Google will only display your ad when users are searching for a product or service that you provide. Things like a good quality score and efficient keyword research can help your ads rank higher.
You’ll pay a fee when a user takes action, for example, if they click on your ad or call your business. Given that you’ll be spending money on Google Ads, it’s important to know how to maximise results from your budget to ensure you’re not spending on clicks that don’t lead to business growth and conversions.
We’ve put together a few of our top tips to help you spend wisely on your PPC advertising.
Clarify your goals
What do you want to accomplish by advertising with Google? Common PPC objectives include:
- Reach more converting customers
- Get more phone calls from local people
- Build awareness among a specific demographic
Having a clear idea of the results you’re hoping for can help to determine which campaign goals you should invest more in on Google Ads.
You’re then able to design specific campaigns or create tailored strategies to help you meet those objectives within your budget.
Connect your Google Ads and Analytics accounts
Google Ads provides an impression count which tells you how many times your PPC ad has appeared. This could be in Google searches or any Google Network sites.
This metric doesn’t tell you what happens once a user has clicked – meaning you won’t know which clicks are leading to conversions. The conversion could be a phone call, sale, filling in a form or any other action that matters to your business.
We recommend linking your Google Ads account to Google Analytics. This is a free tool that can show you what customers do once they’ve clicked through to your site.
This insight can reveal things like whether you’re targeting the right audience, how relevant your landing page is and where you’re losing customers.
How relevant is your landing page?
Google Analytics insights can tell you whether or not you’ve selected an appropriate landing page (with the highest ad relevancy).
We’ll use a digital marketing agency as an example. Let’s say your landing page is currently your homepage, meaning users are directed to your homepage when they click on an ad.
You notice that the majority of users are clicking and then navigating straight to your ‘Services’ page once they’ve reached your site.
This shows that they deem this page most relevant to the ad they clicked on. In this scenario, you’d want to change your landing page to the ‘Services’ page instead of the homepage.
Are your bounce rates too high?
Google Analytics will also reveal whether your site visitors are leaving straight after clicking on your ad. If so, it’s probably the case that your keyword list is not relevant enough.
To solve this issue, try to add new keywords and see if your data has changed. Your keyword list may be too broad, which means your ad appears for users who don’t intend to make a purchase or another conversion. Create or expand your negative keyword list to ensure you don’t appear for irrelevant searches that drive low-quality traffic.
A highly relevant landing page and some efficient keyword research can drastically boost your quality score and your ad’s overall performance. Your average cost-per-click (CPC) becomes lower once you’ve worked on these surrounding factors. Read more on the impact of quality score here.
Target specific locations
If your primary goal is to reach local customers, then you should adjust your targeting to match. Google Ads Location Targeting allows you to show your ads to people within a specific area. This could be customers who are close enough to visit your company or customers in locations that are important to your business.
It’s not only local businesses that will benefit from this feature. Are you providing a service in multiple locations or perhaps delivering national orders? You could try targeting campaigns in selected areas. This might be major metropolitan areas or places that are would require your service.
Once you’ve set up a few areas, you can use your Google Ads metrics to see which geographic locations drive the most traffic. If an area drives no traffic – it might be worth removing it. You can also use Google Analytics at this point if you’ve connected them.
This data can help you see exactly where most of your target customers are located and therefore, where you should invest more of your budget.
Aim for a lower position in search results pages
It’s no surprise that most Google Ads users will want to aim for the highest possible position, or at least top three. But, it’s worth remembering that ads in fourth position or even below can still get a high amount of traffic (and at a lower cost). If you’re working on a lower budget – consider aiming for a slightly lower position.
From a searchers perspective, it’s often the case that they will want to explore their options and do some research before making a purchase or decision. This can mean that ads in top position will receive a lot of clicks and visits, but perhaps not all of these will lead to conversions.
When you’re showing up in a slightly lower position, you could be avoiding these early-stage searchers who are still in the decision-making process. Again, this can save your PPC budget because you’ll be receiving more clicks from users who are ready and know what they’re looking for once they click.
Try targeting long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords consist of three or more words. These are highly specific, less obvious searches – meaning the competition is generally smaller.
With less competition also comes a lower average cost-per-click. Although you’ll probably get fewer impressions when targeting more specific searches, these long-tail keywords can attract customers with more potential and a higher-intent to purchase.
If a searcher knows exactly what they want, they will be more likely to make a purchase, get in touch or visit your business after searching. An example of this could be targeting ‘Holidays to Bournemouth’ instead of ‘Holidays’ or ‘UK Holidays’. Long-tail keywords target users who are looking for exactly what you offer. We would use the Keyword Planner Tool to find suitable long-tail keywords.
If you need help setting up or managing a Google Ads campaign that will bring you a positive ROI, we’d be happy to help. Just get in touch with our PPC team.