Google Adwords Tip 14

Tip #14 - Create Granular, Thematic Ad Groups

A few months ago I wrote a post on How Many Keywords to Have per Ad Group.  While doing the 30 AdWords Tips Series, we would be remiss to not reiterate the importance of having smalls lists of Keywords organized into themes, instead of having large lists of unrelated Keywords.

Tip #14 - Create Granular, Thematic Ad Groups

When you're building your AdWords Account, for best results, organize your Keywords into granular, thematic Ad Groups.  Let's dive into what that means for you, and how it can be applied to your AdWords Account.

• What is an Ad Group?-- An Ad Group is a component inside of an AdWords Campaign that contains a list of Keywords, Ads, and Bids.  

• How should I write my Ads?-- For best AdWords results, the Ads that you're serving should always relate to the Keywords you're bidding on.  

• Do I put all my Keywords into one Ad Group?-- No.  Your list of Keywords should contain Keywords that relate to each other, and to your Ads.  

• How many Keywords should I have in my Ad Group?-- While there isn't a set in stone rule that applies to every situation, I typically recommend having 5-15 Keywords per Ad Group.

• So how should Iorganize my list of Keywords? -- Your lists of Keywords should be organized into small groups of Keywords that are consistent with one theme, that relate to each other, and match to the Ads in the Ad Group.

At first glance, the list of Keywords above could all go in one Ad Group.  They're all related to men's golf equipment.  However, if we did put them into one Ad Group it would be hard to control what Ad Copy they matched to.  Every time a searchers was looking for "putter" Keywords, we'd want to show them an Ad talking about our putter selection.  Every time a searchers was looking for "shoe" Keywords, we'd want to show them an Ad that relates to our shoe inventory.

In AdWords, there is not a 1:1 relationship between the Keywords in an Ad Group and the Ads in the Ad Group (if multiple Ads).  Therefore, if we really want to make the Keyword and Ad experience more relevant to the searcher, we'd organize this large list of men's golf equipment Keywords, into smaller, more thematic Ad Groups that had Ads that were directly related to the Keywords.  For example:

Why do we want Granular Thematic Ad Groups?

There are a few great reasons for having your Keywords organized in Granular, Thematic Ad Groups -

1.  Organization:Whenstructuring your AdWords Account, good organization helps you "make changes quickly, ... and, ultimately, reach more of your advertising goals."

1.  Ad Copy Relevance: Having your Ad Groups organized by themes will ensure that your Ads will always relate to the Keywords you're bidding on.

1.  Quality Score- Having sets of Keywords and Ads that directly relate to each other will help your Quality Scores.

1. Performance- Having smaller lists of Keywords that relate to the Ads they're serving with, should lead to improved performance of your AdWords Campaigns.