In the year 2000, when the tech crunch was in full effect, Google launched the beta version of Ads (formerly known as AdWords) with just 350 advertisers. Twenty years later, Google had earned more than $52 billion in net annual ad revenue representing nearly 80% of all search ad revenue in the United States and 30% of global ad revenue. PPC experts at our PPC agency Chicago attribute this success to the fact that Google Ads is one of the most cost-effective advertising methods for all companies, no matter their sizes. Launching a new Google Ads campaign is an exhilarating process, so if you are just starting your journey, we are here to assist you run a successful campaign that will generate sales and profit.
Consider micro-campaigns
Most small to medium businesses with small budgets that can’t compete with big corporations can reap major benefits from micro-campaigns. The micro campaign is a campaign that is deliberately focused on creating ad copies for small geographic areas as well as a very narrow keyword subset. The idea is to use up to 2 keywords per campaign bundled with a single zip code location or a smaller town.
If you are targeting a zip code, it is a good idea to have a landing page designed specifically for that zip code and include the name of that location in Google Ads. This is a good reminder for your visitors that they have come to the right place. Our recommendation is to start small and play around with lower-end budgets until you start getting consistent results with your landing pages.
Utilize SKAGs
Single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) are a superior strategy in structuring your Google Ads campaign. It helps you achieve higher performance by giving you intense control over your keywords, campaign settings, ads, and bids. SKAG is the ad group that contains one keyword to match the searchers’ intent as closely as possible.
With SKAGs, you can elevate your click-through rates and quality scores faster while earning more money in the process. SKAG provides data integrity helping you analyze your campaigns effectively. It makes it easier to track the whereabouts of your keywords and improves your metrics over time. You will be able to improve your Quality Score and the CTR, which will boost your ranking position with Google Ads.
Improve your Quality Score
To really get the best out of your PPC campaign, your ads need to rank as high as possible in Google’s search engine. Quality Score has a noteworthy influence on the cost and effectiveness of your paid search campaigns. This is Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of your keywords and PPC ads. Google uses this rating to estimate your CPC and then multiplies the result by your maximum bid, determining how high your ad ranks in the auction process. Some of the factors that determine your Quality Score are:
- Your click-through rate
- The relevance of each keyword to its ad group
- Landing page relevance and quality
- The relevance of your ad text
- Your historical Google Ads performance
Improving your Quality Score reduces your cost per click, which lowers your cost per conversion, which ultimately means earning more money. Take a look at the following ways to improve your Quality Score:
- Keyword research – Discover and add new, highly relevant keywords, including long-tail keywords.
- Keyword organization – Split keywords into organized groups to tie them to individual ad campaigns
- Refine ad text – Make your ad copy more precisely targeted to your ad groups.
- Optimize landing pages – They need to connect directly with your ad groups and provide a cohesive experience.
- Add negative keywords – Identify and exclude irrelevant search terms that drain your budget.
Beware of click frauds
While e-commerce marketers spend more and more on online advertising, they are facing unprecedented growth in click fraud. As much as one in ten clicks across all e-commerce campaigns today is fraudulent, and click fraud is set to cost nearly $4 billion for online retailers by the end of 2022.
Cyber-attacks are now even more sophisticated, so it is becoming harder to detect them. Fraudsters are incentivized with advanced tactics, and they realize that it’s improbable for outsiders to notice their activity. At the same time, they are encouraged to proceed by the fact that any form of prosecution has been shown to be impossible. Up until now, click fraud solutions have primarily focused on Google detecting basic invalid clicks through the use of IP blacklists. Today, many cybersecurity companies are making an effort to block invalid clicks across platforms using several different parameters and real-time machine learning.
Final thoughts
Given its reach and authority, Google Ads should be a part of every paid advertising strategy. Using the tips that we covered will help you run a guided and successful campaign. And remember that there are no Google Ads campaigns that don’t work; there are only those that need a bit more work.
