Managing A Google Ads Account: Three Avoidable Mistakes

Managing a Google Ads account can seem like walking a tightrope: do the right things, and enjoy great returns, but do the wrong things and the consequences can be dire. Most of the time, however, simple mistakes cause accounts to fail – and they are completely avoidable!

Lead Horse handles PPC management for accounts of all sizes, and in time we have identified three key areas where the most mistakes can be made:

Mistake 1: Not Following Ad Copy Best Practices

Too often advertisers don’t follow the best practices of ad copy.

There are a few things to consider when creating ad copy and managing ad copy:

• – Include the keyword in Headline 1 and again in the description. This ensures that this is the first thing someone sees when looking at your ad. Also, when you include the keyword in the description, it will be bolded in the ad and stand out more.
• – Include a call-to-action in the description. The call-to-action should be relevant to your conversion action. For example, if you’re tracking leads and want people to call your business, include “Call Us Today” in the description.
• – For Headline 2, we usually include a value proposition. This is something that sets your business apart from other businesses like it. An example of this would be “Serving the Area Since 1950”.

Beyond the ad copy itself, it is important to run frequent tests to make sure all versions of your copy are performing. Ignoring ad copy once it’s created is a big mistake! Just like everything involved in managing a PPC account, ad copy requires maintenance and testing. If you are optimizing for best performing ads, make sure Google is actually optimizing for the best versions and not just the ones with high click-through-rates.

Mistake 2: Not Running Search Query Reports

The importance of running search query reports cannot be overstated. At Lead Horse, we run SQR’s every week.

These reports are simple to run; however, avoiding them can result in a lot of wasted spend.

We usually run SQR’s for the last 30 days and filter by impressions (largest to smallest).

SQR’s help us identify inefficient search terms, irrelevant search terms, and high performing search terms:

• – Irrelevant search terms are easy to identify if you have a good understanding of your account. You can just add those irrelevant terms to a negative keyword list.
• – To identify inefficient and high performing keywords, it is important to know your account goals. If you have a cost-per-acquisition goal of $40 and you see that a search term has spent $93 without a conversion, it may be a good idea to add that term as a negative keyword.
• – On the contrary, if you have the same goal of $40 and a search term with a cost-per-conversion of $11, it would be a good idea to build out that search term as a keyword in the account.

By running SQR’s frequently, you can make your account as efficient as possible. If you don’t do these frequently, try mining for keyword additions and negative keywords separately and alternating every other week.

Mistake 3: Forgetting Documentation

Documenting the changes you’ve made to your account may be the most important thing you can do. A lot of changes will appear in the “Change History” tab in your account, but there are some that won’t appear there.

We like to make a separate Google Doc for all clients labeled “Important Dates.” Here we can document changes not included in “Change History.” This document can include things like ad copy tests, changes in landing pages, changes in account goals, etc. Basically, include all things that Google Ads won’t be able to track.

If your account fluctuates in performance, having these changes documented will allow you to pinpoint when changes were made and what impact they had. From there you can revert changes made or make further improvements to your account.

Manage Your Google Ads Account Successfully…or Call Lead Horse!

It is easy to overlook these simple but important elements of running a Google Ads account. However, doing so can cause performance to slip.

We recommend setting up reminders to run ad copy tests and search query reports (ad copy tests should be done less frequently than SQR’s to gather data). It would also be a good idea to set up a document with best practices to follow when creating ad copy.

We have found that focusing on the three elements discussed allows us to be more efficient when managing accounts.

Lead Horse is Atlanta’s top Pay Per Click Management Agency. If you’re reviewing your Google Ads account and need a fresh set of eyes, schedule a discovery call with Lead Horse today!