There are plenty of Google Ads mistakes to avoid when you are getting started with the platform. Even experienced advertisers can find themselves making common mistakes in Google AdWords. It is a difficult PPC Advertising channel to keep up with due to the constant changes and updates.
The video below and the corresponding article will give you some mistakes you should watch out for when you are running Google Ads campaigns. Do you have any additional common errors that I missed in the article? Leave them in the comments below!
Google Ads Mistakes to Avoid
7 Common Mistakes in Google Ads
When you are getting started, you don’t want to waste your budget, so we gave some helpful tips and best practices below.
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Mistake 1 To Avoid:
Opting into the Search Network and Display Network in the Same Campaign
Do This Instead: You should target your display advertising campaigns to the Google Display Network and you should target your search advertising campaign to the Google Search Network and Google Search Partners.
When you are running Google Search Ads, they will perform best when you are only running your ads when people search your targeted keywords. Since the Search Network, Search Partners, and Google Display Network perform much differently, you want to separate those campaigns.
Mistake 2 To Avoid:
Not Using Negative Keywords
Do This Instead: Use the Search Terms Report in Google Ads to find negative keyword ideas. Add negative keywords to your campaign and create negative keyword lists to focus on your top-performing keywords.
Negative keywords are very important for your campaign. Regardless of your campaign goals, you should use negative keywords because you want to show your ads for relevant searches. In addition, certain words and phrases can be a complete waste of your budget.
Negative Keywords Video
Mistake 3 To Avoid:
Not Optimizing for Conversions
Do This Instead: Create conversion goals in your Google Ads account and optimize your campaigns for one conversion or multiple conversions. You should optimize your campaign for leads or sales.
One of the best advances in paid advertising is that you can actually measure the performance of your advertisements. When you run a television commercial or a radio advertisement, it’s difficult to know the exact impact of your advertisements. With conversion tracking, you can optimize for leads, sales, phone calls, app installs, and any of your key performance indicators.
Conversion Tracking Video
Mistake 4 To Avoid:
Poor Keyword Research and Bidding on Broad Match Keywords
Do This Instead: Target broad match modifier keywords and do extensive keyword research for your campaigns. Use the Google Keyword Planner to find the top keywords for your business.
You should never target keywords blindly because you can use keyword research tools to find search volume for your top keywords. In addition, broad match keywords will open up your campaign to irrelevant searches. You should focus on broad match modifier, phrase match, and exact match keywords in your ad groups.
PPC Keyword Research Tutorial
Mistake 5 To Avoid:
Not Testing Bidding Strategies as you Optimize Google AdWords Campaigns
Do This Instead: Start with the Enhanced CPC bid strategy and make sure you are using conversion tracking. Then, utilize bid strategies like Target CPA and Target ROAS once you start driving conversions.
I used to use the Manual CPC bid strategy and then Google AdWords released the Enhanced CPC bid strategy. As soon as Google released smart bidding strategies like Enhanced CPC, Target CPA, and Target ROAS, I focused on using them the most. They will help you get the most out of your campaign because your bidding focuses on your key performance indicators.
Google Ads Bid Strategies
Mistake 6 To Avoid:
Only Creating 1 Ad Variation and Not Using Ad Extensions
Do This Instead: Create multiple ads per ad group and use different ad formats. You should use a combination of Expanded Text Ads and Responsive Search Ads to get the most out of each Ad Group.
When it comes to PPC Advertising, you should always create multiple advertisements for every targeting set. In Google Ads, you should create a variety of advertisements that match closely to your targeting. You can use different language and make sure you are utilizing ad extension as well to make your ads as relevant as possible.
Mistake 7 To Avoid:
Not Understand the Goals of Google AdWords
Do This Instead: Understand what successful advertisers do in Google Ads. Generally, they test different targeting, optimize their campaigns, focus on conversions, and use bidding strategies that help them accomplish their goals.
You will need to keep testing and optimizing over time until you can effectively use the Target CPA or Target ROAS bid strategy. If you can find the best keywords for your business, you can drive results for your business as well. It will take time to improve your results and get the most out of your Google Ads account.
In Summary
You can learn a lot by understanding the mistakes that other advertisers have made in the past. These are just 7 common mistakes that I have made and I have seen in other accounts. Hopefully, you found this article and video helpful as you try to optimize your campaigns.
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