As a brand advertising itself over any platform, your primary objective would be to increase click-through rates to gain visibility and potential customers, leading to better ROIs. Now, obviously, this sequence can go the other way too, since all the factors are directly proportional to each other. This is the point where the advertising copy strategy comes into play.

While creating an advertising copy strategy, ensure it has the potential of not only wooing the audience but also keeping them actively interested and literally blowing their minds!

Types of Advertising Strategies

1. Human Interest Ad Copy

It focuses on using human emotions and feelings to sell a business. It defines the product's features to entice people into buying it for themselves or their family and friends. The primary types of human interest ad copies include humor, fear, predicament, and story copy.

2. Educational Ad Copy

The educational ad copy is more of a product's introduction to the customer. It enlists the features of the product to the potential customer to warmly welcome them to their business.

3. Reason Why? Ad Copy

These ad copies aim at a person's intellect, providing them with reasons and facts why buying the advertised product is better than other competing brands. It appeals by providing references, testimonials, and guarantees to the customer.

4. Institutional Ad Copy

Also known as prestige or corporate advertising, institutional ad copy does not aim to sell a product but promote the manufacturer or the brand as a reliable company that a customer can fully trust. It aims to get the viewer to the outlets to check out the brand as a whole instead of a particular product.

5. Suggestive Ad Copy

This copy indirectly suggests that viewers purchase products from the advertised brand. It conveys the message when the consumer is confused about their decision.

6. Expository Ad Copy

As the name suggests, expository ad copy exposes the characters of the brand's product or service, presenting the viewer with all the benefits, uses, and applications they would derive from it.

How to Write Good Ad Copy?

The ad copy should be effective, practical, and impactful. It is not just about the text written in it but also includes the imagery and other enticing tools used to draw the viewer's attention.

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Here are some powerful advertising copy strategies to compel potential customers into buying your service -

1. Analyze Your Competition

To understand the working of your business market, you should learn from your likely competitors. Use spying tools to know how your competition's brand works and what improves their CTR. You will learn from the mistakes they make and solve them by watching your competitors, and you can improve upon those missed chances to gain more customers. It will also give you the idea of which keywords are most searched for your PPC competitors to add to your heading.

Make your ads more persuasive and appealing so that it compels the viewers to click through your ads. It is important to remember that while you're watching what works for your competition, you should not entirely copy them, as this will reduce your chances of coming through for Google. Also, you can use the designs that work best and are fool-proof in attracting customers, but do not rely exclusively on them as viewers get bored of similar designs, and worse, they can even block your ad.

Tools to Spy on Your Competition -

Tool #1 - Semrush: If there's any tool specially made for SEO strategies, it is Semrush. Although there are several features that Semrush provides its user, the most common is for searching for best-used and analyzing competitors keywords.

Tool #2 - SpyFu: You can search Google Ads for your competitor that makes the most profits using the SpyFu tool. It helps rank the most used keywords for your PPC competitor, which you can then add to your banner.

Tool #3 - AdPlexity: Keep track of all the Google Ads that make your competitor more profitable than you. You can view different sources like mobile and desktop and separately search your competitor's strong points using the AdPlexity tool.

2. Use Site Link Extensions on Google

Site links or Ad link extensions on Google are the additional links you can provide in your main advertisement. For ease of understanding, you can think of them as mini ads. These help the business showcase its other products that might attract the viewer more without taking away the focus from the main ad. These can be found under your primary ad.

Site link extensions have been around in Google Ads for a long time, but very few ad creators use them. They might take a little effort but are an excellent and easy way to shoot up CTRs for any brand.

To create site link extensions for your business, follow the steps below -

Step #1 - Go to your Google Ads account and click on the Ads & Extensions option in the left menu. Select Site Link Extensions.

Step #2 - On the left top side of the page, you have the options to insert- create an extension on the account, campaign, and ad group level in the add to menu.

Step #3 - Add site link texts. Texts include the heading and the optional description for your ad link extensions.

If you handle large, complex campaigns, you can use Google Ads Editor. It smoothens your work and makes creating new site link extensions a cakewalk.

Use-Cases for Effective Site Link Extensions for Your Advertising Copy Strategy -

A. To View Product and Service Categories -

The ad example below has extensions for all the products the owner sells at their store.

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B. To Display Promotional Offers -

Ad link extensions are a great way to promote your offers and limited-time sales. This extension also creates an urgent need that is hard to resist by the customers.

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C. To Provide Information -

The given image clearly states products and information that the viewer might require to buy those items.

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D. To Show Features and Build Trust -

Here the ad provides the potential customer links to pages on why and how they can buy the product advertised. It gives the viewer a reason for comparison and appeals to them, which builds trust, and helps convert them.

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E. Promoting Popular Products and Services -

In the given ad example, Nike promotes its already popular products so the viewer can directly head to the link of those highlighted products, increasing your CTR.

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Additional Information About Site Link Extensions -

• You can add a maximum of 35 characters for the heading and 25 characters for the description.
• You can add a minimum of two site links in your Google ads for them to show up.
• You can add different final URLs to each site link. Google will only show one URL once; hence adding the same URL to multiple ad link extensions will not help you.
• You can set the time for each site link to be visible. This option works best for business-time exclusive services like customer support or walk-in meetings.
• You can further add time duration for every site link using the schedule menu, after which Google will permanently remove them. You can use this option when promoting a limited-time offer.
• You can specify mobile-friendly optimization for every site link so Google will show that link on top.

