When it comes to getting your jewelry store and your products seen online, PPC (or pay-per-click) advertising is one of the most widely used methods available. One of the most heavily asked PPC-related questions jewelry stores will ask is “what are google ads best practices?” . This is a complex question, however, and can depend on a number of factors unique to your business.
With that being said, the search engine juggernaut Google receives over 5 billion searches per day. Unlike Facebook and other advertising platforms, when a user looks up a keyword on Google they are showing intent. Which means they may be ready to inquire about a product or service or ultimately make a purchase. This is why Google Ads can be so powerful. As you can provide exactly what a user (aka a potential customer) is looking for.
However, while running Google Ads is a great way to increase in-store visits and product sales, it is not a simple process. That will require the expertise of a digital marketing team to ensure your budget is spent properly and your ads are reaching the right audience.
But, what if you’re already running PPC ads on Google? You may have hired an agency or freelancer to manage your ad campaigns. But if your results, thus far, are not meeting your expectations, it’s important to ensure you’re ads are being run properly. Here are a few questions you should ask:
Are You Targeting The Right Keywords?
One of Google Ads best practices is to use Keywords. Keywords are the bread and butter for any successful Google Ads campaign. However, figuring out the right search terms to use for your ads takes extensive keyword research. During this phase, there are multiple factors to consider, such as:
Ad Relevance
First and foremost, you should ensure your keywords are relevant to the subject of the ad you will be running. For example, if you’re advertising bridal jewelry, then keywords like “engagement rings” and “wedding bands” should be on your list of potential search terms.
Keep in mind, that you should be thinking outside of the box by targeting broader keywords that may indirectly tie in to your ad’s subject like “jewelry stores near me” or “unique wedding rings”.
Competitor Analysis
If your competitors are actively running successful Google Ads, then it is critical to analyze what keywords they’re targeting in order to figure out what has worked for them and what hasn’t. This will help narrow down your list of potential search terms and give you insight into what you can expect in terms of CPC (cost per click) and CVR (conversion rate) for each keyword.
Historic Performance Data
Once you’ve figured out which keywords you would like to target, it’s important to begin narrowing down your list of search terms. You can do this by looking at each keyword’s historic performance on Google thus far.
While you should pay attention to CPC and CVR, one of the most important factors to consider is monthly search volume. This shows you how many searches each term has received on a monthly basis. From here it’s all about choosing keywords with enough volume to warrant adding them to your campaign. Keep in mind, though, that the higher the volume the more competitive the keyword will be. Which means that their will be a higher CPC.
Keyword Match Types
Keyword match types help control which searches on Google can trigger your ad. So you could use broad match to show your ad to a wide audience. Or you could use exact match to hone in on specific groups of customers. See a run down of each match type available here.
For more information on best keyword practices, download our Jewelry Marketing Guide
Are You Using The Right Google Ad Campaign Types?
Google offers multiple campaign types, each with their own set of advantages depending on what you’re advertising. Unfortunately, most businesses fail to utilize each campaign type and will only focus on 1 or 2. These are typically search and display. Which this can lead to wasted ad spend and the alienation of thousands of potential customers.
To help you figure out which campaign types you should be using, we’ll break each one down below:
Search Campaigns
Google search campaigns are the most popular among the majority of advertisers on the platform. These types of ad campaigns are typically text-based, displayed on the main Google search engine results pages. Which are meticulously placed at the top of each page in order to catch the user’s eye.
If you’re running ads currently, it’s likely you’re already utilizing this campaign type. However, it’s important to utilize all search campaign features. For example, ad extensions to optimize your ads’ visibility and increase clicks.
Display Campaigns
The Google Display Network is designed to help you find the right audience. Its targeting options let you strategically show your message to potential customers at the right place and the right time.
Find new customers or engage your existing customers using audiences. Similar audiences and in-market audiences allow you to target people who are most likely to be interested in your products, helping you find new prospective customers. You can also use data, like remarketing lists, to help you re-engage people who previously visited your site.
Shopping Campaigns
Shopping campaigns help you promote your products by giving users detailed information about what you’re selling before they even click your ad. Using retail-centric reporting tools, you’ll then be able to track the performance of your products over time.
YouTube Campaigns
The numbers don’t lie. YouTube is also the second-biggest search engine after Google, with 1.9 billion monthly active users. 50 million of those users are content creators who upload 576,000 hours of video to YouTube every day.
Are You Targeting the Right Audience?
We already covered how important adding relevant keywords to your campaigns can be when it comes to reaching the proper audience, but there are other factors to consider as well.
For instance, if your goal is to increase in-store visits and local brand awareness for your jewelry store, then you will need to geo-target your campaigns to your specific store location. Many businesses fail with Google Ads by simply targeting the wrong location.
What you will want to figure out, before adding a set location to your campaigns, is how dense the population is surrounding your store. If your business is in a small town, it may be a good practice to target the area codes surrounding your jewelry store. The reason for doing this is to reach a larger audience.
Adding negative keywords to your campaigns will also help to prevent irrelevant users from seeing your advertisements. For example, if you’re advertising silver bracelets, keywords like “cheap” “toy” or “kids” should be excluded from your campaigns. This way those users won’t accidentally be served your ads, which could lead to wasted ad spend.
Are Your Landing Pages Powerful Enough?
Creating quality ads is, unfortunately, only half of the battle. In order to ensure your ad’s quality score is high and actually turn into conversions, you’ll need to ensure your landing pages are up to snuff.
Avoid sending users directly to a product page or your home page. This is because it may detract the user from converting. Causing them to exit your website quickly, which lowers quality score. Instead, your landing pages should be meticulously designed to convert and be relevant to whatever you’re advertising.
With mobile users becoming increasingly more prevalent, you should also ensure your landing pages are responsive and easy to navigate on a mobile device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Still need help with Google Ads Best Practices?
If you are too busy or still want help implementing Google Ads best practices for your business, then get in touch with a marketing agency. GemFind is a professional digital marketing agency that can take care of your Google Ads needs. Get in touch today to speak with one of our many Google Ads Experts.