7 Common Google AdWords Advertising Mistakes
Google AdWords is the biggest pay per click advertising network in the world, yet many businesses try it and quickly come to the conclusion that it doesn’t work for them.
However, closer to the truth is that most businesses who believe that Google AdWords won’t work for them have probably made some of these common Google AdWords advertising mistakes…
1) Not having specific, measurable goals
How can you measure something if you don’t have a target?
If you want to determine whether or not you’re making money from your Google AdWords campaign then you should have a specific call-to-action, such as an email opt-in or a special telephone number to call.
2) No ads for individual products and services
If you just have a generic advert, then you won’t be as likely to appeal and convert for specific product or service related keyword phrases.
The more specific the keyword phrase, the greater likelihood it is that your visitors will convert, so make sure you take the time to create product or service specific ads.
3) No testing of ad titles
Don’t assume that just because you think that an ad title is brilliant that it will appeal to your prospective customers.
Doing something simple like changing a couple of words around or adding a question mark after your title can significantly improve your conversion rates. Make sure that you’re continually split-testing your titles.
4) No keyword phrases in titles or descriptions
When people search Google for a keyword phrase, that keyword phrase is highlighted in bold if it appears in the title or description of ads. This is intended to show to the searcher that these ads are more relevant, thus more likely to be clicked upon.
5) No testing of ad descriptions
As well as split-testing ad titles, you should be testing your ad description.
That’s the 2 lines of descriptive text underneath your ad title. Always retain your winning text, but be trying to improve upon it.
6) No personalized URL's
If you’re trying to sell blue widgets, then make sure you include the words ‘blue widgets’ in your URL.
For example, instead of displaying acmecompany.com in your display url in should be acmecompany.com/blue-widgets. Also, make sure you forward all display URL's to your landing page just in case people type them directly into their browser.
7) Driving all ad traffic to the home page
When you drive product or service specific keyword traffic towards your home page not only are you asking your visitors to take an extra click – you’re annoying them by asking them to find the product that you were already aware that they were looking for.
David Bain has immersed himself in internet marketing for over 10 years now, and conducted internet marketing strategy seminars for the past 4 years. He is author of the 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing as well as author and founder of the recently updated 26-Week Internet Marketing Plan Blueprint.
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Hi David,
I completely agree with your fourth point – not tailoring ads to keyword phrases. I did some analysis on the travel industry in Australia, and found that few advertisers really take the time to match their ads to keywords:
http://www.calculatemarketing.com/blog/techniques/relevancy-the-holy-grail-of-ppc/
Despite PPC being apparently 'saturated', there are still massive opportunities everywhere.
Alan
Alan Mitchell recently posted: 5 Common PPC Optimisation Mistakes
Indeed Alan! If people just take a little time to focus on ad conversion rates a loss making campaign can be quickly turned around!
David Bain recently posted: Improving your site crawlability