When someone mentions Google, the first thought goes to search. But there are more areas in which the company has made strides over the years.

Paid advertising is one domain where it has gained prominence. Although the pay-per-click (PPC) model was not new - Overture Services (formerly GoTo.com) pioneered it in 1999 - only when Google AdWords (known pre-2018) came along is when online marketing underwent a significant transformation.

Rebranded as Google Ads in 2018, the platform now offers various ad formats and placements across various Google properties, including YouTube, Google Maps, mobile apps, and the Google Display Network.

Today, Google Ads is one of the most influential and popular online advertising platforms globally, connecting businesses with potential customers across the internet.

Optimization Tips for Better ROI

Advertising on Google Ads does have a learning curve, as there are numerous ways to optimize your campaign and utilize the available tools for maximum return on investment (ROI).

This article will discuss several strategies to help you maximize your advertising budget by optimizing your ad campaigns.

Ad Relevance

For your ad to be relevant, the ad text must match the intent of your keywords. For instance, if you are targeting 'wedding bands' but your ad text lacks textual references to weddings, vows, or ceremonies, your ad text may get a low score. Some other ways you can improve your CTR are:

• Highlight a unique benefit of your product or service, such as free shipping.
• Experiment with different calls to action that connect closely with your landing page.
• Create compelling calls to action with words like "Buy, Sell, Order, Browse, Find, Sign up, Try, Get a Quote."
• Be more specific in your ad text.

Quality Score

Google tells us its Quality Score tool uses three main components as a unit for its measurement, even though the above image does show more data is considered. To quote from their page:

• Expected click-through rate: The chances of your ad receiving clicks when displayed.
• Ad relevance: How closely your ad matches the intent behind a user's search.
• Landing page experience: How relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad.

Each component is rated "Above Average," "Average," or "Below Average." Let us explore each element in a bit more depth.

Expected Click-through Rate and Relevance

As it describes itself, 'expected' is the keyword here. The quality score will grade you based on a comparison with other advertisers whose ads showed for the same keyword over the last 90 days.

From this, you can learn if your Ad text does not rank with an 'Above Average' status from data in the past 90 days, other advertisers have not succeeded with it either.

Website Relevancy

Google also measures your website's relevance to the keyword targeted in the ad text. A website that doesn't show relevant text, images, or calls to action will not deliver a good user experience and, hence, not convert.

Other factors that are measured are page load times and mobile-friendly pages. Slow pages with heavy imagery and videos will load slower and could cause users to bounce; similarly, if they come via mobile search and the site does not have a mobile responsive layout, this could lead a user not to consider completing their transaction with you.

6 Ways To Maximize Your ROI

When looking for a Return on Investment (ROI), most businesses would measure:

• Conversion of revenue
• Customer acquisition
• Brand awareness
• Click-through rate
• Cost per lead

Or any other specific objective and goal they were aiming for.

Taking that into consideration, let's look at the below methods you can use to see an impact on your ROI.

Landing Pages

You have probably read about this 'secret' everywhere; however, we hope you find our suggestions different.

Landing pages have a particular quirk about them; put too much, and you could scare your customer away. Don't put enough, and they would most likely not be convinced enough to buy.

But the trick with landing pages starts before the customers 'land' on them.

• Call to Action: Think of your ad as the main 'Call to Action,' then put the 'action,' the act you want your customer to take, on the landing page and nothing more. For instance, if your ad says, "Click Here for a Free Trial," adding another button with the exact text on your landing page might be repetitive. Instead, show an email/social login entry form and have it say 'Get Started' or 'Login.'
• User Experience: The user experience is the most critical area where you 'connect' with the customer. Make it easy for them to understand, browse, and navigate; they will reward it with their time, attention, and, ultimately, their business.
• Page Copy: The landing page should have copy relevant to the keyword campaigns being run for it. If your ad copy says, "Summer Dresses Sale," but your landing page has images and copy for accessories together with your dresses, chances are that the visitor would lose their flow of thought and bounce, losing you a viable customer.

Mobile Optimization

Browsing via mobile has been growing, and it's not just your ads that need to be optimized but your websites and landing pages, too.

