Theoretically, you can buy as much website traffic as you like. However, you could end up wasting 99% of your budget.
If you’re using or planning to sign up with Google AdWords to drive effective traffic to your website, here are 10 mistakes you don’t want to make.
1. Too many keywords
Be careful when you choose your keywords. Don’t simply add EVERY keyword suggested by Google. The more keywords you select, the more money you will spend, the more untargeted and wasteful your campaign will get.
Start with 10 keywords, and assess week after week which ones perform best.
2. Broad keywords
Probably the second biggest mistake people do when they setup their own campaign. If you choose broad keywords, you will capture too much traffic. Too much traffic means too much money (you pay per click).
So, select multiple word keywords e.g. “Kitchen Designer Ireland” (and not just “Kitchens”).
3. No negative keywords
When selecting your campaign keywords, most people don’t know that negative keywords can be chosen as well. It’s easy: your Ads will not show up with your negative keywords.
Always include negative keywords such as:
Your company name: there is no need to show Ads to your existing customers!
Your competitors: if users are searching for a specific company, they won’t click on your Ad
Non-converting keywords: exclude words such as “free”, “review”, etc. as those are not “buying” searches
4. No keywords in Ad text
After selecting the best keywords, many advertisers forget to include those keywords in the advert text. This doesn’t help the user at all: if searching for “Flowers Company Dublin”, nobody would click on an Ad that doesn’t contain the word “Flowers” at least.
Not only: using keywords in your Ads will help your Ad rank higher. For every search, Google aims to return the most relevant Ads.
5. No user location
When setting up the campaign, avoid skipping the Ad location. If you run a local business make sure your Ads are not visible to users outside your target area..
This could save you big money.
6. Wrong landing page
99% of advertisers believe good campaign settings make AdWords campaigns successful. A major mistake is when no attention is paid to the “landing page”, ie the website page users see after clicking on the Ad.
For example, the Homepage is selected as landing page way too many times. And usually, the Homepage is the worst choice: users want to be landed on a page that is relevant to their search. If a customer was looking for “Personal Injury Solicitor” you will want to select your “Personal Injury” page, and not the Homepage.
7. No call-to-action @ landing page
Earlier on we introduced the second biggest AdWords mistake. Not focusing on the landing page contents and calls to action is definitely the top DIY mistake.
Not many users buy or get in touch the first time they land on a new website. And if there are no strategies to capture that potential sale, it’ll just be another click wasted. Not only you want to have relevant text and images, you also need to use appropriate calls to action, have your newsletter subscription box, insert links to your “About” and “Contact” pages. The more you inform, the more likely you’ll sell.
8. No Analytics integration
If you setup an AdWords campaign, you really need to track results. AdWords can be linked to Google Analytics with a simple click of your mouse.
Analytics will help you analyse where users go after clicking on your Ad. If, for example, Analytics reports a high “exit rate” (users exit the website after entering), there is something wrong and you should stop your campaign immediately.
9. No tracking conversionn
AdWords goal number 1: Increase sales.
Major AdWords mistake: Not tracking conversions.
As you setup an AdWords campaign to increase your revenue, you may also want to find out whether this gives you ROI. And, if you are not really able to track newspaper Ads or other marketing campaigns, AdWords let you track your sales!
All you have to do is installing some code on your Website, and AdWords will tell you how many sales you convert. By comparing your net profit with the Ad spend, calculating ROI is very simple.
10. No daily optimisation
Last, but not the least: do not leave your AdWords work automatically until your budget is exhausted. In order to make an AdWords campaign very successful, you need to manage it every day.
Only by deleting the underperforming keywords, optimising the Ad text, improving your landing page and assess your ROI you will be actually able to make 1000’s of extra sales through your website.