From McCord Web Services – Google Partner and Web Visibility Experts
I watched this Google Hangout this past week and wanted to share it with you as you may really like some of the pre-made scripts (like the broken link checker that this video shows how to set up). You can watch it online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqQ19h7OwYs&feature=youtu.be
I am no programmer, but I will definitely be trying out some of the easy to configure out of the box scripts that run at the Account level and even MCC level.
Using a bid strategy in Google AdWords to automatically place bids to move your ads to the first page of ad results seems like a good suggestion, but be careful, in the accounts we have tested this bid strategy on, clicks have fallen to more than half when compared to auto-bid and no bid strategy settings.
In fact monitoring numerous client accounts, I have personally found that not only have clicks nearly dropped to half, but that clicks were sometimes as much as 30% more without an increase in lead conversions.
When you enact a bid strategy in Google AdWords, it is very important to closely monitor and be ready to roll back if you don’t get the results you were expecting.
For one client we did see a strong increase in lead conversions in the first 15 days of use, but by the end of a 30 period we saw a 50% drop in clicks and no substantial increase in conversions. Rolling back the account to remove first page bid strategy and using auto-bidding with a bid cap to boost clicks to appear on the typical average first page bid has provided much better results for the clients we manage.
It is always important to test new features in AdWords, but not to take a set it and forget it strategy. If you need a proactive, smart, and knowledgeable Google AdWords account manager, I invite you to find out more about the services my firm offers for Google AdWords account set up, optimization, and routine management.
You don’t need a junior person managing your Google AdWords account or for that matter your secretary or high school or college intern. You need a skilled professional to manage your AdWords account with the high degree of complexity and myriad of settings, hidden bid adjustments, and hidden areas for settings AdWords has a difficulty level of 95 out of 100!
Case in point, I just reviewed a potential customer’s AdWords account. The owner thought that maybe it had been hacked as he had normally been spending $3,000 a month for clicks and all the sudden got a bill for $12,000 from Google AdWords.
I took a look and could see that the person managing his account was not skilled to react to problems and changes as they occurred. Although with the previous settings, possibly all had been fine, but in July and August when many businesses we work with struggled for lead conversions, and new advertisers moved into the auction in large numbers driving up prices, this account got totally nailed as the manager had not put a bid cap in settings for Google’s auto bidding. As a result, there were clicks that had been delivered at a shocking amount of over $250 per click – and not just one.
A savvy account manager should be on your AdWords account much more than once a month. For many of our clients, we work their accounts three times a week or more depending on what is happening in the marketplace and their ad spend.
Don’t let your AdWords account run without an experienced manager, to do so is letting Google take all the money out of your wallet with no recourse to recoup click costs. You can’t whine to Google to give you back money when your account manager did not know what they were doing and rung up a bill for you.
My comment to this client was, “Are you sitting down? You will have to pay Google the $12,000 you owe, your account was not hacked, just not managed well.”
Find out what our customers say about their experience with us as their Google AdWords account manager and then contact us to chat about what we can do for you.
Google continues to push advertiser activity into the mobile arena citing that online searches on mobile devices have eclipsed searches done on desktops; but is advertising activity in mobile right for your business?
Of note is the new test that Google has been doing with mobile ads shrinking the ad space landscape to allow them to show more ads on smaller screens. Check out images.
Of particular interest to me is also the boost of app placement in Display ads when shown on mobile devices. Many placements when you look, are simply not a good match for most businesses and to me appear for a way for Google to really bleed you of your cash. Case in point, one industrial client showing in the display network spends more money than I feel he should in the mobile app arena with no way for me to totally block activity there. When I move out of the smartphone space for him, Google simply delivers more clicks on tablets to counteract my strategic changes. I have excluded literally thousands of mobile app sites in his account and Google continues to show his industrial ads on new mobile apps.
Google reps are suggesting that due to mobile trends, accounts should plus up, by 20%, the cost per click to get a better position on mobile screen. What I have seen for the majority (but not all), of my clients is that this strategy simply rings up a bigger bill. When you monitor cost per conversion for mobile, you should not bid up when the conversion numbers do not bode well for your return on investment. A limited two week test may be in order to just do a double check with careful monitoring.
My recommendation is for each account to set and monitor how effective mobile is for your needs and make strategic unique decisions based on your findings. Make sure you evaluate a 30 day and then 6 month period every now and then to give yourself a reality check as to if mobile activity is necessary for your business.
I have personally found that businesses with strong location specificity like stores, dentists, doctors, and pest control firms would do well to be active in the mobile space, but nationwide providers will need to be cautious, as would those selling higher end products, as more evaluation before a purchase will typically be done by desktop or tablet. Bidding up for position on mobile for these types of businesses may simply bleed out cash that would be better spent elsewhere.