Google AdWords is an easy and efficient way to target new customers and drive more traffic to your website. However, generating the highest possible return on your investment is not so easy.
Most online marketers know the importance of choosing specific keywords and the benefits behind structuring your ad groups by theme, but what are the more unusual ways of ensuring your AdWords campaigns are as effective as they can be? Mark gives some insight into some techniques for AdWords.
1. Use Dynamic Search Ads to capture additional traffic
Rather than relying solely on keyword-based campaigns, retailers should also shift their attention to Dynamic Search Ads as a way of capturing additional traffic to their website. This can be especially beneficial for businesses with content-rich websites and catalogue SKU (stock keeping unit) offers on all pages.
Prime examples include holiday review portal Holiday Check and Asian e-commerce leader Qoo10. By filling the gap in your keyword-based campaigns, Dynamic Search Ads target the content of your website and can result in a great return on investment. It can also offer a powerful way to target ads to several queries through an easy campaign-creation workflow.
2. Optimise bids per device
Website traffic can also come through from a number of devices, so make sure your AdWords campaigns are geared towards optimising the bids per device. With Google placing an increasing amount of importance on mobile devices and more searches now taking place on smartphones than on computers, neglecting such devices in your strategy will come at a heavy cost. It is more important than ever for retailers to optimise bids across multiple devices including desktop, smartphone and tablet.
Tip: Experience shows that CPCs on mobile devices tends to be slightly cheaper than on desktop.
3. Play with keyword match types
Keyword match types can help control which searches can trigger your ad. For example, you could use broad match to show your ad to a wide audience or you could use exact match to hone in on specific groups of customers. It may be worth experimenting with these match types to see which works best for you. So have a play around with them, i.e. don’t just concentrate on always having exact matches but instead, try modified broad match to capture incremental and relevant volume.
4. Use Google’s search partners as an additional source of traffic
Also, have in mind that Google can hold the key to your AdWords success, as with them comes the promise of increased traffic through their search partners. Search partners extend the reach of search ads to hundreds of websites not affiliated with Google, as well as to Google Maps, YouTube and other Google sites. On these search partners, your ads can appear on search results pages, on site directory pages or on other pages related to a user’s search.
5. Import analytics statistics into AdWords to obtain additional data
When it comes to analysing customer activity on your website, Google has two features which can help you: Google Analytics Goals and Transactions and AdWords conversion tracking. By importing Google Analytics Goals and Transactions into AdWords, the two can be used in conjunction to the benefit of retailers. Not only does it give you access to your Google Analytics conversions and any data related to your AdWords clicks, it also gives Conversion Optimizer access to data that helps to optimise bids and can increase your conversions and lower your costs.