{"id":596,"date":"2016-12-17T18:53:04","date_gmt":"2016-12-17T14:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/optimizationup.com\/?p=596"},"modified":"2016-12-17T18:53:04","modified_gmt":"2016-12-17T14:53:04","slug":"adwords-account-optimization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/optimizationup.com\/adwords-account-optimization\/","title":{"rendered":"Is my AdWords Account Fully Optimized?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many performance marketers always want to know the secret to AdWords success. They wonder what advanced features other accounts use and what a master AdWords <\/a><\/span>account looks like. \u00a0I am sure you’ve heard this question many times, is my AdWords account fully optimized?<\/p>\n

Today we are going answer all of these questions, but before we jump into the details and methodologies. There’s one question\u00a0that needs to be answered first,<\/p>\n

Are my AdWords campaigns successful?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

To have an answer for this question, of course, you need to have a goal and this goal should be your primary KPI that affects your business\u00a0bottom line. This KPI is the one that matters the most to your business. It could be a specific ROI value or a target cost per acquisition.<\/p>\n

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In this article, we are going to go over three main aspects or categories that can lead to a super account. We are going to start first with the foundation and move to advanced features that can generate growth and maximize performance and finally the cutting edge to a super account. Let’s get down to business:<\/p>\n

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1-Essential<\/span><\/h4>\n

First of all, you should set up the basics right before you try to maximize the performance and ROI. Essential elements include all the below pillars or features:<\/p>\n

Structure<\/h5>\n

Having an effective AdWords<\/a><\/span> account structure is like having a solid foundation for a building.\u00a0The initial structure and setup of your Google AdWords account will go a long way in helping you achieve your paid search goals. There is no ideal account structure, an ideal account structure is going to be different for a local advertiser compared with a national or international one. What we recommend you at least respect the words hierarchy below in organizing your campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads.<\/p>\n

Naming Conventions<\/h5>\n

Naming conventions can be a great time saver when navigating an account. It’s also a core element in building\u00a0up a granular\u00a0report that can help achieving meticulous analysis. \u00a0Naming conventions make it clear how your account is structured to help you and your team understand where to add new ad groups, keywords, and ads. Here\u2019s what we suggest you put in your campaign name:<\/p>\n

Channel:<\/strong><\/span> This is so important if you are advertising across multiple channels especially in exploring a campaign report on Google Analytics.
\nNetwork:<\/strong><\/span> To distinguish between your search or display campaigns.
\nTarget Market: <\/strong><\/span>where your campaigns are running.
\nLanguage:<\/span> <\/strong>what’s the language of your keywords and ads?
\nTheme\/Category:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0This decides the keywords which go into the campaigns. Use the structure of your site if your website has a rigid structure or chooses themes if that suits you better.
\nBrand\/Non-Brand:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Keeping your brand terms separate is best practice.
\nMatch Type:<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>If you split your campaigns by match type then include the match type in the campaign name to inform everyone that this campaign should only have a particular match type added to it.<\/p>\n

Conversion Tracking<\/h5>\n

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0Setting up conversion tracking can help you see how effectively your ad clicks lead to valuable customer activity on your websites, such as purchases, sign-ups, and form submissions. You either import Google Analytics<\/a><\/span> transactions\/goals to AdWords or you to place the AdWords conversion pixel to your website.<\/p>\n

Make sure also to measure minor goals like sign ups or newsletter subscriptions. This will also help you and the algorithm understand your customers better. And always keep in mind the more data the system can collect, the more accurate decisions the system can make.<\/p>\n

Quality Score<\/h5>\n

Quality Score is Google’s rating of the quality and relevance of both your keywords and PPC ads. It is used to determine your cost per click (CPC) and multiplied by your maximum bid to determine your ad rank in the ad auction process. \u00a0Quality Score matters because it is representative of the relevance of your ads to users\u2019 search queries.<\/p>\n

Negative Keywords<\/h5>\n

Negative keywords let you exclude search terms from your campaigns. This can help you focus on only the keywords that matter to your customers. Better targeting can put your ad in front of interested users\u00a0and increase your return on investment (ROI).<\/p>\n

Ad Extensions<\/h5>\n

AdWords<\/a><\/span> extensions provide the opportunity to add more information to your ad than the basic headline, URL, and ad copy you\u2019re traditionally able to use. This extra information helps your ad to stand out and get clicked, which in turn will lower your cost per click and in many cases improve conversion rates. Make sure always to enhance your ads with any possible relevant extension.<\/p>\n

A\/B Testing<\/h5>\n

Comparing two versions of your text ads or landing pages to see which one performs better is essential for the success of your campaigns and results. \u00a0A\/B testing will help you make more out of your existing traffic. While the cost of acquiring paid traffic can be huge, the cost of increasing your conversions is minimal. So, always make sure to add at least two copies of your text ads in each ad group.<\/p>\n

2-Advanced<\/span><\/h4>\n

If you have the basics set up right from the beginning, it’s time now to go and maximize performance and ROI through all the coming features:<\/p>\n

Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)<\/h5>\n

Dynamic Search Ads use your website to target your ads and can help fill in the gaps of your keywords-based campaigns.\u00a0Think of DSAs as a\u00a0broad match for your landing pages. AdWords uses details from your landing pages to decide whether to enter an ad into the auction on a given search query. Assuming it judges the search query a good fit, it dynamically generates an appropriate headline and landing page to show.<\/p>\n

Without DSA, even well-managed AdWords accounts with many keywords can miss relevant searches, experience delays getting ads written for new products, or get out of sync with what’s actually available on your website.<\/p>\n

Having them running in the background makes sure you don\u2019t miss out on changes in user behavior or new keyword trends<\/p>\n

RLSA<\/h5>\n

Remarketing lists for search ads allow advertisers to tailor their search campaigns based on whether a user has previously visited their website (or app), and the pages that user viewed.<\/p>\n

RLSAs can be used in two ways:<\/p>\n