What is Google Ads Management ( PPC ) ?

Google ads management / Pay-Per-Click (PPC) management is the process of overseeing and managing a company’s PPC ad spend. This often strategies and ad buys while minimizing the overall expenditure. This may be done by the e-merchant or vendor themselves, or a dedicated specialist company may be hired to manage PPC buys on their behalf.

PPC management is generally seen as an evolving art where perfect optimization is not possible, but is still the objective.

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    What does a PPC agency or specialist typically do?

    Effective PPC management revolves around several interconnected subjects:

    Keyword analysis

    Discovering and targeting specific keywords and search queries being entered by likely leads for a company.

    Channel strategy

    Google AdWords, Bing Ads, affiliate networks, and paid social media placements are some of the channels to consider for PPC marketing.

    Monitoring

    Monitoring search term reports closely to learn which keywords/queries are most often used, to focus their buys on the most common searches. Keeping an eye on overall ROI and using that as a guideline to dictate the amount paid and scope of ad buys.

    Competitive analysis

    Keeping an eye on tactics and strategies utilized by competitors is key — and time consuming. For example, deciding whether to compete directly by bidding on the same queries, or instead targeting queries a competitor is overlooking (competitive gap).

    Negative match

    Optimizing ad spend by filtering out users who match a category that makes them unlikely to convert. A high-end fashion retailer, for example, might limit their ads to users in the top 10% of earnings. A physical business, like a restaurant, would limit ads to those within close geographic proximity.

    A/B Testing

    Constantly split testing is one of the most effective methods for optimizing PPC ROI. Text, graphics, and other display variables can be used interchangeably to find the most effective method.

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    Who Should Hire PPC Management Company?
    While some companies may balk at the added expense of hiring experts to manage their PPC campaigns, in many cases it can pay for itself by increasing efficiencies. Good candidates for hiring a PPC Management company include:
    • Anyone new to online advertising.
    • Companies lacking an in-house advertising team.
    • Small firms without sufficient manpower to effectively oversee PPC.
    • Organizations unable to afford the sometimes-expensive database and software systems needed for optimal PPC management.
    Dedicated PPC management firms have significant expertise in the area, as well as industry contacts and established connections to existing advertising platforms. They can enable disadvantaged online businesses to compete at near-parity with larger operations.

    How to Manage Your Ads Like a Pro?

    In the online advertising marketplace, Google dominates. It claims more than 75 percent of the U.S. search market share and drives more than 90 percent of paid search clicks on mobile devices. That’s why companies in numerous industries use its ad management platform, Google Ads, to advertise online. Google Ads management (previously known as Google AdWords management) is challenging for businesses new to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, though. It requires time, dedication, and skill, which is why this post provides an insider’s look into succeeding at Google Ads management. Here are some steps:

    1. Follow best practices for your Google Ads account structure

    Before your company launches its first campaign in Google Ads, you need to review account structure. If you’re familiar with account structure in Google Ads, then you know it describes the organization of your campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. In Google Ads, you use the following account hierarchy:
    • Account
    • Campaigns
    • Ad Groups
    • Keywords
    When you create a campaign, it’s essential for your team to build a set of ad groups that coordinate with its topic or focus. If your team creates mismatched ad groups and keywords, it can lower the performance (and increase the costs) of your ad campaign. That’s because your ads receive a quality score, which rates the relevance and quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. Get the best possible score for your ads by following the best practices for account structure. Create coordinated ad groups with related and specific keywords. Then, move on to building a relevant landing page and engaging ad.

    2. Research competitors’ PPC strategies

    The next step of Google Ads management takes your company outside of the Google Ads platform. While your business can create and launch an advertising campaign without researching competitors, PPC specialists don’t recommend it. Skipping competitor research doesn’t help your strategy succeed. It hurts your performance instead, which results in lost leads, revenue, and ad spend. You can research your competitors (and their ads) a few ways, including:
    • Enter your search terms on Google, and see what ads appear
    • Invest in a paid third-party tool, like SEMRush to get a complete look at a competitor’s strategy
    • Access a free third-party tool, like iSpionage to view competitor ads, keywords, and more
    If you’re collaborating with a PPC consultant or PPC agency, they should conduct a competitor analysis.

