Google Ads (the erstwhile AdWords) has become far more intuitive and easy to use than in years past. But despite a simplified interface, greater data transparency, and more features, Google Ads still has its share of nuances and complexities.
Google Ads is often a difficult platform to make profitable for most businesses: Competition in Google Search is greater by the day, and the dynamic nature of PPC advertising demands consistent monitoring, tweaking, and ,above all, simply knowing where to look.
Becoming a proficient PPC advertiser requires a fundamental understanding of how certain things work, including basics like keyword match types and the important distinction between campaigns and ad groups—but also more advanced features, such as understanding how to read a Search Terms report, employ negative keywords, and leverage ad extensions.
Though most of those things may seem obvious for experienced PPC advertisers, there may be a couple of ideas and approaches in this article that might be useful even for the experienced. To demonstrate these Google Ads tips, I take you through real client accounts that I manage to best articulate the importance behind each tip.
1. Understand your chosen bidding strategy
Upon creating a new campaign or adjusting a campaign’s existing settings, Google Ads makes it easy to select a bidding strategy (Maximize Clicks, Maximize Conversions, Enhanced CPC, Manual CPC, etc.).
However, without fully understanding how those bidding strategies work, you could end up consuming your daily budget rather quickly.