the best practice guide to adwords audits

Protect your budget

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to deadline!

The Best-Practice Guide to AdWords AuditsPart One: Account Structure and Set-up

keyword

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keyword

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INTRODUCTION

Thank you for downloading The Best-Practice Guide to AdWords Audits – Part One. Over the course of this eBook series, we’ll show you how to audit every area of your AdWords account – from set-up and structure, to optimisation and reporting.

And, most importantly, we’ll show you how to conduct an audit that’s in line with established industry best practice.

The advice in this book is based on our EXPERT Adwords Audit – a proven auditing service that follows Google’s own guidelines and the recommendations of trusted paid search experts.

Following best practice is crucial, because it ensures the best possible results for your AdWords campaigns – after all, Google provides these guidelines because it wants to make things as easy as possible for you.

A quick note: AdWords is always changing! The information in this book is accurate as of the date of publication – June 2015.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECTIn this first eBook, we cover one of the most important aspects of a successful AdWords campaign – account structure and campaign set-up.

You’ll find lots of expert advice to help you ensure your ad groups are organised, your keywords are covered, and your settings are sound.

The information in this book will be useful for anyone who wants to ‘go back to basics’ with their AdWords account – looking at account structure and set-up is the first step we take in our EXPERT AdWords Audits. Even for the biggest, longest-established accounts we review.

What’s more, it’ll be just as useful for those who are just starting out with AdWords, and need a helping hand to guide them to success.

WHO IS THIS GUIDE FOR?This guide is tailored for eCommerce and marketing managers/directors, who:

• Are getting started with AdWords.

• Have inherited an AdWords account, and need to carry out some serious housekeeping

• Need to put a process in place for regular AdWords audits

• Want to ensure their team is performing to high standards

• Want to check their agency is following best practice

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WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO AUDIT YOUR ADWORDS ACCOUNTThere are many, many reasons why it’s a good idea to regularly audit your AdWords account.

But we can boil it down to two:

• You can always do better• Things change

You can always do better, because there’s no such thing as a ‘perfect’ AdWords account. There are always ways to increase ROI, or improve key metrics, or make things more efficient – but there’s never a point when you can sit back and say “well, that’s done”.

Regularly auditing your account means always striving for perfection, while accepting that you’ll never reach it.

Things change. Your customers’ tastes and habits change. Your competitors’ tactics change. Google changes its guidelines and releases new features. Technology develops and advances.

You’ll only stay competitive and relevant if you audit your AdWords account on a regular basis.

That’s not all. You might also:

• Feel like things are going staleDo you handle your AdWords management in-house, and you feel like you’ve reached the limits of your team’s knowledge and capabilities? Do you feel like your agency

is resting on its laurels, and could be doing more to get great results for your business?

• Think: “What am I missing?”Do you feel like there are things your agency isn’t telling you? Do you feel like your team isn’t keeping up with the latest developments in AdWords and paid search?

• Think: “How do I know if I’m doing it right?”

Are you worried that gaps in your knowledge might be preventing you from achieving the best results? This is important, because if you don’t get these fundamentals right, more advanced tactics like remarketing and display will feel even more difficult.

WHEN SHOULD I RUN MY AUDIT?The frequency at which you should audit your AdWords account will vary depending on the size and complexity of your account, as well as your team’s experience and workload.



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The best advice we can give is to run it as frequently as you possibly can. At the very least, you should conduct a wide-scale account audit and restructure on an annual basis. And you should do a ‘sanity check’ of your account at least every three months, where you look for missed opportunities for expansion, and curb any bad habits your team might have fallen into.

A good time to run an audit is in a quiet time of year. This ensures your account is as tightly optimised as possible, maximising the revenue generated during busier times.



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TABLE OF CONTENTS

This book is split into three sections, here’s a quick overview:

PAGE 10: BEST-PRACTICE ACCOUNT STRUCTUREAccount, Campaign and Ad Group Structure · Keywords · Match Types · Brand Coverage

PAGE 25: CREATIVELanding Pages · Deep Linking · Quality Score · Ad Creative · Dynamic Keyword Insertion · Ad Extensions · Sitelinks Extensions · Call Extensions · Callout Extensions · Review Extensions · Location Extensions · Seller Ratings · Social Extensions

PAGE 56: CAMPAIGN SETTINGSSearch and Display Targeting · Location and Language Settings · Ad Scheduling · Search Partners · Mobile Bid Modifiers



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HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE

THE BASICSHere, you’ll find a ‘back-to-basics’ explanation of the subject at hand.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTThe reasons why you should consider this subject as part of your audit, including examples and explanations to help you understand how considerations apply to your own account.

ASK YOURSELFKey questions that will help guide your auditing process.

BEST-PRACTICE TIPSExtra nuggets of advice to help you get the most from your audit.

SHORTCUTSThere’s almost always a better, faster way to do something. We share some of our favourite time-saving shortcuts here.

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THE FULL ‘TOOLKIT’ YOU’LL NEED TO USE THIS GUIDE.

GOOGLE ADWORDSThe online version of Google’s AdWords interface, which can be found at: http://www.google.com/adwords/

This is your main tool for setting up and optimising AdWords campaigns. Anything you need to do, you can do here!

GOOGLE ADWORDS EDITORAdWords Editor is the offline version of the AdWords interface. You can download this for free here: http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwordseditor/

AdWords Editor lets you keep working even when you’re not connected to the Internet. When you’re ready to commit to changes, simply upload the amendments into AdWords using the program.

This tool is particularly useful for managing large accounts, or making bulk changes to an account.

GOOGLE KEYWORD PLANNERKeyword Planner will be your main keyword research tool. You can also use it to help structure ad groups and carry out cost forecasting. Use Keyword Planner online here: https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

ADWORDS HELP CENTERIf in doubt, ask Google! The AdWords Help Center provides in-depth and easy-to-follow support for all areas of AdWords. You can find it here: https://support.google.com/adwords/


http://www.google.com/adwords/

http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwordseditor/

http://www.google.com/intl/en/adwordseditor/

https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

https://support.google.com/adwords/


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BIDCOPSBidCops is our free PPC reporting tool for Google AdWords. It is designed to make your life easier, as it pulls all your Google AdWords data into one single, easy-to- follow document.

It connects to your Google AdWords account and at a click of a button, BidCops gathers key reporting data from Google AdWords, and collates it into 12 separate reports which are easy to use, but full of in-depth information.

BidCops identifies any potential areas of budget wastage, and helps to identify any hidden pitfalls in your AdWords account.

You can sign up to BidCops securely here: https://bidcops.com/members/signup

“BidCops identifies any potential areas of budget wastage, and helps to identify any hidden pitfalls in your AdWords account.”


https://bidcops.com/members/signup


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CLICKTHROUGH’S EXPERT ADWORDS AUDIT

DEEP DATA INSIGHTS, DRIVEN BY EXPERTSThe knowledge in this eBook comes from years of paid search experience. And we’ve condensed this experience into our own proven, industry-leading PPC auditing service – the EXPERT Adwords Audit.

ClickThrough has carried out thousands of Expert Adwords Audits, helping some of the biggest brands in the UK, across Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific get more ROI from their PPC campaigns.

Here’s what some of them had to say about us:

ClickThrough set themselves apart from other agencies through the superb quality of their deliverables and their willingness to work in whichever way the client needs.”Alexander Bartholomew, Dunelm

ClickThrough managed our PPC campaign so it remains effective and profitable. Halfords Autocentres has become a real online success story.”Martin Barber, Halfords Autocentres

The team at ClickThrough Marketing are extremely professional, friendly and are always happy to help. […] They always go the extra mile to help us and make our campaigns as successful as possible.”Joanne O’Keefe, Comic Relief

Our approach is simple. We don’t do ‘gut feelings’ or ‘hunches’. We deep-dive into your AdWords account data, and apply our expert knowledge of the paid search landscape to deliver best-practice recommendations based on hard evidence.

At the same time, we recognise that analysing this data takes time and effort. You won’t see us using cheap ‘timesavers’ to do all the hard work. It’s our team’s expertise that truly makes us stand out from the competition.

Expert Adwords Audit Want to improve your PPC performance and make your budget go further? Call one of our experts now on 0800 088 7486.

Alternatively, visit: http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/


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BEST-PRACTICE ACCOUNT

STRUCTURE



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1. ACCOUNT, CAMPAIGN AND AD GROUP STRUCTURE

THE BASICSAccount structure refers to the hierarchy of campaigns, ad groups and keywords that make up your account.

Here’s a simplified version of a typical account structure:

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTThe structure of your account affects how simply and successfully you can optimise activity, control your budget, and report on results.

