If the thought of running your own Google Ads account has you overwhelmed with a capital O, then let me start by saying – you are not alone.
Google ads are wonderful (obvi I love them!) but when you’re doing it for the first time? It’s a lot. A whole different language to learn, before you even get started on what a good strategy looks like.
In saying that, I very much think that in most cases an Ads manager is not needed, and will only cut into your profitability.
So whether you’re not in a position to pay for an Ads manager, or it’s simply not an option for whatever other reason – this blog post is for you.
Here are my top tips for quick wins – because if you get started in the right way? Then everything else is a Whole. Lot. Easier.
Top tip number 1:
Make sure your account is in expert mode. You want all the bells and whistles available (even if you’re not ready to use them) and that just won’t be possible if you dive head first into a smart campaign.
Just look at the bottom of the screen when you are first setting up your account for the line that says “Are you a professional marketer? Switch to Expert Mode” and make the switcheroo.
If you have already set up your account and it’s not in expert mode, click on the Tools icon in the top right corner and select “Switch to Expert Mode”.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy, am I right?
Top tip number 2:
Pick good keywords. Easier said than done I know, but your keywords are the foundation of your ads so they are worthy of your time and attention.
When you are first starting out, you want to drill down into the niche of your biz and go after the MOST relevant terms. They need to be specific, otherwise you’ll be throwing money down the draino.
Want a hot tip within a tip? Yes please!
Use your website. After all, that’s where you’ll be sending people after they have clicked your ads. You want to make sure your keywords, ads and website all talk the same lingo otherwise your bounce rate will go through the roof and your ads won’t convert.
For example, if you’re a hairdresser that specializes in hair extensions – and your website copy reflects this – then you probably don’t want to be bidding on keywords like ‘colourist’ ‘kids hairdresser’ ‘short hair-do’ etc. because:
- it’s hairdressing related but only very loosely related to your services and
- you’ll be competing with other hairdressers that do offer those services and
- you’ll be annoying people that land on your website expecting to book their kids in for their bi-annual trim, only to find that you only take bookings for hair extensions.
Top tip number 3:
Start off with manual bidding. Yes, it’s more work. Google will want you to use their bidding strategies but I’ll let you in on a secret. For them to work well? You need lots of good data in your account. Otherwise, Google has no idea what to do and guess what? That’s more money down the draino.
Manual bidding allows you to learn with your account what works and what doesn’t. When you first start out, regardless of how well thought out your strategy is – everything is a test. There’ll be keywords that you are very attached to (yes, really) that just don’t perform. There’ll be other keywords that you never thought of that bring in the dolla dolla bills, y’all.
Manual bidding allows you to maximise your returns on the things that are working, and spend less on the things that don’t. Plus, it’ll get you in your account more often, which is good because the more time you spend learning what works in your account, the better your results will be.
Top tip number 4:
Set. Up. Your. Conversion. Tracking. Correctly.
Otherwise? You guessed it. Even more money down that damn drain(o). Conversion tracking can be a tricky beast to set up correctly but it’s worth learning how to do it properly so that you can be confident in how well your ads are performing.
Luckily for you my signature Google Ads course, Profitable Promotion, kicks off again in May. Over 12 wonderful weeks, I teach you step by step how to run Google Ads so that you never need an Ads manager, even when the money is piling in so fast you’ve run out of mattresses to hide it under. (Don’t do that, by the way).
Jump on the waitlist – it’s an investment you can’t afford to miss out on.