• Mobile Ads: While text-based ads do well on laptops and desktops, the mobile web experience delivers better results with images. Companies like Nike, Starbucks, and Domino's have all run successful ad campaigns that featured images with strong calls to action (see what I said above about the ad being the 'call to action'), resulting in double-digit conversion rates. It is essential to keep your image quality high, prominently feature the product, and ensure it loads fast.
• Mobile Web: Purchasing mobile phones has become easier over the years, with various service providers implementing specific mobile-oriented payment options. Any business looking to capitalize with a mobile-oriented ad campaign should take advantage of this step to add it to their shopping experience. Other tips include ensuring your site is responsive for mobile screens, designing the forms and input fields to be larger than usual, and having enough white space to maximize the user experience. A good user interface is always a good investment.

Ad Scheduling

The difference between conducting a campaign that boosts your ROI and overall profitability and one that doesn't is time.

Scheduling your campaigns to be seen at the right time to the right audience is one of the key strategies to a successful campaign.

• Dayparting: Popularly known by that term, dayparting refers to the schedule you choose to display your ads. For instance, if your physical bakery store is open for business from 9 AM to 3 PM and 6 PM to 10 PM, it doesn't make sense to run ads outside those hours. The local ads for birthday cakes you run would be more effective if you could answer customer queries during work hours.

The other benefits of running a campaign within a schedule are increased visibility, improved click-through rate, increased conversion rate, and reduced costs.

Interactive Video Ads

Interactive video ads on Google Ads are a type of video ad that allows viewers to interact with the ad in real time.

Unlike traditional video ads that are play and watch, interactive video ads incorporate elements with which the viewer can interact. For example, an ad may have clickable hotspots, answering questions, and other actions.

These ads have increased engagement as the ad connects with the viewer, leading to longer view durations. As an immersive experience, it allows users to explore different product features within the ad. Introducing the call-to-action (CTA) in the ad can reduce the conversion process's friction.

Some examples of this include:

• A car dealership might create an interactive video ad that allows viewers to take a virtual test drive of a car.
• A travel agency might create an interactive video ad of a destination, allowing viewers to book vacations.

Compete with Competition

Competing against competitors via Google Ads is an ongoing process that requires regular monitoring, analysis, and adaptation. To achieve that, here are a few key areas that you can focus on:

• Competitor Keyword Targeting: A tried and tested method is to bid on your competitor's keywords to appear in the search results. The only thing is, they would be doing the same for your business. A few tricks you can use to stand out are:
  a) Hyper-local - Target keywords in your local city or state; this can give you a personal edge over clients who would be partial to local businesses.
  b) Use ad extensions - These are elements like phone numbers, addresses, and hours of operation. It ties in nicely with the hyper-local tip.
  c) Target audiences - You have a specific customer profile that your data says is generally the type that buys your product. Google Ads allows you to segment via interests, demographics, and past behavior. Better targeting leads to better conversions.
• Track, Track, Track: You should track everything you invest in your advertising campaign. From the keywords, the clicks they generate, the bounce rates, and why some keywords are converting, among many other elements. You may find that you are getting more conversions Monday through Friday, from 12 to 3 PM, from users who see your ad on a mobile phone that are local to your business in a 5-mile radius. You can only gather that information by tracking every aspect of your ad campaign, especially when competing against nationwide companies and other local businesses.

Implement Remarketing

Remarketing is a marketing technique that shows your ads to prospective customers who may have left your site without completing a purchase.

It works by placing a snippet of code on the page that matters most to your business, for instance, your shopping cart. When a customer, who may have put a few items in their cart, leaves without completing their purchase, the code sets a cookie on their browser to note their visit.

The code then tracks them as they visit other sites and shows your ad where relevant. The customer sees the ad again, revisits your website, and completes their purchase.

You'll need to create a remarketing list to use remarketing in Google Ads. A remarketing list is a group of people who have visited your website. You can create a remarketing list by adding a code snippet to your website. This snippet will create a cookie on people's computers when they visit your website. The cookie will then allow you to show ads to those people when they visit other websites that are part of the Google Display Network.

Click here to read more about Google remarketing.

Remarketing can be a very effective way to increase ROI. By reaching people who are already interested in your products or services, you can increase your chances of conversion.

In conclusion, optimizing Google Ads campaigns is essential for businesses seeking to maximize their online advertising investments.

Marketers can ensure effective campaigns that yield higher ROI and drive meaningful engagement by focusing on quality scores, precise landing pages, mobile responsiveness, strategic ad scheduling, interactive content, competitive analysis, and intelligent remarketing.

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