Structuring your Google Ads account correctly is key to turning it into a revenue powerhouse. Though account structures may evolve over time, laying down a solid foundation from the outset is essential.
In this post, we’ll dive deep into the specifics, providing you with a step-by-step guide to crafting a well-organized Google Ads account.
But first, let’s talk about why the structure of your Google Ads matters so much.
Think of an improperly structured account as driving a car missing crucial parts. Without complete control, you risk running into challenges. In the same way, the way you set up your Google Ads account determines how, when, and where your ads show up. To steer them correctly, the structure needs to be on point.
A well-organized Google Ads account will:
1. Ensure that the searches activating your ads resonate with your target audience.
2. Boost your quality score, allowing you to achieve better results at a reduced cost.
3. Keep your campaigns tidy and straightforward, making optimization a breeze. After all, a disorganized account is a hassle to tweak and refine.
Now that you grasp the significance of a well-structured account, let’s break down its core components.
1. Campaigns
Think of each campaign as a container. Inside this container, you have ad groups. And within these ad groups, you’ll find specific keywords linked to text ads that lead users straight to your landing page.
But here’s something crucial to remember: your choice of campaign topics should align with how you plan to distribute your marketing budget. Why? Because you’ll be setting your budget at the campaign level.
2. Ad Groups
Think of ad groups as subcategories within each campaign. Their job is to be both relevant and specific. Now, you might wonder if there’s a magic number of ad groups you should have under a campaign. The short answer is no. However, it’s wise not to drown in too many ad groups, making your campaign hard to manage. Overstuffing can spread your budget too thin across different ad groups, keywords, ads, and landing pages.
A good rule of thumb? Aim for 10-20 keywords and 2-3 text ads for each ad group.
3. Keywords
Think of keywords as the gatekeepers within each ad group. Their job? Deciding when your ads come to the party. Here’s how it works: someone types a query into Google, that query dances with the keywords in your ad groups, and if there’s a match, voila! Your ad gets its moment in the spotlight. The magic trick here is diligent keyword research. Dive into the depths of keyword nuances, get cozy with match types, and regularly give your keywords a little optimization TLC.
4. Negative Keywords
Let’s talk about a secret weapon in the Google Ads arsenal: Negative Keywords. These are the unsung heroes, ensuring your budget isn’t frittered away on searches that don’t align with your objectives. Think of them as bouncers, keeping out the unwanted queries—especially when you’re playing in the broad match keyword arena. It’s not a one-time gig either. Regularly roll up your sleeves, dive into your search query report, and keep updating that negative keyword list. It’s all about refining and ensuring every penny counts.
5. Ad Text
Enter the stars of the show: Ad Texts. This is the message your audience sees when the ads spring into action. For each ad group, aim to craft 2-3 compelling ads, all pointing to the same landing stage. But don’t just set and forget. Continuously dabble in A/B testing to find the most captivating ad copy. And here’s a golden tip: your ad should shine the spotlight on the benefits of what you’re offering. Because let’s face it, everyone wants to know what’s in it for them.
6. Landing Page
Consider the landing page as the grand finale of your ad journey. It’s where all your ads lead the curious searcher. And just like the climax of a great story, it needs to be delivered. How? Ensure the content resonates, and the promises made in your ad copy echo here. A relevant and optimized landing page isn’t just nice to have; it’s the backbone of a triumphant PPC campaign.
Now that we’ve laid the groundwork on Google Ads essentials, let’s dive headfirst into the step-by-step guide to structuring your Google PPC account.
6 Steps to Craft a Stellar Google PPC Ads Account Structure
1. Plan Your Account Structure
No silver bullet exists for structuring a Google Ads account, but several guiding principles can steer you right in the planning phase:
-Mirror Your Website’s Structure: Examine the layout of your site. Got different tabs or pages for diverse products or services? Let your Google Ads account reflect that.
