5 Costly Mistakes When Using Google Adwords - And How To Avoid Making Them

Google Adwords has become one of the biggest assets for some of our clients, driving sales and phone calls instantly. It has become one of the most effective ways for some of our clients to advertise, targeting exactly who they want to target and getting the most out of their ad budget.

Related: Immediate Success in Google Adwords

But we know, having used Adwords for years, that it can be expensive if not handled correctly, and almost all small businesses make costly mistakes when they start using AdWords.

This is because the AdWords system penalizes you for mistakes you do not even know you are making. In some cases, AdWords even encourages these mistakes. The trick is to manage campaigns to get the highest return on investment.

A poorly managed Adwords account can cost more than it brings in, but a well managed accout can not only keep your company in business, but keep it growing.

In this post, we’ll discuss the 5 easiest mistakes to make with Google AdWords, and how to avoid them.

Mistake One: Keywords In Broad Match Type

AdWords is set by default and recommends to have your keywords in broad match. But what beginners fail to realize is that this causes your keywords to match for a huge variety of searches you never intended.

For example, if you are living in Aiken County, SC, selling knitted hats online, and use Google Adwords, you might bid on this keyword: Knit Hats in Aiken. You assume that for someone to see your ad, they must type in Knit Hats in Aiken, or some slight variation of that. Maybe, Knitted Hats in Aiken. Or Knit Hat Aiken. 

But this assumption is very wrong, and can be very costly.

By using Broad Match Type, your ads show for a large variety of searches that you never intended. If not changed from default, your keyword Knit Hats in Aiken actually signals to Google to show your ad for searches such as "How to Knit a Hat," or maybe even "Helmets in Aiken" - and when clicked, you still have to pay for that irrelevant click.

So people looking for services you don't provide will come to your site and cost you $1.50 (or however much that keywords costs) each time.

Luckily, if you know what you are doing, this can be avoided through the use of different match types AND negative keywords (which we will get to next).

There are four main match types: broad, broad match modifier, phrase, and exact.

The different match types allow you (the advertiser) to match for a broader or narrower range of actual search queries that users type in.

Broad is the most broad in terms of what searches trigger your ad, and leaves it up to Google (the money-maker) to decide if a user’s search is “close enough” to your keyword. Since Google gets paid on every click, they have a broad view of what is close enough.

Broad Match Modifier is our favorite. An example is +Knit +Hats +Aiken.  This tells Google that you want your ad to appear only if all 3 of those words are in a search querie. This will include slight variations of those three words, but only slight, like Knit Hat Aiken.

When first starting with an Adwords account, change the match type of your keywords. Make sure your keywords are either in either phrase match or broad match modifier. These match types ensure that the words you use as your keywords have to be the ones the users searched for in Google.

Mistake Two: Not Using Negative Keywords

Another mistake that is easy to make is not using negative keywords. AdWords allows you to create a list of keywords that you want to exclude from you searches. In other words, if you don't want to show up for a certain term, you can make sure you don't.

For example, if you own an e-retail store that sells Danner snake boots, but not Chippewa, then you don't want your ad to show up on searches for "Chippewa Snake Boots." But you do want them to show up on searches for "Danner Snake Boots."

Thus, you can add Chippewa as a negative keyword, and your ads won’t be shown for any searches that include the word “Chippewa.”

It's important to note that negative keywords can be added at both the campaign and the ad group level. So if you wanted to exclude Chippewa only from your Snake Boots adgroup, becaue you sell other styles of Chippewa boots, you can exclude it only from the snake boots adgroup. But if you sell nothing Chippewa at all, you can set it to the campaign level and make sure you never show up for any Chippewa searches at all.

Recommendation: In order to find words that should be excluded, you need to dig into Google Analytics and Keyword Details in Adwords to view the exact keyword phrases people are searching for. Once you find phrases that aren’t converting, take a look to see if a negative keyword can be added to eliminate that search from your campaign without excluding terms that are performing well.

Mistake Three: Not Including a Keyword in your Ad Copy

Many beginners don't realize how important it is to always include one of your main keywords in your ad copy or header. Google ranks ads based on search matches. The more your ad matches the keyword search, the higher Google will rank your ad. This will help keep your cost lower and clicks higher!

If your keyword is highly competitive, such as Isuzu, and you don’t use the word "Isuzu” in your ad copy or header, your ad is likely not going to be one of the top displayed.

Mistake Four: Not Having a Good Landing Page

The sad reality is, your home page is not a good place to bring people who are clicking on your Google ads.

They searched a specific term, saw a specific ad, and expect to be brought to a specific page addressing what it is they are looking for. A homepage often has a variety of items and is designed for navigation deeper into the site rather than a conversion. If they come to your home page and it isn't clear to them what to do next, they will leave and find another company who has their needs figured out.

They don't want to hear about all of your other products or offers, they want to see exactly what they came for, and truth is, they want to be told what to do.

You need to send users to a page that matches the users search and makes it as easy as possible for them to convert. 

A good landing page will show the customer the product, and tell them what they have to do next to get it. "Call Us Now" or "Fill Out This Form" or "Buy Now" are simple, but effective call-to-action buttons you should be using. (View our main image for this post as a good example of a successful landing page).

You want to make it as easy and friction-less as possible for the user to convert by sending them to specific high-converting sales pages. If the user types in knitted winter hats, send them to the exact sales page for your knitted winter hats.

Also, since Google ranks ads based on search matches, the more your landing page matches your ad and the keyword search, the higher Google will rank your ad. This is another way to help keep your cost lower and clicks higher!

If your keyword is highly competitive, such as Isuzu, and you don’t use the word "Isuzu” in your landing page, your ad is likely not going to be one of the top displayed.

Mistake Five: Misleading Ads

Probably one of the worst things you can do for your budget is to make inconsistent, or worse, misleading adcopy.

If you aren't clear with your adcopy, people will click on your ad expecting one service, and find out you don't offer what they expected when they get to your site. This will wast huge dollars, and chances are if your conversion method is phone calls, it will waste a lot of your time.

For example, let's say you are sell reconditioned stretchers and want to advertise that you have stretchers for sale. On your Google ad you say, "Stryker EMS Stretchers, Free Shipping on Orders Over $300."  But nowhere do you say "Reconditioned." This is misleading. Chances are, half of your clicks are coming from people looking for new stretchers.

This will waste more money than you realize. You have to be sure you are advertising YOUR PRODUCT. Let them know exactly what it is before they make you pay for their click.

Also, be sure your ad copy is consistent with your landing page.

For example, if your ad says you sell Ferno and Stryker Stretchers, but then it brings a potential customer to a landing page that only shows Stryker Reconditioned Stretchers, it might be a little confusing or aggrivating and you will be wasting your money.

If it’s way off, your potential customer’s not going to trust you, and the money you’re spending on ads is - well - a complete waste of your money.

Make sure your keywords, adcopy and landing pages are all consistant, and it will result in higher conversions with customers ready to buy.

We are AdWords Certified. Learn More about Broadstreet Consulting's AdWords services

What is your biggest AdWords obstacle?