Title: Mistakes You Must Avoid On Google Ads
1Are You Wasting MoneyOn Google Ads?
All Things Digital
2- Millions of businesses are using Google Ads to
advertise their products and services online.
They would not continue using Google Ads if they
dont get their moneys worth. Some companies
spend up to 50 million a year on Google Ads. - If youre losing money on your Google ads, its
most likely that youre not using it correctly.
You could be making some or all of the following
mistakes.
3- 1. Not Customizing Ads Settings for Your Business
Google Ads has a lot of default settings designed
to maximize reach. If thats not the objective of
your campaign and you didnt review and customize
the settings, you could be paying for many clicks
by people who dont need your product or
services. For example, ad campaigns are set to
both search and display by default. Your ads will
show in both the Google search and display
networks. However, the search and display
networks have different types of users. Your ad
on the search network will be seen by people who
are actively searching for the product or
services you offer. They are already past the
awareness stage. On the other hand, your ad on
the display network can be seen by people who can
be your prospects but are on the site for other
reasons. They are not searching for your product
or services. The most common mistake of new
Google Ads users is targeting both search and
display networks with the same ad campaign. You
need to have different sets of ads and landing
pages for each network because the search network
is completely different from the display network.
Youre wasting money on the network where your ad
is not relevant to the site users.
4- 2. Send People Who Click On Your Ads to Your
Homepage
Youre losing money if people who click on your
ads are redirected to your homepage. Your
homepage provides general information about your
business. It is not a continuation of the message
on your ad that made them click your link. The
website visitor might just leave and look at
another ad. So, you need a landing page that is
focused on converting the visitor into a
customer. The landing page must address what the
potential customer needs to know before buying
the product or services you offer. Your landing
page should look like an extension of your Google
Ad. People who visit your landing page after
clicking your ad should immediately know that
they came to the right website because of the
similarity in layout, content design and
keywords.
5- 3. Not Using the Right Types of Keyword Matches
Keyword match types tell Google how restrictive
it should be in deciding to what search queries
your keywords can match. There are three keyword
match types Broad Match, Phrase Match and Exact
Match. Google had stopped using Modified Broad
Match in February 2021. Broad match, the
default keyword match type is the least
restrictive while an exact match is the most
restrictive. If you dont choose a match type or
you choose a broad match, your ad can match to
related searches that dont include any of your
keywords. According to Googles example, an ad
with low-carb diet plan broad match keywords
can show to people searching for carb-free
foods, low-carb diets, low calorie recipes
or Mediter ranean diet books. So, if your goal
doesnt include people searching for terms
related only to your keywords, youre wasting
money if they click your ads. Usually, you
wont get the match types that will work for you
the first time you run your ad. Find the right
keyword match types and avoid losing money by
checking the results of your campaigns as early
as you can.
6Quality Score is Googles rating from 1 to 10
(best) of the quality and relevance of your ad
campaign. The score depends on many factors,
including expected click-through rate (CTR), ad
relevance, landing page experience and Google Ads
account historical performance. For example,
your investigation shows that your quality score
is pulled down by the below average rating of
your ad campaigns landing page experience.
Landing page experience measures what happens
when the people who clicked your ad get to your
landing page. If they were not convinced to
click on your call-to-action (CTA), you have lost
the money you paid for your ad clicks and for the
ad preparation.
AdRank and Ad Position Quality Score is one of
the factors that determine Ad rank. In the
Google Search and Display Networks, Ad Rank Bid
Quality Score. If you have a low quality score,
you have to bid higher to improve your Ad
Rank. Ad Rank is important because it determines
your ad position or the order of your ad in the
auction results. If your ad position is 1, the
highest position, it will be the first ad to be
placed on the search result pages and other ad
placement sites. If your competitors ads are
included in the auction results and rank higher
than your ad, you lose the chance to be seen
first by your common target audience. On the
other hand, if you dont aim for the top ad
position, you can reduce your bid and save money.
7- 5. Inadequate Research to Understand Target
Audience
You advertise to persuade your target audience to
take a specific action, whether its to buy your
product or to try the new services you offer.