In short, a broken-down, easy-to-follow structure can make your life easier and make your paid search activities more likely to succeed.

CAMPAIGN

ADGROUP

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

ADGROUP

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

CAMPAIGN

ADGROUP

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

ADGROUP

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

KEY WORD

ACCOUNT



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ASK YOURSELF:

• Do I have sufficient control over budget?For example, are there any high-spending and top performing keywords that are sapping the budget away from long-tail keywords with lower CPCs?

If this is the case, you could choose to structure your account so that this high-spending keyword is isolated in a different campaign. This will allow you to control spend more efficiently.

• Can I target my campaigns effectively?By structuring your campaigns and ad groups as granularly as possible, you broaden your targeting options.

Let’s take a fashion retailer as an example. If this retailer chooses to structure their account into two campaigns – clothing and footwear – they are limited in terms of on-going optimisation and reporting.

Breaking down the structure further – by creating campaigns for different clothing and footwear brands, for example – makes it easier to see which keywords are having the biggest impact, and which need work.

With this granular structure, it’s easier to push the keywords which are doing well, and reign in the underperformers.

• Can I easily push products during sales?Having your keywords organised into well-structured campaigns and ad groups means you can apply sales ad text and push the sales driven products. Does your current account structure allow you to do this easily?

• Do my reports offer the detail I need?A happy consequence of a good account structure is that it makes reporting simpler and more insightful. With a granular approach, it’s easy to see which particular product lines, sales initiatives, ad extensions or messages performed well.

If you can’t glean this information from your reports at a glance, then it’s time to consider re-structuring your account.

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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Google recommends following the structure of your site when structuring your AdWords account. This means every product or category will have a pre-existing landing page, which helps to increase your keywords’ Quality Score. In turn, this will help to decrease CPCs.

• Don’t implement large-scale changes to your account structure all at once. Use a phased approach to minimise impact on Quality Score and make it easier to recognise cause and effect.

SHORTCUTS

• Use AdWords Editor to carry out restructuring work. The online AdWords interface is more suited to day-to-day optimisation than extensive structural edits.

• Improve your PPC performance with ClickThrough’s EXPERT Adwords Audit – call our paid search specialists on 0800 088 7486, or visit http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/





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2. KEYWORDS

THE BASICSKeywords let you choose the search queries for which your ads appear. Despite the name, each keyword can be made up of multiple words, like ‘red shoes’.

Keywords are organised into ad groups. You assign ad creatives (ad text) to these ad groups, which appear when triggered by these keywords.

You can control how strictly Google interprets a keyword by assigning a match type. For more information about match types, see page 17.

Keyword research is the process of building keyword lists, based on the frequency at which consumers search for these words and phrases.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?Keywords are the nuts and bolts of your AdWords campaigns. They let you control

your visibility in search results, as well as affecting the amount you spend.

If you’re setting up an account for the first time, it’s essential to build a robust keyword list as soon as you can. The quality of this list will determine the frequency at which your ads appear, and the relevancy of your ads to users’ search queries.

Even if you’ve been running AdWords campaigns for some time – or you’ve recently inherited an account – it’s still important to regularly review your keyword lists to discover missed opportunities.

“Keyword research is the process of building keyword lists, based on the frequency at which consumers search for these words and phrases.”



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KEYWORD RESEARCH TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES

Google Keyword PlannerGoogle’s own keyword research tool is invaluable, as it provides solid data on the popularity of keywords from Google itself. The tool also provides keyword suggestions, lets you organise keywords into ad groups, and forecast visibility based on varying bids.

Keyword Planner will likely be the most frequently used tool in your research – and any keywords found through other sources should be entered into keyword planner to ensure you have accurate search volume data.

On-site searchSearch data from your own website can provide plenty of insights to help you start your keyword research process. The terms your customers use to find products using your on-site search box will very likely be reflected in the terms they use to search on Google.

On-site search data can also help you understand the quirks of your customers’ linguistic choices – remember, the way your customers talk about your products will not always reflect the way you talk about them.

Search terms reportsThe Search terms report provides a list of search queries that triggered your ads within a specified time frame. This is useful if you’re looking to optimise your existing keyword lists further, or discover new keyword opportunities.

For example, search terms data may reveal a new synonym for your products you hadn’t previously considered. Using this synonym as a starting point, you could use Keyword Planner to discover further keywords, and create a new Ad Group to categorise them.

You can find the Search terms report in AdWords by going to the Keywords tab. Click on ‘Details’ to view search terms for selected keywords (or all keywords).



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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Think ‘quality over quantity’. Creating a ‘quality’ keyword list doesn’t necessary mean creating a lengthy list. Strong, relevant keywords should take precedence over generic keywords with high search volumes. Relevant keywords bring in relevant clicks, which ultimately means more conversions – and less money wasted.

• Think about budget. Even at the earliest account set-up stage, you should always keep your budget in mind. Consider search volume and CPCs when finalising your keywords, so you can be sure you can afford to bid on all the keywords you’ve chosen.

• Keep an eye on competitors. You can use competitor review tools to analyse how rival businesses are bidding on keywords – and uncover new keyword opportunities.

• Think like a consumer. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes when conducting keyword research. Don’t assume the terminology you use reflects the way your customers search for your products.

SHORTCUT

• Start with a seed word list. Think about all the different ways consumers may talk about your products or services. Why not use a thesaurus to help you understand different terminology?



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3. MATCH TYPES

THE BASICSMatch types (or keyword matching options) let you choose who sees your ads, based on the similarity of users’ search queries to your chosen keywords. They are the most widely used targeting options for search ads in AdWords.

AdWords lets you choose from five main match types:

Exact matchSet your keywords to exact match, and your ads will show only when a user’s search query matches the keyword exactly.

The only exception to this rule is when a user searches for a very close variant to your exact match keywords. In these cases, your ad may appear.

‘mens shoes’ on exact match

Search query Will the ad appear?

mens shoes YES

mans shoes YES

mens shoes for running NO

red shoes for men NO

mens fashion footwear NO



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Phrase matchLike exact match, phrase match triggers ads when a user’s search query matches the keyword exactly (or is a very close variant). However, it will also trigger ads when the search query includes additional words before or after the keyword.

‘mens shoes’ on phrase match


mens shoes YES

mans shoes YES

mens shoes for running YES

red shoes for men NO


Broad matchBroad match keywords will show ads for a wide range of queries that may be closely or broadly related to the keywords themselves. Users can see ads with broad match keywords if:

• They search for synonyms• They search for words in a different order• They search using long-tail queries that broadly relate to the subject matter• They use incorrect spellings

‘mens shoes’ on broad match


mens shoes YES

mans shoes YES


red shoes for men YES

mens fashion footwear YES



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Broad match modifierBroad match modifier is like a cross between broad and phrase match. It offers a greater level of targeting control than broad match, because it won’t display ads when users search for synonyms or related searches. And unlike phrase match, it will show ads when users search for words in a different order.

‘mens shoes’ on broad match


mens shoes YES

mans shoes YES


red shoes for men YES


Negative matchWhile other match types let you control the search queries for which ads will appear, negative match lets you define queries that will stop ads triggering. At this stage in your audit, you should make sure you have a solid list of these ‘negatives’ at account level. The obvious candidates are potentially offensive keywords, but there may be more obvious negatives that are specific to your industry or brand. At a later stage, you should build this list out at campaign level – but only when you have a better understanding of which keywords convert, and which don’t. We’ll cover negative match in more detail in the second book of this series.

‘womens’ on negative match (exact)


womens shoes NO

mens shoes YES

womens shoes for running NO

red shoes for women NO

mens fashion footwear YES



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WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTAuditing and optimising your match types is crucial. Without control of your keyword targeting, you won’t have control of your budget. This is because clicks that come from irrelevant, non-targeted search queries are less likely to convert.

Each different match type affords a greater degree of control over targeting (and therefore budget). Exact match offers the most control, followed by phrase match, modified broad match and broad match.

Broad match should be avoided most of the time, as broad match ads are likely to appear for low-value and irrelevant queries.

You could set your keywords to broad match, then use long, extensive lists of negatives to filter out irrelevant search queries. However, this would be a long, strenuous task – it’s much easier to simply get your match types right in the first place. In an ideal world, your account would have all keywords set to exact match, with all possible keyword variations covered.

This would allow the maximum level of control over targeting and budget.But we don’t live in an ideal world. So we have to use phrase match and modified broad match to help us reach our customers without spending several epochs optimising our campaigns.