3. Create Expanded Text Ads

The new feature of Google to expand text ads allows you to describe your proposition in detail and gives you more clickable space on the ad.

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Features of Expanded Text Ads -

A. Three Headlines: You can add three headings to your ad compared to the two headings available in older ad formats. You may not be able to entice the customer with your first heading, but this feature gives you two additional chances to attract the customer.

‍B. Two Descriptions: Now, you can add two descriptions instead of one with a maximum limit of 90 words each.‍

C. Mobile-Friendly: The updated format of expanded text ads is already optimized to work on mobiles and across all other devices. You can add your mobile-friendly links to the extensions without worrying about them not appearing in mobile searches.‍

D. Clean Final URL: The final URL shown to the viewer by Google will be clean without the paths you add to the ad.

For example, if your linked URL is -

https://www.dashclicks.com/fulfillment/

Then the provided URL will be -

https://www.dashclicks.com

E. Add Two Separate Paths to the Final URL: You can further add two paths to the final URL that lead the customer to two different pages on your website.

For example, in the link below, there are two separate paths -

https://www.dashclicks.com/fulfillment/google-ads/

4. Choose Your Bid Adjustments

Google Ads has presented an excellent option for adjusting schedules for your advertisements. Bid adjustments enable you to choose when, where, how often, and what device your ad should appear on.

The Working of Bid Adjustments -

Bid adjustments are settled in percentages. With every increase in a bid, a positive value is added to your total amount per ad. Similarly, with every reduction in the bid, a negative value is added to your final bid, reducing it.

For example, if you have an ad with a cost per click (CPC) bid of 1 USD, you can adjust the bid in two ways -

A. Increase the Bidding -

To increase the bid, you can increase the percentage of bidding. For instance, adding 10% will give you a total final bid of 1.10 USD.

B. Decreasing the Bidding -

Use decrease the bid and select your percentage. For instance, reducing 10% will make your total bid 0.90 USD.

Types of Bid Adjustments -

• Device
• Location
• Ad schedule
• Interactions
• Demographics
• Top content (advanced)
• Targeting methods (advanced)
• Remarketing lists for search ads (advanced)

Bidding Adjustments-

A. Automated Bidding

Automated smart bidding adjustment tools and strategies can be used to target CPA, ROAS, conversions, etc. However, you cannot make manual adjustments in automated bidding. But you can change the values of your targets but not the bidding themselves.

B. Multiple Bidding

When you add more than one bid for an ad, they all get multiplied to give a total bid amount. The maximum bid amount is 900%, and the lowest is -90%. You can adjust multiple bidding for devices, locations, and display networks.

5. Let Your Prospects Act

An excellent ad copy strategy is to involve your viewers in your campaigns. Invite them to your website to check out more of your products and services. This will improve your CTRs and ROIs and possibly convert the viewers into your customers. Add call-to-actions and forms for your prospects to use to visit your brand. CTAs give them the power to choose whether they want to see your advertised brand or not. A higher position also intrigues your customers more towards your brand.

The CTAs should be clear and direct. To entice your viewers into your offers, include words like call now, join today, etc.

6. Mention Your Promo Clearly

The viewer scrolling through their feed page will probably not realize that they left an advertisement that might be useful to them if your ad copy doesn't have attractive elements. Following are some points you should remember when creating the ad copy-

• Keep it simple and clearly speak your intent,
• Do not clutter the banner with too many elements. Instead, add a few features that will make an impact,
• Make the ad copy as creative and relevant as possible,
• Keep your customer's wants in mind while designing the campaign,
• Add a direct and powerful CTA for your viewer to take action

7. Add Keywords to Your Headings

Using successful keywords will match your ads to the customer's intent when searching for a similar service or product on Google.

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While creating a good keyword list, take the following considerations -

A. Create a List of Your Products

To begin, you will have to enlist all the products and services you sell to a customer to get a better idea of your options.

For example, if you have a socks business, your categories will include - sports socks, casual socks, men's socks, kid's socks, and women's socks as a general service.

B. Think Like a Customer

Consider how your potential customer would search for similar products with the basic categories in mind. You can add those keywords to your headings to match your viewer's search.

For example, your potential customer will search men's sports socks.

C. Include Specific Keywords

To target the prospective customers who search for particular features about products, you will have to add the exact keywords to your headings. These ads will only show up when they match those precise searches. This method will reduce your reach but might increase the potential of getting a customer.

For example, you can use men's black casual socksā  to reach only the viewer who wishes to buy brown shoes for men.

D. Add General Keywords

To reach a wider audience, you should create some ads with generic keywords. Including generic keywords will increase your chances of Google showing your ad for more searches, providing you with broad-spectrum visibility. General keywords are the most searched terms on search engines when a service or product similar to yours is being looked for.

For example, the general keyword for a shoe business would be men's socks.

E. Group Similar Keywords

Grouping similar keywords into the Google ad group can help you better promote your products to the targeted audience. You can group the keywords based on your products, services, and other categories defining your business.

