Feel like you’re not getting the most out of your Google AdWords™ account? Check out the following simple ways you can increase your ROI and avoid wasting money.
Create minor variations to successful Ads -- If you’re running AdWords™ campaigns, it goes without saying that monitoring performance and paying attention to which ads yield the best results is an absolute must. If you have some clear winners, instead of reusing ads that work and continuously writing and testing whole new ads for comparison, try creating small variations of the ads that have been successful. You may be surprised to find that even small punctuation changes can result in a higher CTR and more conversions. Take something that you know is working and see if you can’t perfect it even further.
Exclude poorly performing locations -- The ability to focus your ad campaigns on a very specific audience is one of the greatest features of AdWords™. If you're running a nationwide campaign, chances are that certain regions and states are converting better than others. You can adjust your account to focus on these areas or reduce bid amounts in places where the ROI isn’t as prolific. To ensure that you make the most of your AdWords™ Budget, target the places and audiences that respond well to your ads and bring in the most business.
Don’t forget to take advantage of negative keywords -- If you’ve found yourself caught up in the writing and testing of ads, worrying about budgets and bids and obsessing over CTR, chances are you completely forgot to take advantage of the AdWords™ negative keyword tool. This feature notifies Google to only trigger ads for searches that are completely relevant to your site, products and/or services. Ultimately, negative keywords will reduce your costs by ensuring that only the most interested customers see your ads.
Although compiling a list of relevant negative keywords can take some time and work, it will pay off in a better ROI and conversion rate. There’s no point in collecting impressions for ads that will never result in sales. Invest time in identifying and excluding negative keywords and consequently improve your ability to reach your target audience.
Set a Strategic Schedule for Maximum ROI -- Another beneficial, underused aspect of AdWords™ is custom ad scheduling. If you notice that ad performance drops off significantly over the weekend or begins tapering off around 6 pm every evening, you can schedule your ads to run exclusively during peak times. Furthermore, you also have the option to lower bids during days and times when there is a lull in activity. Depending on your goals and budget, simply adjusting bid amounts according to day and time can help provide maximum ROI and prevent leaks in your marketing budget.
A/B Test Landing Pages -- Marketing is full of opportunities for testing performance and AdWords™ provides fertile ground for data collection. In addition to testing keywords and ad variations, be sure to pay attention to which landing pages result in the highest conversion rates. You may find that ads are performing well and providing a high CTR, but once readers arrive on the site, they quickly bounce. Use this information to evaluate the quality of your landing pages and whether your ad is optimally relevant to the page's content.
Business, marketing and eCommerce enterprises are constantly evolving. While this is what partially makes these industries so appealing, you may also experience some frustration with the persistent need to anticipate changes and adapt. Fortunately, AdWords™ is a tool that provides ample data to assist in tough decisions and understanding the needs and wants of your audience. Making a few simple adjustments will allow you to target your audience, improve ROI, increase conversions and make your AdWords™ account work for you.