Search Visibility

Con

trol

PHRASE

MODIFIED BROAD

BROAD

EXACT



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We recommend using an equal balance of exact match and phrase match to ensure you’re capturing all traffic. Then, using the Search terms report, you can identify opportunities for keyword expansion using the search queries that have come through on phrase match.

Broad match modifier should be used selectively as an extension on your converting keywords to expand coverage, reaching out further for those long tail targeted keywords and rolled out on an account where you have extensive exact and phrase coverage.

SHORTCUT

BidCops’ free AdWords audits provide instant, in-depth insights into your match type efficiency. At a glance, you can see your budget broken down by match type. This can help you deduce if you’re wasting money on irrelevant clicks caused by broad match keywords.

Plus, you can see the number of clicks received for each match type. If this dashboard shows a heavy reliance on broad match keywords, you should think about revising your match types.

Finally, this dashboard shows the cost per acquisition (CPA) for each match type. This helps you determine which match type is performing most efficiently, in terms of budget.

Sign up to BidCops for FREE at http://bidcops.com/

CPA By Match TypeSearch Network Spend Performance: 28th March 2015 - 25th June 2015

This report is based on all keywords within the account for the date period stated, irrelevant of current keyword status.

EXHIBIT H: CPA by Match Type

Ascertaining the cost per acquisition (CPA) is a crucial part of a paid search campaign. Getting conversions is great: but ifthe cost per acquisition is high, it will eat into your profits.

These graphs show the variation in CPA between different match types. It may be that you are paying far more to acquireconversions from one particular match type – broad, phrase or exact. This data can help highlight the level of adjustmentneeded on your bids and keyword positioning.

Typically, exact match keywords often return good conversions, with a low CPA – because searchers are looking forsomething specific. But this is not always the case.

We recommend that you track your CPA by match type over time. This will give the strongest indication about whether youraccount includes the right keywords (which convert) to use in exact or phrase match campaigns.

It may also be useful to continually optimise your PPC campaigns by expanding negative keyword lists, to ensure onlyrelevant traffic arrives at your site.

Number of Clicks By Match TypeSearch Network Spend Performance: 28th March 2015 - 25th June 2015


EXHIBIT G: Number of Clicks by Match Type

This graphic is broken down by the four main match types in AdWords: broad, broad match modifier, phrase and exact.

It shows the number of clicks your match type keywords have received. In most cases, broad match keywords will receivethe most number of clicks.

This is because, with broad match, you are effectively asking Google to decide when to display your text ads, based onsearches thought to be relevant to your campaign. For traffic generation, this can prove successful: however, if you don’tpay close attention to your broad match keywords, you have far less control over how your budget is spent, as well as thesearch terms your text ads will appear against.

Again, we’d reiterate that broad match should be used sparingly. If you are using broad match keywords, be sure toevaluate your results by running a Search Query Report (SQR) in AdWords.

SQRs show you the actual phrase a user searched on before seeing your ad – helping you discover new keywords whichhave brought relevant, converting traffic. These keywords can then be added as phrase and exact match terms, as well asnegatives.

If the broad match keyword is particularly inefficient, it may be wise to consider pausing it. If your website relies on traffic,more than sales, then you can gradually reduce your broad match bids to help manage potential drops in traffic.

% Budget by Match TypeSearch Network Spend Performance: 28th March 2015 - 25th June 2015


EXHIBIT F: % Budget by Match Type

There are four types of match: broad, broad match modifier, phrase and exact.

This graph breaks down the percentage of your budget spent on each match type.

To boost conversions, narrow matching options can vastly increase your success: by providing searchers with highlyrelevant text ads. The majority of keywords in a PPC account should be on exact match, for this very reason. This can becrucial for encouraging sales and controlling costs.

For visibility, broad match keywords can be far more effective: as these give your ads a higher chance of appearing for awider range of search phrases. It may also prove more expensive.

In general, we recommend trying to keep broad match budgets at a minimum – perhaps around 20% of your budget at most.This can help improve your spend efficiency as broad match costs per acquisition are often higher than those for exact orphrase matches.

Phrase match keywords allow you to experiment with new keyword stems in relative safety. Once you’ve established whichphrase matches are successful, you can add them as an exact match keyword. After adding these new exact keywords toyour account, you can create highly-targeted text ads, and more specific landing pages, to help lower your costs per clickand try to improve conversions.

Please note: If a keyword is on all match types, they will be counted in each of the match types reported on.


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4. BRAND COVERAGE

THE BASICSAuditing your brand coverage means looking at branded keywords (keywords that contain your brand name), assessing their visibility, and optimising spend.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTTwo words: brand protection.

Until 2008, Google didn’t allow advertisers to bid on competitor brand names. Then the floodgates opened.

So now you can bid on competitors’ branded terms, but you may not be able to include them in your ad text if they are trademarked. Nonetheless, this means that no search query is safe – even customers searching specifically for your businesses website could end up being enticed by a rival company’s ad.

For this reason, you should take reasonable steps to protect your brand in search.

Does this mean bidding on your brand name as a keyword? For some businesses, yes – but for others, it’s just not worth it.

A small business in an uncompetitive market, for example, may find that no competitors are bidding on its brand name.

For this business, bidding on its brand name simply to secure a top position in Google search may be a waste of money, as it will likely already appear as the #1 organic result, with no paid search competition.

However, a big retailer in an aggressively competitive marketplace will likely have to bid on its own brand name, or risk competitors pushing their search results below the fold. It is also important to bid on your brand name when you have multiple resellers also promoting your product. You need to also compete with them to gain the #1 ad slot.

“Now you can bid on competitors’ branded terms, but you may not be able to include them in your ad text if they are trademarked.”



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This retailer will also have to ensure that its bids are set high enough to ensure customers go straight to its site. Whenever possible, you should aim to appear in position #1 for your own brand terms – you can’t rely on organic results to bring in clicks!

This is a very simplistic view, however – your own decision on how to protect your brand will be determined by the nuances and specifics of your industry.

Here are some more things to consider:

Bidding on your brand name to control your messagingEven the humblest businesses in the quietest markets can benefit from bidding on their brand name as a means to control their messaging.

For example, if you’re running a sale, you could create an ad group to announce this to customers, bidding on brand-name keywords.

Why do you need PPC to do this? Because organic search is unpredictable.

You could change the title and description of your website and wait for it to appear in organic results. But this will take time, and when Google does pick up the change, there’s no guarantee that it will choose to display the title and description you’ve provided. (And it could even hurt your organic search performance!)

Bidding on brand + product keywordsIt might not be a good idea to lump all your brand keywords into a single brand campaign. For example, have you thought about [brand + product] keyword constructions?

This is often overlooked, and is another point where competitors could outbid you and steal traffic – as they will be bidding on the product on phrase match.

Imagine, for instance, that your brand is called Carpet City. You sell a wide range of rugs and other floor coverings.

It’s likely that your competitors are bidding on ‘rugs’ on phrase match. This means their ads will trigger for the search query ‘Carpet City rugs’. In this example, Carpet City should bid aggressively on the keyword ‘Carpet City



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rugs’ on exact match. This ensures its customers see the ad they expect to see in first position – a Carpet City ad.

If you do decide to target keywords like this, we advise putting them in a separate campaign. This gives you more control over budgets.

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Consider match types. Depending on your brand name, broad match may or may not be a viable choice. Certain brands, like AstraZeneca or Microsoft, could get away with setting brand-name keywords to broad match, as their brand names are either unique, or inexorably tied to the products and services they provide. However, brands like Apple should avoid broad match at all costs, as brand names based on common words are most likely to bring in unwanted traffic. Apple, for example, may appear on searches for ‘apple baskets’, ‘apple pie’ and countless other irrelevant terms.

• Consider targets. Brand keywords are often more profitable than generic keywords, for a simple reason – people who search for your brand have likely already made up their mind about the retailer they want to purchase from. For this reason, you may wish to set different targets for brand versus non-brand keywords.

• Consider reputation. Reputation management is an important consideration in PPC, especially when it comes to brand keywords. As well as thinking about the keywords you want to bid on, you should consider the queries that you don’t want associated with your brand. For example, keyword constructions like [brand + ‘scam’] or [brand + ‘sucks’] are unlikely to bring in traffic that converts. As part of your audit, you should identify terms like this and add them to your negatives list.



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CREATIVE



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5. LANDING PAGES

THE BASICSA landing page is the webpage visitors are taken to when they click on one of your ads.

You can specify landing pages for creatives and keywords. Tying a keyword to a landing page overrides any landing pages you’ve specified for its accompanying ad.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?Think of your ads as your shop window display, and your landing pages as the reality that lies behind your shop door.

Imagine you’re attracted to a shop because of its stunning window display. In the window is a beautiful, pristinely presented lawnmower, and there’s a sign promising 50% off – what a bargain!