8. Create Multiple Ads

Don't choose to create only one or two ads. Instead, for a successful campaign, make at least four to five ad copies. Using the probability methods, even if your three ads don't improve your CTRs, two still will bring in as much traffic as they can. Google updates itself to show those ads more popular with the crowd, giving you more chances to increase your CTRs. Make sure that every ad has a different look, so it doesn't bore the viewer, or they might even block your ads in the worst-case scenario. Design every ad copy to perform its best on every platform that it is launched on.

Further, conduct A/B testing for conversion rate optimization (CRO). A/B testing is done by presenting two variants and checking which one works better and is more effective on the given population.

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Elements to Check During A/B Testing for an Ad Copy -

• Headlines
• Primary Ad Text
• CTA
• Images
• Promo
• Style of Content Writing
• Length of the Ad Copy

Tools for A/B Testing for an Ad Copy: Multiple tools are available for testing multiple copies for effectiveness. AdEspresso by Hootsuite is one such tool that allows you to simultaneously compare the copies and give you results based on your manual factors.

9. Add Numbers to the Text Cleverly

Numbers are attractive. Good numbers, more so! Psychologically, humans tend to connect the numbers they read to the amount they will be spending if they purchase your item. To attract more clicks, cleverly use these numbers in your texts to entice your viewers.

Use percentages to show the discount on reduced prices. Moreover, instead of saying only for $70ā , go for $30 off the MRPā  for more engagement.

10. Arouse Emotions

A good ad arouses emotions and engages those emotions to urge the viewer to take action. The sellers are human, and the consumers are human too. Use the pain points to make the viewer feel that your product can really help them.

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11. Add Facts and Visuals

A great way to indulge the interests of your prospective customers is by showing them facts about your product. You can add reviews, feedback, and testimonials from your clients to increase the trust level of customers in your brand. To attract viewers, you can also incorporate images and videos that make the viewer curious to see your ad and click through to get more. Otherwise, they may just scroll through your ad without even noticing that it exists.

12. Add a Time Limit

Urgency is yet another manner to control the actions of your prospects. Your ad may reach the consumers, but they may never click on it. To make them click your ad, use the human need to complete something before the last chance. We are designed to be attracted to things that may not last long, especially when it comes to saving money. And sales are the best way to earn while making your consumer feel like they saved money.

Use terms in your headings and banners like - Now!, Today!, Ending soon, Your last chance to grab this offer!ā

Copy Testing Methods

Pretesting is usually involved in the process of creating an ad copy. These tests use research-based quantitative methods. Analysts test a group of people for the expected reactions by showing the advertisements to know the success of the ad copy.

The benefit of copy testing before launching the advertisement is to learn about the weak points and strong points of the copy and check how it affects the viewer based on focused demographics.

The Main Copy Testing Methods Are -

• Consumer Jury
• Rating Scales
• Portfolio Tests
• Psychological Tests
• Physiological Tests
• Sales Test
• Day-after Recall Tests

Tools for Ad Copy Testing

• Qualtrics: With over 11k brands using Qualtrics, you can be sure they know what they do. They feature the testing of ads for their impact on the online population and on-demand demos.

• AdHawk: You can create 27 different variations of your extended text ads for Google on AdHawk and test their efficiency to maximize your ROI in three simple steps.

• MECLABS Method: The conversion sequence brewed by the MECLABS Institute brings sustainable success to the marketing department of any business. It is based on studies done for several years using real products and services. The formula is as follows -

C = 4 m + 3 v + 2 (i - f) - 2 a

Here, C = probability of conversion

m =Ā  visitor motivation,

v = force of value proposition,

I = incentive offsetting friction that cannot be eliminated,

f = presence of friction,

a = anxiety in the process

FAQs -

1. What Are Ad Copies in Advertisements?

An ad copy is the umbrella term used to describe the content used in an advertisement. It includes the use of text and visual tools to grab the attention of the viewers.

2. What Are Ad Copy Strategies?

Ad copy strategies are proven methods of getting new traffic to your business through advertisements posted on various platforms like Facebook, Twitter, etc. The improved visibility, in turn, increases your CTR and ROIs.

3. What Should Be the Prime Focus of an Ad Copy?

The advertisement should involve the pain points and the solutions to those pain points for the customers. Keep the goal of the ad copy in mind, so you don't mix up different aims together, confusing the potential customer.

4. What Are the Key Points to Remember While Creating Ads?

Create an ad that entices the viewer into wanting to know more about your brand. Keep your selling point clear to the viewers and attract them with incomparable promotions.

5. What Are the Three Best Strategies to Focus On to Double Ctr and Increase ROI?

The three best and most important strategies to focus on to improve CTR and ROIs are keeping the content aligned with your goal, using imagery to make a better impact, and adding CTAs to include the viewers and turn them into your customers.

Conclusion

Ad copies are critical to increasing your CTRs and ROI. Using the strategies detailed above, you can get more traffic to your website and double your CTRs. The most important part of the ad copy strategies is testing them in real-time, improving on what doesn't work, and trying again. Just focus on what your customers want from your brand and work on it to make a successful campaign.

Google Ads is a powerful platform as 73% of the paid search market share belongs to Google. And there are obvious reasons for that. According to Emarketer, 35% of users purchase a product within five days of searching for it on Google.

