In Advertising
How to Review Google Ads Performance // Tips for Analyzing and Improving Results in Google Ads - read the full article about Google Ads tricks, Advertising and Paid online promotion from Loves Data on Qualified.One
Youtube Blogger
Hey there, Benjamin from Loves Data here! In this video, Im going to show you how to review the results of your Google Ads campaigns so you can understand whats working and whats not working in your account.
You will learn how you can check the performance of your ads and your keywords, and I will share tips you can use to begin optimizing your campaigns.
When it comes to viewing your results in Google Ads and optimizing your campaigns, there are lots of different techniques and strategies you can apply.
So in this video, were going to focus on the quickest, easiest things you can do to check and improve performance.
Ive also included links in the description so you can jump to the different topics were about to cover.
And please let me know if you have any questions in the comments below.
Okay, lets head to Google Ads...
Were looking at my demo account.
And I previously created a campaign that is advertising my blog.
This is the Blog Search campaign...
And if we open this campaign...
We can see there is an ad group that is advertising my Google Analytics Glossary.
This is the GA Glossary ad group...
Now I want to quickly mention that in this video, Im assuming that youve already created a campaign in your Google Ads account.
So if youre starting from scratch, then I recommend taking some time to watch my Google Ads Tutorial.
You can click the card to watch it, and Ive also included a link in the description below this video.
Okay, so lets start by selecting the ad group...
And now lets select Keywords...
This lets us see all of the keywords were bidding on in the ad group.
We can see there are a small number of keywords, which is good.
We could potentially split these into more ad groups so that we could write more targeted ads for each keyword theme.
For example, google analytics terminology and google analytics terms could be in one ad group, google analytics definitions in another, and so on.
Im going to leave them in one ad group for now, but this could be something you add to your to-do list to improve the campaign.
Google Ads is telling us that the quality score for each keyword is high.
And that were above average for the factors used to calculate the quality score.
So thats good.
And if you dont see any of the columns were looking at, then you can click Columns and add any metrics or dimensions you would like to see included.
If you see low quality scores for any of your keywords, then you should begin to explore why that might be happening.
For example, you might ask yourself how well the ads relate to the keywords, and how well the landing page relates to the ads and the keywords.
Lets scroll to the right...
We can see the number of clicks and impressions for each keyword...
And we can see the CTR or click-through rate which is the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions.
So we can see that google analytics terminology has the highest click-through rate.
And it also has the highest conversion rate.
Although the overall numbers are quite low.
We can also see that google analytics glossary and google analytics dictionary havent resulted in any conversions.
So this might mean we need to reconsider the inclusion of these keywords.
Or, more likely, it supports the need to split the keywords into more precise ad groups to improve performance.
The next thing you should review is the search terms (or queries) that people have searched for on Google to see your ads.
All of the keywords in my ad group are exact match, but its still important to check.
And its even more important if youre using phrase and broad match for your keywords.
To do this, lets select Search Terms...
We can now see all of the search terms that triggered our ads.
Any search term that includes a green tick and says added means were already bidding on that keyword in our campaign.
So you should focus on the ones that arent added.
These are labelled none...
As you review these keywords you should be asking yourself if they should be added to one of your ad groups, or excluded.
So any keyword that arent relevant to your offer should be added as negative keywords.
To do this, you can select the keyword...
And then click Add as negative keyword...
As you review the search queries, you can also check the CTR, and conversion metrics to help inform your decisions.
Now that weve reviewed important aspects of our keywords, its time to review our ads.
So lets select Ads and extensions...
We can see there are three ads in the ad group.
Theres a responsive search ad...
An expanded text ad...
And another responsive search ad...
I need to highlight that starting in mid-2022, you wont be able to create expanded text ads.
If you would like to learn more about this, then Ive included a link to my dedicated video in the description below.
Basically, this means we will only be able to use responsive search ads, so its important to familiarize yourself with this ad format.
We can see the responsive search ad at the top has a strong CTR, so thats good.
But the main issue I have with responsive search ads, is that you cant see the performance of different headlines and descriptions.
This is because Google Ads automatically creates the final ad that someone sees as theyre searching.
So this is a limitation that we have to accept.
However, scrolling to the right, this ad has resulted in the highest number of conversions, so thats good.