Then you enter the shop, only to find that it only sells wellington boots, and there’s no sale to speak of. What’s more, it’s dusty and difficult to find your way around.

You’d be disappointed, to say the least. In all likelihood, you’d leave as quickly as possible. And if you did stick around, it’s unlikely that you’d buy anything.

This is why your landing pages need to be relevant to your ads, and your keywords. Otherwise, you’re essentially promising something to your customers that you can’t deliver. Customers who click on your ad and land on an irrelevant page are likely to leave your website (bounce) or browse without

“Think of your ads as your shop window display, and your landing pages as the reality that lies behind your shop door.”



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buying (converting) – just like the customers in our imaginary bricks-and-mortar shop.

To make matters worse, you’re paying for each visitor who clicks on your ad. That’s bad news for your bottom line.

What’s more, irrelevant landing pages can negatively impact your Quality Score. And a low Quality Score means higher CPCs. This is because the relevant keywords may not be on the landing page. You need to deliver relevant content to ensure a good QS and to deliver on site visitor expectations.

You can track the success of your landing pages by reviewing conversion and bounce rate metrics. A low bounce rate means

customers are finding the information they expected to find on your landing page, and a high conversion rate means they’re purchasing products, or completing other relevant on-site goals.

ASK YOURSELF

• Are my landing pages relevant to my keywords?

• Are my landing pages relevant to my ad text?

• Is there a clear message/call to action in my ad text that’s reflected on my landing page?

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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Think about structure. Usually, it’s sufficient to apply landing page URLs at an ad group level. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, a DVD merchant may have an ad group that’s broadly targeted to comedy films, and set the ad group’s landing page URL to a comedy film category page. However, it would make sense for them to also apply specific product landing pages to keywords that refer to individual titles. (E.g. ‘funny movies’ versus ‘Anchorman’.)

• Consider CRO. At this stage, it’s important to consider whether your site is optimised from a CRO (conversion rate optimisation) perspective. Are your calls to action optimised? Are your form fills? Are your action points in the optimum position? Have you considered A/B split testing?

SHORTCUT

• Is checking your ad landing pages proving a tiresome process? Call in the EXPERTs. Call our paid search specialists on 0800 088 7486, or visit http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/





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6. DEEP LINKING

THE BASICSDeep linking means linking your ads to landing pages that are as relevant as possible. Highly relevant pages are likely to be ‘deep’ within the structure of your site, hence the name.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?Deep linking is important because it makes things easier for your users. Site visitors are less likely to ‘bounce’ and more likely to buy when they land on a page that’s relevant to their search query.

What’s more, it helps increase your Quality Score, because your landing page content will likely be more relevant to your keywords and ads.

With some exceptions, the ‘deeper’ you link, the better. For example, let’s say We-Love-Jackets.co.uk has an ad that appears for the keyword ‘mens blue jackets’.

They could link to:

1. http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/ (BAD)

2. http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/jackets (GOOD)

3. http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/jackets/men (BETTER)

4. http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/jackets/men&colour=blue (BEST)

Visitors who click on this ad will be taken straight to the category page for men’s jackets, filtered to show blue jackets only. This is obviously highly relevant to their search query, so puts these customers in a prime position to convert.


http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/

http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/jackets

http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/jackets/men

http://www.We-Love-Jackets.co.uk/jackets/men&colour=blue


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Customer intention is key. It is possible to go ‘too far’ when deep linking, but as long as you match keywords, landing pages and the intentions of your customers, you shouldn’t have any problems.

For example, it would be unwise to link an ad for ‘mens blue jackets’ to a specific jacket product page – you can tell by the keyword that the customer isn’t yet sure exactly which jacket they want to buy.

Similarly, if a customer searches for ‘men’s jackets’, you should send them to the top-level men’s jackets category page. Only if they are obviously searching for a specific product – like ‘Anchorman on DVD’ – should you send them to a product page.

ASK YOURSELF

• Are all my ads linking to relevant landing pages?

• Could any of my links go deeper? This could improve conversions.

• Are there links that go too deep? For example, links that point to product landing pages, when the keywords don’t reflect this intention.

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Think about ad text: Just as customer intention should guide your deep linking process, it should also influence the way you write your ad text. Make sure your ad creative reflects and foresees the content of your deep-linked landing page.

• Think about structure: Deep linking goes hand-in-hand with account structure. As you find the most appropriate landing page link for each keyword, you may find you have to restructure your campaigns and ad groups to allow for flexibility.

SHORTCUT

• It’s useful to have your website’s sitemap to hand when deep- linking URLS.

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7. QUALITY SCORE

THE BASICSQuality Score is a metric applied by Google to keywords. As the name suggests, the score applied is representative of a keyword’s quality.

This quality is affected by several factors, some of which are well-known. Others are guesses based purely on speculation. Google has never revealed all the details of the ‘secret recipe’ behind Quality Score.

Some of the known factors are:

• Ad CTR

• Historical performance of the account

• Landing page quality (including bounce rate and load time)

• Relevancy of ads, keywords and landing pages to one another

As well as keyword Quality Score, which is visible in the AdWords interface, it is generally accepted that Google applies a Quality Score at Ad Group and Account level too. However, this has been denied by Google.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?Quality Score affects Ad Rank and the amount you spend. Ad Rank is, nowadays, a complicated secret formula known only to Google itself. However, a highly simplified version looks like this:

Ad Rank = Bid (CPC) x Quality Score

The only way to improve your Ad Rank is to increase your bid, or improve your quality score.

Obviously, improving Quality Score is the cheaper option in the long run – Google

“Quality Score is a metric applied by Google to keywords. As the name suggests, the score applied is representative of a keyword’s quality.”



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rewards good Quality Scores by offering higher ad positions for cheaper clicks. In other words, you get the best of both worlds.

ASK YOURSELF

• Can I improve relevancy… o …by restructuring my keywords

and ad groups?o …by rewriting ad text?o …by changing landing

page content?o …by deep-linking to more

relevant pages?

• Can I improve click-through rate…o …by using a more attractive

headline?o …by highlighting USPs and

offers in ads?o …by using relevant ad

extensions?

• Can I make changes to my landing pages to make them load faster?

• Can I make changes to my landing pages to increase the relevancy of the content to ads and keywords?

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Consider relevancy from the start: Ads and keywords need to be highly targeted to one another to maximise relevancy. This, in turn, helps increase Quality Score and reduce costs. For this reason, it’s important to think about relevancy from the beginning of your account auditing/set-up process.

• Consider Google’s perception of a keyword: Google is now exceptionally good at understanding the intention behind a keyword. However, Google’s perception of what this intention is may differ from your own. An example of this is the keyword ‘MOT check’. Although you may think the intention behind this keyword is “my car needs an MOT test”, Google perceives it to be “I need to check if my car is due to have an MOT”. In situations like this, where Google’s perception of a keyword doesn’t match your own, you will find it more difficult to achieve a good Quality Score. This means you have to weigh up whether it’s worth pursuing this keyword, based on the CTR and conversion rate it achieves, against costs.

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SHORTCUT

BidCops can give you instant insights into Quality Score issues, through its ‘Quality Score by Keyword’ dashboard.

This graph breaks down all the keywords in your account, organised by Quality Score. An overabundance of low Quality Scores means you need to take urgent steps to improve CTR for these keywords.

Sign up for BidCops for FREE at http://bidcops.com/

“BidCops can give you instant insights into Quality Score issues, through its ‘Quality Score by Keyword’ dashboard.”


http://bidcops.com/


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8. AD CREATIVES

THE BASICS‘Ad creatives’ are the text that makes up the body of your ad. There are three distinct elements – the headline, two description lines, and a display URL.

The display URL is a substitute for the landing page’s real URL, which will likely be too long to display within the ad. The display URL helps users understand where they’ll land when they click the ad.

The character limits for each element are as follows:

• Headline: 25 characters• Description: 35 characters per line

(two lines allowed)• Display URL: 35 characters

Ad creatives are also called ‘ad text’.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTYour ad creatives could be your first contact with your audience. It needs to grab people’s

attention immediately – and it needs to do this in a highly competitive space. Remember, Google is one big high street, and your ‘shop’ is one of many.

Your first step is to find ad text that isn’t working. Check to see which ads have a low click-through rate – if you can’t identify any issues with keyword relevancy or the position of the ad, then the ad creative might be the problem.

Here are some quick tips to help you fix it…

Your headline shouldInclude keyword content. When users see a keyword in your headline, it demonstrates that your ad is relevant to their search query – and this is relevant to their needs. Dynamic keyword insertion can be useful for this.



