Exceeding the budget on an ineffective campaign is a dreaded scenario for any digital marketer. It’s a situation we can all relate to – repeatedly refreshing AdWords in hopes of a sudden conversion. In such cases, it’s advisable to review and identify the factors obstructing the campaign’s progress.
The quality score being reduced is commonly cited by help sites, articles, and marketing companies as one of the potential reasons why your campaign may not be performing, but there could be several other factors at play as well.
1. Post-click landing page experience
Although digital marketers prioritize crafting impeccable ad copies, they often overlook the significance of the user experience beyond the advertisements. The experience of the landing page after a user clicks on an ad is equally important, as it affects your Quality Score. Consequently, a subpar post-click landing page experience can have a detrimental impact on the visibility of your ads.
The following outlines the components of a favorable experience on a landing page after clicking a post:
- Quick loading speeds – nobody likes pages that load slower than molasses.
- Mobile optimization – it is highly recommended to create mobile versions of your post-click landing page to facilitate a mobile user’s experience.
- Aesthetic content – a readable and visually appealing post-click landing page can help users find information and make decisions quicker on your post-click landing page.
- Clear Call-To-Actions (CTAs) – placing clear CTAs around your post-click landing page helps to drive conversions.
The irrelevance of post-click landing pages.
Once you have confirmed that your post-click landing page is optimized for an improved user experience, there is yet another crucial aspect to consider – its relevance.
If you were to click on an advertisement for chocolate cakes with the intention of ordering a delectable chocolate cake, but instead found yourself on a post-click landing page promoting vanilla cakes, this seemingly insignificant error would still have an adverse impact on your ad’s quality score. This is because the post-click landing page would be deemed unsuitable for the advertisement and hence not relevant.
For maximum relevance, start by grouping relevant keywords in an ad group. Next, craft post-click landing pages specific to the ad group.
Creating post-click landing pages on Instapage is a great way to boost conversions. Moreover, by linking these pages with the ads in the same ad group, you can prevent any potential crisis. Our successful lead generation campaign using this method proves how easy and cost-effective it can be.
3. Directing to the home page
It is a common mistake for e-commerce businesses to direct users to their homepage instead of the specific web page, which negatively impacts the quality score. Although the desired web page can still be accessed from the homepage, this approach is not ideal for post-click landing page relevance.
When advertising ‘children’s apparel’ for your e-commerce clothing business, it’s best to direct your ads to the page specifically selling children’s clothing, rather than simply linking to your website’s homepage. It’s important to always connect your advertisements to a page that is directly related to the product or service being promoted.
4. Poor keyword choices
Having irrelevant keywords and keywords with low search volume can negatively impact your quality score. In case you haven’t been receiving appropriate outcomes, take a break with some coffee and settle in as it’s time to review and modify those keywords.
It’s recommended to limit the number of keywords per ad group to 20 to ensure a relevant relationship between keywords and ad copies. To avoid overspending, consider pausing any keywords that are not converting or are irrelevant.
Next, employ keyword planner to incorporate recently discovered keywords that have ample search volumes. Finally, optimize keyword matches for maximum efficiency. Utilize broad match to generate impressions, while phrase and exact matches are recommended for driving conversions.
5. Lack of negative keywords
Although you may select the most appropriate set of keywords, Google does not guarantee perfection. Sometimes, your advertisements may be shown in irrelevant search results. For example, your ad may appear alongside searches for unrelated topics such as groceries, vegetables, or eggs, even if you specifically chose ‘marketing’ as a keyword. To prevent paying for irrelevant clicks, negative keywords come in handy.
Adding negative keywords allows you to inform Google that you want to exclude your ad from being triggered for queries that are not relevant to your business, irrespective of the match types used by your keywords.
Add negative keywords, whether broad, phrase, or exact match, to your ad campaign or group. As an instance, if you’re promoting a marketing firm, you may include “groceries,” “eggs,” or “vegetables” as negative keywords. If your campaign has been active for some time, search for irrelevant search terms in your search terms report, and add them as negative keywords.
Begin by including the negative keywords that are more apparent and subsequently assess your search queries under the Keywords section, followed by the Search terms option in the left-hand navigation, using the search terms report in your Google Ads account.
6. Lack of targeting
The practice of targeting is highly advantageous as it enables your advertisements to reach your desired audience and result in conversions. This furthermore guarantees that you avoid paying for clicks that do not lead to conversions.
You can refine your audience by utilizing various targeting techniques such as location, device, and audience. Align your targeting strategies according to your business objectives.
To avoid paying for unattainable clicks from overseas customers, use location targeting when seeking local customers for your product. Also, mobile targeting may be more effective in reaching your customers if they are frequently on the go.
7. Not using extensions
Undoubtedly, ad extensions are fantastic as they enable your customers to easily navigate your site and take prompt action, bypassing the need to visit your post-click landing page.
But there is a more practical benefit of using ad extensions – they make your ad bigger! The bigger your ad, the more real estate your ad takes on the search page, the higher the chances of your ad getting noticed and clicked are!
