Friday, June 22, 2018

7 Google AdWords mistakes that blow up your budget

Managing an AdWords account is an exercise in patience.

It requires endless testing, occasional failure, and constant adaptation. It’s also a valuable skill that isn’t going away.

While the list of budget-wasting AdWords errors could go on, here are seven major cautionary tips to streamline your AdWords campaign.

1. Don’t ignore device adjustments .

Clicks from mobile devices and clicks from desktop computers can have very different costs.

Look at the cost per conversion and balance your budget accordingly. A good place to start is giving a higher weight to desktop on B2B products, assuming that your buyer sits at a desk during the day. This is certainly subject to change as more people use their mobiles for work computing.

2. Don’t forget branded keywords.

Conventional wisdom suggests those who search using your brand name are already sold on your product and do not necessitate more ad spending. However, marketing managers don’t know how many branded searches turned up competitors’ ads in the same search.

You might be thinking: “But I’m already ranking at the top of the results for my branded terms.” Great. Sponsor that keyword, and now you’re ranking first and second. It doesn’t cost that much, relative to non-branded terms. According to Google, 89 percent of traffic from paid search is not replaced by organic search.

[RELATED: Overcome your biggest challenges in internal comms, PR and social media]

3. Remember to target by geography.

AdWords has numerous ways you can target your audience based on their physical location, including by state, city, county, postal code or DMA region. Targeting everyone when your product is location-specific is like turning on the air conditioning and opening the window.

4. Let your audience inform your search terms.

Search terms provide you with “unknown unknowns,” words that you didn’t know were important to your audience. Take these audience-suggested terms and turn them into more refined versions of your keywords.

5. Don’t neglect negatives.

Looking at what searches trigger your ads can be a lesson in miscommunication, especially when you find the name of your product is similar to something completely unrelated. Managing your negative keywords is crucial for your budget and your reputation, especially if your keywords can be confused with something unsavory.

6. You must invest in retargeting .

It’s a big world out there, and the fraction that comes to your website is precious. Don’t let them be an afterthought.

7. Always try new things.

Algorithms are always changing and so are audience behaviors. Monitoring what’s working (and what isn’t) will be crucial for your success on the platform.

Are you new to AdWords? Google offers free tutorials for beginners.

PR Daily readers, what do you do to make your pay-per-click account shine?

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