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Your display URL should Display clearly to the user where their click will take them. The text in your display URL has to be the same domain as your landing page URL, but you can tailor after \ to show that your offer is relevant to users’ needs.A good display URL can have surprisingly positive effects on your ad’s click-through rate and conversion rate. It also affects Quality Score, so can help to reduce CPCs or make your ad appear in a better position.

Your description should Highlight USPs and promotions. Search is a competitive space, and you don’t have much space to make an impression! Make sure your description lines include the unique selling points that make you competitive – as well as highlighting the awesome offers and time-limited promotions that attract clicks.

Also include a call to action. Don’t be afraid to tell your customers want you want them to do. A strong call-to-action like ‘purchase’, ‘call now’ or ‘sign up’ can work wonders on your click-through rate and conversions.

And include offers and promotions. If prices are discounted, say so, and give the price if you can. This helps pre-qualify your lead –if the price is too high they won’t click, and you won’t waste money on that click.

ASK YOURSELF

• Am I using clear calls to action? Are they effective? Are they competitive?

• What are my USPs? Are these being highlighted wherever possible? If you don’t have space to include all USPs, consider using callout extensions to highlight these. (See page 44 for more information.)

• Is formatting consistent? Is your spelling, punctuation and grammar correct? Mistakes look unprofessional, can result in disapprovals, and may hurt consumer trust in your brand.

• Are ads tailored to their keywords? This not only helps to drive clicks (because people are seeing ads that relate to their search queries), but helps improve Quality Score. A good Quality Score mean lower CPC!

• Is pricing information correct? It’s always important to ensure product information is up-to-date within ad text, but accurate pricing information is crucial! Providing incorrect prices could lead to accusations of false advertising.

• Am I competitive? Look at your competitors. What are their USPs and promotions and how do they compare to yours?

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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• The most important tip: Follow Google’s editorial guidelines! If you fail to play by Google’s ‘rules’, it may reject your ads. You can view the editorial guidelines here: https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/6021546?hl=en

• Use three pieces of ad text per ad group. Google recommends that you use up to three ads per ad group as a minimum. The reason? You can never know for sure if one message will appeal to all customers. By rotating between three pieces of ad text, you might find that one message drives more clicks than the other. By switching the ad rotation settings to optimise for clicks, this ad will get served to customers more often. Think of your ads as your shop front. You’d regularly redress a shop window to drive more footfall. PPC ads are no different.

SHORTCUT

• Use Excel. If you have a large account, well-known Excel formulae can speed up the process of writing creatives. Its LEN function, which provides a character count for a given cell, is also useful for writing to Google’s character limits.


https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/6021546?hl=en




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9. DYNAMIC KEYWORD INSERTION

THE BASICSDynamic Keyword Insertion, or DKI, is an advanced feature of AdWords that lets you incorporate users’ search queries into your ad text, headline or display URL.

An ad that uses dynamic keyword insertion in its ad text and headline will look something like this:

User searches for ‘womens shoes’ -

User searches for ‘ladies shoes’ -

To use dynamic keyword insertion, you need to include a special keyword insertion code when you write your headline or ad text.

This is the basic version of the code, which displays the user’s search query in Title Case.

{KeyWord:default text}

You should replace default text with some ‘backup’ text that will appear if the user’s search query is too long for the ad.

You can also vary the capitalisation of KeyWord to render the user’s search query differently. For example, Keyword displays it as Sentence case, while KEYword renders it with the FIRST word capitalised.

There are a number of reasons why the user’s search query might not appear in the



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ad. The most common is that it causes the ad text to overrun Google’s character limits.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTDynamic keyword insertion should be used with caution. Used indiscriminately, it can easily result in nonsensical or misleading ads. Take this ‘classic’ from eBay:

However, with careful implementation, DKI can be a time-saving and effective way to improve CTR and ad relevancy.

It’s particularly useful for retailers who sell lots of product variations. For example, a clothing retailer that sells items in many colours and sizes would find it difficult to manage all the possible keyword variations for these items. As long as they were careful with match types, DKI could work wonders for a business like this.

However, we recommend that everyone tries DKI. You might find it works for you too.

Try running it on one ad within an ad group, and test whether it performs better. But remember: Less is (definitely) more when it comes to DKI!

“Ideally, you should use exact match keywords with DKI, built out with negatives from your search query reports.”



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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

Here are a few best-practice ‘DOs and DON’Ts’ to bear in mind:

• DON’T use broad match with DKI‘Ideally, you should use exact match keyword with DKI. Careful use of phrase match and modified broad match may be OK, built out with negatives from your search query reports, but broad match should be avoided.

The reason for this is that broad match tends to bring in irrelevant search queries. This is not so much a problem when your ads have clear headlines signifying their subject matter, but a DKI headline will appear relevant, even if your ads and landing pages are not.

• DON’T use DKI in your ad textOr rather, be very careful about using DKI in your ad text.

Using DKI in your headline simply shows that the landing page you’re linking to will be relevant to customers’ needs. But using it in your ad text can make it look spammy, especially if it’s overused.

As a rule of thumb, if you’re adamant about using DKI in your ad text, never use it more than once

• DON’T use DKI when bidding on misspelt keywordsBidding on misspellings can be a good idea for non-DKI ad groups – they may have lower costs per click than the correctly spelt keywords. However, in DKI ads, the keyword will appear in the ad. This looks very unprofessional – to the user, it’s like you’ve misspelt your own headline.

• DON’T use DKI when bidding on competitors’ branded keywordsYou shouldn’t use competitor’s brand keywords, for similar reasons to the above – they’ll appear in your ad copy. It’s against best practice to include direct competitors in ad text or headlines.

• DO test, test and test again!In the world of paid search, it’s important to run tests whenever you try anything new or make changes to your campaigns. DKI is no exception!



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10. AD EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSAd Extensions are additional features that enhance your AdWords ads. These range from call extensions, which add a phone number or ‘click-to-call’ button to your ads, to sitelinks, which let you add links to other pages within your website.

We will cover several types of ad extension over the following pages.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTAd extensions are a no-brainer. They make your ads more clickable, and they’re free to implement – you only pay when someone interacts with your extension.

The price you pay is equivalent to a headline click, based on the position of your ad.

Here are some more benefits of ad extensions:

• More search real estate: They make your ads more visible, because they take up more room in the SERPs.

• More clicks: They help improve CTR, because they let you add valuable information about your products and services.

• They help improve Ad Rank: Google says “If two competing ads have the same

bid and quality, then the ad with greater expected impact from extensions will generally appear in a higher ad position than the other.”

• Improved conversion rate: Ad extensions can boost conversions, either by making it easier for customers to make a purchase, or by providing the extra information needed to convince a customer it’s time to buy.

• Better Quality Score: Ad extensions generally help to improve Quality Score, which means lower CPCs.

You can choose as many ad extension formats as you like – we recommend implementing as many as possible, as long as they’re relevant to your business.

You can’t choose when the extensions will appear. Google decides when, and if, to show ad extensions. However, if you don’t implement the extension, then it won’t show at all!

“Ad extensions generally help to improve Quality Score, which means lower CPCs.”



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BEST-PRACTICE TIP

• Not sure how to approach ad extensions? Always research what your competitors are doing. Then do it better!



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11. SITELINKS EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSSitelinks can display up to six additional links as part of your search ads. These can only appear if your ad is in position #1 to #3.

These additional links need to point to different URLs than the ad’s main landing page, and each sitelink must have a unique URL.

You can specify a headline for each sitelink. Google also allows you to add an additional description for each sitelink, which it may or may not choose to display.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTAs well as giving you more visibility in search, sitelinks offer a valuable opportunity to cross-sell different products, or provide additional information to searchers who may not be ready to buy.

For instance, this ad from Nike uses sitelinks to direct customers to its skateboarding, running, women’s training and NIKEiD pages:

This Asda ad, meanwhile, directs customers to its ‘Click & Collect’ and delivery pages, as well as cross-selling various products:

Sitelinks extensions can benefit any business, with few exceptions. The question isn’t whether to use them, but how to use them – this should be the focus of your audit.

For example, a B2B business, which relies on building customer trust to secure leads, would be better off using sitelinks to direct users to informational pages that promote the business’s values, or make it easy for prospects to get in touch. Think ‘About Us’ pages, testimonials, accreditations and contact details.

“Sitelinks can display up to six additional links as part of your search ads. These can only appear if your ad is in position #1 to #3.”



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An e-Commerce business might be better off using sitelinks to cross-sell products – for example, by linking to a baby food category page on an ad promoting nappies (diapers) – as well as promoting special offers and discounts.