Through your ad, you attempt to engage and
influence your target audience. Youre losing
money if you cant effectively connect with your
target audience. They have clicked your ad but
you were not able to convert them into paying
customers or subscribers to your site. Youll
have low to zero ROI. Thats why research is
important to fully understand the behavior and
interests of their target audience before
planning your ad campaign. What are the types of
online sites that your target audience frequently
visits? What are the words or phrases that they
will most likely use to search for your products
or services? You also have to look at your
successful competitors ads. What keywords or
phrases do they use? You may use Keyword Planner
and other research tools to find the relevant
keywords or phrases for your business.
8- 6. Youre not testing and tracking conversions
There is no standard way of doing a Google ads
campaign. You have to test different ads and
track the conversions to figure out the most
effective way for your business. So, you could
lose money in some ads that you did not test
because you thought that based on your experience
and knowledge its the best ad for your
campaign. Test as early as you can to catch any
problems sooner and reduce your losses to a
minimum. Even after you have created your winning
campaign, continue creating new ads or changing
settings and test again. You also have to keep
in mind that Google is constantly introducing new
features that become part of your default
settings. Would it be appropriate for your ad
campaign? Youll know by the results of your
test.
9According to a study, 92 of customers dont
purchase on their first visit to a website. Some
customers still need more information about your
product or services before they make a decision.
The more expensive and complex your product or
services, the longer it might take your potential
customers to decide whether to purchase or
not To ignore them and search for new audiences
to target would be wasting what youve already
spent for their clicks on your ad. Youre also
losing potential customers that studies show are
easier to convert than new audiences. Youll
need to retarget them with new ads.
What is retargeting? Retargeting is one of
Google Ads features. It uses tracking codes that
you set up to track people who visited your
website, usually the landing page, but did not
make a purchase, download a file, or perform the
activity you ask them to do. Retargeting
allows you to follow your past visitors online
when they visit the sites in Googles search and
display networks. Based on your setup, Google ads
can show them your ads that hopefully will
convince them to take another look at what you
offer and perform the activity you ask them to
do.
10- 8. Not Using Ad Extensions Properly
Google ad extensions are additional pieces of
information and clickable CTAs that you can
include in your ads. You can choose the ad
extension types that would be most suitable for
your advertising goal in the set up menu. Some
examples of ad extensions are location
information, call buttons, links to your landing
page or other websites and mobile app. Extensions
expand your ad, make it more visible. They also
improve CTR and make valuable interactions with
potential customers faster. For example, a
phone number on your ad would call the attention
of potential customers who need immediate
information about your products or services
through a phone call.
So, extensions give
more value to your ad if you know how to use
them. However, using the wrong or irrelevant ad
extensions could reduce your CTRs and attract the
wrong people to click your ads. You pay for
clicks that are not likely to convert into sales
because the potential customer was looking for
something else. It is also important that your
business can provide the needed support for the
traffic and inquiries resulting from your ad
extensions. If your ad has your phone number,
make sure that there is always somebody to
immediately answer the phone when it rings. Most
callers dont have the time to stay on the line
to wait for your reply. They would hang up and
look for another service provider. You end up
wasting the money spent on your ad click.
11- How to avoid wasting money on Google ads
The number one reason why advertisers are wasting
money on Google ads is their failure to use the
platform properly. Unfortunately, its not
easy to understand how Google ads work. You need
not only to understand how to setup Google ads
but also the time to manage your campaign.
12- Learn how to use Google ads
Its not enough to read instructions on the
Google ads website and attend webinars. You also
need to experience using the platform to
understand the ins and outs.
13- Time and skills to manage your advertising
campaign
Managing your Google Ads account is challenging.
It requires attention, time and skills to find
the right keywords, test your ad, track results
and your competitors, and tweak your ads before
you find the right one for your business and
target audience. Learn how to use the various
Google ads tools to make your work easier and
faster. Its important to discover any mistakes
early to keep wasting your ads budget to the
minimum.
14Yes, Google Ads is a complex advertising platform
to use. However, you cant ignore Google Ads
because it is a powerful advertising platform for
your business. Google ads main advantage over
other online advertising platforms is its massive
reach. According to Net MarketShare, over 72 of
online searches worldwide use Google. Avoid
committing the costly mistakes mentioned by
taking the time to learn and experience how
Google Ads works.
15