The second ad, so the expanded text ad has a lower CTR due to the lower number of clicks.
And the third ad isnt being displayed very often because this is a responsive search ad with a limited number of headlines and descriptions.
Okay, so in terms of reviewing performance of the responsive search ads, we can click the View Assets Details link...
This shows us all of the headlines and descriptions for the ad.
And on the very right, we can see the number of impressions for each asset...
I recommend making a note of any that have a low number of impressions.
These can then be removed and replaced with new headlines or descriptions in the ad.
The other thing to check is the combinations that Google Ads used.
To do this, select the Combinations tab...
And take some time to review the top combinations to ensure theyre readable, make sense, and relate to your offering.
Lets close this...
For this ad group, we can see that the first responsive ad appears to be the top performing ad.
Ideally, we would have more impressions and clicks before we make a decision about optimizing the ads.
As a general guide, a minimum of one thousand impressions and one hundred clicks for each ad is a good starting point.
But for this ad group, we can see the number of clicks and impressions is lower than this guide.
So the best option is to wait until weve collected more data.
If you wanted to, you could remove one ad, so you only have two ads in the ad group.
This could help speed up the amount of time you need to wait until you see results.
And since the responsive ad at the bottom is limited and has poor ad strength, we might want to edit this ad.
Lets click the edit icon for this ad...
This ad is based on my recommendation for making a responsive search ad that mimics an expanded text ad.
So we can see there are three headlines that have been pinned...
And there are two description lines that have been pinned...
Since Google Ads isnt liking this, what we could test is adding additional headlines and descriptions, but leave one or two headlines pinned.
And leave one of the descriptions pinned.
Im going to add additional headlines to the ad...
Adjust the pins...
And Im going to add additional descriptions to the ad...
And adjust the pins...
And now Im going to save the ad...
For additional ways you can test your ads, check out my dedicated video.
Ive included a link in the description below.
There are more things you can review in your campaign, including ad extensions, audiences, and more, but the last thing I want to focus on in this video is the landing pages youre using with your ads.
To view the landing pages youre sending people to on your website, you can click on the headlines of your ads.
This will open your landing page in a new tab.
Or the other option is to select Landing Pages...
This will show you all of the landing pages youve used in your ads, along with important metrics.
I recommend you add conversion metrics to this view.
To do this, select Columns...
And then select Conversions...
And enable the metrics you would like to see.
Im going to include conversions and conversion rate...
And lets click Apply...
For my ad group, Im only using a single landing page for all of the ads.
So we can see the overall number of conversions and conversion rate.
But what we should really be doing is testing different landing pages to see what works best for our campaign.
I cant emphasize this enough.
Your landing pages are critical.
They can make or break the performance of your campaign.
If your keywords seem to be okay.
And your ads look like theyre working, but youre still not happy with your results, you need to take a hard look at your landing pages.
Chances are theyre going to be the biggest barrier to conversion for people who click your ads.
So make sure youre testing different landing pages.
If youre spending money on ads, then you should also be investing in your landing pages.
This might mean taking the time to create another page on your website.
Or it might mean running an experiment with Google Optimize.
Just make sure youre testing your landing pages.
Lets say youve created a new landing page on your website.
You can then create whats called an Ad Variation in Google Ads to test this out.
To do this, lets navigate back to Ads and extensions... Click the plus sign...
And choose Ad variation...
You can then travel through the steps...
And use the Find and replace option to find your original landing page URL and change it to the new landing page youve created.
Once youve travelled through the steps you will be testing your landing pages in Google Ads.
Again, this is just one option.
Instead, you might use Google Optimize, or you might use a dedicated landing page builder.
Its up to you.
Just make sure youre experimenting to see what works and what doesnt work.
So theyre some different techniques you can use to check your results in Google Ads and improve the performance of your campaigns.
If youd like to learn more about Google Ads, then please take a moment to check out my other videos, and my courses covering Google Ads.
You can find links in the description below.
How are your Google Ads campaigns performing? Do you have any tips youd like to add? Id love to hear from you.
Let me know in the comments below.
And if you found this video helpful, please like it so I know to make more videos like this one.
Ill see you in the next video!
Loves Data: How to Review Google Ads Performance // Tips for Analyzing and Improving Results in Google Ads - Advertising