As a digital marketer, you want to ensure your online ads and content are optimized the best they can be. Without the right keywords and keyword combinations, your Google ads won’t perform at their peak, and you’ll waste your advertising dollars.
While proper optimization of your shopping advertising efforts takes time, you can shorten your learning curve with tips from experts. Tactics like adding more exact keywords and using proper research tools can help you boost online ad performance.
This article outline five Google ads shopping optimization tips. It’s for PPC ad creators, social media managers, marketing directors, and digital marketers of all shapes and sizes. Let’s dig in!
#1 Increase the Number of Exact Keywords
You may have heard of long-tail and short-tail keywords by now. Short-tail keywords tend to contain two or three words. On the other hand, long-tail keywords can have more and even be complete sentences.
To optimize your Google ad performance, try a list of keyword phrases that have two to five words. Keywords that fall within these parameters tend to outperform shorter or longer phrases. Think “organic grocers in New York” and “affordable cars.”
Take a look at Google Ads manager and see what keywords your ads are targeting. Try to include more keyword phrases that contain between two and five words. Once you do that and those phrases gain traction, start backing away from longer or shorter keywords.
If you’re not sure which exact keywords you should target, go back to your keyword research tools. Evaluate monthly volume or traffic potential, in addition to the costs of targeting those phrases. Here’s a breakdown of what to consider:
- Keywords between two and five words that have lower competition rates or difficulty levels.
- Phrases with lower bidding rates and costs.
- Match the terms your target audience is likely to be searching for.
#2 Add Lost Impression Share to Your Metrics
You may already know this, but impressions are the number of times your Google ads were displayed. It’s a measure of how many times your target audiences saw your ads. Lost impression share tells you the percentage of time your ads did not get displayed or seen.
Lost impression share is a critical metric to measure because it can reveal whether your ad budget or keyword ranking is too low. If your lost impression share percentage is above the target, you can try changing your keywords or increasing your budget.
Now, it’s important to remember that nearly every online ad campaign is going to have some lost impression share. It’s unrealistic to think it’s going to be 0%, but you can work to get it as low as 1% or 2%. It all depends on your budget, competition, and keyword difficulty.
Remember, too, that you don’t always have to increase your ad spending by a large amount to get better results. Try adding 3% to your budget and monitor whether your lost impression share goes down as a result.
#3 Use Keyword Research Tools
If you’re not using a keyword research tool, you’re going to find it difficult to optimize your Google ads. Many keyword research tools have a free version that gives you the most critical details about various search terms. Plus, you’ll get an extensive list of related keywords.
To start using these tools, you can add your website’s main URL or landing page URLs to the tool. It can show you what keywords people are finding those pages with and which terms you’re ranking for. You can also type in the search terms your ads are using.
The bests keyword research tools also show you which sites and ads are dominating the rankings. It’s a way to scope out your competition and find out which ads and sites you’re up against. That way, you can begin to adjust your keyword strategies and choice of terms.
#4 Leverage Remarketing Lists for Search Ads or RLSAs
RSLAs is a feature you can find in Google Ad Manager. This feature lets you retarget specific audiences based on search terms, demographics, or characteristics. Retargeted ad campaigns are actions you can do in addition to your regular campaigns.
Say you noticed that those between 35 and 45 years of the age viewed your ad but didn’t click on it. You want to retarget that audience using a different call to action. You change up the copy on your ad’s call to action and run a retargeting campaign for that segment.
The goal is to see if the changed copy increases your click-through rates. If it’s successful, you can optimize future ads with that same type of call to action. But if it’s not successful, you might try changing and testing a different aspect of the ad, such as visuals.
#5 Measure Impressions to Conversions
Impressions to conversions help you determine the ROI on your ad spend. Say out of 4,000 targeted audience members, 90% saw your ad. Of that 90%, you converted 50%. A conversion can mean an actual sale or it could represent another desired action, such as filling out a form.
Determining an acceptable impression to conversion rate is where it gets tricky. You’ll want to look at competitors and industry standards. But ultimately, it’s up to you to determine what rate you want to see or achieve.
Some digital marketers are okay with a lower impression-to-conversion rate during new product launches or rebranding campaigns. Others want to shoot for the moon and push for a lot of conversions, especially if it’s peak selling season.
Final Thoughts
Optimizing your Google Ads is a process full of trial and error. That being said, there are tried and true methods you can use to get the most out of your digital marketing efforts. Using keywords that are likely to convert and measuring helpful rates is a start.
However, keyword research is where it all starts. You need to know what solutions your target audience is looking for and why they’d gravitate to your product or service.