ASK YOURSELF:

• Can I use sitelinks to cross-sell products?

• Can I use sitelinks to promote current offers and discounts?

• How can I promote my USPs? For example, by linking to a delivery page with the headline ‘Free Delivery’.

• How can I appeal to different customers? Not all customer types, or ‘personas’, are likely to want the same thing from your ad. Can you use sitelinks to appeal to customers at different stages in their conversion journey?

• What are my best-performing sitelinks? If you already have sitelinks extensions set up, you can use your audit as an opportunity to review performance. Look at which sitelinks are performing well, and consider swapping some of the underperformers for new links. AdWords lets you specify up to 10 sitelinks to rotate between (although only six will display at one time).

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Stick to character limits. In most languages, sitelink headlines are limited to 25 characters.

• Follow Google’s editorial guidelines. Google provides guidelines specifically for sitelinks, covering topics like punctuation, special characters and trademarks. You can view these here: https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1054210

SHORTCUTS

• Use AdWords Editor to update and review your sitelinks extensions.

• Write your ad text in Excel and use the ‘len=’ formula to work out character length

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https://support.google.com/adwordspolicy/answer/1054210




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12. CALL EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSCall extensions make it easy for customers to contact you after viewing an AdWords ad. They let you add telephone numbers to desktop search ads, and ‘click-to-call’ buttons to mobile ads.

Click-to-call buttons allow mobile users to call you instantly by tapping the button. The cost per click is the same as a normal ad click.

Image source: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2453991

Call extensions can appear within search ads in any position on the page.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTCall extensions are important because they take a step out of the conversion process. If a customer likes to make enquiries or place orders by phone, call extensions give them a chance to do so without clicking through to your site.

This makes them particularly useful for B2B companies that use a lead generation model, retailers that get a high volume of phone enquiries, and businesses whose ads tend to drive lots of footfall or telephone enquiries in local branches.

A good example would be a car maintenance firm that offers MOTs (vehicle inspections, for our readers in the US). Its customers will likely search for MOTs on their mobile in an effort to find good deals in their area. These customers are more likely to book if they can click a button to contact the branch straight away.

So, there are certain businesses that will naturally see better ROI from call extensions. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them if your business doesn’t fit into one of these categories.



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In fact, every business should use them, because there are no downsides to providing customers with more information. Especially when the information makes it easier for them to make a purchase.

Not to mention the fact that AdWords no longer lets you include telephone numbers in ad text.

You do pay when a mobile user taps your click-to-call button. However, you pay the same as you would for a normal ad click – and your customer is more likely to convert because they’re speaking to a human being.

In other words, the benefits outweigh the costs.

ASK YOURSELF

• Am I using call extensions? If not, we recommend you trial them.

• Are call extensions generating queries? If not, try testing new ad text with a clear call to action.

• Am I able to accurately track phone queries? Google tracks when users press a click-to-call button, but you can’t track calls from desktop users unless you use some form of call tracking technology. This means you can’t accurately determine the impact the extensions are having.

We cover call tracking in more depth in part two of this eBook series – Best-Practice Optimisation. But if you’re looking for a simple, cost effective solution in the meantime, you might want to try Google forwarding numbers. For more information on forwarding numbers, go here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454052

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https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2454052


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13. CALLOUT EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSNot to be confused with call extensions, callout extensions work like bullet points. They let you add short snippets of additional information to ads.


Unlike sitelinks, callout extensions are not clickable. They’re intended to give you more space to promote your business, beyond the usual character limits of ad text.

Callout extensions can only appear on ads in positions #1 to #3.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTIf you’ve ever struggled with the measly 70 characters AdWords allows for ad text, you’ll appreciate the benefits of callout extensions.

Each callout gives you up to 25 characters to play with. And since you can include up to four callouts at account, campaign and ad group level, this adds up to a whole lot of extra space.

You can use this extra space to promote USPs (like free delivery), product attributes (like ‘100% cotton’) or anything else that will entice customers to click.

Google decides when to show callouts, and which callouts to show. The length of your callouts, their performance, and the order in which you enter them all factor into whether Google decides to display them.

Hilton Worldwide was one of the first brands to trial callout extensions, and they saw a nine per cent increase in conversion rate after just one month.

“Unlike sitelinks, callout extensions are not clickable. They’re intended to give you more space to promote your business, beyond the usual character limits of ad text.”



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ASK YOURSELF

• Am I using callout extensions? We recommend you trial them if not.

• Are my callouts performing as expected? As with ad text, you should be constantly testing and tweaking your callouts in search of perfect results. Swap out underperforming callouts, or callouts that don’t appear, with new, succinct, powerful versions – but keep the ones that do perform well.

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Don’t be afraid to sell yourself. Callouts are like bullet points – they need to get your message across powerfully, clearly and succinctly.

• Don’t push the limit. The character limit, that is. Longer callouts may be less likely to appear on your ads, and may not perform as well as tight, concise messages. Don’t feel like you have to fill the full 25 characters.

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14. REVIEW EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSReview extensions let you add snippets of third-party reviews and testimonials to your ads. Google doesn’t reveal where these extensions can appear, except to say that several factors can affect whether the extensions show up.


You can choose to feature an exact quote, or paraphrase a quote. Either way, you must provide a link to the original source.

Review extensions should not be confused with seller ratings, which display ‘review stars’, rather than text snippets.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTAccording to Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages report from 2013, consumer opinions and newspaper articles are amongst the most trusted forms of advertising – beaten only by branded websites and the opinions of friends and family members.

Review extensions are an effective way to build customer trust by incorporating positive third-party opinions into your ad content.

In the highly competitive and busy search landscape, this extra snippet of trust-building content could be the deciding factor in a customer clicking your ad.

Google says review extensions “can boost click-through rate by up to 10%”, so they’re highly recommended for any business that can source a trustworthy third-party review or testimonial. Best of all, they’re free to implement – and you pay nothing when users click the link to the review URL.

ASK YOURSELF

• Are you using review extensions?

• How are your competitors using review extensions?

• Do you have good reviews or testimonials you could use?

• Are your review extensions showing up?

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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Follow Google’s editorial guidelines for review extensions. You can read them here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3236114

• Use any available content. The snippets you use don’t have to be ‘reviews’ as such, you can use magazine coverage and other editorial recommendations, as well as customer reviews. The only stipulation is that the review is published online, on a third-party website.

• Stay tuned in. It’s worth keeping track of whenever your business is mentioned online. Google Alerts and social media monitoring tools are great for ensuring you pick up on all positive reviews.

• Ask permission. It’s better to be safe than sorry. A polite email or phone call to the review publisher will only take a minute or two, and it’s better to do this than potentially sour a relationship.

SHORTCUT

• Call in the EXPERTs. Improve your PPC performance with ClickThrough’s EXPERT Adwords Audit – call our paid search specialists on 0800 088 7486, or visit http://www.clickthrough-marketing.com/








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15. LOCATION EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSLocation extensions display your business’s address and a phone number as part of your ad. They also display a map marker, so local customers can easily pinpoint your location.


On mobile devices, your ads will also display a link with directions to your business location. You can specify multiple locations by adding them to Google My Business.

You can choose to target consumers within a certain radius of the business location, and you can also set different bids depending on customers’ distance from this location.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTLocation extensions are designed to drive in-store visits. This makes them beneficial for businesses that operate bricks-and-mortar stores, but also advertise online.

And because they’re tailored for mobile, they’re particularly useful for companies that can provide solutions to the ad-hoc problems that mobile users are often looking to solve.

For example, location extensions would be ideal for businesses offering emergency car repairs or locksmithing, as location is one of the most important factors that influence a customer’s decision to use these services.

That doesn’t mean other businesses should think twice about using location extensions. e-Commerce retailers with physical stores, for instance, can use location extensions to entice customers who feel like browsing, or want to get hold of an item right away.



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ASK YOURSELF

• Could my strategy benefit from targeting local customers?

• Am I signed up to Google My Business? You need to be signed up for this service if you want to use location extensions, and you must link your Google My Business account to your AdWords account.

• If you’re already using location extensions, are they showing up? If not, you may have to take steps to increase your ad rank to get them to display in the SERPs.

• And are you getting the results you want? If not, you may have to adjust your targeting radii – try running tests with wider and narrower targeting options.

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Location extensions should form part of a wider local strategy: To get the best results from your use of location extensions, it’s wise to think of them in the context of your wider local marketing strategy. This means tying in local SEO (for example, by optimising your Google My Business listings), as well as communicating effectively with different branches of your business to ensure your approach best meets their needs.