That's the reason every business wants to leverage Google Ads for their products and services. It's full of metrics and data points, which can sometimes baffle agencies.

What Are Google Ads Metrics?

Google Ads metrics cover everything, ranging from impressions to conversions and everything that comes in between. Google uses hundreds of metrics and dimensions that can be overwhelming for marketers.

The most popular metrics for improving ROI and optimizing the campaign are CPAs, CPCs, and Quality Score. Each metric has a specific purpose.

Different metrics are used for various purposes. Sometimes, you need the metrics to persuade your agency and the client to increase their Google ad budget. These metrics are "Impression Share" and "Budget Limits."

What Is Impression Share?

According to Google, Impression Share (IS) is the percentage of impressions your ads receive against the total number of impressions your ads could likely get.

Here are the three categories of the most critical Google Ads metrics:

1. Metrics that Measure Ad and Campaign Quality
2. Metrics that Measure Engagement & Conversion Rates
3. Metrics that Measure Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) & Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Google Campaign & Ad Quality Metrics

It's a tricky metric as Google keeps the algorithms that measure ad quality at the back-end under wraps. Measuring ad quality and keyword relevance is crucial as it influences your ad position and helps you determine the ad spend needed to achieve your sales goals.

Google tracks the following three factors to determine the ad quality:

1. Click-through rates
2. Landing page experience
3. Ad relevance to the keyword

The higher your score on these factors, the better your quality score.

What makes this metric even more important is the fact that it impacts your cost-per-click (CPC). It also indicates the keyword relevance. Your ad quality score should be higher if you need a high ad position and a lower CPC.

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The Reasons for a Lower CTR

A low CTR can be a red flag for many reasons. Here are two significant reasons for that.

A. Lack of Keyword Relevance

A low CTR indicates that your chosen keywords aren't relevant to the searcher's intent. So, the ad doesn't offer what the users are looking for.

B. Poor Google Ad Copy

A lower CTR also reflects that ad copy may not be compelling enough to attract visitors' attention. In that case, you should use an engaging ad copy. You should consider the user behavior, psychographics, and pain points to create a compelling ad copy.

Reason for a High Bounce Rate

Another valuable metric you should monitor is the landing page bounce rate, which indicates that the fault lies in your landing page content and not in your ad copy or keywords chosen.

A high bounce rate means the visitors are not finding what they are looking for on the landing page. The possible issues can be with page design, copy, and CTAs.

How Do You Measure Campaign or Ad Quality?

As an agency, you should track these 13 most important Google Ads metrics daily to make your ad campaigns more effective.

1. Impressions

Impression reflects the number of times your ad appears in front of your audience.

2. Clicks by Campaign

It's almost the same as Total Clicks but split by each campaign, allowing you to check your performance on priority ad campaigns.

3. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

The revenue you generate for every dollar that you spend on Google Ads on behalf of your client.

4. Total Clicks

The number of clicks your client's ads attracts during your campaigns.

5. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

It's usually measured as the percentage of visitors who clicked on an ad out of the total number of visitors.

6. Cost per Click (CPC)

The cost you pay for each time a user clicks on your client's ad.

7. Cost

The total sum you spend on behalf of your clients for Google paid campaigns.

8. Conversions

The number of website visitors who completed the campaign's desired action on your client's website after they landed up on it after clicking on an ad.

9. Bounce Rate

The ratio of sessions (usually a percentage) leaving the landing page without taking any desired action.

10. Conversion Rate

It indicates the percentage of website visitors who completed a desired action on the landing page after clicking on it.

11. Average Cost-Per-Conversion (CPA)

A business's average cost for each conversion through paid ads.

12. Quality Score

It reflects Google's quality rating of the ad, keyword, and landing page, which helps users optimize their ad for the best performance. It involves cost per click and position in the paid results on SERPs.

13. Average Session Duration

Used both in organic and paid search, average session duration tells you how much time visitors spend on your landing page/website.

How to Access Google Ad Metrics?

You can access most Google Ads metrics in one central location at the DashClicks white label dashboard. Sign up for the DashClicks platform for free and try our analytics platform.

Google Ads Metrics for Google Ads Executives

To get an overview of your campaign and see where the campaign is heading, you can track the following metrics.

1. Total spend
2. Revenue
3. ROAS (Return On Advertising Spend)
4. Clicks
5. Conversions

However, marketing managers can use the following metrics to evaluate their campaign performance and make necessary tweaks to it.

1. CTR
2. CPC
3. Conversion rate
4. CPA
5. Quality score
6. Changes in keyword positions

How to Create a Monthly Report for Your Google Ads Campaign?

You can use DashClicks' InstaReports tool and get a monthly report. It will contain graphic illustrations, necessary metrics, and valuable data. It's full of insights and data, and you can use it for decision-making.

Here is what the InstaReports tool looks like -

Source:Ā  What is InstaReports and How Do They Work? 3:16

Source: What is InstaReports and How Do They Work? 4:16

For more details, watch this video.

Final Words

Google Ads comes with a vast array of metrics, and it's neither desirable nor feasible to track them all. You can pick the most relevant ones to follow your campaign's performance.

