, if you’re struggling to manage your account and want to improve it yourself, then some of these steps should be helpful to you.

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Why can’t I see my ad when I search for it on Google?

A question I hear often from clients and other Adwords advertisers is: I can’t see my Ad when I search on Google, Why?

Well the most common mistake people make is answered in the question. If you are searching on Google then there are lots of reasons why your ad may not show up, but it does not mean that it is not actually being shown. So first of all, don’t search on Google to see if your ad is showing, if you want to see your ad in the search results and compare it to other ads then you should be using the Ad Preview Tool.

The Ad Preview Tool, is a tool Google put together which allows advertisers to mirror the settings they have in their account i.e. location targeting and language settings, which are a common reason why you might not see your ad when you make a search on Google. The tool also allows you to avoid negatively effecting your ad performance, by not recording any impression or clicks on any ads that are displayed in the search results, which is very important to your CTR.

Below is a video from the Google Adwords Help Channel on Youtube and offers a simple explanation on how to use the Ad Preview Tool. It is worth noting that since this video was created the Adwords interface has changed and you can now access your tools through the Opportunities Tab.

If once you have used the Ad Preview Tool and you still cannot see your ad, then you may have an issue. The next next step you should take before panicking, as there is normally a very simple reason and solution (after all Google want your ads to show). Is to use the Ad Diagnostic Tool, this tool will check for reason as to why your ad is not showing and offer help on how to fix the issue.

Below is a video from Google which explains the Ad Diagnostic Tool, again the video has not been updated since changes were made to the interface, but you can still find the Tool under the keywords Tab and within the status column next to any keyword.

If you found these 2 tools useful then remember there are many other tools that you might find useful. Check out the more tools link on the opportunities tab in your account to see what else you might find useful.

More Tools Link in Adwords Interface

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