Five Google Ads Hacks That You’re Probably Not Using, But Should Be!
Running Google Ads campaigns can sometimes feel like you’re pouring money into a black hole.
However, the truth is, when done properly, Google Ads can be one of the most powerful ways for you to drive traffic, leads, and enquiries to your website and build that all-important brand awareness at the same time.
The differences between Google Ads campaigns that flop and those that perform really well often come down to small tweaks that most businesses overlook.
Here are five hacks we’ve put together to help you maximise the success of your Google Ads account.
Hack number one would be to nail your keyword match types.
Google will often recommend that you run with broad match keywords, but this means you often end up paying for clicks that never convert and generate irrelevant traffic.
We believe you should use a mix of phrase match and exact match keywords for tighter targeting, which also helps to reduce the risk of irrelevant traffic being paid for.
However, at the same time, you should also build a strong negative keyword list, as this is a secret weapon to make sure your click budget actually goes further.
This is an ongoing process, and you need to continually refine this based on your search term reports.
Hack number two. Many ads sound the same – but if you want to stand out from your competitors, we recommend using a strong call to action that tells people exactly what you want them to do next.
For example, call now and book your free appointment, call now and speak to one of our experts, – calls to action can be different for every business – so choose some that are relevant to you. Also, you should consider using powerful words like exclusive, guaranteed, and proven. These can help to build confidence in your products and services.
However, you should take care not to exaggerate what you can actually provide, as you do not want to be accused of running misleading advertising.
Hack number three is not to ignore ad extensions.
Ad extensions within Google Ads can help to build out the size of your ad; a bigger ad takes up more space and can give you an unfair advantage compared to your competitors.
Statistics also show that a larger ad incorporating ad extensions is much more likely to increase the click-through rate, as it can help to build trust instantly with extra information, including things like reviews, prices, and telephone numbers.
This can help to show your strengths as a business and make it easy for potential customers to land on specific pages, for example, your reviews, product, or contact us pages.
At a bare minimum, you should be using site links, callout options, structured snippets, and, if relevant, location extensions.
Hack number four would be to track conversions.
Without conversion tracking implemented into your website and connected to your Google Ads campaign, you are literally shooting in the dark.
Don’t just look at tracking clicks – you should track what really matters, and that is conversions.
Conversions can be a different thing for different businesses; they could be phone calls, form submissions, purchases, or sign-ups.
Google Tag Manager can help get tracking organised and help you to measure the cost for conversions, which tells you exactly which keywords are generating enquiries.
Hack number five would be to test, analyse, and repeat.
Too many people come to us and say that they set their Google Ads account up 12 months ago, and it’s not performing very well now.
The best performing campaigns are built on constant testing and continued adaptations being made.
Consider split testing, add headlines, calls to action, and test new landing pages.
Adjust bids by device, location, and the time of day, and regularly review the search term report to look out for wasted spend.
Even small tweaks made frequently can make a massive difference to the return on investment and, in many cases, can be the difference between success and failure.
Here at Altitude Internet, we have been helping businesses to get the most out of their Google Ads campaigns for over a decade.
If you are new to Google Ads or if you are a long-term advocate of running ads with Google, now could be a great time to get in touch.
Click here to schedule a call with one of our specialists
We would send a Google Ads link request, which would provide us access to your Google Ads account so that we can review what’s working and what’s not, we can review the optimisation score, provide some simple recommendations, and see if we can add value.
As an honest digital marketing agency, if we don’t believe we can add real value to your account, we will be the first to tell you.
As a Google partner agency, the specialists in our Google Ads management team hold the relevant and recent certifications in Google. These are annual certifications that must be taken to prove that we have the relevant experience and expertise to help you get the best from your Google Ads account.
Click here to find out more about Google Ads if you are new to this and would like to know more about this as a channel to help drive your business forward
Many customers choose to run Google Ads in conjunction with search engine optimisation. Search engine optimisation is a medium to long-term solution and can be a great way to build your rankings over time, and the smart play is often to use both methods to drive traffic and dominate the search results.
Please click here to find out more about search engine optimisation (often called SEO)
You can also download a free e-book packed with hints and tips – and some ideas that you can swipe and deploy on your own website to help improve your organic rankings.
You can also read some of our recent case studies just here and see some real-world examples of clients we have helped improve their digital marketing.
