Google AdWords Settings

Location Targeting – This is a big one. When considering your targeted locations, look at how many impressions you’ll look at generating and bear in mind existing statistics. A campaign that has a modest budget shouldn’t target nationwide searches. The campaign will become too diluted and the budget could run out in a matter of a couple of hours. Your budget should reflect targeting.

Advanced Location Targeting – Do you want to target users who are physically in your location or do you want to target users that are searching for your location? To simplify ‘Electrician in Bedford’ this user is looking for an electrician in Bedford and they live in Bedford. ‘Electrician in Bedford’ this user is looking for an electrician in Bedford but lives in London. The saying goes ‘not all business is good business. The latter example could have a lower chance of conversion.

Bid Strategy – There are different types of bid strategy to consider. Take a look below at what they all mean.

Manual CPC – With this option, you are in control. You decide how much you want to pay for a click.

Enhanced CPC – Google will look at previous conversion history for you. You set a manual max CPC, and if Google thinks it’ll likely result in a conversion, during that search query it’ll increase your bid by up to 30%.

Automatic CPC – This strategy enables you to maximise clicks. You’ll get the most clicks possible out of your budget. Bear in mind, however, that not all traffic is beneficial. You may want to be clicked on before anyone else. This will be unlikely with a position below 3 or 4.

Ad Delivery – How are your ads performing? Are you getting a low CTR but not a great impression share? In this case, choose accelerated ad delivery so that Google can show your ads more frequently.

Ad Schedule – look at competition and likelihood of conversion. For example, if you’re a mobile tyre fitter in London, you may want to consider scheduling your ads to show only during the night and early morning. At this point, your competitors will likely have turned off their ads. This will result in lower CPC but also higher conversion rates.

Mobile Bid Enhancement – How important is a click from a mobile device? Smart insights wrote a great article on mobile device conversions. Consider increasing mobile clicks by at least 25% to ensure you’re at the top for these queries.

Conversion Tracking

Conversion Calls From Ads – When someone looks at your advert on any device, if you have extensions set up, they’ll see a phone number.
Google can track the number of calls from these adverts for you. You can set up conversions at account level.

Conversion Calls From Websites – In this event, Google can place a unique forwarding number to display where your phone numbers usually display. Only if your website is visited as a result of an ad click, the new number will display. Google can then track the number of calls that come from the website as a result of Google AdWords.

Conversion Purchases From Website – If you run an e-commerce site, you’ll want to know how effective AdWords is. Use this conversion tracking to see how many purchases you are generating.

Conversion Enquiry Form Submissions – Enquiry forms can be a powerful tool. A fantastic call to action which provides you with lead data in a few taps and clicks. Differentiate the ones coming through Google AdWords by adding this conversion tracking.