Google Ads offers many options for targeted advertising campaigns. While this is valuable for focused campaigns, the sheer volume of options can be overwhelming, leading to errors and ineffective strategies. This article addresses common Google Ads mistakes, providing solutions to optimize your campaigns.

7 Google Ads Mistakes to Avoid

We’ll delve into these seven frequent Google Ads missteps:

1. Using the wrong (or no conversion actions)
2. Pairing Smart Bidding with the wrong goal
3. Auto-applying recommendations
4. Using only broad match keywords
5. Neglecting negative keywords
6. Not having an ad copy testing strategy
7. Underfunding your campaigns

Mistake #1: Using the wrong (or no) conversion actions

Google Ads campaigns aim to boost business sales and visibility. Conversion tracking, utilizing pixels to monitor user actions on websites, helps measure these outcomes. However, this concept often causes confusion. Driving website traffic is desirable, but it doesn’t mean every pageview should be a conversion. Metrics like clicks in Google Ads or pageviews in Google Analytics already track those.

Instead, prioritize high-value actions, like form submissions or purchases, as conversions. Many accounts mistakenly track pageviews as conversions, resulting in numerous “conversions” without actual sales.

How to Fix This

Define specific conversion actions aligned with business growth, ensuring campaign optimization for the right actions. Additionally, avoid other conversion tracking pitfalls.

Mistake #2: Pairing Smart Bidding with the wrong goals

Using Smart Bidding strategies focused on “conversions” with accounts that incorrectly track pageviews as conversions creates a problem. Google offers various Smart Bidding strategies to achieve your goals. My previous post explores the pros and cons of each.

However, combining automated bidding with inaccurate conversion tracking leads to an inefficient system that drives clicks and website visits without significant results. Furthermore, automated bidding and conversion optimization have limitations. Google claims its system can optimize for desired conversions with minimal input. However, based on my experience, taking full control remains crucial.

How to Fix This:

• For 7-10 conversions per week or more, consider conversion-focused automated bidding (Maximize Conversions, Max Conversion Value, tCPA).
• For lower volumes, test various bidding strategies, starting with Maximize Conversions, but be open to Maximize Clicks or Enhanced CPC with regular bid reviews.

Mistake #3: Auto-applying recommendations

Google Ads offers recommendations to optimize campaigns.

Image source While some suggestions are helpful, they’re often based on general best practices and might not align with your specific goals. Reviewing recommendations is crucial, but avoid giving Google full control by automatically applying them. Consider the automatically applied actions:

Google can make significant changes without your direct input if you enable this feature.

How to Fix This

Disable automated recommendations and schedule monthly reviews of Google’s suggestions. Dismiss irrelevant suggestions and apply suitable ones, ensuring you maintain control. Learn more in my post about Google Ads auto-applied recommendations.

Mistake #4: Only using broad match keywords

Google Ads offers three keyword match types: exact, phrase, and broad. While names aren’t as precise as before, broad match remains the broadest, triggering ads for a wider range of queries than exact or phrase.

Broad match keywords are valuable in limited scenarios. Consider broad match if:

• Your account performs well but struggles to scale with exact and phrase terms.
• You have high conversion counts and leverage broad match with Smart Bidding.
• You use Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA) and target known users.

How to Fix This

While not exhaustive, this list highlights the need to focus broad match keywords. Without strong past performance, ample conversion data, or audience targeting, these match types can lead to irrelevant matches and wasted spending, connecting us to our next mistake.

Mistake #5: Not adding negative keywords

Negative keywords prevent irrelevant ad displays, regardless of your keyword match types. For example, if you sell paid t-shirts and someone searches for “free t-shirts,” add “free” as a negative keyword to avoid irrelevant ad displays. Many accounts lack negative keywords, especially when combined with solely using broad match keywords, resulting in wasted spending on non-converting terms.

How to Fix This

Start with obvious negative keywords, then utilize the search terms report in Google Ads (Keywords > Search terms) to analyze search queries.

Add entire search terms or parts of them as negative keywords.

Mistake #6: No ad copy testing strategy

Ad copy is concise, limiting what you can convey. This format ensures equal opportunities for advertisers but necessitates strategic testing.

Responsive search ads offer multiple headlines and descriptions for testing, but high-level variants might focus on different aspects (e.g., quality, price, benefits). This variety makes choosing a direction difficult. Many accounts either have a single ad per ad group, limiting messaging, or numerous variants (5+), fragmenting traffic. Both scenarios necessitate a regular ad testing strategy.

How to Fix This

Follow this cadence for a robust testing strategy:

1. Maintain 2-4 active ad variants per ad group.
2. Run them for a period (e.g., one month) to gather sufficient data.
3. Pause underperforming variants and introduce new ones, always maintaining 2-4 active variants. Continuous testing reveals effective messaging and potential variations for different keywords. Explore my tips on writing impactful Google Ads for further guidance.

Mistake #7: Underfunding your campaigns

This suggestion emphasizes budget allocation and consolidation. Many accounts have high CPCs, quality keywords, but insufficient daily budgets spread across multiple campaigns, limiting performance evaluation. Insufficient daily budgets hinder Google’s ability to optimize campaigns effectively.

How to Fix This

For limited budgets, explore ways to save in Google Ads. Consider nexus-security’s Free Google Ads Grader for optimization. If you’ve implemented previous suggestions, prioritize your account. Focus your budget on the most promising campaign or keyword set, pausing others. Evaluate performance and adjust accordingly.

Achieving Success in Google Ads

Navigating the Google Ads platform can be daunting, especially for beginners. Understanding common mistakes and their solutions empowers you to optimize campaigns effectively. Key Takeaways:

1. Define specific conversion actions.
2. Align Smart Bidding with accurate conversion tracking.
3. Manually review and apply Google’s recommendations.
4. Use a balanced approach to keyword match types.
5. Maintain a negative keyword list.
6. Implement a regular ad copy testing strategy.
7. Allocate sufficient budgets for optimal performance.

By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can ensure your Google Ads campaigns are set up for success. Remember, continuous learning and adaptation are crucial in the ever-evolving world of digital advertising. For more insights, explore fine-print settings in video ad campaigns and discover how our digital marketing solutions can further elevate your advertising efforts.