With the help of the above metrics and the DashClicks' Analytics tool, your agency can get the necessary insights. These insights will help you tweak and improve your bids, keywords, ads, and campaigns. The stunning automated reports generated by our reporting tool will help your clients understand the campaign and how long it will take to achieve their goals.

Google Ads is a primary weapon in every marketer's arsenal.

However, your search campaign will do little more than burn your budget if you don't know how to optimize Google Ads.

Google knows this, and that's why they provide the tools you need to test, observe, and adjust on the fly. You just need to understand better the options and metrics provided.

Below, we're going to dive straight into our foolproof optimization process.

Google Ads Optimization Checklist:

1. Keyword Planning
2. Using Keyword Planner
3. Keyword Search Intent
4. Spying on the Competitor
5. Knowing Your Ad Options
6. SKAGs vs STAGs
7. Uploaded Image Ads
8. Responsive Display Ads
9. Ad Extensions
10. Testing & Observation
11. A/B Test
12. Demographics
13. Geographics
14. Time of Day
15. Negative Keywords
16. Lost Impressions
17. Remarketing & Adjustments
18. RLSAs
19. Adjusting Keywords
20. Manual Bid Adjustments

What is Google Ads Optimization?

Google Ads optimization is the process of monitoring and adjusting campaign performance to maximize your ROI.

Optimizing an ad or ad set can be as simple as testing and adjusting ad copy, images, or headlines. But, it may also require more careful metric observation to aid you in changing your targeting, bidding, and ad type.

Furthermore, ad optimization is dynamic. For the best results, you will constantly be testing, observing, and adjusting to get the best results. Additionally, the tune-ups you implement for one campaign will not necessarily be a successful recipe for another campaign with different objectives.

When Should I Start Optimizing My Google Ads?

We get it. You're hungry and want to see results as soon as possible.

This is especially crucial when you have an aggressive client that expects new leads quickly in exchange for their monetary investment.

It will be your job to set expectations appropriately.

Brand-new Google Ads campaigns typically begin with a learning phase. This is assuming that:

• The Google Ads account is new
• The campaign is brand-new and is not using existing or lookalike audiences

During this process, Google Ads will actively collect data from every user that sees or interacts with your campaign. You want to allow your campaign to retrieve a healthy sample size as these details will be what guides your optimization process.

This process length is wildly variable and will largely depend upon your campaign's foundation. Factors such as campaign objective, keyword selection, and initial audience selection will all play a role.

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If you're particularly fortunate, you can start acting on the learning process in 1-2 weeks. In other cases, you may need to observe for up to a month.

It's important to allow this process to play out uninterrupted. Making premature changes will effectively reset the learning process and send you back to square one.

If your client is confused or frustrated by this initial period, be sure to lay out the benefits. The more effectively you understand your ideal audience early on, the more efficiently you will be able to spend their ad budget when it's time to move.

After the discovery period is over, optimization should become routine. At the bare minimum, you'll want to revisit your settings once per month.

However, doing so more frequently allows you to keep a closer eye on positive or negative trends. The sooner you lay eyes on actionable data, the better you're able to pivot your bids to the right areas and maximize your investment.

But, how exactly do you do that?

Let's dive into the best Google Ads optimization strategies that set you up for success.

The Google Ads Optimization Checklist

1. Keyword Planning

How do users discover anything online? Keywords.

We utilize keyword planning in almost everything marketing from SEO to paid ads. These help us connect our ads with the users most likely to engage and convert.

If you select the right keywords, you're going to boost your returns. Selecting the wrong keywords and finding the wrong audience is going to result in wasted ad spending.

The reason for this is that Google Ads prompts you to set budgets and bid on your targeted keywords. This is unlike your typical SEO content, which allows you to boost your ranking through content quality alone. Meanwhile, focusing copy on the wrong keywords in your ads not only is a wasted effort but burns up funds you can't get back.

Google provides us with a tool to assist in this process.

A. Using Google Keyword Planner

You can gain access to the Keyword Planner if you have a Google Ads account here.

If you have yet to begin your campaign, it will walk you through the initial process of setting it up. It will prompt you to answer questions about your business and your goals for that particular set of ads.

You'll then be greeted with two options:

• Discover New Keywords
• Get Search Volume & Forecasts

The first will walk you through the process of keyword discovery step-by-step. It's going to ask you for more details about your business such as the products and services you sell.

You can also plan by entering your keywords or by entering your domain. Note that the latter is only available if you currently utilize AdWords for that website.

Regardless of the option you choose, the Keyword Planner will generate a list of viable keywords relevant to your brand. It will also reveal important details such as expected bid costs.

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Our most important tip - be very precise with the keywords you enter into the planner. While Google can generate many different options, not all will be relevant to your campaign goals. The more precise you are when it comes to your objectives, the better you'll be able to research alternatives that can help your campaign.

The second forecast option allows you to enter a list of keywords you already have on hand. It will then pull up a forecast of metrics such as:

• Estimated clicks
• Estimated impressions
• Estimated cost
• Estimated clickthrough rate
• Estimated average cost-per-click

You can dive even deeper and check out historical data such as average monthly searches and competition difficulty. All of these factors play a pivotal role in helping you select the most optimal keywords, not unlike what you would do for SEO.

