Growing AdWords is like tending violets or a garden.
Managing an AdWords account is like gardening. Some people just know how to make things grow and bloom and others are clueless.
I consider AdWords accounts like gardens. To be successful and grow leads for a client, you’ve got to work the soil of an AdWords account. You’ve got to prune off the keyword and ad group branches that are sapping strength. You’ve got to water the account regularly with new keywords and new ad text to keep things fresh and growing. You’ve got to monitor growth and adjust your tactics to cause accounts to blossom with leads.
After having re-certified again last Saturday to maintain my Google Partner status and my AdWords Certified Professional status, I am the “master gardener” you’ll want to have on your side to be cultivating your AdWords lead generation garden.
Over the nine or so years that I have been managing Google AdWords accounts, I’ve seen new match types added to the AdWords program. Out of all the types I use I like broad match modifiers the best. But based on this recent article from Search Engine Watch, I may stop using all other match types in accounts as Google has blurred the lines between what the various match types now do.
I’ve never loved broad match keywords and now even more I am distancing myself from their use as when I look at the search queries that are trigged in accounts using broad match in AdWords I consider the queries weak and a waste of money for a client.
However, I feel differently about broad match modifiers. I like the control and ability to modify some words in my phrase and leave others alone. It is not uncommon in accounts I manage to see phrases like:
+Keyword Services +Location note that with this query phrase Google can broad match and show the ads on synonyms of services but that my selected Keyword AND Location must be in the search query phrase.
I still use all match types based on a clients needs but see myself distancing myself farther from exact match and broad match as time goes by just as this article mentioned.
McCord Web Services is a Google Partner and Nancy McCord is a Certified Professional.
This past month across a number of AdWords accounts I’ve started to see a drop in conversions as Google AdWords more strongly serves ads in the mobile space. With click costs, impressions and click through rates nearly the same as the past 30 days when there were healthy conversions, I had to dig deep to identify what was plaguing a number of client accounts.
I found that by serving more strongly in mobile, AdWords had forced my conversions lower. By adjusting the mobile bid using a formula that my Google Rep., Kelsey Bowers, shared with me this week, I am working to boost conversions back to the appropriate level.
Kelsey told me that Google has done extensive statistical testing to come up with this formula and I’d like to share it with you.
Here’s what I do. Go to the Campaign tab, then go to the setting tab, and then go to the device tab. Make sure that these columns in your view, if not click customize columns to add them – conversions, cost per conversion, and conversion rate.
By campaign use this formula to decide your mobile bid:
(Mobile conversion rate divided by Desktop conversion rate) -1 times 100 = mobile bid adjust up or down.
Make sure that before you finish, you look at your mobile versus desktop cost per conversion. If you are spending nearly the same budget or more in mobile versus desktop and have no conversions in either space do a 90% deduction in bid in mobile or wait to get more data to make a good decision on what is right for your needs.
I found that the ad serving changes that I saw this month reflected a big increase in ad serving in the mobile space and that I was paying too much for exposure at the expense of account conversion generation. With a few quick change our clients will be back on track in no time.
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.
