Google Ads Tips 2020: 6 Tips You Need To Know

The number one mistake people make, when it comes to online advertising, Google Ads, is basically the fact that they create one campaign, they don’t really understand what they are doing, most probably they are setting everything on auto, and then that’s it, they don’t do anything until they run out of budget and realise that Google Ads is now working for them.

Marketing it’s all about split-testing. You need to be testing different keywords, different ads, different audiences + Google is an auction, not a set and forget, which means you need to be active in managing the campaign.

So let’s jump into some tips to help you improve your Google Ads campaigns:

TIP 1. Do your keyword research

Do your keyword research and focus on those keywords that are more likely to convert.

What do I mean by that? Well, first of all, you need to know what your customers are looking for right? Just so you can bid for the right keywords. And while doing that, you’ll realise that people do search for different things in different ways.

They might be searching for a how to tutorial. For a DYI solution. That’s no good for us.

Or they might be comparing different things, Samsung VS iPhone. Honda vs Suzuki, you get the idea. So now things are getting a little bit warmer, but still not quite.

Now how about if someone is searching for “buy new car”, purchase new TV, electrician London”. That’s what we want, because we know they are ready to buy or looking for a service.

TIP 2: Fill in that Negative Keyword list

While you’re doing your keyword research, fill in that Negative Keyword list with keywords for which you don’t want to show your ads. This alone can save you a lot of money.

Let’s take the previous example. We might use London electrician as a keyword to show our ads. But how about if someone is searching for “London electrician jobs”, or salary, or CVs, you get the idea. Those are no good for us.

And that’s where the Negative keywords list comes in, because you can add those words, jobs, CV, apprenticeships, salary, etc.. as negative keywords.

TIP 3: Be aware of different keyword types

Be aware of different keyword types, and make good use of them. When you add keywords to your campaign, you have 3 different ways to add them. 4 in fact:

• Broad match – this is the default option, when you add just the keyword on it’s own.
• Broad modifier – for this you will use the plus sign
• Phrase match – we wrap the keyword with quotation markes
• And exact match – we use square brackets.

If you’re new to advertising, stay away from broad match, as that again, similar to the previous point, will help you avoid wasting money. The more money you save, the more you can spend on the right keywords.

Let me explain so you understand.

With exact match, you’re only showing ads to people who have search exactly your keyword, e.g. if I’m bidding for web design, and someone is searching for that. Bingo, they will see my ads, but if they search for Web design Peterborough, my ads won’t show, as it doesn’t really match with my keyword. Simple.

With phrase match, rules are more relaxed, this is where you still have your main keyword, again, let’s use web design for this example, however, if someone ads something either before or after the keyword, so let’s say, Peterborough web design company, our ads will still show.

However, with the broad match, you’re letting google to show your ads for a specific keyword + any other relevant variations.

Let’s say your selling Samsung TVs, so you’re bidding for that keyword, but someone searches for Samsung TV remove. Google might thing it’s relevant enough, and will show our ads. And that’s how we waste some money.

This is a more advanced topic, so I definitely suggest you Google it and do some more research, but meanwhile stick to phrase and exact match.

TIP 4. Monitor your campaigns

A quick one. Once you’ve started your ads, keep an eye on them, specifically on the search term list, as that’s where you’ll see what people have actually searched, and guess what, I’m sure you’ve missed something, and from there you’ll get new ideas to fill your negative keywords list with.

TIP 5. Have different Ad Groups for different Keywords

Don’t just drop all your keywords into one ad group and show a generic message. We want our ads to stand out, and studies have shown that people are more likely to notice you if you’re being specific.

So if you’re selling pet food, create separate Ad groups, bidding for different set of keywords.

One might be for dogs, another one for cats, another one for rabbits, and so one.

Your copy is set ad the ad group level, and by doing so, you’l have the opportunity of showing a different ad, a more relevant one, based on what people have s earch for.

TIP 6. Tracking the actual conversions

This is a huge one. I’ve got clients who came from other agencies, and they weren’t doing this. They’ve basically missed the most important step.. And that is Tracking the actual conversions.

No one really cares about clicks. Clicks are good, but real leads, people who have called you or contacted you via the contact form are even better.

Now this is a more complicated step, you might need the help of web or a google ads person, but you do want to make sure all the tracking is in place on your website, before you start any sort of advertising.

Otherwise, how are you supposed to know what is working and what not, if you’re not tracking those conversions.

Plus on top of that, Google is relying on those conversions to show the ads to people who are more likely to convert.

What do you mean? Isn’t google showing ads to everyone searching for my keywords?
Of course not.

Imagine you have a budget of £20 per day, and cost you about £2 per click, right? So that’s about 10 clicks each day. But what if every day, there are 20, 30, 50 people searching for your keywords? You won’t be able to afford all of them, so google needs to understand your goals, conversions in this case, to be able to show ads to people who are more likely to convert.

I hope that made sense. Let me know in the comments below which of these 6 tips you found the most useful, and of course, subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell icon, to be notified when we release more videos just like this one.