Also, know that you need not be limited by Keyword Planner. If your company already utilizes tools like SEMRush or Moz, feel free to research and cross-reference results as needed. This phase serves as the bedrock of your campaign, so more preparation is always welcome.

B. Match Your Keywords to Search Intent

A major, and often overlooked, factor in keyword planning is analyzing search intent.

Any time an internet user enters a keyword into a search bar, they reveal the type of content they wish to see. More importantly, they tell us what they intend to do with the content they find.

To better explain this, let's look at the four types of keywords.

a. Informational

The user is looking for information about a subject or an answer to a question. Their goal is to find a reputable source to educate them. Buying a product or service may be the furthest thing from their mind.

Examples of informational searches could be the following:

“Is beer bad for you?”

“Number of calories in bread”

b. Commercial

Commercial keywords express an interest in particular products or services, most frequently regarding specific brands. While they are not yet at the cusp of making a purchase, they've moved from general inquiries to performing targeted research.

Examples of commercial keyword searches might look like this:

“Netflix vs Amazon Prime”

“Netflix customer reviews”

c. Transactional

We are now at the bottom of the funnel and left with users that are ready to buy. Transactional keywords help users find the best product for their needs. They can then readily buy it at will from the provider.

They will often contain modifiers such as “best”, “cheapest”, or “affordable.” It might even be more direct and feature terms like “buy.”

Examples of transactional keywords are as follows:

“Buy Google Ads services”

“Best marketing company zipcode”

d. Navigational

Navigational keywords simply guide users directly to a brand. The user knows where they want to go and are looking for the shortest route.

In other words, a navigational keyword might look like this:

“DashClicks”

“Nike”

Keyword intention matters as it helps you choose the most effective keywords for your campaign objectives.

If your express goal is to sell a particular product that's on sale, you're going to opt for more transactional terms. This helps you discover leads with high purchase intent instead of wasting your budget on uninterested persons.

On the other hand, informational or commercial terms may help campaigns that are built for audience discovery and lead generation. You would then use the data from that campaign to build a more effective sales funnel down the line.

B. Spying on the Competitor

The final step in keyword planning is researching competitor activities.

Your direct competitors are brands that are actively bidding on similar keywords as yours for their Google Ads campaigns.

By using the Google Keyword Planner described above, you can readily spy on your competitor's historical keyword data. You can insightful metrics such as:

• The keywords they use
• The domains they are being used on
• The average monthly budget
• Coverage percentage

This means that not only can you track competition difficulty, but you can see exactly how competitors use these keywords in their ads. By observing their strategies, you can plan your campaigns to incorporate elements that work and modify those which you can do better.

It may also present new keyword opportunities that were overlooked in your initial planning. Likewise, be sure to avoid attractive terms that will end up costing you more than what you can afford.

2. Knowing Your Ad Options

Now that you have the correct keywords to guide your creatives, it's time to explore how you can present them.

Google provides several different ad campaign options to provide you with flexibility. However, each ad type has its positives and negatives that can hurt or harm depending on how effectively you utilize them.

Let's dive into what those types are and their ideal use cases.

A. SKAGs vs STAGs

When it comes to your campaign ad groups, there are two popular options:

SKAG - Single Keyword Ad Group

STAG - Single Theme Ad Group

SKAGs allows you to create an ad group that focuses entirely on one keyword. You can then create different ad groups for each keyword you want to target.

The major benefit of this is that a SKAG has a singular focus. This allows for precise targeting and easier measuring since you are only focusing on one keyword.

If you were to utilize Google's suggested keywords, you may end up with 5, 10, or even 20 related keywords. This can help with discovery, but it can often lead to lower-quality leads. However, this can be mitigated by proactively managing your negative keywords.

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The potential downside of using SKAGs lies in choosing the wrong keywords. Because you only have one avenue to target audiences, you rely entirely on that keyword. Additionally, limiting your targeting option to one can increase the length of your discovery period when your audience size is too small.

STAGs, meanwhile, focus on a target keyword and related terms to expand your reach. Google will intelligently select terms that fall within the theme of your ad group to reach different types of prospects.

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Both have their merits and you can find a plethora of resources arguing for one versus the other. The reality is that both are viable and can lead to amazing results when monitored effectively.

We would recommend beginning with SKAGs to simplify your efforts at the start. They will generally keep your costs low and keep the quality of those leads high. If you need to expand your reach and are willing to experiment, STAGs can create new avenues that lead to even more audience data for future campaigns.

B. Uploaded Image Ads

For the next two ad types, we are dealing with Google's Display Network.

Websites around the internet have the option of opting into the display network. When they do, Google is allowed to generate ads on the site based on visitor data. In exchange, the website owner generates ad revenue to fund the website.

Meanwhile, marketers can choose to opt-in to the Display Network to boost their campaign reach. You can then have your ads appear on websites and apps across any device. It still utilizes your optimized targeting data to maximize your returns.

One way to leverage the Display Network is to use uploaded image ads. This guarantees full creative control over which ads show up on the web. You choose the image, write the copy, and get the final say on the result.

The downside is that you will need to spend the overhead to publish these additional creatives. This leads us to your alternative option.

C. Responsive Display Ads

Responsive ads are becoming more prevalent than ever. However, results can still vary wildly depending on the client and the campaign goals.