Familiarize yourself with the various types of ad extensions and incorporate them into your business strategy as appropriate. In situations where uncertainty arises, it is almost always appropriate to use callout extensions!
8. Not creating an ad group for your brand
The Google search realm is highly competitive, and it’s important to take steps to avoid being outdone. One essential measure is to establish an ad group utilizing your brand keywords. Skipping this step risks having rivals beat you to the punch by displaying their ad when a potential customer searches for your business, potentially pushing your ad to the back.
Protect your brand from crafty rivals by setting up an advertisement group.
9. Not testing ad positions
The best position for your ad campaign depends on your goal. While being at the top may be effective for generating impressions and improving branding, it may not necessarily yield the best results. If your focus is on driving conversions, the third to fifth positions are ideal. Thus, a more affordable advertisement may even prove to be more effective than a costlier one.
To reposition your ad, experiment with varying your Cost Per Click (CPC) bids until you achieve a ranking of 3rd to 5th. Employing a simple, but effective approach like the one outlined below will enable you to implement a thorough testing plan and maintain steady momentum for your account:
- Have anywhere from 2-4 active ad variants in each ad group.
- Let those run against each other for a period of time to where each has a good amount of data. (This varies based on accounts, but one month is a decent rule of thumb).
- Pause the underperforming variants, then write new variants to take their place, each time ensuring you have 2-4 variants active in the ad group.
By experimenting with various versions, you will discover the strategies that are effective and those that are not suitable for your accounts. It is possible that certain messaging delivers results for one set of keywords but not for another. An essential ad testing approach can uncover a wealth of useful data.
10. Using the wrong (or no) conversion actions
The primary goal of creating campaigns in Google Ads is to promote our businesses (or causes, etc.) and increase sales and/or attention. To efficiently track website user activity and achieve desired outcomes, we use pixels through conversion tracking.
Even though you may want to increase your website’s traffic, it doesn’t necessarily mean that every pageview should result in a conversion. You can easily monitor such conversions using readily available metrics such as clicks in Google Ads or pageviews on Google Analytics.
Rather than that, it is preferable to consider conversion actions as the more significant actions that a person can undertake, such as completing a form or buying something.
To ensure that your campaigns are optimizing the right actions, focus on selecting conversion goals that will propel your business forward. Additionally, steer clear of these common conversion tracking errors.
11. Pairing Smart Bidding with the wrong goals
The issue with using pageviews as conversions in Google Ads is worsened by the frequent use of Smart Bidding tactics aimed at achieving “conversions” by the same accounts. Can you identify the dilemma?
There is a variety of Smart Bidding strategies offered by Google that can aid in accomplishing your objectives.
If you integrate automated bidding that prioritizes conversions with an account that inaccurately utilizes pageviews as the primary conversion metric, your account will only excel in generating clicks (which will increase your expenses) and directing traffic to your website, but will not achieve other objectives.
Despite the purported intelligence of Google’s automated bidding and conversion optimization system, there are still some drawbacks to consider. After working in this field for more than a decade, I have discovered that while Google may declare the ability to automatically detect your desired conversions and optimize accordingly, certain limitations still exist.
Are you committing any errors in Google Ads?
- If you average anywhere from 7-10 conversions per week, i.e., more than one per day, then automated bidding with a conversion focus (like Maximize Conversions, Max Conversion Value, or tCPA) could be a good option for you.
- If your volume is lower than that, you may want to test out a number of different bidding strategies and see how each performs. It would be better to start with Maximize Conversions, but be open to shifting to Maximize Clicks or Enhanced CPC with regular bid reviews to focus on performance.
Implementing recommendations automatically.
Google Ads has been providing direct recommendations within its platform to assist advertisers in optimizing their campaigns for the past few years.
It should be considered that although some recommendations can aid in accomplishing your objectives, the majority are derived from “best practices” utilized in various accounts and may not cater to your specific account objectives.
Here is a list of the actions that can be automatically applied:
If you choose to enable these automatic modifications, Google has the ability to execute numerous alterations without obtaining your permission.
It is recommended that you deactivate these automated suggestions, but instead, set a monthly schedule to access your Google Ads account and scrutinize the recommendations provided by Google. You have the option of dismissing recommendations that are irrelevant to you, while also applying and reviewing those that are helpful. Regardless, you will remain in control as opposed to Google.
13. Only using broad match keywords
There are three types of keyword match available in Google Ads: exact, phrase, and broad. Although the names may not indicate their exact functions, it is still accurate to say that broad is the most extensive match type. As a result, it expands your ad’s reach and increases the likelihood of receiving clicks from users across a wider range of queries than either exact or phrase.
Although there are instances where wide-ranging keywords can prove useful, it’s recommendable to use them sparingly. Consider using broad match if:
- Your account is generating good results but you’re having trouble scaling with exact and phrase terms.
- You have high conversion counts and can leverage broad match with Smart Bidding.
- You’re using Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) and focusing on a set of known users.
While not a comprehensive list, it highlights a critical point: without directing your broad match keywords with solid previous results, high conversion data, or audiences, these match types can dangerously match to inappropriate queries. This brings us to our following error.
