Google AdWords Campaign Setting and Optimization in 19 Steps

Setting up a campaign & going live on Google is easy but it requires a very detailed and precise strategy to set up an effective campaign so that we reach the targeted audience on the GO

The important things to note when setting up a campaign are below:

1. Set Goals 

The very first thing a marketer should do is to define a clear Goal/objective (Sale, lead or generate brand awareness) for the account

2. Select KPIs

The KPIs are the performance indicators linked to the defined set of Goals. Example: If the objective is to generate Sales then the CPA, Conv. Rate, conversion, etc. should be the KPIs. For Branding campaigns, then reach, Impression, clicks, new visitors, bounce rate, and user engagement will be the indicators to gauge the performance.

3. Keyword research 

Keywords are the basic triggering event for an AdWords advert to show up at the SERP. Therefore, it is required that the keywords should be in sync with the Products/Services offered by the business and then there are negative keywords on which you do not want your advert to appear. Example: An apparel company selling Suits should use keywords like: “buy Suits online”, “Shop Suits online” while using keywords like “Buy Jeans” or “Buy Tee Shirt” will not yield any result hence should be used as negative.

4. Campaign and Ad group structure

Group similar keywords into categories (Ad Group) and then define the campaign. 

For example, if you are into apparels business, your campaign should define a category, “Suits” for example, then sub-divide the campaign into multiple ad groups based on the keyword categories/theme and add keywords accordingly. Best practice is to mirror your website categories and sub-categories into campaigns and ad groups.

5. Ad copies

Once you have themed your keywords in campaign and ad groups you need to create a compelling message(Adverts). While creating adverts, follow AIDA (attention, interest, desire, and action) principle of advertising, grab the attention of your customer, drive their Interest to your product/services, convince customers that they want your product/service, push customer to take an action (website visit, call, message, etc.) and Satisfaction if they end up choosing your website.

6. Landing page

Select a dedicated landing page that matches the keyword and the ad. A Poor experience will impact your Ad Rank and therefore your CPC and position in the ad auction.

7. Conversion tracking

Conversion tracking will enable you to gauge your keywords, adverts, ad groups, placements, and campaign performance and track the end goal.

8. Remarketing  

Mostly visitor don’t buy your service/product or sign up or submit their details in the first click, so you must create a remarketing list to retarget that user who have shown interest in your product or service. Create multiple remarketing lists based on the pages they have visited, based on their engagement.

9. Linking

Link your AdWords account to the Analytics, Merchant center, Salesforce, YouTube, etc. So, that you can import data from these platforms to your AdWords account.

After setting up the campaigns and the tracking, below are the campaign setting you must follow for best results

1. Negative Keywords/placements

You must refine your keywords list by adding and monitoring the keyword/placement which is bringing irrelevant traffic to the site and add them as the negative keyword/placement.

2. Location setting

Add only those locations where you can reach & deliver as targeting unwanted location will only bring irrelevant traffic and will impact your account’s ROI.

3. Bid adjustment

Make sure to adjust the bids at the device level, Geo Level, Demographic level which you consider are more relevant for your business.

4. Frequency capping

In-display campaign, you should set a frequency cap to limit the number of times you want to show your ad to your user.

5. Ad rotation

Initially set to the ‘rotate evenly’ setting so that each advert gets equal exposure and once the adverts have run for a certain time (1 week; say) change the ad rotation to ‘optimize for click’ or ‘optimize for conversion’.

6. Exclusions

Look for search terms and placements bringing traffic to your site and add the irrelevant keywords and placements in the exclusion list.

7. Ad extensions

Make sure that you have added all possible relevant ad extensions to your ad group/campaign to pass additional information to your users.

8. Dayparting

If your business is a time-bound entity (example. Restaurant, call center, etc.) adding day parting will give you a flexibility to run the campaigns during the desired working hours in a day while pausing during the off hours.

9. Campaign type

Create separate campaigns for Search and Display, it helps you to track visitor value and optimize conversion funnel for each campaign

10. Keyword match type 

Create separate ad group or campaign based on the keyword match type, as it helps you monitor how these match types are performing and you can adjust your budget or bids accordingly.