• Make sure you’re keeping track of consumer interest: You can view performance stats by clicking on the Campaigns tab, and selecting the relevant campaign. Next, click on the Ad extensions tab and select location extensions.

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16. SELLER RATINGS

THE BASICSSeller ratings are similar to review extensions (see page 48), except they display star ratings instead of review snippets.

The rating displayed in your ads is an average all-time rating taken from several sources. These sources include Google Certified Shops, Google Consumer Surveys, and third-party review websites such as TrustPilot, Feefo and Reevoo.

To qualify for seller ratings, you need to consistently receive at least 30 customer ratings per month, and these ratings must average out at 3.5 or greater.

Seller ratings are enabled by default. You need to opt out if you don’t want seller ratings to be displayed. However, they will never appear for businesses who have an average rating below 3.5.

There is no charge to add seller ratings to ads.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTThird-party opinions build trust – so seller ratings are almost always a good idea. They can help to increase click-through rates and

conversion rates, by making your ads and your business more attractive to customers.

We would recommend that all businesses opt-in to seller ratings. The only exception would be if your rating is noticeably lower than your competitors – in this case, seller ratings could actually harm click-through rate.If this is the case, the best course of action is to review your customer service and review incentives strategies.

ASK YOURSELF:

• Are your seller ratings appearing? If not, make sure you receive enough positive reviews each month, and ensure you haven’t opted out of the programme.

• What are your competitors’ ratings? You should only consider opting out if your competitors have significantly higher ratings than you.

• How can I improve my rating? Consider incentivising users to leave positive reviews – and remind users to leave reviews at the point of sale, and in customer communications. This means incorporating seller ratings into your wider marketing strategy.

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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Don’t be afraid of reviews. It’s natural to be nervous about bad reviews, but we’re all human! It’s better to get a bad review and deal with it positively, than it is to receive no reviews at all.

• Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. If you were browsing for a hotel on TripAdvisor, say, and it had nothing but positive reviews, it would look suspicious. People know that customers aren’t always 100% happy – what will make you stand out from the crowd is the way you interact with these unhappy customers. By showing visitors you’ll work hard to make them happy, you’re helping to address fears that may otherwise cause roadblocks in their conversion journey.



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17. SOCIAL EXTENSIONS

THE BASICSSocial extensions show customers how many followers you have on Google+, as part of your search ads.


For social extensions to display, your business needs to have a Google+ page. You

can set this up using Google My Business. Your business also needs to have at least 100 followers on Google+, and to have posted “recent, high-quality posts”.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTSocial extensions show customers that you’re a large, trusted brand that engages with customers on social media. They help to build consumer trust and could help increase click-through rates.



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Social extensions appear automatically, as long as you have a Google+ business page that’s linked to Google My Business – and you meet the criteria for having an ‘active’ presence on the social network. If you meet these criteria, you only have to sit back and wait for the extensions to show up!

However, if your business doesn’t have an active Google+ presence (and, let’s face it, many don’t), then you should consider these extensions low priority. This is because the work needed to build a following on Google+ may outweigh the benefits that social extensions provide.

ASK YOURSELF:

• Is my business active on Google+? If not, then consider whether it’s worth putting the time and energy in to building and maintaining a Google+ presence.

• Are my competitors using social extensions? If they’re not, then they could give you a real competitive advantage in search.

• If you think you already qualify for social extensions, are they showing up? If not, make sure that your Google+ page is linked to your business’s website, and your landing page domain is the same.

BEST-PRACTICE TIP

• Tie in your social media strategy. As part of your overall social media strategy, make sure you’re using Google+ as a social channel, and that you’re posting frequently.

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CAMPAIGN TARGETING



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18. SEARCH TARGETING

THE BASICSTargeting your ads means delivering them to relevant users, on relevant devices, in relevant locations and at the right time.

Google AdWords offers a wide range of targeting options for ads in the Google Search Network and Google Display Network.

The following sections will cover targeting options for the Search Network. This includes Google Search and its Search Partners.

The most basic form of targeting for search ads is keyword targeting. Turn to page 14 for advice on building effective keyword lists.

The other main targeting options are device targeting, and location and language targeting. We will provide in-depth advice for these targeting options on the following pages.

Display targeting is also an important aspect of account set-up. We will cover this in part three of our eBook series, which focusses on display and remarketing.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTOn a basic level, you need some targeting in place – keyword targeting – for your ads to appear at all. Otherwise Google wouldn’t know what to do with your ads!

But the true power of targeting becomes apparent when you dig a little deeper into AdWords’ targeting options.

Targeting your ads to users in certain locations, or to certain devices, gives you more control over the kind of customer who sees your ads. Your job, as manager of your AdWords account, is to ensure the needs of these customer groups are aligned with the messaging of your ads.

Get this right, and the benefits are tremendous. For example, by targeting people who are in a position to buy, you could expect better CTR and more conversions, as well as better control over budget – because clicks won’t be wasted on unqualified visitors.



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THE BASICSAs the name implies, location and language targeting lets you target your ads to users based on their geographical location, or the language their device is set to use.

Location targetingYou can set a target location at campaign level. The location you choose can be a country, an area within a country, or a set radius around a specified place. You can also choose to target areas based on the average household income (US only) or to target a specific place of interest (like an airport or university).

If you target multiple locations, you can also set bid adjustments for each location. By setting these adjustments higher/lower, you increase/decrease the likelihood of an ad appearing for users in these locations.

Google determines users’ locations using a variety of signals, including their IP address and the Google domain they use to search (e.g. Google.co.uk or Google.co.jp).

Language targetingLike location targeting, language targeting is set at campaign level. By choosing a target language, you are targeting your ads to users based on the language settings of their Google interface, among other signals.

Remember that AdWords won’t automatically translate ads or keywords for you.

Targeting languages and locationsAdWords lets you set targets for locations and languages for a single campaign. Usually these settings will correspond to one another – for example, an ad set to target the UK would typically also target English-speaking users.

19. LOCATION AND LANGUAGE TARGETING



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There are situations where these settings could differ, however. For instance, an airline advertising cheap flights from Spain to the UK may wish to target a campaign to English-speaking ex-pats living in Spain.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTLocation and language targeting is a powerful tool that can help fulfil a wide range of business needs. But put simply, it helps ensure your ad is shown to users who understand your messaging, and are in a position to buy your product or use your service.

For instance, there’s no point targeting all markets if you only deliver within your home country. And if you do deliver abroad, it’s important to ensure your message is understood, so you should set up language targeting appropriately.

“Location and language targeting is a powerful tool that can help fulfil a wide range of business needs.”



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Here are a few examples of how location and language targeting can help businesses improve results:

Example One – A Bricks-and-Mortar Business With Several UK LocationsSam runs a chain of stores selling tennis equipment and clothing. His three stores are located in Manchester, Glasgow and Norwich – three UK cities that are hundreds of miles apart. His website has no e-Commerce functionality, so customers have to visit his stores to make a purchase.

Sam knows from experience that his customers will typically travel up to 50 miles to buy his products. He creates a targeted campaign for each branch, and sets a targeting radius of 50 miles for each one.

Example Two – Highly-Targeted Settings for a Niche BusinessAnni is a Brazilian caterer who serves the Greater London area. Her customers are mainly Portuguese-speaking Brazilian ex-pats. Anni sets her campaign location to cover only the Greater London area, and sets the

language to Portuguese. She also creates a campaign for English speakers targeted to the Greater London area, but sets lower bids for this campaign.

Example Three – Opportunity- Based TargetingMary runs a pancake-making firm that offers a 24-hour delivery service to help people who really, really want pancakes. She has branches across the country.

Mary knows that customers are only likely to search for her service in critical times of need. What’s more, they want to use a service that’s based close by, so they don’t have to wait hours for their pancakes to arrive.

Mary sets up special campaigns for each of her branches, targeted to users in respective cities. Additionally, she targets users within a seven-mile radius of her branches, and sets a bid adjustment so ads are more likely to appear for these users.



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ASK YOURSELF

• Are my campaigns targeted to the correct locations and markets? If not, ensure that they are! You could be spending money unnecessarily.

• Are my location settings too wide or too narrow? Run tests to adjust your location settings until you discover the ‘sweet spot’ that gets the best results.

• Are there any opportunities to target specific areas or languages? For example, are you running location-specific promotions? Or are certain areas more in-line with your audience demographics?

• Could I achieve more with advanced settings? Mary, in the example, used advanced location settings to create highly targeted campaigns. Could you do something similar? Remember to run tests before committing to widespread changes.

SHORTCUT

• You can add bulk lists of target locations using the AdWords interface. Under the location targeting section of your campaign settings, click ‘Advanced Search’ then ‘Bulk Locations’. Here you can paste a list of up to 1,000 locations to target.

