7 Deadly Google Adwords Sins

If you’re looking for a quick way to get to the top of the search engine results, a Google Adwords campaign can get you there (for a price).

A properly set up Google Adwords account means your business is being displayed to users who are actively searching for what you have to offer and you’re only paying when they click. When done right, this can be really powerful for your business. When done wrong, a Google Adwords campaign can mean a blown advertising budget with little-to-no return seen on your Adwords campaign spend.

Here’s my list of 7 Adwords sins to avoid so you can keep your wallet happy while still getting stellar traffic results.

1 – BROAD Keyword Match

Quite possibly the #1 mistake for newbie Adwords users. Broad matches are in almost every case the wrong move for an Adwords campaign. Broad match on the keyword “hair” would display your ad for “wedding hair,” “hair loss,” “cat hair ball problem,” “marilyn monroe halloween costume hair,” etc.

These matches often result in more traffic to your site BUT it’s hardly ever targeted, relevant traffic. Broad keyword matches are almost always more expensive in terms of cost-per-click as well. Avoid whenever possible.

2 – Being Loose with Location

If you can’t ship internationally, out-of-country searchers don’t need to drive up your cost-per-click costs by clicking on ads unnecessarily served to them. When you set up your Adwords campaign, be sure to tell Google where to limit the ads. (Under Campaign Settings – Audience)

Expert Tip: Even if you serve a large market, selecting a few specific areas for your campaign is a great way to save money on your Adwords budget when you’re first starting out.

3 – No Call to Action

Nudge. Nudge. Nudge. So much of online marketing – and especially online advertising – is making the ASK.

Without a reason to click on your ad, they won’t. Make your reason to click beneficial and clear. “Click for a free quote” or “Download Your Free Guide Here” or “Book Online Today!” etc. Tie this call to action to your goal for the campaign (purchases? sign ups? appointment scheduling?) for higher goal conversions.

4 – ADS IN ALL CAPS

Or other violations of Adwords terms of service. Your ads do get reviewed for relevance/screened for spam. Read and respect the Adwords terms of service – among them, writing your ad text in all caps (so go back to the drawing board if your current copy draft includes CLICK HERE NOW or FREE FREE FREE). Don’t get your campaign suspended for silly and avoidable mistakes.

5 – Focusing on Clicks

Clicks increasing sounds like a good idea but take that thought a little further. People coming to your website and ultimately leaving without doing anything does NOT provide any value to your website. However, if a visitor does something that’s of value to your business (signs up for your newsletter, buys a product, registers for an event, etc.) THAT’S something to focus on.

Set up your Google Analytics to work with your Adwords and track what’s important for your business – conversions. (How? Follow this guide to setting up conversion goals for your site)

6 – Setting and Forgetting

The best Adwords campaign require not only a good setup but also regular maintenance, adjustment, and further experimentation. Setting up your Adwords campaign and then forgetting about it (especially without spending limits installed) is a mistake that’s going to cost you a lot of unwisely spent advertising dollars.

Regularly review and refine your campaign to optimise conversions. Search Engine Journal has a decent piece on this topic – optimizing your Adwords campaign.

7 – Going Up Against the Big Guys

If you’re a small business owner, your Adwords budget is probably not that of the ‘big guns’ like Coca-Cola or Target. Don’t try to be them – keep your campaign keywords list to those that are not in High Competition (check out the Google Keyword Tool for this info). Get creative with your keyword selection.

Best practice says 3-5 words in a keyword phrase is best for getting clicks that are actually looking for the content on your page (versus some other related but not exact match content). Be the bigger fish in the smaller Adwords pond and you’ll end up spending less for potentially even more relevant traffic.

What Do You Think?

Want more Adwords guidance? Check out my beginner’s guide here.

Have you used Google Adwords before? What best practices have you learned? Did you find this article helpful? Let me know in the comments!