5 Tips to get a good return on your Google Ads spend

Why is it so difficult for business owners to control their costs with Google ads? I have consulted with many owners of various companies and they always ask me the same thing "Devon is their any way to reduce my cost per click on Google ads". So I decided to write a blog article about it just to help as many people as possible who are struggling with the same exact thing. So continue reading if you would like a good solid understanding of Google ads bidding and some practical tips.

Tip #1: Use the manual CPC bidding strategy for your ads

When starting any Google ads campaign I suggest that you begin using the manual cpc (Manual Cost Per Click) bidding strategy. The reason is simple manual cpc allows you to set a maximum limit that you are willing to pay every time someone clicks on your ads. This means you can spend your budget in a cost effective way. So if the maximum your willing to pay is 30c per click simply set your manual CPC to 30c and you are good to go. Google might spend less than the 30c limit you set however it will never exceed that limit per click. Which means more cost effective conversions for you.

Tip#2: Understand the different keyword match types and when to use them

Keyword match types can dramatically increase or decrease your Google ads spend. Remember that when you are using broad-match keywords in your search ad campaign your ads will show up for terms that are completely unrelated to your product/service or niche.

For example the keywords WEB DESIGNER when used with a broad match type can appear in these search queries.

• Web Design vacancies
• Web Page Design
• Creative Web Sites
• Best Interior Design Websites

While some of these searches maybe relevant to your product/service there maybe be many that will send you clicks from people that are simply not interested. Review the searches your ads appear in often and apply the negative keywords accordingly.

Tip#3: Get conversion tracking

In order to accurately track how much you are spending to acquire a sale, you must first have a measurement system in place. Before running any major campaign it is extremely important that you have your conversion tracking setup for google ads and that you are tracking conversions accurately. Once your conversion tracking is enabled you can than accurately gauge if your ads are cost effective or not.

Tip#4 Stay away from the maximize conversions bidding setting

This is another common mistake, e-commerce business owners see the maximize conversions setting and think to themselves "This is just what I need". Only to then find their Google ads spend sky high without a single sale or getting sales but at unsustainable costs. The maximize conversion setting is an automated bidding strategy it uses previous conversion data to make decisions on how much to bid on future keywords or clicks. Hence the problem: most accounts and campaigns have very little conversion data and therefore the automated bidding system has no data to work with, so it overspends in almost every auction. Only utilize the maximize conversions settings if you have 6 weeks of solid conversion tracking. If not start with manual CPC.

Tip#5 Differentiate your ads

Always try and differentiate yourself from your competitors this could mean developing a unique selling point or adding call out extensions to your ad so you can occupy more screen real estate than your competition. Always make sure you focus on the needs of your prospective buyer and don't come up with a generic campaign that looks, sounds and feels exactly like your competitors. Otherwise you will always always have a low par performance.

This should be enough to get you on the path of a profitable ads campaign. If your interested in developing a unique Google ads strategy or help with your Google ads you can reach out to me on the details below.

Devon Thomas

Google Certified Digital Marketer

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpLtu7gZ7w1jjlS3KJXCWYw/

Website: https://www.neptunedesign.co.za/google-ads-consultation/