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20. AD SCHEDULING

THE BASICSAd scheduling lets you choose when your ads are displayed to browsers. You can choose to turn ads on and off during certain days of the week, or hours of the day – such as business hours.

You can also use bid adjustments to increase or decrease your bids during a chosen time period. By default ads are set to display 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Also, ad scheduling will only work for campaigns with ‘All features’ enabled under the Settings tab.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTAd scheduling is essential for properly managing your budget and targeting the right customers.

It can get complicated. So we’re going to cover ad scheduling in detail in book two of this series, which focusses on optimising your account.

As this is the set-up stage, you should concentrate on ensuring your ads appear during your best-performing hours of the day.

If you’re just setting up your account, don’t worry about setting up bid adjustments or any other advanced settings – it’s enough to make sure your ads appear when your customers are searching.



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ASK YOURSELF

Are my ads appearing when my customers need them? Make sure you’ve scheduled your ads to show when you receive the highest volume of sales or enquiries.

BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Be aware of competitors. If you have ad scheduling set up on brand keywords, are you sure that you’re protecting yourself from competitors? Look for gaps in your schedule when competitors could pounce to steal traffic.

• Keep an eye on the time! By default, AdWords presents time using the 12-hour (AM/PM) clock format. This means it can be quite easy to mistakenly schedule ads at, say, two o’clock in the morning rather than two o’clock in the afternoon! It is also important to make sure you set your account up in your local time zone, as once set you cannot change this.

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21. SEARCH PARTNERS

THE BASICSSearch Partners are sites that host Google Search ads. These partners form part of the Google Search Network, alongside Google Search itself.

Participating sites include other Google products like Maps and YouTube, as well as third parties like AOL. Google says there are hundreds of Search Partners, but hasn’t published a full list.

When your ads appear on a partner site, they may appear within on-site search results, or on a page that features relevant content.

Search Partners are enabled by default – advertisers have to opt out of displaying their ads on the Google Search Network.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTThere’s no hard and fast recommendation for Search Partners. But it’s often a good idea

to enable them, because it can drastically improve the visibility of your ads.

Questions to Ask• Have Search Partners been enabled

across all campaigns? If not, why not? Have results been tested on a campaign-by-campaign basis?

• Are Search Partners impacting on performance? The only way to know this is to test!

“Search Partners are enabled by default – advertisers have to opt out of displaying their ads on the Google Search Network.”



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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Test on a campaign-by-campaign basis. You should test Search Partner performance for each of your campaigns. If Search Partners are deactivated for a campaign, try activating them for three months to check conversion rates versus search-only performance. If there’s a noteworthy disparity, deactivate them again.

• Don’t worry about Quality Score. Unlike with search-only ads, the CTR of ads displayed on Search Partners does not affect your Quality Score.



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22. MOBILE BID ADJUSTMENTS

THE BASICSMobile bid adjustments (or mobile bid modifiers) let you adjust how often your ads appear on different types of devices. These adjustments can be made at the campaign or ad group level.

Google groups devices into two categories. Mobile phones make up one category, and devices with larger screens like desktops and tablets are grouped into the second category.

You can only adjust bids for the mobile device category. You do this by assigning a positive or negative percentage value. These values represent the amount of deviation from the ‘base’ bid value.

A +50% bid modifier on mobile, for example, means that AdWords will apply mobile bids that are 1.5 times the value of your base bid(s), while a -50% modifier will bid at half the base bid value, and so on.

The bid adjustment range for mobile devices is -90% to +300%. Or, by applying a -100% bid modifier on mobile, you can choose to opt out of displaying your ads on mobile devices. You may wish to opt out of advertising on mobile devices if your website is not optimised to display on mobile. However, we recommend you optimise your site as soon as possible, and then consider increasing your bid modifier for mobile to drive traffic to your new, mobile-optimised site.

You can’t remove tablets and desktops from your targeting.

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANTMobile devices are changing the way the world works, and AdWords has changed to suit it.



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Bid adjustments were introduced in 2013 as part of AdWords enhanced campaigns. This spelt the end of mobile-specific campaigns, as you could no longer exclude desktops and tablets from your targeting.

You can use bid modifiers to heavily swing your spending towards mobile, but there’s still a chance they’ll be delivered to desktop users.

Why did AdWords do this? Because it isn’t constructive to think of mobile and desktop customers as distinct groups. In our multi-device world, mobile is simply another part of the customer research journey.

So, your job is to recognise the needs and behaviours of mobile users, and make sure

that relevant ads are visible to these potential customers – with the knowledge that they’ll also appear on desktop.

How and why you do this will be specific to your business. But keep in mind that mobile search users are typically looking to satisfy one of two needs:

• Product research – Mobile users may be browsing sites to find information on products and pricing. They may be on their daily commute, sitting at home in front of the television, or in a shop researching competitors’ prices. Either way, when they eventually make their purchase, they’ll typically have moved to a desktop or tablet device.



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• Location-specific action – Mobile users may be seeking a quick solution to an immediate need. This will typically involve a product or service that’s local to them. For example, they may be shopping on the high street, and looking for a particular store. Or they may need a problem solving – for instance, they may be searching for a local plumber to fix a burst water pipe.

How do you cater to these users? Let’s take a typical e-Commerce retailer – Bob’s Best Fashions – as an example.

Bob’s site is mobile-optimised, but he finds that conversion rates are still much lower on smartphones than on desktops or tablets. From this fact he deduces that many of his mobile users fall into the ‘product research’ category, so he creates mobile-targeted campaigns and ensures the messaging is appropriate for users who are not yet ready to buy.

However, Bob also knows that some of his customers fall into the ‘location-specific action’ category – those who are looking for one of Bob’s high street branches. For this reason, he also actively targets ads for his store locator tool to mobile device users.

Your business will likely use mobile bid adjustments differently. The important thing is to be aware of mobile users’ needs, and consider how you can fulfil these needs.

And remember to test everything in increments so you can clearly see what works and what doesn’t!

ASK YOURSELF

• Have mobile bid adjustments been applied? If not, we recommend you experiment with different bid adjustments to find the optimum performance (aiming for positions #1 or #2).

• Are they set too high or too low? Experiment by making incremental adjustments and tracking results.

• What proportion of visitors to your site are mobile users? Are your ads and landing pages fulfilling their needs?

• Are your ads mobile-optimised? Get to know your mobile customers’ behaviours, and adjust your messaging accordingly.

• Is your site mobile-optimised? It’s always important to provide a good mobile user experience. But if your competitors have mobile-optimised sites and you don’t, the need becomes even more pressing.

“Get to know your mobile customers’ behaviours, and adjust your messaging accordingly.”

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BEST-PRACTICE TIPS

• Aim high! If you’re pushing a campaign to mobile users, aim to reach position #1 or #2. Mobile users are far less likely than desktop users to scroll below the first couple of results.

• Be aware of setting multiple bid adjustments. Here’s how they work: If you set a bid adjustment at campaign and ad group level, the latter will override the former. The exception to this rule is if mobile bids are adjusted to -100% at campaign level. This stops mobile ads appearing for all ad groups within that campaign.

• If your site isn’t optimised for smartphones, it may be worth opting out of mobile ads entirely. This is because a non-optimised site can present such an obstacle to conversion that it’s not worth paying for the clicks. This needs to be decided on a site-by-site basis, and should be tested before a firm decision is made.



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ClickThrough is a digital marketing agency, providing web development, search engine optimisation, pay per click management, conversion optimisation and content marketing services.

Since 2004, ClickThrough has helped several companies from big brands to small start-ups grow Google rankings, boost conversions, increase return on digital marketing investment, and stretch Internet marketing budgets to get value for money.

We pride ourselves on giving honest advice based on the latest digital marketing best practices. Our RITE core values of Results, Innovation, Trust and Excellence drive everything we do.

; A proven and trusted agency since 2004

; Creators of BidCops.com - Europe’s leading free AdWords Auditing Tool

; We are a Top 100 Agency on Recommended Agency Register

; We have published several books on digital marketing, sold on Amazon

; Proven track record from our work with clients including Peugeot, Dunelm, Biffa and Halfords Autocentres

; Our people all receive our industry-leading, Digital Academy training

; Active members of the IAB, eConsultancy and SEMPO

; Thought leaders, giving clients the inside track on what matters in search, social media and the digital marketplace... before it happens!

Whether you are thinking of changing your search or digital marketing agency, or just looking to improve your online conversion rate, our team of search conversion experts can help.

Find out what we can do to grow your business. Call us on 0800 088 7486 or visit www.clickthrough-marketing.com

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