El Camino, Malibu & Monte Carlo: A Google Adwords Audit

What does an El Camino, Chevy Malibu and Monte Carlo have in common? You guessed it! Google Adwords :) I had the opportunity to work with Leader Industry, a licensed GM Aftermarket and restoration parts distributor. They used Google Adwords to target car junkies looking to restore GM cars. Specifically the El Camino, The Malibu and the Monte Carlo. My purpose is to measure current Adwords performance and make recommendations for improvements.

Get your a Google Docs Version of the Professional Google Adwords Audit Template Here

Keyword Analysis:

A few metrics I look at to determine how effective your Keywords are is your Click-through rate (CTR). The CTR gives us insight into two very important factors;

1. Effectiveness of ad copy
2. Keyword relevance

I found that most of your ads are performing up to par with industry averages, which is between 1–2%. A majority of your keywords are using “broad match” keyword types. Broad match is the default match type that all of the keywords are assigned. Ads, may show on searches that include misspellings, synonyms, related searches and other relevant variations. Broad match is useful because it allows you to spend less time building keyword list, great for discovery of user intent and to help determine the most effective keywords to bid against. A major drawback of using broad match keywords is that it negatively affects your quality score, which causes your cost-per-click (CPC) to be more expensive and drives irrelevant traffic to your website. A good indication of the “right” traffic landing on your website is the bounce rate on your landing page. A good bounce rate is less than 40%.

I recommend using a “phrase match” and “broad modifier” keyword strategy in order to make sure that only people interested in buying specific car parts click on your ads. Also, laser focused landing pages with a clear and actionable call-to-action (CTA).

• El Camino — CTRs are strong for keywords in this ad group (1–2%), however conversion rates are low (approx 7%). *Note: This group could be set up more efficiently. If a keyword is not leading to conversions, then it should not be bid on.
• Malibu — CTRs are low for the keywords that are driving the most conversions. For example, keyword “Chevrolet Malibu parts” has a low CTR of 0.71%, and only 5 conversions. This is the result of using a large amount of broad match keyword types. By integrating modifiers and additional negative keywords, your ads will pull up for more relevant search queries leading to a cheaper cost per acquisition.
• Monte Carlo — CTRs are strong in this group (over 2%). This ad group has the most impressions, clicks, and conversions. Conversion rates are stronger for some keywords, but others relevant keywords (i.e. Chevrolet Monte Carlo 1987, Monte Carlo SS) has low conversion rates (under 5%). *Note: Are your keywords targeting the right online consumer?

Ad Copy

A large part of getting your CTR higher is having eye catching and relevant ad copy. As a company you are working against a negative perception of ads, but you have the benefit of showing up on top of the page. It is important to split test different variations of your ad copy and monitor for best results. Using techniques like Dynamic Keyword insertion gives you the opportunity to be relevant to users' search queries and improves CTR. It is important to take note of two metrics when looking at ad copy; conversion rate and CTR.

For example; the Malibu Ad group has a low CTR and conversion rate.

Your ads are all the same. By looking through your search terms inside Google Adwords I can get an idea of searchers intent and cater your ads to target these customers and meet their needs. I only have a brief moment to catch someone’s attention, it’s important that your ad copy solves their problem or provides some type of instant benefit.

Dynamic Keyword Insertion

Keyword insertion is an advanced feature that allows you to provide users with more relevant ad text while using a single generic ad for multiple keywords. Adwords will insert individual keywords into the same ad text so that a user sees a distinct ad for their keyword search, if their keyword triggers one of your ad group keywords. So, it works like this:

If someone searches 67 Malibu Car parts your Ad copy will look something like this.

H1: 67 Malibu Car Parts — Malibu Car Catalog

H2: Includes 68–77 Chevelle Parts

Path: dixirestorationdepot.com/malibu/car-parts

Desc: Experts to answer your questions. Fast Shipping. Tons of parts made in the USA!

This helps with relevancy. If a user sees the exact query that they searched through Google they are much more likely to select your ad.

Competitor Analysis:

I use Spyfu software to analyze competitor behavior within specific industries. This software gives us insights on the types of competitors you’re competing with, an estimation on how much they are spending on PPC and the type of ad copy they are using for their campaigns. Here are some of the competitors that are bidding on the same keywords for paid clicks.

The Elcaminostore.com and OPGI.com are your top competitor in the PPC ad space. They are bidding on a majority of the same keywords and offer the same services.

Elcaminostore.com most profitable keywords:

Ad Copy History OPGI.com

Notice the first ad for elcaminostore.com has extensions that allow searchers to fully understand their full product offering and click on a link if they are looking for a specific type of part, i.e. Electrical parts.

Note: Your competitors are performing much better in organic search because of their SEO relevance.

?OPGI

El Camino Store

Dixie Restoration

Landing Page Analysis:

The landing page you are currently using is very text heavy. The contact box that the visitor is prompted to fill out is located at the bottom of the page. It is best practice to put submission forms towards the top of the page (above the fold). The contact box is also very long. There are 13 boxes to fill out before a user can request a catalog. A long submission process could cause a drop off in conversions due to user frustration.

When it comes to landing pages, the simpler the better. It is best to be short and concise. It is best practice to use images and a few sentences of large text to communicate your value proposition and drive a visitor to take a meaningful action (request a catalog). Also creating custom landing pages for each of the car types that you service. This can easily be accomplished by using a Landing page software like Unbounce or Wishpond. The more specific the landing page, the more focus and relevance to online searches. Also, highly recommend split testing everything.

Creating custom landing pages for each distinct ad group has many benefits for AdWords campaigns

• Improved ad quality score, which improves the ranking of your ads in search engine results pages (SERPs) and lower the cost-per-click for your ads.
• Improved user experience — This involves showing the visitor exactly what they expect. When users click on an ad for Chevrolet Malibu parts they expect to find a page where they can shop for Chevrolet Malibu parts. By using custom landing pages for each model of car, visitors will be more likely to convert.
• Increased conversions — A Ill-designed, highly relevant, to-the-point landing page leads to more conversions to do to increase ad visibility and user experience.

On Page Behavior:

I commissioned a user test of your website. You can review the recording of the test here. Below are our takeaways from the test.

• The user found that the website was easy to read and functional, but thought that it may not be “as stylish as the modern market needs.”
• The user stated that the images of the cars should be high quality and larger for the average customer to see properly.
• User thought the banner was good and stood out.
• The drop down menus could be more aesthetically appealing.
• Overall, the website is “functional, but not very pretty,” looks dated for the younger demographic.

Benchmarks:

Auto Industry

• Average CTR — 2.14%
• Average CPC — $1.43
• Average Conversion Rate — 2.27%

Your Averages (YTD)

• Average CTR — 2.17%
• Average CPC — $0.46
• Average Conversion Rate — 7.93%

Recommendations:

• Custom landing pages for El Camino, Malibu, and Monte Carlo pages
• Cut down submission form
• Minimize copy on pages
• A/B test different copy/images/layouts
• Remove broad keywords that could be capturing irrelevant traffic
• Utilize phrase match and broad modifier keywords to only target people looking to buy parts
• Research user intent to understand how people search (language) for car parts
• Leverage Keyword insertion
• A/B test ad copy