– By Products/Services Offered: This echoes your website’s setup. List out your offerings, then model your ads account likewise. Say you’re a SaaS firm specializing in travel and expense management. You could have a main campaign titled ‘Travel and Expense’, with two ad groups nestled beneath: ‘Travel Management’ and ‘Expense Management’. Dedicate time to chart out your products, then decide on budget allocation for each ad group.
-Geography Matters: Catering to a global audience? Build your account structure around this. For instance, if you’re wooing customers in the US, UK, and Australia, devise distinct campaigns tailored for each locale. This method offers a clear lens on budget distribution, depending on your go-to-market strategy for each region.
While these are just a handful of tactics to give your account shape, the key is planning. Invest time in this phase. The tidier and more thought-out your structure, the smoother sailing you’ll have managing, monitoring, and fine-tuning your Google Ads.
2. Dive Deep into Keyword Research
With a clear blueprint of your account structure—campaign themes in place, ad group topics chalked out—it’s time to populate those ad groups with the right keywords. But not just any keywords. You’ll want to unearth those that strike the right balance: relevant but not overly competitive, promising yet without an exorbitant cost or too low search volume.
Let Google’s Keyword Planner be your trusty guide. For each group, aim for a cozy list of about 10-20 keywords. Less is more here. Focus on relevance and avoid overwhelming your ad groups. As you tread this path, mix and match with different keyword match types, but always keep your approach straightforward and uncluttered.
3. Launch Your Maiden Campaign
With your Google Ads account framework nailed down and a robust list of keywords at the ready, it’s time to let that first campaign take flight. Start with the campaign that’s top-priority and cascade downwards from there. Setting it up might seem straightforward, but even veterans can occasionally trip on the details. A slight misstep could take a hefty bite out of your budget. To keep such mishaps at bay, always approach campaign settings with meticulous care. Here are some pivotal touchpoints:
– Campaign Type: By default, Google automatically opts for ‘Search Network with Display Select’. While this broad reach suits some, it casts a wide net—pushing your ads beyond Google search to its expansive Display Network. For a nuanced approach, I advocate separating the two. Hence, my go-to choice is “Search Network Only”.
– Locations & Languages: It’s essential. Ensure your campaign zeros in on the intended regions and communicates in the right languages.
– Bid Strategy: Crave more hands-on control? Opt for manual bidding. It puts you firmly in the driver’s seat, determining how your budget is spent. Bear in mind, Google Ads will dictate your bids by default, so make a conscious shift if needed.
– Default Bid & Budget: The default bid signifies the maximum cost-per-click (CPC) you’re willing to shell out for each keyword. Since you might wish to tweak this for individual keywords, set a comfortable starting CPC. Then, there’s the budget—decide your daily spending limit for the campaign, harmonizing it with the chunk you’ve earmarked for Google Ads.
Consider this a foundational guide to structuring your Google Ads campaign.
4. Craft Your Maiden Ad Group and Text Ad
Every campaign needs its star player: the ad itself. Nested within an ad group, these ads align with a curated set of keywords. So, let’s kick things off by designing a fresh ad group.
When sculpting your ad text, let these guiding principles steer you:
– Character Limit: Google keeps you in check if your enthusiasm runs over the character limit. Remember, you can work with two 30-character headlines, a cohesive 90-character description, and usually, the destination URL auto-fills from your final URL (though, should the need arise, you’re free to tailor the URL path).
– Relevance: Your ad text should resonate with the associated keywords and the landing page it routes to. If you’re vying for a keyword like “marketing automation”, but your ad hints at “email automation”, you might inadvertently alienate potential clickers. Showcase your main keywords prominently within your ad’s headline and description.
– Best Practices: While I won’t dive deep into the myriad of ad text strategies, know that there are a plethora of tactics to make your ads pop. For example, consider integrating special offers with numeric values (everyone’s eyes are drawn to numbers), punctuating the first description line with a period (which, when your ad is perched atop the page, tends to boost CTR by extending line 1 into the headline), or opting for title case in your text. Dive into in-depth articles on ad text best practices – the insights are endless.
