Google Ads are a great way for businesses to connect with their customers the moment the customer needs them. But are you sure your ads are doing as much as they can? You can be!
This is where Google Ads Experiments come in. Experimenting with different strategies can really increase the value of your ads, and it doesn’t have to be intimidating. Here are three simple ways to start experimenting with Google Ads to maximize your marketing efforts.
Ad Copy
Does your audience respond better to a unique headline (think “The Adventure Of A Lifetime”) or something more direct (“Bike Tours In The US & Abroad”)? Does pinning a call to action in the third position generate more conversions than if you leave all your headlines unpinned and let Google decide where they land?
Which verbs work best in your ads – would your audience rather “Buy Now” or “Shop New Styles For Fall”?
What about your ads’ focus? Do you generate more conversions by targeting your audience’s pain points (“Tired Of Living In Disarray?”) or touting your product’s benefits (“Live An Organized Life”)?
The only way to know is to test. Create an experiment in Google Ads and find out for sure.
Keywords
Google will always try to convince you that broad match keywords are the best choice for any campaign, and sometimes this is true. But is it true for your business? Run an experiment and find out. Test out different keyword match types to see which is bringing the most relevant traffic to your site, and which types are delivering the best conversion values.
Once you know which match types work best for your campaign, test which specific keywords are bringing you the best results.
Keywords are the backbone of any Google Ad, and using the right keywords with the best match type for your ads is a crucial component in optimizing your ads. Testing is a great way to ascertain what the best keywords are for your campaigns.
Landing Pages
Every ad leads to a landing page and it’s important to know which landing page performs best with your ads. Direct the same ad to different landing pages and you’ll be able to see which is best for the ad.
For instance, if you own an inn, test to see if ads that land on the homepage do better than ads that land on the page where each room is pictured and described. A bakery could test to see if ads that go to the homepage outperform ads that go directly to their menu. Do ads for a concert venue generate more conversions on their homepage or the page with their calendar of events?
In one particularly successful landing page experiment, we recently discovered that changing the landing page for a client’s search ads resulted in twice as many conversions, and a 50% decrease in cost per conversion. The conversion value was 114% higher when users landed on the experimental landing page. Based on these results, changing the landing page for those ads was a no brainer.
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Notes About Experiments
Experiments are an amazing tool and can really help you maximize your ROI. There’s no better way to stay on top of what’s relevant and useful to your audience.
It’s important to remember to change only one element of the ad per experiment so you can pinpoint exactly what’s working.
By using Google’s built-in testing feature, you’ll clearly see the performance metrics like the click through rate, conversion rates, and cost per conversion for each type of ad. Based on these results, you can build more effective ads that attract your audience and drive conversions. Google makes the process simple, and this video is an excellent tutorial on setting up experiments.
The Bottom Line
Experimenting with Google Ads doesn’t have to be intimidating. By A/B testing ad copy, experimenting with keywords, and testing landing pages, you can dip your toes into Google Ads experiments and gain valuable insights to increase your ads’ performance. Ready to optimize your Google Ads strategy? Contact us today, and let’s start experimenting for success.
