Creating a Google Ads campaign is easy. You’ve done some keyword research, written compelling ad copy, and typed in your credit card details. Now, all you have to do is sit back and wait for your phone to start ringing, right? Wrong.
We’ve seen countless clients invest in and run successful Google Ads campaigns. Sometimes, Google Ads becomes their core channel. They’re driving clicks and conversions, reviewing their results, and finetuning their PPC strategy to maximize their budget. They’re dominating the competition and closing sale after sale. But that’s not always the case.
We’ve also seen clients spend thousands of advertising dollars on campaigns that don’t perform. Why? Because a successful Google Ads campaign requires an investment—in your time, money, and energy. You need to understand the basics of Google Ads if you want to hit the ground running.
After all, creating a Google Ads campaign is easy. Creating a high-performing Google Ads campaign is the tricky part.
When you create your campaign, you choose between a search or display campaign. But this doesn’t actually determine where Google Ads places your ads. In reality, when you create a new Google Ads campaign on the Search Network, Google Ads also places your ads on the Display Network.
But that means my ads are reaching more people, you’re thinking. And you’re not wrong. But when you consider that the average conversion rate for Display Network ads is much lower than Search Network ads, you risk wasting valuable ad spend on Display Network ads without any paying customers to show for it. According to Instapage, the average conversion rate across all industries is 4.40 percent for search campaigns, while the average CVR for display campaigns is only 0.57 percent.
How to avoid it: Pay attention when you’re setting up Google Ads campaigns. You want to stretch your advertising budget as far as it can go, so choose your network carefully. As a general rule of thumb, it’s best to match the type of campaign with the type of network. You should also be running different campaigns for Search Ads and Display Ads.
If you’re targeting relevant keywords with a high bid, your Search Ads are going to show up in relevant searches, right? Not necessarily. Your ads aren’t always going to get in front of the right people, especially if you’re not running and testing different ad types.
Simply put, the match type determines whether a broader audience will see your ad or whether your ad will only be shown to a select few. Your choice of match type tells Google how closely you want to match your Search Ads with specific keywords.
We’ve seen clients stick with Google’s default match types without looking closely at keyword performance—and it’s usually the downfall of their ad campaign.
Choosing the right keywords is a delicate tightrope walk, especially if you’re new to the world of Google Ads. If you match keywords too loosely, your ads are going to show up for unrelated searches. Meanwhile, if you match your keywords too closely, your ad might not actually match any searches. You want to strike the perfect balance so you’re reaching the right people when they’re searching for electrical services. We recommend running ads in the different match types (typically in phrase match and exact match) and determining which target keywords do better in each.
How to avoid it: After creating your initial list of keywords, you need to consider your audience’s search intent. Take some time to think about your target audience and what phrases they’re using to search. If you wanted to find your business, what would you type (or say) into Google? You’ll also need to know the differences between different keyword match types. Here’s a quick rundown:
Even if you’re choosing the best keyword match type every single time, your ads might still show up for irrelevant searches. Why? Because you’re not taking advantage of negative keywords.
When it comes to stretching your ad spend, negative keywords will be your best friend. If your ads are showing up for irrelevant searches, and those searches are driving clicks, you’re wasting precious marketing dollars on clicks that will never convert.
When you add negative keywords to your campaigns, you’ll reduce wasted ad spend. You’ll also improve your click-through rate and start better targeting your ads. Sounds like a win-win, right?
How to avoid it: Use negative keywords to exclude search terms. Google supports three kinds of negative keywords, so review our quick guide to keyword match types before choosing any negative keywords. After all, using the wrong negative keyword match type might just prevent your Search Ads from appearing in the searches you’re trying to target.
But I’m already using negative keywords and I’m still showing up for irrelevant search terms, you’re thinking. Chances are, you’re just not using the right match type. It’s time to review your search queries and figure out which match type works best. Take a deep dive into your search term report to analyze your campaign performance and finetune your match type.
Maybe you’re choosing the right keyword match type and targeting the right audiences—but you’re still not seeing the results you want. One of the reasons? You’re not using ad extensions to your full advantage (or maybe you’re not using them at all).
With ad extensions, you can use sitelinks, as well as call and location extensions, to craft winning Google Ads that blow away the competition. Ad extensions are a powerful tool to get you more space on the search results page. They add valuable data to your copy, make it easy for mobile users to call your company directly, and send users to different pages of your website. Regardless of your advertising goals, it really doesn’t make sense to leave ad extensions out of your Google Ads campaign.
How to avoid it: Visit your Ad Extensions tab after logging into your Google Ads account. Scroll through the different options and decide what kind of information you want to add to your Search Ads.
Ad extensions are like the rich snippets you add to your organic listings. You’re giving customers more reasons to click on your ads—and that can make all the difference when it comes to clicks and conversions. Google recommends adding at least four ad extension types to your Search Ads.
