PPC Blog

For many PPC newbies (and even PPC pros!) Google Ads can be a scary place. Things can change and catch you by surprise, leaving you thoroughly spooked!

To help you avoid that kind of chilling situation, let me outline three changes that might scare you (and your wallet) if you’re not aware of them. 

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Of all of the technical aspects of PPC, none confounds both pros and novices more than bid strategy.

This is partly because there are so many bid strategy options in Google Ads, each with its own nuances.

Even when you think you understand how they work based on their descriptions, that doesn’t always translate into how they work in practice. As a result, you’re never entirely sure of your footing.

Therefore, in this article, I’m going to walk you through some of the basics of manual and automated Google Ads bidding. I’ll then give you some tips for moving into automated bidding when you’re ready.

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At its Marketing Live event in July, Google announced two significant changes to expanded text ads. Specifically, the new expanded text ads will:

1. Show up to two 90-character descriptions (up from one 80-character description).

2. Show up to three headlines (up from two).

Here’s what a newly expanded text ad might look like:

Both of these changes are exciting, but I’m especially pumped about the second one!

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When you run Google searches, the results are sometimes filled with ads for directory sites.

This is especially true when the search terms relate to expensive, big-commitment services, such as schools and assisted living facilities (a.k.a., nursing homes).

People will usually thoroughly research and compare these services before buying, which makes directory sites appealing.

As an advertiser, you might see this as a problem. After all, how can your ad for a single facility compete against ads for directories that list hundreds of facilities?

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Recently, a client wanted to remove qualifying elements from their text ads on the Search Network. We had been using terms in their ad copy, such as “for corporate groups” and “for 50+ people” to help make our target audience clear.

However, the client started to feel that those qualifiers had become unnecessary. They wondered if we couldn’t make better use of that ad text space.

It’s true, we had been using those qualifiers for a long time—but for good reason. We felt that they were a critical part of turning away irrelevant ad clicks.

But the client wanted to test whether those qualifiers were still necessary, so we agreed.

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I recently received a call from a prospective client who was looking for temporary assistance with their PPC program. Their in-house marketing manager had resigned and, so far, they had been unable to find a suitable replacement. In the meantime, the CMO was covering the position.

They didn’t want to make a rushed hiring decision just to resolve the issue. But they desperately needed some help.

So they asked if my agency might step in temporarily to bridge the gap — this in spite of the company having a strict “no agency” policy due to past bad experiences. Because my agency doesn’t require long-term contracts, we agreed.

But when we opened the account, we uncovered many issues.

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While we’re always happy to take on new clients, we’ve learned over the years that even the most brilliant PPC campaign can be scuttled when certain conditions aren’t met.

Fortunately, fixing these problems is within reach of most clients with a few resources and the right mindset.

But until then, proceed with caution. As a PPC agency, we don’t want to waste your time or budget. Which is why we sometimes decline to work with clients when these conditions aren’t met.

What are these problem areas you ask? The most common ones are as follows:

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Most PPC pros recognize the importance of landing pages in their post-click paid search strategy. But the question still arises about how targeted these pages need to be.

When is the time and effort of creating dozens — or even hundreds — of ultra-targeted landing pages worth the trouble and expense?

Admittedly, the answer will differ for every AdWords campaign.

But recently, we walked this path with a client in a big way, and we discovered that sometimes the trouble and expense of creating ultra-targeted landing pages is more than justified.

In this article, I’m going to present our findings to you as a mini-case study. And our experience may encourage you to create landing pages that are much more targeted than ever before.

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In April 2018, Google started implementing ad suggestions. Basically, these are ads that Google generates and “suggests” that you use.

The ads are developed using machine learning. They pull from prior campaigns for content, including ad headlines, descriptions, extensions and landing pages

Advertisers can review, edit and/or dismiss the ad suggestions. But if they don’t act within 14 days, the ads will be applied to their accounts automatically.

So if you’re not paying attention, you may find that ads you’ve never seen before are now live in your account!

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One of the joys (and challenges) of a career in paid search is the constant state of learning and change. It’s a theme that runs through many of my articles.

But in the busy-ness of our day-to-day PPC activities, it’s easy to simply move from one thing to the next without pausing to learn from what’s in front of us.

What lessons can we draw from our experiences? How can we apply these lessons more broadly?

In that spirit, I will recount some of my team’s top PPC takeaways from the past few months:

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