4 Paid Search Examples to Help You Boost Your Google Ads Conversion Rates

Imagine a situation where a pay-per-click (PPC) manager is spending a lot of money over several years on campaigns and seeing a decent level of conversions.

Their business has interests in multiple cities, and they are generating leads from all of these cities. Currently, their conversions are at 3%. However, they’re looking to bump that number up to increase their sales.

Does this sound familiar? It probably does. In this article, we’ll go over how to use different Google Ads strategies to boost your conversions and bring more revenue into your business.

So let’s use the example above as a starting point and break down how to improve on it with four questions:

• What is their current advertising strategy?
• What are the downsides of that strategy?
• What other strategies might have been more effective?
• How could analytics improve results?

 

What is their current advertising strategy?

• Google Ads Search campaign
• One campaign for all cities
• One ad for all cities
• One landing page for all cities
• The landing page captures leads

 

What Are the Downsides of that Strategy?

This strategy would work on a moderate level. However, by not targeting different locations with different landing pages, you’re leaving money on the table. The message might not be as relevant for some portions of your market. With advertising, you need to show the right message to the right audience at the right time, and this strategy violates that rule.

What other strategies might have been more effective?

• Location Specific Campaigns – By creating location-specific campaigns and ads, you can also have different landing pages. These will be more relevant to each visitor for lead generation purpose.
• Analyze Each City & Time Slot – Do an analysis of each city and find the right time to show the ad. The time slot at which you get best conversion rate and click through rate could help to set the schedule of each campaign.
• Budget Each Location Do budgeting as per the conversion rate you are getting from different location. Invest more on the locations that are performing well. You can use Pareto principle to find the best performers in existing data and fine tune the campaign based on that.
• Make 3 Copies of Each Ad – With multiple copies, you can rotate the ads and compare the results.
• Location-Based Keywords – Different keywords may perform better in different markets. Put this to the test by doing location-specific campaigns.
• Bid on Competitors – Get your ads in front of users looking for competitors’ keywords, and even brand names when possible.

 

 

Additional Options to Improve PPC Conversion Rates

Google Ads and PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Advertising is getting more expensive in general. Google is always innovating to get the most relevant ads in front of users. Here are some other strategies you might implement to stay ahead of the curve:

1. Dynamic Search Ads
2. Dynamic Remarketing
3. Smart Campaigns
4. Ad Customizers

 
Of course, which strategy you choose will largely depend on your advertising goals. Here is a breakdown of how each might apply given the circumstances:

1. Dynamic Search Ads(DSA)

If you have a large website or multiple keywords sprinkled throughout, this can be a great bet. It uses your website content and smartly fills in the blanks to complement your keyword targeting.

When is this a Good Idea?

Making use of DSAs is especially handy for advertising on sites that have a constantly changing mix of products. No one wants to spend hours every week uploading new products and pausing ones you no longer sell. DSAs will take care of this for you without the associated costs that come with using a specialist advertising platform.

How Can You Do This?

Even if you have a large number of keywords you’re using already, you can always improve. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) use an algorithm to look at user behavior and target your most likely prospects.

Once your primary ad group is set up, you can create other groupings based on your products. Then, you can set up targeting parameters:

• Category
• URL
• Page Title
• Page Content

 
Consider these points if using DSA:

• Create a description of potential DSA appearances. It will pull keywords for the headline only.
• DSA is on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. Bids are thus set at the auto-target level instead of keywords (since they are dynamically generated).
• Test unique value propositions by including phrases that users might use, such as “free shipping” or “promo code.”
• Tell Google where to show your ads by specifying URLs in a page feed.

 
Create a custom template with your URLs, including what to include and exclude:

Advantages of using DSA

There are quite a few advantages to DSA. First of all, you save a lot of time. You don’t need to map keywords, bids, or ad text for every product you have. You can also show relevant ads to your users. The reach of your ads is something you get to control more, and perhaps capture more traffic. And finally, instead of only showing your actual URL, these can be dynamically generated.

Disadvantages of using DSA

There are some disadvantages to DSA. Your performance might be broader instead of selective. Because of this, you might spend more on such a campaign than a more highly targeted one. And since you are giving up more control, you might experience less interested visitors.

Learn more about DSA: https://ppcexpo.com/blog/dynamic-search-ads-would-be-most-helpful-for

2. Smart Campaign

A smart campaign can be a way for small to medium-sized businesses to save time. If you are already strapped with a million things on your to-do list, then you could benefit from some extra help on your Google Ads account.

 
If you have more experience with the platform, then this might not be the right move. Still, for beginners, it is an excellent way to let Google’s wealth of knowledge work in your favor.

When is this a Good Idea?

