Google Ads is a powerful tool to promote your business on the Internet and leave the competition behind. However, it can also be a little tricky to use or have exploited to its fullest potential.
Therefore, it is very common to see cases of companies that try to fly solo in Google Ads and end up making a series of mistakes that harm the progress of their campaigns and throw precious money into the trash can.
If you want to avoid failure check out the selection we made with the most common mistakes on the platform and tips on how to use Google Ads on a daily basis.
What are the most common mistakes made in Google Ads?
Start now by looking at what to avoid when creating campaigns using Google Ads, most people make these mistakes so if you avoid them, you will already be in front of your competitors. Follow up!
1. Not investing in skilled labor
This is undoubtedly one of the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs when starting to invest in Google Ads.
Although the tool is intuitive and easy to use, it is necessary to pay attention and care to several details, know how to do a good analysis of results, cross data and identify the best strategies to execute your actions.
Therefore, it is recommended to have a qualified and specialized professional to take care of the digital marketing of your business.
2. Choosing the wrong type of ad in Google Ads
There are two types of ads in Google Ads: the Display Ad and the Search Ad.
Advertising on the Display Network is exposing your brand on blogs and websites of the Google network with subjects related to your ad. The Search Network is more recommended for those looking for direct conversion in their ads.
The wrong ad type in Google Ads can waste your money besides not getting any results.
3. Not limiting the target location of the ads
If you own a business that operates locally and do not limit your target location to your local area in Google Ads, you’re missing out on a great opportunity to grow your business.
When your products or services can be sold or distributed nationwide, then it makes sense to advertise on Google Ads nationally. But if you operate locally – like a bakery, dentist, repair shop or supermarket – then it’s better to make an ad targeting only your location.
If you use something in your ad copy that only people at your local area can understand like jargons, local news, it can increase even more your results.
4. Not segmenting your campaign’s target audience in Google Ads
One of the best tools within Google Ads is the ability to segment the target audience of your campaign. What does that mean? It means that you can choose exactly the profile of the person you want to see your ad.
Imagine that you own a gym just for women in Chicago. It is possible to make specific ads for, for example, three types of audience: one for young women up to 30 years old, another for women from 30 to 55 and another for women over 55 years old.
When we regionalize the ad in Google Ads, it only appears to people who are geographically close to you. If you only work in Quad Cities, you don’t have to pay or waste time advertising for those who are in Galesburg or Iowa City.
5. Ignore long-tail keywords in your campaign
One of the most common mistakes made in Google Ads campaigns is ignoring the effectiveness of long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are those that are very specific and have a lower amount of searches. Because they are more specific, they also tend to have a higher conversion rate!
For example, imagine that you own a hotel and is bidding on the keyword “hotel in Galena”. You will likely get a lot of clicks, but many of them won’t close a deal. After all, they are still looking at hotels, which will cause their conversion rate to drop.
However, if you bet on the keyword “hotel in Galena with breakfast included” it is likely that you will have fewer clicks – but you will also have a higher conversion.
6. Not measuring the campaign during and after an action
Finally, it is worth remembering another very common mistake made by those who invest in Google Ads: the lack of metrication during and after an action. Many companies simply let the campaign run wild, without controlling their results in real time, and many others do not even analyze the results after the campaign has been launched.
You need to track the campaign’s performance while it’s active (to fix crashes or issues) and then carefully review it when it’s finished.
7. Not knowing your buyer persona and customer journey
Contrary to what many entrepreneurs think, they do not know their consumers. There is a fine line between the consumer you hope to reach and the person who actually buy from you.
To make a difference in the market, you need to know how to analyze these two realities and find who your persona really is and how it behaves. For this, it is interesting that you follow your customers and find out what their preferences and consumption habits are.
When carrying out a good study of personas, you need to raise some points and work each one of them in the best way possible. Are they:
- Level of education
- Interests;
- What are the goals of these people;
- What are their biggest difficulties;
- What are their most common purchase objections;
- What are the channels where they seek information;
- How are the day-to-day routines;
- How your company can help them.
Answering all these questions will help you find the most interesting consumer profiles for your business and create a communication routine that really makes sense to these people, choosing the most accurate language, channel and moments.
However, it takes a time and effort to understand the personas and know their buying journey: doing this analysis in a professional and strategic way is essential.
8. Not keeping up with the competition
To advertise on Google Ads or make any other type of investment in communication, it is essential that you follow the competition and see what they have been doing.
Competition can be an excellent way to gain insights and find out what mistakes and successes the market is having.
9. Forgetting to update the price of products in campaigns
Optimizing ads is critical to maintaining profitability and ensuring the success of these campaigns continues to grow. That’s why you need to pay attention to the smallest details: if you change the value, shipping conditions, payment methods and other details, you also need to change the ads that are running.
Otherwise, the user will be impacted with one piece of information and will receive another when clicking on your campaign, generating stress, causing loss of sales and even resulting in signs of misleading advertising.
Therefore, you need to work with the utmost attention to detail. A tip is to use a checklist to make changes to the ads after changing the site’s content.
10. Not using the ad schedule feature
It is also possible to choose which are the times of placement of the ads, as well as how much money will be used in each of these moments.
It is interesting to configure so that your campaigns take place within a time when you can provide service to the public, if necessary. It is also interesting that you evaluate the results of the campaigns and identify which are the times when the most conversions occur. With this information, it is also possible to optimize investments and ensure a higher conversion rate.
11. Choosing the wrong keywords
Keywords are the foundation of any Google Ads campaign. However, it is common to find companies that choose the worst options of terms to use, and this directly influences the results.
To avoid this error, you need to pay attention to a few details:
- Keywords must match your ads’ destination URLs;
- Choose keywords that are present on the landing page to increase the ad score;
- Start your campaign with more focused keywords, and expand if necessary;
- Take the opportunity to explore exact matches and sentence amplifications;
- Analyze what are the most common search terms used by your target audience.
You also need to keep an eye out for negative keywords. Analyze which ads are driving conversions and which are just driving clicks. See if these results are really valuable to your business and optimize your ad strategy, choosing the words that really bring real conversions for your business.
12. Create only one ad per ad group
Really, it’s important to make comparisons with your company’s ads. But for that you need to have a minimum amount of ads in each ad group.
Keeping a considerable amount of ads in each group is no problem. So, to make a good comparison, be careful:
- Create ad groups with at least three types each;
- When creating these ads, remember to do them in a very differentiated way, so that you can compare and know exactly what is increasing conversions and what is not;
- Always pause the worst ads to prevent the best performing ones from being harmed.
13. Advertise to the website’s homepage
As mentioned, the destination URL of your ads is critical to ensuring that the conversion is really effective.
As such, it’s bad practice to make your site’s home page the landing page for the ads you’re creating, as this can mean increasing the path between purchase intent and conversion.
For you to really be able to increase the possible results of your company, it is necessary that the URL of the ads direct directly to the purchase page, thus facilitating the user’s journey.
How to stop throwing money away with Google Ads?
Investment in Google Ads undoubtedly brings great benefits to companies. However, it is necessary to work with qualified and experienced professionals, who will be able to design, execute, monitor and optimize your Google Ads strategies in the best possible way.
After all, the results are real, but the damage can also be a reality if you don’t take the necessary care during the process.
These are the most common mistakes made in Google Ads. If you’ve already committed any of them, don’t be ashamed: they are routine and the important thing is to improve in the next actions.
That’s why we always recommend having a partner agency with professionals who know how to use Ads, both for the creation of ads and for the elaboration of your business strategy.
Now, if you are tired of making these mistakes and want to generate results for your business, click on the banner and learn how we can help you!
