Imagine you are a chef trying to prepare a delicious meal. They have all the ingredients you need, but if you don’t follow the recipe properly, your dish is likely to be flawed. The same applies to Google Ads as well. Even if you offer a great product or service, you won’t get the results you want if you don’t set up your campaigns properly.
After reviewing literally thousands of Google ad accounts at my agency, Digital Street, even the highest spending ad accounts have one or more of these costly mistakes.
Number one on the list is:
1. Conversion Tracking Not Set Up Properly: The Marketer Blindfolded
Imagine entering a maze with no map or sense of direction. This is exactly what happens when you fail to set up conversion tracking. Without conversion tracking, you’re just guessing which campaigns, keywords, or ads are delivering actual results. It’s like groping in the dark and hoping for the best.
Let’s say you run an e-commerce business and your goal is to boost online sales. By implementing conversion tracking, you can track sales and attribute them to specific ads or keywords. Without them, you don’t know which campaigns are contributing to your sales, making optimization an uphill battle.
2. Irrelevant or Excessive Keywords: The scattered advertiser
When it comes to keyword selection, quality comes before quantity. Overloading your campaigns with irrelevant or excessive keywords not only strains your budget, but also hurts your targeting efforts. Remember: Relevance is key to grabbing the attention of potential customers.
Suppose you are promoting a luxury travel agency that specializes in exotic destinations. Using keywords like “cheap flights” or “cheap accommodation” would appeal to budget travelers rather than the desired high-end clientele. Instead, focus on terms like “luxury travel packages” or “exclusive resorts” to target the right audience.
Studies show that narrowing your keyword list to 10-20 highly relevant keywords can increase click-through rates by up to 200%. Quality always beats quantity!
3. Neglecting Negative Keywords: The wasted impressions
Imagine your ads being shown to people who are looking for something completely different than what you’re offering. This is where negative keywords come into play. Not using negative keywords can result in wasted impressions, clicks, and ultimately, wasted budget.
Let’s say you sell premium dog food and want to appeal to dog owners looking for healthy options. By adding “cat” as a negative keyword, you prevent your ads from showing to people searching for cat-related products. This way you ensure that your ads are only shown to those who are genuinely interested in your dog food.
By including negative keywords, you can reduce your cost-per-click (CPC) by up to 50%, maximize your ad spend, and filter out irrelevant clicks. Don’t let your budget go to waste!
4. Search copy: The boring approach
Your ad text is the point of attraction for potential customers. However, if the ad isn’t engaging or not relevant to the search query, it becomes a missed opportunity. Remember that you only have a limited number of characters that you can use to captivate your audience. So make sure every word counts!
Suppose you run a digital marketing agency that provides SEO services. Instead of a generic headline like “Best SEO Services,” try a more compelling and relevant headline like “Unlock Your Website’s Potential With Professional SEO Strategies.” In this way you respond directly to the needs of the searcher and stand out from the competition.
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Ads with a high relevance score (based on click-through rate and engagement) can result in a 50-100% increase in ad viewability and a significant reduction in cost-per-click. Engage, captivate and conquer!
5. Ignore location settings: The unaffiliated advertiser
Imagine this: you run a local business that supplies a specific geographic area, but your ads are being shown to people thousands of miles away. Ignoring location preferences is like casting a wide net with no regard for the waters you are fishing in. It’s crucial to optimize your ads to reach the right audience in the right place.
Let’s say you own a boutique coffee shop in New York City. If you fail to target your ads to target users within a reasonable radius of your location, your ads may be showing to people in Los Angeles, London, or even Tokyo! Not only does this wasted exposure drain your budget, but it also fails to attract customers who are actually close to your business.
Studies have shown that ads with localized targeting have a 200% higher click-through rate than campaigns with broader targeting. By narrowing your audience to specific locations, you ensure that your ads are seen by those most likely to become loyal customers.