Google allows you to upload your images, headlines, videos, or descriptions into your account. The AI assistant will then automatically generate new ads using those assets to display on websites, YouTube, and Gmail.

This allows you to present different types of ads within the same campaign without needing to create and upload them yourself. You can save time and potentially expand your reach as Google's AI learns and refines its ad generation.

Responsive ads can be an amazing tool for optimizing your Google Ads campaign when it works. However, be sure to consistently monitor performance and be ready to pivot if they aren't cutting it for your client.

D. Ad Extensions

Finally, Google provides ad extensions that can further boost campaign results depending on your objectives. There are a variety of extension types that can be installed manually or automatically.

Your Google Ads account should generate relevant extensions if the AI predicts that they can improve your performance. They can assist with the following types of objectives:

• Helping users find your physical location
• Encouraging users to call your business number or tracking number
• Getting users to click on specific domain pages
• Display predefined structured snippets
• Showcase products and pricing
• Getting users to download your app
• Getting users to fill out a form

Be sure to install any extensions that are relevant to your goals. They are free to use and you can find specific instructions for each here.

3. Testing & Observation

The next, and perhaps most critical, step in optimizing your Google Ads is through testing.

When we plan our keywords effectively, we enable our discovery stage to give us ideal results. With this newfound audience data, we can begin testing and exploring new creatives to engage with our most interested users.

From here on out, your Google Ads efforts for this brand will be a consistent pattern of testing and adjusting. The more audience data you accumulate over time, the more refined this process becomes.

Let's start with what may be the most important testing tool for your Google Ads optimization efforts.

A. A/B Testing for Google Ads

A/B testing is the process of creating two versions of the same creative which will display at random to your audience.

These two versions will focus on the same keywords and objectives, but feature key alterations in areas such as headlines, offer presentation, or some other page element.

By allowing Google to randomly select a version to display, we can generate a usable audience sample. This sample group then tells us which version of the creative is ideal for generating more conversions.

The benefits of A/B testing are compounding as they continuously guide you to smarter creative choices. As you allow users to tell you exactly what type of content they want to see, you can then use that data to effectively create the perfect ad for that audience.

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Furthermore, Google can automatically begin to redirect your target audience to the high-performing version once it completes the learning process. You can then eliminate the lower-performing creative from contention.

B. Demographics

Your ad testing will provide you with usable demographic data that reveals details about your average audience member.

To access this data, navigate to the Audiences tab within your Google Ads account. You can then view demographic data by level: Campaign, Ad Group, or Account.

You can then segment your audience by age, gender, income, and even parental status. When you select a certain demographic, you're able to track engagement and conversion rates for that group.

Essentially, you want to optimize your campaign efforts to focus on the highest-performing demographics. This involves going back to your ad creatives and developing new messaging that better speak to that group's needs and desires.

If you have multiple demographics worth pursuing, you can and should create unique ad groups for each. Your messaging to middle-class parents should be different than your sales pitch to a single adult or a teenager. Determining the best way to pitch your brand to the individual is the best way to maximize your conversions.

C. Geographics

Choosing who to advertise can help maximize your budget, but so can choosing where.

Similar to what you did with demographic segmentation, you can use your Google Ads menu to find Locations. Here, you can choose a range of geographic targeting options ranging from whole countries to specific cities.

For example, if you initially try to market to multiple southern states, but only gain traction in Florida and Georgia, you can restrict your targeting to those areas. This helps you to maximize your ROI in those areas while your team revisits how to market to underperforming ones.

D. Time of Day

The time in which you choose to display your ads can be another critical factor in amassing conversions.

If you find that your campaign is underperforming, it may not necessarily be that you're targeting the wrong audience. Rather, that audience may not be seeing your ads as they are displaying at inopportune times.

Your Google Ads account allows you to set up a custom ad schedule for this very reason. You can select specific days and times for your ads to run throughout the week.

If you find that an overwhelming percentage of your conversions happen on weekday evenings, consider scheduling your ads to fit those periods.

Another factor to consider is when your strong competitors run their advertisements. If you're confident that you can outpace a rival, you may choose to go head-to-head for the same display times to drown out their messaging while maximizing yours.

Conversely, if costs become unreasonable for certain periods, try to schedule your ads to avoid appearing during those days and times for a better ROI.

E. Negative Keywords

While primary keywords help you target the right customers, negative keywords help Google Ads understand what to avoid.

This is especially relevant when allowing your Google Ads account to dynamically utilize thematic keyword variants to reach new users. Some of these keywords may lead to low or unqualified users that are taking up unnecessary ad spending.

You can determine what terms you want to add to your negative keywords by keeping an eye on user behavior. Specifically, you can look at what keywords a user typed that led them to discover your ad. If you see a trend of unqualified impressions based on unrelated terms, you will then have a better idea of negative keywords to add.

As an example, let's say that a brand focuses on selling shirts. However, they do not carry t-shirts, specifically.

If a user looking for a t-shirt enters “shirt” into Google, there’s a good chance they will find that brand. This is because Google recognizes that t-shirt is a type of shirt and can often be used interchangeably.

For the brand, however, this leads to an unwanted click that burns ad spending. They want to avoid these types of broad associations so that they don't match up with users looking for something they do not sell.

