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3 Google Ad errors & how to avoid them

Fay Roe

Google Ads is a seriously powerful way to fuel clicks to your website, generate leads and, if your content is up to scratch, make sales. It allows businesses of any size to advertise to a highly targeted audience. However, Google Ads needs to be finely-tuned to deliver the results – too many businesses spend too much money for underwhelming results.

If you have been less than satisfied with your Google Ads campaign, you may have fallen foul to one (or all) of these 3 common Google Ads errors people inadvertently make.

Google Ads error 1 – People ignore important account settings

Google tries to help you as much as possible to make your digital marketing a success, but how do you assess whether you are getting good bang for your buck or know where you are getting profitable results from?

Measuring the ROI is simple if you have set up conversion goals on Google Analytics to keep track of your campaign.
The tracking template tracks the source of the Google Ads click – the device, network and keyword that prompted the click.

These settings are crucial to accurately monitor your Google Ads campaign. Ignore these settings at your peril!

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Google Ads error 2 – Using too many keywords

How to attract irrelevant traffic: use too many keywords in an Ad group. The temptation is to squeeze as much value from the ad by flooding it with as many keywords as possible to make it visible to a wider audience. This is a false economy; all it does is dilute the success of your efforts.

Use single keyword ad groups (SKAG) – ignore Google’s prompt to add 10-20 keywords. If you have more than one keyword, create separate ad groups for each.
Create variants for each SKAG and monitor which are more successful.

Admittedly, SKAGs take more time to set up than a keyword stuffed ad, but the result is you have a much-improved click-through rate from quality consumers, and typically, the Google Ads pricing is lower per click.

Google Ads error 3 – Wrong keyword match type

Have you ever made a search and been given listings that only have a tenuous link to your original search? The problem lies where the wrong keyword match type has been selected.

Broad match: when a searcher uses any of the keywords in their query. Let’s use the example of women’s shoes – your ad may appear in searches for men’s hats or women’s socks.
Broad match modifier: more restrictive in who sees your ad, but you add further detail. +women’s shoes – if someone searches for women’s boots or shoes for women, your ad will be seen.
Phrase match: this means the keyword phrase must match the searcher’s query, although there can be words before or after. For example, comfortable women’s shoes for hiking, but not comfortable women’s hiking shoes.
Exact match: as it says on the tin – only searchers who input the exact phrase will see the ad.

The success of your Google Ads campaign lies in how prepared you are to monitor and react to the data you collate. There are so many tweaks, settings and ways to use Google Ads it’s easy to waste time and revenue trying to find ‘the’ golden nugget.

Digital Presence is a digital marketing agency which specialises in Google Ads NZ. We use the latest algorithm technology to make sure your digital marketing budget is worked hard. Don’t worry though, we ditch the jargon and translate the metrics into real-speak. Your campaign is monitored 24/7 and optimised to deliver cost efficient and effective Google Ads – no more paying for irrelevant clicks, just genuine, targeted prospects.

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