If you are going to go this route, you need to have a certain amount of data already. It is necessary to let the algorithms get to work. Google Ads Smart Campaigns can do a lot automatically, but they cannot add specific keywords.

In addition, you’ll want to ensure that conversion tracking is already set up. Have all your assets like headlines and descriptions ready to go. And finally, your budget needs to be adequate for the daily spend that this method requires.

How Can You Do This?

Smart Display campaigns will automate your bidding. They deal with all the aspects of optimizing targeting and bidding. It can find new customers that you might not have found on your own. It will set bids and adapt to the screen space to get the best results. Many advertisers see a 20% boost in conversions with the same cost per action (CPA) as other display campaigns.

Advantages of Smart Campaigns

There’s no beating the speed of setting up one of these ads. Take the paid search example of trying to manually adjust your bid all the time on a product that fluctuates in price often. It saves a ton of time. Also, it allows you to reach new prospects and markets you might have overlooked. With minimal requirements for ongoing management, you can easily review your ads occasionally without devoting so much time to it. And you only pay for the clicked ads, not impressions.

Disadvantages of Smart Campaigns

Smart Campaigns don’t come without their downsides. For one, if you’re an experienced Google Ads marketer, you might find it quite annoying due to the feature limitations.  You can’t remarket, you can’t edit match types, and you can’t use negative keywords.

And while you can set a max budget, you won’t know what Google is using in terms of a bidding strategy ahead of time. In short, it’s not great for advanced users who want more granular control over their advertising.

You can learn more about Smart Campaigns on our blog, The Ultimate Guide to Google Smart Campaigns.

3. Dynamic Remarketing

Dynamic remarketing lets you show highly relevant ads to visitors. If your visitor saw a product page, it can show them ads for that particular product across the web on other sites. It’s a great way to create a targeted campaign to bring users back into your funnel and generate leads or sales.

It works by using Google’s Dynamic Remarketing combined with the Google Display Network. Thus, you will have different versions of your ads dynamically displayed to streamline the execution of a custom campaign.

When is This a Good Idea?

If you have created a feed that includes all of your products or services, along with details about each item (unique ID, price, image, and more). These details are then pulled from your feed into your dynamic ads. You’ll upload your feed to the Business data section of your Shared library, unless you’re a retailer. If you’re a retailer, you’ll upload your product feed to the Google Merchant Center.

Secondly, on your website, add a custom parameter using the dynamic remarketing tag on your relevant pages. This adds any visitors to your remarketing lists. It will associate them with the specific products they viewed.

Advantages of using Dynamic Remarketing

Dynamic remarketing can be an excellent way to help your ads scale. The idea behind them is quite simple, using spreadsheets. And yet, the results are incredibly powerful because you are leveraging Google’s machine learning and algorithms.

Ability to Bid Competitively with the Google Conversion Optimizer, Google’s Conversion Optimizer uses conversion tracking on the Google Display Network to identify purchase behavior from click to purchase so retailers can optimize their spend on remarketing. Using your conversion data (who purchased and from where), the Conversion Optimizer identifies trends to help you avoid over-bidding for ad placements.

Disadvantages of Dynamic Remarketing

Dynamic remarketing is not always positive. For instance, some customers are very sensitive about privacy. They might not like being added to a remarketing list or being “stalked” across the web. This could damage their view of your brand. With all of the privacy and security concerns lately, this is something to consider before pulling the trigger on dynamic ads.

 

 

Furthermore, there is the annoyance factor. If you see the same ad or same company advertising to you multiple times a day or week, it could get old fast. While they might have initially wanted your product or service, they could start to lose affinity for your brand with too much exposure to advertising.

Ad Customizer

The ad customizer is less used feature that more advertisers should consider. You can use the ad customizer setup with different locations URL. Customizers work like the keyword insertion feature, which uses the {keyword: default text} parameter to put the keyword used for targeting into your ad text. Ad customizers can insert any type of text at all.

When is This a Good Idea?

Like with the other ad strategies we’ve mentioned, there are tradeoffs in any paid search example. Consider a few things before making the leap with ad customizers. For instance, do you have a sale running currently? An ad customizer is a great option then. It can show the right discount at the right time for a particular product.

Advertisers with large inventories can also benefit greatly from an ad customizer because you can insert brand keywords and show specific product details.

Also, you can customize your ads to show specific prices or product variations based on a visitor’s location. This helps you adjust your advertising to reflect local economic realities. All of these features increase the likelihood that your ad will be more relevant to your prospects, encouraging them to take action.

How Can You Do This?

Let’s assume that you sell products in multiple cities. Or perhaps you have different physical locations. You can customize your details so that your ads are displayed differently in different locations:

According to the above feed, different user from different location will see different ad. California customers will see 20% discount in your ad, Texas customers can get best price and the New York Customers will see 50% off in your ad. Customizers fill in your ad text using ad customizer data that you upload to Google Ads in a spreadsheet file. Customizers reference the name of the data set, as well as an attribute it includes.