The right ad extensions will go a long way in boosting your click rate, but you’ll need high-converting landing pages to back up your efforts. Once users click onto your website, you want to give them exactly what they’re looking for.
Maybe you’re trying to generate new leads or boost website traffic. Google Ads will recommend a smart bidding strategy to help you work toward those goals. Sure, it might be tempting to just go with Google’s suggestion. You’ve already put in hours of hard work, and a bidding strategy might seem like the least of your worries.
But you need a bidding strategy you can rely on. And if you’re not experimenting with different strategies—or you’re not using data to optimize your strategy—you’re putting your advertising efforts to waste.
How to avoid it: We recommend removing the default bidding strategy from the start of your campaign and instead running manual CPC. This way, you can collect data before turning on one of Google’s bid strategies, and your strategy can work off of historical data.
And while we’re talking about bidding, don’t bid for position 1 just because you want position 1, especially if you’re not considering your cost per lead or return on ad spend. Bidding lower will help you maximize the number of clicks for your budget, the number of conversions, and the cost per conversion. If you’re setting a high price per click compared to your competitors, you’re only driving the cost of advertising up.
When you’re running a business—even in the offline world—you have to track conversions and evaluate your profit margins. Without the right data, you’ll have a hard time improving your revenue beyond short-term profit.
If you’ve been using Google Ads for a few years, you’re probably already familiar with conversion tags. Measuring conversions used to be so simple—you placed a Google Ads conversion tag on your conversion page, and that was it.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple anymore. Today, advertisers use conversion tags on all kinds of pages. Instead of just measuring conversions with Google Ads, they’re importing conversions from CRM tools like Salesforce, using call tracking, and importing conversion events from Google Analytics.
These added insights into the conversion journey are invaluable, but they also create more room for error. With so much data, it’s harder to realize when conversions are double-counted, or if old conversions are contaminating your data. And when mismatched data interferes with bidding algorithms and CPA calculations, it’s going to impact your bottom line.
How to avoid it: Conversions aren’t static, so you’ll need to update them regularly. Check the Conversions area in Google Ads regularly (quarterly—at the very least), and ask yourself the following questions:
Over time, your electrical company will grow and evolve, and so will your conversions. If a conversion isn’t relevant anymore, you can remove it. This way, you’re only tracking the conversions that really matter.
Congratulations! You’ve created winning, click-worthy Google Ads. Now, you just have to sit back and wait for them to convert, right? Not exactly. Driving website traffic is one thing, but getting prospects to actually convert is another process entirely.
You need to drive traffic to the right landing page, show prospects what they’re looking for, and top off your strategy with a compelling call to action. Many electricians use their electrical company’s Home page as the landing page for every single one of their Display Ads and Search Ads, but this can be one of the worst destinations for traffic.
Think about it: Your Home page introduces your company to potential customers. It’s designed to appeal to people with different needs of an electrician—whether that’s light installation, emergency electrical repair, or general wiring. It’s an effective landing page for a general search, like your company name, but you’re targeting potential leads who are searching for specific electrical services.
Your Google Ads strategy is about more than grouping your keywords the right way, writing the best ad copy, and optimizing your bids. Even if you’re doing everything right, you need to pay attention to your landing pages.
Your prospects are busy working and taking care of their families, and they don’t have the time to scroll through your Home page to find what they’re looking for. A lazy landing page strategy can drive interested leads straight to the competition—and send your precious advertising dollars down the drain.
How to avoid it: When you target specific keywords, you need to consider search intent to choose the right landing page. For example, people might click on your ad to learn more about your power metering services or contact your business. You should always tailor your landing pages to the ad, making it easy and convenient for prospects to find what they’re looking for.
If you have the time (or the budget to hire an experienced marketing team), try creating designated landing pages for every set of keywords that cater to the same user intent. Research shows that companies with 30 or more landing pages get seven times more leads than those with fewer than 10. In turn, you’ll send prospects to personalized landing pages based on their search query.
We often see clients focusing solely on expanded text ads and forgetting about responsive search ads—and if this is you, take note: Google is retiring expanded text ads (ETAs) as of June 30, 2022. You’ll still be able to run your existing ads, but you won’t be able to edit them or create new ads. Many home services businesses have been slow to utilize responsive search ads, but as the summer approaches, consider working with a knowledgeable paid search specialist to discuss your plan for the coming shift away from ETAs and gain tips for writing responsive search ad headlines and descriptions.
Whether you’re a Google Ads newbie or you’ve been creating Search Ads for your electrical company for years, everyone makes a few mistakes along the way. Even if you’ve checked all the boxes on our list, there’s still time to test, try, and try again.
If you’re struggling to choose the right keywords, pin down the right audience segments, or master your bidding strategy, we’re here to help. Improving your campaign, driving down advertising costs, and squeezing clicks and profit out of your Google Ads campaign is what we do best. Get in touch to start driving clicks and conversions with powerful PPC ads.
