Right Time, Right Place
“It’s strange, how you always manage to be in the right place, at the right time,” observes matriarch Consuelo Baxter (Margherita Lozano) in Fistful of Dollars, the 1964 Spaghetti Western film directed by Sergio Leone and featuring Clint Eastwood as a wandering gunfighter, (because, of course).
Right time. Right place. Isn’t that what Google Ads is all about? Getting your message, your product, your content to the right people, by being in the right place at the right time?
We know that Google Ads can be an effective tool for businesses of all sizes to reach potential customers and drive sales. However, simply setting up an ad campaign and letting Google take over with their recommended auto apply suggestions won’t be enough to guarantee success. To optimize your Google Ads, there are several key factors to consider, including keywords, ad targeting, ad copy, landing pages, and performance tracking. Each of these factors layer on top of each other, creating a complex web of interconnected processes that are both technical and creative.
Fortunately for you, this is what we do–so strap in for a wild ride while we explore each of these areas and provide actionable tips to help you improve the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns.
Keyword Research
The first step in optimizing your Google Ads is to conduct keyword research. This involves identifying the words and phrases that your target audience is using to search for products or services like yours. This will be the foundation for your ad campaign. By targeting the right keywords, you can ensure that your ads are reaching the right people. But where to start?
Google Ads Keyword Planner
One tool that can help you with keyword research is the Google Ads Keyword Planner, which is accessible from the Google Ads management platform. This tool allows you to enter a list of keywords and get suggestions for related terms that you may have missed. It also provides data on the estimated search volume and competition level for each keyword.
To optimize your keyword targeting, consider the following tips:
- Focus on long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific phrases that typically have lower search volume but higher intent. For example, instead of targeting “shoes,” you could target “black leather boots for women.” This will help you reach a more targeted audience and reduce competition.
- Use negative keywords: Negative keywords are terms that you don’t want your ads to show for. For example, if you sell high-end luxury watches, you may want to add “cheap” or “affordable” as negative keywords to avoid showing your ads to people looking for lower-priced options.
- Finally, monitor and adjust your keywords: Regularly review your keyword performance and adjust your targeting as needed. Remove underperforming keywords and add new ones that are performing well.
You’ve found the right people. Next, it’s all about meeting those people–it’s about getting your ads to them at the right time, and in the right place.
Ad Targeting
Once you have identified your target keywords, the next step is to set up your ad targeting. Google Ads offers several targeting options, including location, device, language, and audience targeting.
Check out these tips for optimizing your ad targeting process:
- Location targeting: If you are a local business, make sure to target your ads to the areas where your customers are located. Use the radius targeting option to reach people within a specific distance from your business.
- Device targeting: Consider the devices your customers are using to search for your products or services. If you find that most of your customers are using mobile devices, consider optimizing your ads for mobile devices.
- Language targeting: If your business serves a specific language-speaking audience, make sure to target your ads to those languages.
- Audience targeting: Use audience targeting to reach people who have already shown an interest in your products or services. You can create custom audiences based on website visitors, email subscribers, or previous customers.
Are there more toggles, buttongs, switches and settings? Always. But these tips will get you headed in the right direction. Next comes the creative bit. Ad copy.
Ad Copy
This is where you get to rewatch Mad Men and channel your inner Don Draper. “Advertising is based on one thing: happiness.”
So how is your product going to make your customer happy? And how are you going to communicate that to the customer?
Your ad copy is what potential customers will see when they come across your ad. It’s the meat on the bones. It’s important to make sure that your ad copy is both compelling (creative) and relevant (technical) to your target audience. A well-crafted ad can entice people to click and learn more about your products or services.
To optimize your ad copy, consider the following tips:
- Use your keywords in your ad copy: Incorporate your target keywords into your ad headlines and descriptions to make your ads more relevant to the user’s search query.
- Highlight your unique selling proposition: Use your ad copy to highlight what sets your products or services apart from the competition. What makes you unique or better than other businesses in your industry?
- Use a strong call-to-action: Encourage people to take action with a clear call-to-action (CTA) in your ad copy. Examples include “Buy Now,” “Sign Up Today,” or “Learn More.”
- Test different ad variations: Create multiple versions of your ads (Google Ads makes this easy with responsive ads), and then test, test, test.
After you’ve done your keyword research, honed in on your audience through specific ad targeting processes, and worked up great ad copy, take a look at your landing pages–do they incorporate your keywords? Do they have an easy and clear call to action?
Finally, watch your performance over the weeks and months to follow. Are you hitting your cost-per-click and cost-per-conversion goals? How can you improve your conversion metrics? Start at the top, and work your way through the process again, tweaking your campaigns to maximize your ROI.
Be The Best You Can Be
It’s not just building a campaign. Optimizing Google Ads is a crucial aspect of any successful digital marketing campaign. And that optimization is a day by day, week by week, month by month process that never really ends. To quote Mad Men’s Don Draper again, “The day you sign a client is the day you start losing him.” That means you can’t stop. You can’t put your campaign on auto-apply recommended suggestions and walk away.
By following the best practices discussed in this article–such as conducting thorough keyword research, utilizing the right bidding strategies, and creating compelling ad copy–you can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns.
“Constant vigilance!” barked Mad Eye Moody in Harry Potter–and he was right. Continually monitor and analyze your campaign’s performance, making data-driven adjustments that will further enhance your ad’s performance. Staying up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques in Google Ads optimization, (as Google is constantly shifting the landscape and adding to or taking away from the management tools we use), and you can ensure that your ads are reaching the right audience at the right time, and right place, ultimately driving more traffic, leads, and conversions for your business.
Want us to help? Schedule a consultation with us to discuss how we can assist in managing and optimizing your Google Ads account.