Now you cannot change the URL from the ad customizer for landing pages what you can do you can avail the facility by using tracking template. There is a parameter {loc_physical_ms}  which you can use in template which gives location code in URL that list of codes are available in Google Ads for all locations.

So from ad customizer if ad appear on different location ad copy text will be replaced through customizer but when clicked on ad, if that location parameter comes there then on your landing page /website you can do programming to implement logic which location user will see which landing page.

Advantages of using Ad Customizer

Again, one of the most effective things you can do as an advertiser is to provide the most relevant and specific messaging to each market segment. You can tailor your message with Ad Customizer. It also allows you to scale. Instead of manually changing the ads, you can use Google’s automation to automate the process for you, without additional time or cost.

This also helps you with reporting. You’ll have more granular data to guide your decisions. Furthermore, your time-sensitive promotions will automatically display to take advantage of timing in different markets. And you’ll achieve all of this without additional complexity, which is especially useful for larger accounts.

Disadvantages of using Ad Customizer

There are some default character limits for your descriptions and headings. Additionally, there are limitations on how many views are required before customization. Ad customizer itself cannot be paused, you’ll need to pause the entire ad or campaign if it isn’t getting you the desired conversions or you have remove the associated data.

When you’re ready to up your game, you can find out what every advertiser needs to know about Google Ad Customizers on our blog.

How Analytics Boost Your Conversions

Now that we’ve covered the four paid search examples and their pros and cons, we still aren’t done. In order to have effective paid search ads, you need to look at your data consistently. Otherwise, you could be running campaigns that simply don’t pay for themselves in the long run.

 
Using analytics is a great way to identify your best performing ads. Using this knowledge, you can see which campaigns and ads need to be reworked, paused, continued, or deleted altogether. Here are some practices to implement with your analytics:

• Leverage the Analytics Platform – It is essential to use Google Analytics if you want to improve your conversions. The paid search examples above only work with the right mindset. You should be looking to scale without sacrificing ad quality. This is only possible if you look at the data. Consider verticals, potential opportunities, and location changes.
• Measure Strategically – Make sure you have a grasp of the metrics that will have the most significant impact on your results. You need to have a smart strategy from the start if you’re going to achieve your goals. Examine how to boost customer value, advertising copy, and landing page experiences. Knowing the right data to measure is half the battle. You might just unlock opportunities with new audiences that you hadn’t seen before.
• Look at Sales – Customers are smarter today than ever before. They buy based on trust and reviews. They will look at blogs, reviews, and other areas to make sure they’re making a smart decision. This is great news for you. If you’ve shown that you can win your market over in the form of real sales, you’ve got a powerful platform. You can start to see where sales came from to double down on those investments in your brand.
• Don’t Use Vanity Metrics – A lot of companies fall into the trap of using vanity metrics. These are data points that don’t move the needle in a measurable way. For instance, gaining followers, likes, shares, and other social indicators are all signs of improvement, but they don’t equal sales. Don’t get charmed by metrics that don’t tell the whole story. Paid search examples include looking at the number of jackets sold rather than the number of Facebook fans you have for your fashion page.
• Constantly Experiment – Marketers are in danger of getting stuck in a rut. If you want your business to soar, you need to be on the cutting edge. You should look for new growth opportunities in all aspects of your paid advertising. Use the paid search examples in this article as a starting point, then expand out from there. Apply your own insights and creativity. Only through constant change and testing can you find the most profitable way to advertise online.
• Planning is Key – Get into the habit of becoming a great planner. The more efficient you are with your time, the better you will be able to harness the analytics at your fingertips. So plan your analytics reports and review them regularly
• Look at Different Metrics for Insights – Don’t just look at one metric. Take a holistic approach. Consider impressions, clicks, sales, and other conversion metrics. The wider you cast your net, the more likely you are to find something that boosts conversions.

 
You can find different reports here for your campaigns to analyze and review your data with great visualization and results.

Wrap Up

Paid search is more competitive than it has ever been. When the web was relatively new, you could simply throw up a landing page, send some ads to it, and see successful conversions. But the modern consumer is much savvier, and they’ve had negative experiences before.

For that reason, you have to find ways to get better value on your ad spend, more relevant traffic, and higher conversions ultimately. Ideally, you can do this in a way that saves you time so you can grow your business in other ways.

Evaluate your business setup and needs and choose the strategy that would most likely result in better conversion rates. As always, you can’t really “set and forget it” in the world of paid ads. You need to constantly test and tweak your campaigns to maximize your return on investment.