AdWords Strategy Wisdom
If you’re working for Google, you’re trying to get clicks.
If you’re working for your business, you’re trying to get conversions.
Let me explain….
Google Uses AdWords to Make Money
Google is a great company. They revolutionized how people use information. They made the world a better place. Heck, they’re even a verb. Is your company a verb? Mine’s not.
However, with all the fanfare Google gets, it’s easy to forget that Google is in business to make money. And Google makes money through advertising.
In 2016, Google advertising represented nearly 78% of all search advertising revenue. Online search advertising is now a $36.7 billion market.
Google continues to grow. It’s expected to reach 80% of market share in 2017, partly by increasing ad click costs and ranking ads lower that spend less.
This means that Google will push your ad lower when you’re not trying to buy your way to the top.
They want you to think in clicks.
You Use AdWords to Find Customers
We want you to think about conversions.
A conversion is when a user comes to your website and completes some type of action, like they fill out a form or they buy a product. By converting from an anonymous user to a known customer, they give you a return on your advertising investment.
It’s better to have even just five visitors who convert than 100 who don’t.
Niche Keywords are Your Key
The way out of the Google’s “click race” and the way to protect your ad budget is to find the long-tail keywords that cost less but drive better quality traffic.
Long-tail keywords are longer phrases that are specific to a niche audience. For instance, “lamps” are a short-tail keyword that will draw high competition and a very broad audience. Clicks for that keyword will also be very expensive and invite traffic that you don’t want.
However, “student desk lamps” will drive a smaller but more committed audience at a lower click rate. An even tighter combination might be “college student desk lamps” or “high school student desk lamps”. This “long tail” keyword will target traffic that has a higher chance of converting into a sale.
This strategy also draws fewer clicks. This is good as you don’t want clicks that don’t represent sales. Thus, think “quality over quantity” for your niche keywords.
AdWords Strategy suggestions
There are a number of other AdWords strategies that can prove helpful. We’ve compiled a few of our favorites below:
Be choosey about your keywords
Using Google’s suggested keyword tool doesn’t always increase quality traffic. In fact, it often leads to keywords that will drive the same type of quality.
If that’s the case, don’t use them. Lean instead on the keywords that will drive the most conversions and ignore those suggestions that don’t.
Go Cheap on Branding Keywords
If your website is correctly aligned and organically ranked for your brand, then don’t repeat your SEO efforts in AdWords. People searching for your brand have probably already found you and at a lower cost.
(The caveat to this strategy is when your competition is putting ads above your entry when someone searches your brand name. In that case, it’s worth buying your brand name as a keyword to keep from being pushed off the page.)
Decrease your max bid
After experimenting with different bid prices, check the bid on your best performing ads and then check your average click costs. Adjust your max bid so it’s closer to your average rate. You should notice your click costs going down without sacrificing exposure.
Adjust your budget by geographic location
Google charges more for ads in specific locations than for ads that reach broader regions. So, expect that you’ll need a higher budget for ads near your physical locations but shoot for lower ad costs when trying to reach more remote markets.
Schedule ads by time of day and day of week
Run your ads when it’s most effective. Using Google Analytics, you can know how your customer reaches you and when they’re most active. Run higher cost ads when your prime customers are actively searching.