SKADAGs - One of the most powerful AdWords Strategies there is
Gordon Campbell
MD // Non Exec Director // Paid Media (PPC & Social Ads) Agency Owner
People involved in PPC will likely be aware of what SKAGs are, I have been using them for years with great success and it is one of the best ways to structure your ad groups.
For anyone not aware of SKAGs, it basically involves selecting a number of ‘seed’ keywords and creating ad groups for each of them. Normally 3 match types are used, modified broad match, phrase match and exact match. Broad match is often ignored because of the possibility of wasted spend.
For example, if your seed keyword is ‘PPC Glasgow’ your ad group would contain the following keywords:
- [PPC Glasgow]
- “PPC Glasgowâ€
- +PPC +Glasgow
Demographic Bid Adjustments
Almost 2 years ago Google introduced demographic bidding for search ads. This basically allowed you to increase bids based on age and gender. At the time, I was a bit sceptical about how useful this would be, because as a search engine marketer, I pay more attention to search intent and didn’t bother too much about the age or gender of a potential customer. After all, surely if someone is searching for a specific product or service we want to serve them an advert regardless of their demographics, right? Wrong!
The demographics of your visitor can have a massive impact on the likelihood that they will convert, even if the keywords targeted are so specific that the search intent is crystal clear.
Traditional marketers and brand strategists understand the importance of targeting the right demographic, but I think as search engine marketers we are guilty of forgetting this because Google allows us to target people who are looking for a specific product or service.
The proof is in the pudding
Not convinced? The below screenshot is from a real account, just look at the difference in conversion rate and cost per lead for the various age ranges.