Google Ads is perhaps one of the most effective advertising tools in the world of digital marketing. It’s because hundreds of billions of searches are carried out on Google every day making the business potential and reach massive. But Google Ads can be a blessing and a curse. Without proper management of Google Ads, many businesses find themselves stuck in the Google Ads trap where they spend excessive amounts on clicks, but achieve NOTHING.
In this blog, we will explore the dangers associated with poorly designed Google Ads campaigns, especially campaigns that are characterized by over-bidding and mismanagement that results in precarious budget allocation. We will also incorporate measures that rural based businesses can take in order to avoid common mistakes and help sharpen their cost saving efforts.
After reading this guide, you will know how to better structure your Google Ads campaigns, effectively reach and target your audiences, and most importantly, get every single cent to work for your business.
Understanding Google Ads: The Basics
Let’s talk about the risks and traps that come along with Google ads. First off, it is essential to understand the workings of Google Ads. Google Ads uses pay-per-click advertising or PPC advertising, which means that businesses have to pay every time a user clicks on their advertisement- whether they convert or not. The ads appear on Google search results pages and on the google display network (GDN), which has millions of partner websites.
Companies design ads which relate to particular keywords and target a certain audience, and Google displays those ads to people who are most likely looking out for that service or product. The most important aspect of any business is to build a highly focused, effective campaign that provides quality leads.
Here’s where the issue lies – without proper planning and control, Google Ads can quickly become a very expensive way of trying to get leads.
The Google Ads Trap: Overpaying for Clicks with Little ROI
Google Ads isn’t a platform where you can just set it and walk away. It’s important to keep a close eye on the campaign and address any mistakes that might pop up as even a minor keyword could turn into money wasted. Small businesses often fall into these following Google Ad traps:
1. Overbidding on Keywords
Overbidding keywords is one of the most common mistakes done in Google Ads. Based on their logic, higher bids will result in the ad being shown more often and in more prominent positions, but this is not always the case. Ads on Google are placed based on several factors – your bid, quality score, and ad relevance.
When you overbid, you are simply putting in more than what is needed for clicks. You might still be competing for the same spots as other advertisers who are spending less and have more relevant and high quality ads. In this case, you are paying a premium for the clicks, which may not convert to actual customers.
Example: Let’s say a small business that sells custom leather wallets decides to bid high on the keyword “buy leather wallets.” In this case, they think that a high bid will secure them a top position on google search results. But if their ad copy does not flag their distinctive selling points clearly like using eco-friendly materials or offering customizable designs, their click-through rate (CTR) might be low and the business ends up over paying for clicks that do not finally lead to conversions.
2. Poorly Managed Keyword Selection
Keyword selection directly impacts the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaign. Negative keywords will attract irrelevant clicks from users who will never turn into your customers. For instance, a local bakery getting click from users searching “best cake” or “cake delivery” will only attract clicks from users located far away or users passing just to browse through sites.
However, focusing too narrowly might result in insufficient traffic to warrant the campaign’s duration, resulting in wasted potential. From a marketing standpoint, the goal is to achieve the perfect balance, all of which is easier said than done considering most businesses tend to exhaust their budget on obscure keywords.
Example: Let’s say a small digital marketing agency is targeting real estate agents uses the phrases ‘real estate marketing’. While the keyword is relevant, the phrase ‘real estate marketing’ is very competitive. Also, the intention behind that search could be an agent looking for marketing tips, not necessarily a company to handle their marketing. Instead of targeting general phrases, the business can convert more leads by using more specific like, ‘social media marketing for real estate agents’ or ‘real estate SEO services.’
3. Failing to Target the Right Audience
Google Ads lets businesses target users through multiple metrics like age, location, type of gadget, or even hobbies! Still, Google Ads will only work for smaller companies if they know how to narrow their audience, geolocation, etc.
For instance, if you’re selling high-end luxury watches, selling them to someone searching for ‘affordable luxury watches’ will not offer you any sales. In order to get a good ROI, it’s extremely important that you put your ad in front of the appropriate people with the right messaging.
Example: A business providing expensive home remodeling services might spend a lot of money on people searching for DIY home improvement activities. Rather, they might be better off focusing on users from particular high-income zip codes or users who have recently shown interest in home renovation by browsing through relevant sites.
4. Ignoring Quality Score
Every ad gets a Quality Score from Google, which considers the relevance of the keywords, the ad copy, and the landing page. Higher Quality Scores receive more benefits as users click for less because Google provides lower rates for improved bids. Low Quality Scores reward advertisers with higher CPC and poor ad placements.
