Are your Google Ad campaigns costing you a lot lately? Do you wonder what the issue could be? Did you try fixing the solution but failed? You might be making some big mistakes that no one warned you about. However, it is never too late. Coming from someone who has made her share of mistakes when first started consulting for a staffing agency, trust me when I say that you can fix it.

Here are the tips that you can benefit from… Cambridge free classifieds ads

All Broad Matched Keywords

We all get attracted to the easy way outs for literally anything. Don’t we. However, the Google algorithm may not like that about you. Therefore, you will have to put to add keywords other than just the broad matched ones. For you to have an efficient campaign that performs well and gives you a consistent CPC and CTR, you need to focus on the keyword match types.

And for this to happen, you will have to make an intentional effort as by default all keywords are set to broad match. So, unless you manually change them, they will remain a broad match. The bad thing about broad match keywords is that they focus on quantity rather than quality. Therefore, your ad might be showing up to several people but maybe not all of them are relevant enough to your product.

I am asking you to dump this option altogether. But there are other types that you should pay more focus on like an exact, phrase, and broad match modifiers. Remember, more relevant and targeted the keywords, more your conversion rate can be.

Minimal Use of Extensions

The most used extension remains sitelink. Normally, businesses and companies would only use this, ignoring the other extensions altogether. However, you should know that there are many more extensions than just sitelink. In case you are not familiar with the purpose of ad extensions, they allow people to learn more about your business. And just to let you know, Google’s algorithm likes extensions.

Here is a list of the extensions that Google offers:

• Seller rating
• Callout
• Click-to-text
• Call
• Promotion

So, the next time you think of adding an extension to your ad, think beyond sitelink extension. Having the right combination will improve your ad’s position on SERP.

Limited Ad Variations

If you think that adding one ad to each ad group will earn you a good ranking on SERP, then you should think again. Because it won’t. You should aim at adding 3-4 variations. That is what Google’s algorithm likes. Adding more variations will also allow you to see which one performs the best for you. In my career, I learned that one should make a minimum of three ad variations.

The variations should fall under the following categories:

• General
• Product category-specific
• Product-specific

Do not expect to get results within a couple of days, though. Patience is key when it comes to digital marketing. Wait for about 4 weeks before you start gathering information regarding the performance. By analyzing the performance of the ads after a month or so, you will be able to eliminate the low performing ones. Apart from that, you can also add more ad variations that are quite close to the ones performing well.

Setting and Forgetting

Perhaps, this is the most common mistake that a marketer makes. The majority of them consider the job’s done once the campaign is live. NO. It is not. Your job has just begun. You have to keep a constant track of the activities. After your campaigns are live, you need to keep an eye on the performance as this is where your analysis and optimization skills will get tested.

As soon as you set a campaign live, you should look for any red flags that might be there. Some of the most common ones are keywords with low CTR and keywords that have abnormally high CPC. You may also want to have a look at the search term report to see if there are very irrelevant queries.

Not Bidding on Your Brand

Here is where the conflict is at. Some people think it is not good to promote your own branded keyword while others think otherwise. If you ask me, I’d say you should invest a little portion of your budget on your own brand’s keywords in the initial days.

This is for people who are aware of your brand already. You do not want them to see your competitor’s name at the top even if they search for your brand. Therefore, you need to bid on your brand’s name as well. You will realize that this form of biding will increase your ROI.

I did the same for a mortgage staffing agency when I started as a digital marketer. And the results were great. If you haven’t already, give it a shot.

Author Bio

Rosie Harman is a Senior Content Strategist, specializing in Technology. She holds a Master’s in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Arlington and has spent the majority of her career working in tech giants in Texas. When she’s not helping the content team, Rosie enjoys adventuring with her two children around her home town.