15 Google AdWords Mistakes to Avoid

Think Google AdWords is a waste of money? If your ads haven’t been working out for you, it’s actually more likely to be because of something you’re doing wrong.

Google AdWords has the potential to be one of your most powerful marketing tools. However, there are a lot of Google adWords mistakes you can make which will kill your chances of success. Here we’ll look at just 15 of the most common Google adWords mistakes to avoid.

 

1. Sitting back and expecting results

As with any good marketing campaign, with Google AdWords you need to put in a lot of effort to ensure your ads are effective. You can’t just create an ad, launch it and expect to sit back and do nothing.

Ads need to be tweaked at least once per week. They need to be analyzed to see which keywords are working and how many click-throughs they’re generating. Keywords change frequently so you need to keep on top of them in order to stay relevant.

 

2. Linking to a poor quality landing page

Sometimes it’s not actually the ad itself that’s the problem – It’s the landing page it’s linking to.

If you appear to be getting a good number of click-throughs, yet you aren’t increasing your sales, it’s time to look at your landing page to see if anything needs to be changed. Did you know for example, that a landing page with a video boosts conversions by up to 80%?

 

  1. Trying to include too many keywords

Logically, it makes sense to think that the more keywords you include, the more traffic you’re going to attract. However, it’s actually more effective to target either a specific phrase or one or two keywords in the same ad.

More keywords may help your company show up more frequently in search. However, that doesn’t mean you’ll automatically get more visitors. Consumers are seeking relevant, exact results when they use a search engine. The more specific your keywords, the more visitors the ad will attract.

Of course, there’s also the added bonus that relevant, specific keywords are favored by Google. So, you’ll end up paying less for the ad, cutting your AdWords budget dramatically.

Overall, there are plenty of Google adWords mistakes you can make, but the 3 above do tend to be some of the most common. It takes skill, time and effort to run a successful AdWords campaign. Ideally you should have two-three campaigns running at the same time; each focusing on different keywords if you want to see the best results.

 

4. Not Linking Your Ads to a Relevant Landing Page

When your content is tightly woven for those who read your content, the better your chances of converting with each impression.

Your ad copy sets an expectation as to what the searcher is expecting when he or she clicks through to your content. It can be disappointing for those who click-through to a page on your site that isn’t consistent with their expectation. At that point, they will click away fast, and you have just lost a potential sale.

For instance, if a searcher clicks through on a link for a specific promotion or product that is not totally relevant to what brings them to the landing page, it would negatively affect your ability to convert them.

5. Not Understanding Profit Margins and Conversions

6. Poorly Written Ad Texts

7. Not Using Negative keywords

8. Not Knowing Your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

9. Not Grouping Keywords Correctly

10. Not Using the Right Keyword Matches

11. Not Testing the Optimal Ad Position

12. Not Properly Researching Your Competition

13. Ignoring Ad Extensions

14. Not Researching Keywords Properly

15. Not Considering Mobile Marketing