One of the best ways to increase conversions and generate leads is by utilizing Google Ads.
Make these 5 common mistakes, however, and you’ll quickly wind up spending more than you’re earning.
In order to get the maximum benefit out of your Google Ads, here’s what NOT to do:
1. Neglect your call-to-action (CTA)
Your call-to-action is critical to the success of your ad. Without one, your audience won’t know what to do.
Think of it this way: When your customers Google something, they’re likely searching for an answer to their question.
Your product or service is that answer.
Understanding the pain points, needs, and wants of your customers will help you communicate with them and suggest an action that they can perform to receive your solution.
This action is referred to as the call-to-action and typically includes a button with the words “buy now” or “get started”. The CTA is vital. After all, what’s the point of an ad without an attached phone number or button that links the consumer back to you?
2. Avoid creating a budget or goals
The first step to creating ads is coming up with a budget and a list of goals. Without goals, you can’t measure progress; and without a budget, you can lose track of your ad spend and wind up in a massive hole.
These two go hand-in-hand. Setting goals will help you decide on your initial ad spend. Once your ads are running, you can adjust the budget to help you better meet your goals.
3. Ineffectively use ad groups
The purpose of an ad group is to categorize your ads and keywords together based on their themes. Take full advantage of ad groups and create multiple–don’t just lump all of your keywords into one. Doing so will show your entire audience the same ad, which is a huge waste of money because you’ll be targeting people who aren’t interested.
The best way to set up your ad groups is by combining similar ads and keywords into their own groups. Each ad group represents its own category, which in turn has its own specific keywords and ads. For example, this is how a jewelry store might break down their ad account:
Campaign – Women’s Jewelry
Ad group – Necklaces
Keywords- Lockets, diamond necklaces, birthstone necklaces
Ad group – Bracelets
Keywords- Charm bracelets, bangles
4. Fail to put keywords in your ad copy
Keywords are essentially the driving force behind your ads being shown. Without them, your Ad Rank will tank.
An Ad Rank is a ranking that Google gives your ad to determine its placement in the search results. This number is based on several factors–relevancy being one of the most important components.
If the text in your ad copy or header does not contain relevant keywords, you’ll have a really hard time getting your ads to show. When you do include your keywords, you can increase your ad rank and conversions, as well as reduce your cost per click. Just don’t overdo it.
5. Skip adding negative keywords
Negative keywords are the keywords that you DON’T want to rank for. For example, a store like Kay Jewelers might include “costume jewelry” as a negative keyword since they don’t sell this type of jewelry.
Without adding negative keywords, Kay Jewelers might show up as a result when someone Googles “costume jewelry,” even though they don’t sell it.
You may think that adding negative keywords is an unnecessary step, but this is far from the truth. Doing so will actually increase your chances of showing up in relevant search results for consumers that are searching specifically for your product.
Running Google Ads doesn’t have to be so difficult. When you hire a professional marketing team like Bizzuka, you’ll never have to worry about these 5 mistakes. Our trained experts are highly skilled in creating and managing ads that convert. Schedule a free strategy session with us today for help optimizing your current marketing efforts.