Google loves throwing recommendations your way, but…..not all of the suggestions are created equal, and if activated, could be draining your advertising budget. For most small businesses, the recommendations that come in via email or within the platform are generalized, and not specifically tailored to your campaigns. Unfortunately, your ad account won’t qualify for higher-tier Google reps unless you spend a significant amount of money each month (think thousands of dollars). So before auto-applying every suggestion, check out our list of recommendations that most small business owners should think twice about.
Avoid using Display Networks and Google Partners
Google likes to encourage you to run your ads across their Google Search Partners Network and Google Display Network. It will even come up as recommended within the campaign buildout itself, which makes sense because they are Google-owned networks. Unfortunately, enabling these networks often results in lower-intent traffic. Why? These networks place your ads alongside blog articles, videos, and sites where the audience isn’t necessarily actively searching for what you have to offer. Plus, Google picks the placements for you, so there is a likelihood that your ad will appear on sites that aren’t relevant to your business or target audience. Unless you have a large budget and are interested in retargeting campaigns or brand awareness, it is best to turn off these networks and stick to higher-intent search campaigns.
Try Exact and Phrase Match Keywords Before Jumping Into Broad Match
Google has been touting the effectiveness of broad match keywords for over a year now. If you enable a Smart campaign, Google automatically uses broad match keywords, and to be fair, their effectiveness has gotten better than when first launched. Unless you diligently filter search terms and understand how to filter down your keywords, broad match can bring in a lot of irrelevant traffic, zapping small ad budgets. If you are starting a new ads account or working with a small budget, stick to exact match or phrase match keywords before expanding to broad match.
When is broad match actually useful?
- When you already have a well-optimized campaign and want to expand your keyword reach.
- When you have enough budget to test and refine the traffic you’re getting.
Opt Out Of Automatically Created Assets
Letting Google automatically create your campaign assets is a time-saver and also means you are handing over control of your brand messaging. To ensure you have all the correct snippets, sitelinks, callouts, and headlines, you are better off creating your own. That way, you can ensure your messages don’t sound like AI and match your brand’s voice and that your assets link to the correct pages on your website. It also helps to prevent irrelevant information from being pulled off your website and placed into campaign assets.
Avoid Switching to Max Conversions Bidding Too Soon
Maximize Conversions sounds like the best strategy, right? Everyone wants to find the most leads possible! Switching to this campaign objective too soon, though, means your campaigns will spend money without truly optimizing for conversions. Google’s algorithm needs data to work effectively, and if your campaigns only bring in a handful of conversions each month, Google doesn’t have enough information to optimize fully. You are better off starting with Maximize Clicks to increase campaign volume before switching bidding strategies. Aim for at least 20 conversions per month (preferably 30) before trying out a new bidding strategy.
Google Ads recommendations aren’t inherently bad. Sometimes though, they won’t help you to get the most out of your ad spend. Before clicking apply, make sure the recommendation will help you find quality traffic that aligns with your brand goals. Have additional questions? Connect with our PPC team today!
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