– Google’s Ad Approval Guidelines: Trust me, navigating the quagmire of ad disapproval isn’t on anyone’s wishlist. While it isn’t catastrophic, it could dent your ad’s performance, delay its launch, and let’s be real – it’s not the best impression to make on Google. Equip yourself with knowledge on common disapproval reasons and dodge those blunders.
– Direct to the Perfect Landing Page: Think tailor-made landing pages for each ad group. It’s not just a nice-to-have; it’s almost essential. If you haven’t ventured down this path yet, now might be the moment. Directing a searcher to a mismatched landing page post-click risks them retracing their steps to Google in disappointment.
5. Embed the Right Keywords into Your Ad Group
On your screen, you’ll notice a neat white space marked “Keywords”. This is where your well-researched keyword list comes into play. A few essential things to keep in mind:
– Concision is Key: Your keyword list should be succinct, capping at around 10-20 keywords. This ensures relevance and laser-focus on your target audience.
– Relevance Reigns Supreme: Ensure every keyword in that list ties in seamlessly with both your ad text and the landing page to which your audience is directed.
– Match Types Matter: By default, Google Ads sets new keywords to ‘broad match’. To specify match types, deploy the right symbols. For instance, “phrase match” keywords get enclosed in quotation marks. [Exact match] uses square brackets. And for a +modified +broad +match, attach plus signs to the respective words. For broad matches, simply enter the keywords as they stand.
– Adding More Keywords Later: Once your ad group has been set up with its ads and initial keywords, and you feel the need to throw in a few more keywords, the process is straightforward. Navigate to the ad group on the left sidebar, hit the “Keywords” tab, and then click the vibrant red “+Keyword” button.
Upon setting up your inaugural ad group, crafting that perfect ad text, and curating your keyword list, all that’s left is to click on ‘Save’, and waltz over to the billing.
Pat yourself on the back! You’ve just masterfully orchestrated your maiden campaign, ad group, text ad, and keyword list.
6. Broaden Your Ad Group & Fine-tune Ad Parameters
Now that you have your initial ad group up and running, it’s time to delve deeper. Here’s a roadmap to diversifying your ad content and optimizing your settings:
– Diversify Your Ad Arsenal: It’s a solid strategy to harbor at least 2-3 ads within each ad group. This allows for a side-by-side performance check. Craft these ads on similar lines but sprinkle them with subtle tweaks. Maybe the call-to-action takes the spotlight in one, while another accentuates a unique feature. These slight deviations can offer insights into what your audience gravitates towards. And as you draft these ads, let the guidelines from point #4 be your compass, ensuring each ad has its distinct flair.
– Crafting a New Ad: Navigating this is straightforward. Inside the ‘Campaigns’ zone of your Google Ads dashboard, pinpoint the ad group you just birthed on the page’s left flank. Head to the ads tab next. A simple click on ‘+Ad’ springs open your canvas to weave a new text ad.
– Venture into Campaign Settings: After you’re satisfied with the ads for that particular ad group, meander over to the Campaign settings. Simply pick your campaign from the left sidebar, and voila, ‘settings’ is right there. Here, you’ll encounter the ‘Delivery method’. This is pivotal as it charts out your ad’s journey on SERPs. A word of advice: pin it to ‘standard delivery’. This prevents your budget from burning out prematurely during the day.
– The Final Touch – Ad Delivery: This last cog in the wheel controls the rotation of your ads. My two cents? Opt for an ‘indefinite rotation’. It ensures each ad gets its fair share of screen time, helping you gauge which version truly strikes a chord with your audience.
Final Thoughts
Congratulations, you’ve crossed the starting line! But remember, this isn’t a sprint; it’s a marathon. The mantra is simple: implement, refine, and then do it all over again. As we journeyed through earlier, having an array of ad groups within a campaign is essential. They help in seamlessly distributing keywords, ensuring they nestle within the relevant niches of the campaign theme. Remember the account blueprint we sketched at the onset? It’s not just a one-time map; it’s your evolving GPS. Let it guide you as you build upon the strong foundation of your account structure.
