Category: Google AdWords

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Google is Trashing Removed Campaigns and Keywords from Your AdWords Account

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

Google doesn’t let you throw anything away. From archiving in GMail to allowing only a “remove” and not a “delete” in AdWords, Google just hates to throw stuff away – permanently. Well, that was until now…

Starting the week of March 24, Google will be starting to purge its files of your Google AdWords removed ads. But, only if the item has had no impressions and been “removed” for over 100 days.

I for one, wish Google would delete some things permanently in AdWords accounts as sometimes “removed” items will trigger Google filters and create flags for an account with warning or notice messages. As you cannot find the item to solve it – as you had “removed” it, you have to phone Google support for help.

Come on Google, when we click “remove”, we really mean “delete”!

Okay, so the purge of really old stuff nobody wanted or clicked on is a start for Google – it is still a baby step. At least for Google to think of really and truly deleting something/anything is a change.

Need help with your AdWords program? Ready to “remove” it all and start over? We can help. Find out how.

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Use Dynamic Search Ads to Complement Your AdWords Programs

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

If you are looking for a way to increase AdWords activity in your account while keeping click costs low, make sure you test Dynamic Search Ads.

I like to set up a separate campaign for dynamic search advertising instead of just creating dynamic search ads within an existing ad group. I feel that I have better control over the program and potential click costs. Typically dynamic search ads will be about one half of the cost of a regular keyword targeted program.

Dynamic search ads work by using the power of Google Search; Google knows what pages exist on your website and when you set up dynamic search ads, you tap into this power. Google will match a users search query to pages on your website, create, on the fly, an ad title for you and even take the person that clicks the ad to the page that speaks to that specific search by dynamically creating the destination URL.

There are no keywords with this type of campaign and dynamic search programs are really great for driving quality targeted traffic. Using this with ecommerce programs is a must.

One word of caution, make sure to keep an eye on your dynamic search ad categories and know your content. For example, you may want to create a negative category for your blog pages so you are not driving traffic to informational content. You may want to create a negative category for ecommerce pages that show a product out of stock. Just be a little savvy in set up, and dynamic search ads can be a great supplement for just about every AdWords advertiser.

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AdWords Conversions Move to the Mobile Space

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Smartphones are no longer a luxury but a necessity.

I manage a large number of AdWords accounts for clients in a wide and diverse sector of businesses. In the last two months I have seen very marked trend – that is the importance of mobile for lead conversions.

Of specific note is that for some clients, mobile has become their sole avenue for lead generation. For some, no longer do people take time to complete the contact form on their website, it is all click to call and with nearly all leads coming in via mobile activity.

Specifically, I see this activity on accounts that have a very strong location specificity; such as accounts for doctors, dentists, lawyers, and heating and air conditioning service providers. If the product you sell is relatively expensive, typically the desktop and tablet arena is still where most of your leads will come from, but for many mobile is REALLY ramping up.

What I’ve found is by installing website call tracking from AdWords on a website, we are getting a fuller view of how clients are using AdWords and how the client is getting lead conversions. I am finding that AdWords is driving a huge amount of call traffic for clients that we previously could not track. With this information, we are also finding out that a call versus an email conversion is now your consumers action preference.

I find that the way people use AdWords, perform research, and how leads are now generated has changed, and significantly so. Make sure that your website and your AdWords account is set up properly to take advantage of this strong emerging trend that is mobile driven. This is the future for AdWords not just a short term trend.

If you need a savvy AdWords account manager, who just also happens to be a Google Partner to help you ramp up your conversion activity, you’ll want to look over our service offerings today.

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Interesting Data on Mobile Usage and AdWords

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McCord Web Services is a Google Partner.

I attended a Google Partner hangout this last week with four marketing reps talking about how mobile has changed their marketing plans on AdWords. The comment that really has stuck with me over the last several days is that mobile is used for research before buying and is not necessarily the device that will drive a conversion. Very Interesting!

When I think about how I use my own smartphone, that comment is spot on. Many times I will be with others or sitting in a car chatting (not driving mind you) and I will quickly do a Google search to ask a question or find out more. Although more often than not, I am not looking at mobile ads while I am getting the information I want, I am using my smartphone to perform research that I may follow-up on later.

From an account manager and advertiser point of view, depending on the product or service that you are selling, the research aspect of mobile may be crucial to your overall marketing plan. With the much smaller screen of a smartphone limiting the number of AdWords ads that can show, you’ve got to be in the number one or two spots with your ad to get action.

Although mobile is not the right place for every single business, if the research phase that would be done on a smartphone is important to your business, keep in mind that actively testing your AdWords program in the mobile arena bidding up 10 to 25% of your desktop bid may be a very smart strategy. By testing this approach over a 60 day period (a shorter time period may not be long enough to really evaluate response), you may find that mobile drives conversions and sales on desktops and tablets and the mobile click can be attributed for the actual conversion. Or, you may find that more expensive clicks from smartphones simply padded Google’s wallet and did not drive conversions.

As Google is very bullish on advertising in the mobile space and many marketers are testing mobile AND the data shows that mobile activity is a very new and exciting landscape, it is time to try strategies in your AdWords account on mobile.