However, a common trend amongst smaller businesses is to neglect the Quality Score and only focus on increasing the bids. This leads them to overspend as they provide ads and landing pages that do not match to the clicks they are trying to buy.
Example: Let’s say a pet grooming business wants to advertise on a large keyword like ‘dog grooming’, this business is able to place aggressive bids on the keyword. But their conversion rates are still low. This happens because the ad copy and the landing page do not highlight the business’s organic pet grooming services, mobile grooming, or other unique offerings. This makes the advertisements less relevant. Consequently, the ad appears to be less relevant which means more expenses but lower conversions
How to Avoid the Google Ads Trap: Cost-Effective Strategies for Small Businesses
If you’re paying too much for clicks and aren’t getting much from your investment, then don’t panic there are multiple ways to make sure that you get better ad returns. Here is how small businesses can effectively manage their campaigns and save money:
1. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
One of the cost-effective methods to reach the correct clients is by using long-tail keywords. These keywords are less competitive but very important to your business. Long-tail keywords also generally have a lower cost-per-click (CPC), as they are cost efficient, and tend to have higher conversion rates because they represent more specific intent to search.
Try bidding on more specific keywords, for instance, instead of “shoes” try “comfortable running shoes for women.” These keywords have a higher chance of drawing users willing to buy the product because their search intent is very specific. They know what they’re looking for!
2. Use Negative Keywords
Negative keywords can remove unwanted clicks and ensure your ads do not show up for particular searches. If you, for example, have an ad for a highly rated spa, you would not want to show for searches like “cheap spa treatments” or “discounted spa services”. This means your ads will not reach users that are not going to buy and you will save money.
3. Improve Ad Copy and Landing Pages
Make the most of your budget with effective strategies like paying attention to ad copy along with the ad landing pages. Make sure to highlight the product features that matter most to the keywords you’re focusing on. After users click through your ad, they need a page that helps them carry out their search and facilitates the buying journey.
If for instance, you are running a time sensitive sale, your landing page should clearly state the sale and the use of a strong CTA such as “Shop Now” or “Get Your Discount” will help. Higher Quality Score means lower costs and even better placements for your ads so ensure to engage your target audience with relevant ads and landing pages.
4. Use Conversion Tracking
Imagine running a store without keeping records of how much you sell. Conversion tracking is one way you can optimize your google ads campaigns. Using conversion tracking helps you understand the effectiveness of your ads. Which ads, keywords, and audiences are actually getting sales, sign-ups, or any other action on the website?
This data can help you customize your target. Once you are well informed of where most of the traffic is coming from, you can determine which ads are underperforming so that you can stop spending money on them or optimize them. You can use the methods that are proven to work to get the most success and profits.
5. Implement Automated Bidding Strategies
Google Ads has several automated bidding strategies that can optimize the results of your campaigns. For example, you can use Target CPA bidding to get conversions at a certain set cost per acquisition. In the same way, Target ROAS bidding will consider your desired return on ad spend and optimize your bids for you.
These automated strategies eliminate the uncertainty associated with bidding while ensuring that your ad budget is put to use effectively. Regardless, you still want to monitor them closely.
6. Monitor and Optimize Regularly
It all boils down to effective monitoring and optimization for your Google Ads campaigns. The marketing world never stays still. What’s effective today might not work tomorrow. Make sure to check your campaigns frequently so that you can spot trends and modify your ads, keywords, and even the rates you are willing to pay to achieve the desired results.
7. Leverage Retargeting
Retargeting or remarketing helps you focus on people who have already visited your site but did not purchase anything. You may achieve higher ROI using this strategy because these users have previously expressed the intention to buy your product or service, which makes it easier to sell to them the second time round.
Wrapping Up: Taking Control of Your Google Ads Budget
Google Ads might be a great tool for marketing for a small business, but if it is not well put together, the business might run into the problem of spending too much money on just clicks. By narrowing down on the search phrases, audience targeting, ad copy, and landing page details and also implementing automated bidding, we can guarantee that the money spent on ads yields profits for the business. In short form, you should have a strategy and intent behind each campaign you’re investing in!
If the management of Google Ads seems like too much work or does not reflect the ROI you had in mind, OutRank Marketing is happy to assist. Contact us to find out how you can better utilize your Google Ads budget and increase the number of conversions you make.