    3. Match your targeting to your audience and goals

    As you outline your account structure, it’s essential to think about your audience and goals. This step is a critical part of Google Ads management. Misalignment between your goals (like driving sales) and your targeting (like users researching shoes) can cause your campaign to fail. Take the time to assess your goals and your audience, and then use that information to shape your campaign targeting. In comparison, target more top-of-the-funnel keywords to reach users in the early stages of shopping.

    4. Align your ads and your landing pages

    In online advertising, landing pages play a significant role in driving conversions. When a user clicks on your ad, they get taken to your landing page, which is where they can explore your products or services, learn about your business, and make a purchase. Companies, however, make a common mistake with this part of Google Ads management. They don’t create dedicated landing pages for their ad groups. It’s easy to understand why. It’s a time-consuming and resource-intensive process to develop, design, and launch custom landing pages. Not to mention, it can require outside expertise. A landing page that doesn’t fully coordinate with your ads, however, can damage your ad campaign in multiple ways. It can decrease your impressions, increase your costs, and decimate your conversions because it doesn’t deliver on your ad copy.

    Users arrive, get confused, and then leave. The page highlights the company’s emergency plumbing services. It also includes a well-placed contact form at the top of the page, making it easy for users to contact the company. While you can update your ad copy, it often moves your ad campaign away from your company’s goals. That’s why it’s worth considering a custom landing page design. Don’t let the time and money you’ve invested into your ad campaign go to waste because of a landing page. Work with your internal team to update or modify an existing page for your campaign. Or, skip the extended turnaround time for an in-house design by working with an agency.

     5. Refine your audience and keyword targeting

    Once you’ve built your ad structure, completed your competitor research, and launched your dedicated landing page, you can move into the ongoing process of managing your Google Ads account. Expect to dedicate time each week to manage your campaign. As a part of your ongoing Google Ads management, you want to work on refining your target audience and keywords. Following your campaign’s launch, your team can start collecting data on your keyword performance and audience targeting. For example, you can learn which keywords drive the most clicks, come with the highest cost, and more. You can also see which audience demographics, behaviors, and interests generate the most clicks and conversions. Even better, you can see which days of the week and timeframes offer the best results. With this data, your team can narrow your audience and targeting, focusing on the most profitable audience members, keywords, and times. You want to take this proactive step because it maximizes the results of your campaign, plus helps your business get the most from its ad spend.

    6. Optimize your bids with strategic management

    While you can rely on Google Ads to manage your ad bids, taking a hands-on approach to bid management provides your team with valuable advertising knowledge and the chance to optimize your ad spend. It’s a time-consuming part of Google Ads management, but it’s a task that experts in the industry use and recommend. That’s why our Google Ads management services, for example, include strategic bid management. Depending on your strategy and ad campaigns, your team may need to invest a significant amount of time in strategic bid management. For instance, setting different bids for individual keywords requires more time than creating a single bid for an entire ad group. Strategic bid management is worth it, however, because it allows your team to proactively supervise your ad budget. Not to mention, your bid influences your Ad Rank, which determines your position (and chances of appearing) in search results.

    7. Use A/B testing to maximize campaign performance

    A/B testing is another critical part of Google Ads management. Like every other component of ad management, it requires time and dedication. It can also, however, provide a massive payoff for you, your team, and your company. If you decide to A/B test your campaigns, Google makes it easy to test multiple features, including:
    • Ad copy
    • Landing pages
    • Ad targeting
    • Ad bid
    • And more
    In Google Ads, you can create and launch experiments fast. Beforehand though, you need to invest the time reviewing your data and compiling your tests. In some cases, you may even need to coordinate with team members, like developers for a landing page design or copywriters for an ad copy rewrite. For the best results, your company should always have an A/B test running. This approach allows your team to continually gather data and insights about your campaign, as well as improve its performance and return on investment (ROI).

    Expedite your Google Ads management

    Managing your Google Ads account isn’t easy. It’s a challenge because it requires constant attention from your team. That attention and consistent management, however, can result in tremendous rewards (like sales, leads, and revenue) for your business. If your company recognizes the value of Google Ads management, but also the strain it would cause on your team, professional Google Ads management services from WebFX can help. We’ll take care of the entire management process, from setup to optimization to drive the best possible results.