You can use negative keywords to avoid these engagements. Specifically, you can use them to avoid broad category matches, related phrases, or exact matches.

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F. Lost Impressions

Finally, your Google Ads account allows you to review impression share data. This shows the percentage of time your ads appear in comparison to other ads vying for the same audience.

You can add impression share data to your campaign by going to Campaigns > Ad Groups > Keywords. Then, click on Modify Columns > Competitive Metrics > Impression Share.

You can then review the following lost impression data:

• Search Lost IS (budget) – when your ads do not show in search due to insufficient budget.
• Display Lost IS (budget) – when your ads do not show in the Display Network due to insufficient budget.
• Search Lost IS (rank) – when your ads do not show in search due to poor Ad rank.
• Display Lost IS (rank) – when your ads do not show in the Display Network due to poor Ad rank.

Lost impressions due to budget occur due to spending all of the budget before the scheduled ad period comes to an end. This is likely due to overspending on high-cost keywords, which results in losing out on potential ad time.

Lost impressions due to rank signify that your ad quality is lower than the average competitor. If you manage to improve your headlines, messaging, or other creative properties, you can salvage more impressions with the same daily budget.

Monitoring these metrics for Google ads campaign is important and your next actions depend entirely upon the campaign performance to date.

If the campaign is continuously netting you quality results, and you have an additional budget, consider raising the daily budget to capitalize on those lost impressions. On the flip side, an underperforming campaign may not be able to compete at the current cost. You’ll need to pivot your resources and direct your PPC efforts to other areas.

Lost impressions due to rank are unfortunate, but salvageable if you act quickly. As explained above, utilize testing methods to help improve overall ad quality. When your creatives are up to snuff, you’ll reclaim that valuable display time for your client.

4. Remarketing & Adjustments

Our final Google Ads optimization checklist tips focus on making the most out of your existing audiences.

While many of us still refer to the traditional sales funnel as a guidepost, the buyer’s journey is seldom so straightforward. Users that see or click on your ad are constantly bombarded with other information that can distract or redirect.

That doesn’t mean that the lead is uninterested or unwilling to sign up for your offer. Some highly-qualified users require that extra push.

A. RLSAs

RLSA stands for Remarketing Lists for Search Ads.

Remarketing refers to serving ads or other marketing material to users with previous behaviors that expressed interest in your brand.

Creating a sizeable remarketing list gives you a large enough audience segment worthy of creating unique ads and landing pages. Just as you would with demographic segmentation, remarketing to existing customers should feature a unique approach that acknowledges their previous engagement.

Furthermore, users on your remarketing list are already qualified versus the unknowns you’re aiming to attract at the onset. You’ve essentially hit the target, and now it’s a matter of putting together the right sales pitch to get the conversion.

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You can automatically create an RLSA by adding a remarketing tag to your landing page. This way, every user that clicks on your ad will automatically be added to the list. Be aware that Google requires you to have at least 1,000 unique users on the list before you can utilize it in ad creation.

B. Adjusting Keywords

When nothing in your Google Ads campaign seems to be getting results, it might be time to get back to basics.

No matter how well you plan out your keywords and offer, your potential audience will always have the final sale. That’s why it’s vital to never get too personally attached to your creatives as your PPC journey is one of constant adjustment.

The difference is that you now have a wealth of audience metrics available in your Google Ads account to work with. Use your audience data when researching alternative keyword options to see which best describes your average user’s needs and problems.

Also, be sure to revisit how competitors have changed their keyword selection and campaigns over time.

When all else fails, fall back to the rules described at the very beginning of this checklist. Use a keyword planner to research the most cost-effective keywords, be sure to match your offer to search intent, and find weak points in your competitor’s strategy to capitalize on.

C. Manual Bid Adjustments

Finally, bid adjustments allow you to explore the grey areas as opposed to ruling out segments as a win or loss.

At any point, you can manually override your Google Ads bidding based on keywords, demographics, display times, geographic region, and more. Just be wary of where you place these adjustments as even a few small overlapping changes can result in unwanted expenses that eat away at your budget.

When used effectively, manual bid adjustments can help you with your unique goals. You can direct traffic to specific devices or specific demographics for maximum results.

Keep This Google Ads Optimization Checklist Handy

Google Ads is one of the most powerful tools available whether you rely on search or the Display Network.

However, it can simultaneously eat away at your advertising budget in no time if you mistarget or misspend your funds.

Give yourself a foundation for success by taking advantage of the countless tools available for free within your Google Ads account. Take all the time that is necessary to research keywords, learn from your competitor’s best strategies, and craft the perfect offer.

Then, experiment with the different ad options that are natively available. Make sure to take advantage of any recommended extensions to help you with your ad campaign’s specific conversion goals. You can stack as many of these as necessary for optimal results.

Then, it’s time to test, test, test. A marketer’s work is never done, and consistently getting the best results requires monitoring and optimization. Rule nothing out and always be willing to change copy, headlines, images, or targeting parameters. You can utilize the audience data gathered by Google’s AI for better content creation.

Finally, never forget to take advantage of your existing audience. Getting to know a previous visitor and curating a landing page that speaks to their pain points can be the tipping point for many consumers. Once you convert a customer, it’s exponentially more cost-effective to resell to them than to acquire a new one.

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