4 Tips to Dominate Google Ads and Generate Quality Leads

When it comes to displaying for specific searches, Google Ads is the greatest option. Unlike SEO, which takes time and demands a long-term strategy for appearing at the top of search results, Google Ads may be set above all organic results and turned on or off at any moment. However, if done incorrectly, running a Google Ads campaign can result in no return on all the money spent. Below are four tips that our ASTOUNDZ SEO & PPC experts compiled that help them craft successful Google Ads campaigns:

1 – Using The Best Types of Google Ad Campaigns

There are many campaign types you can choose from in Google Ads now.
• Search – Text ads on Google search results
• Display – Image ads on websites or Gmail
• Video – Video ads on YouTube
• Shopping – Product listings on Google
• App – Your app promotion on many channels
• Smart – Simplified, automated ads on Google and across the web
• Local – Drive customers to a physical location
• Discovery – Runs ads across Google’s feeds when they’re open

You may find out more about all of Google’s campaigns on its official support page. So what are the best kinds of campaigns that produce good leads and targeted traffic?

Typically, we’ll use Search campaigns for generating targeted traffic that can convert into leads, and Display campaigns for promoting brand recognition, getting broad traffic, and retargeting individuals who have previously visited your site.
Taking the extra effort to retarget paid traffic sponsored by search advertisements can help keep your brand/product top of mind for potential leads.

2 – Advanced Keyword Targeting

When running advertisements, most individuals will choose broad match (show up for the main keyword and all similar words and synonyms/related terms) as this is the default option. However, your targeted searches can be refined if you take the extra step of changing particular keywords or employing other keyword match types.
Phrase Match – You should use quotes around your keyword, “example,” when using keywords in anchor text. With phrase match, you can reach more searches than an exact match and fewer searches than a broad match, displaying your advertising only on those searches that include your product or service.

Exact Match – To make it easier to find, I’ll list the relevant information below. Use double square brackets around your keyword, [example], to exclude certain keywords from your campaign’s text. An exact match gives you the greatest control over who sees your ad, but it only reaches as many searches as phrase and broad match.
A campaign may always start with broadly bidding on keywords and then utilizing the Negative Keywords option to prevent ads from unrelated searches if it isn’t clear what your target audience is searching for. However, you may begin seeing the searches that matter and updating the campaign’s list of broad keywords to be more targeted using Phrase and Exact Match bidding after doing this for a few days/a whole weeks.

Note: In February 2021, Google Ads began using phrase match behaviors (PMM) of broad match modifier (BMM), and by July 2021, broad match modifier as a distinct matching behavior is no longer accessible.
Google is phasing out the old UI in favor of a modified one for a more consistent design across the entire site. This change relates to Google’s Smart campaign type, and you can learn more on Google’s official support page.

3 – Geo-Targeting Is Still Important

Google Ads location targeting lets you pinpoint where your advertisements will appear: countries, regions within a country, a radius around a certain place, or location categories, including places of interest, company locations, or specific demographics.
To allow advertisements to be seen more (or less) depending on where people are searching, Google Ads campaigns must contain and delete certain geographical areas. The key consideration isn’t where your company is but where your consumers are. For example, if you sell e-commerce through your business, aim at all the locations you deliver, not simply where the business is physically located.

4 – Cost & Performance Saving Settings

While some markets remain active late and overnight, the majority do not, and clicks received between 11 pm and 5 am harm campaign finances more than they help them (particularly during the 12 am to 5 am period). You can use this to your advantage by redesigning and updating your campaign only to activate advertisements when your audience is awake and online. In addition, by limiting usage of your daily spend budget to only during specific hours, you can significantly increase the amount you spend each day.

In addition to advertising schedules, you may also quickly improve the performance of a campaign by updating its age demographic targeting. For example, for many professional and B2B services, the under-25 demographic is far less relevant than the over-25 range. Therefore, ads will appear to more relevant people if you remove anyone under the age of 25, and the campaign’s budget will be used more intelligently as a result.

Taking both of these actions will allow a campaign to spend more money each day while also improving its ROI by placing ads to relevant people/audiences regularly.