Why Google Ad Accounts Succeed and Fail [With DATA]

As a business owner, you’ve probably heard much about using Google Ads to increase your online presence or sales. With training and/or the help of a digital ad agency, profitable Google Ads are attainable! 

Yes, Google Ads can be a cost-effective and powerful marketing tool. However, if not executed properly, you may lose money. While some businesses deftly use Google Ads to increase their online revenue, many lose their ad investment.

So, why do some succeed and some fail with Google Ads?

You would be surprised at such simple answers! Read on to find out.

4 Reasons Why Some Accounts Succeed and Some Fail When Using Google Ads

Even though Google created Google Ads as a simple tool for marketing, it is hardly easy to use. The many features make navigating inside Google Ad Dashboard difficult at first.

1. Insufficient Conversion Tracking

To appropriately calculate ROI, marketers need to be able to track down every conversion and see how much money was made out of it concerning the investment. 

In recent research by Disruptive Advertising, they audited 2,000 Google Ads accounts and came to the following conclusion.

Only 57.7% of the Google Ads accounts have set up some form of conversion tracking. So, almost half of the Google Ads accounts do not know whether their strategies and ad campaigns are making money. Even among that 57.7 % of accounts that have to track, only half are tracking anything meaningful.

You can see from the chart that only one-quarter of the Google Ads accounts measure the results of their campaigns. The rest are probably creating random ads with no idea whether it’s working.

The solution is simple: enable conversion tracking in your Google Ads account and monitor results regularly. Google Ads generates the tracking code you need to place on your website. Once you have completed this process, you can start tracking your Google Ads directly.

2. Ads Targeting Only Short-Tail Keywords

Short-tail keywords are those that have high search volume and, therefore, have high search frequency. Since the search frequency is high, many other businesses and ads will be targeting these keywords, which decreases your chance of appearing in the search results.

On the other hand, long-tail keywords are, as the name says, longer than short-tail keywords. Because fewer businesses are competing for long-tail words, these have less search frequency and cost less to bid on. This increases your probability of ranking. 

The last two sections (dark and light blue) are the long-tail keywords in the image below. You can see how less the search volume and the search queries are. 

If you have been targeting the short-tail keywords in your Google Ads, then it could be why your ads fail. Consider adding long-tail keywords to your campaign mix!

3. Low Conversion Rates

There are several reasons why the conversion rates from Google Ads are low. 

What stops visitors from converting if they have clicked on your ad and reached your landing page? One reason could be the poor landing page design and content.

The prospects have arrived at your door through the ads. Now is the time to whip your charm and convert these customers. But when you don’t focus on making the landing page great, you drive them away.  Below are a few tips to create a compelling landing page:

• Check the design of the landing page for a call to action. Does it ask the user for action?
• Add simple, interactive content. Your content should solve a problem or meet a need of the consumer on the other end.
• Don’t crowd the landing page with lots of content. Leave white spaces, and add images and videos for support.
• Create a consistent user experience from the start to the end. The landing page your ad takes the user to should look and feel the same as the rest of your branding, social media profiles, and marketing campaigns.

Need some help auditing your landing page? YellowFin Digital has helped many small and medium-scale businesses increase their landing page conversions. Our experts will perform a full sweep of your landing page features and content, identify areas of potential, and convert it to a high-converting landing page.

Another reason for poor conversions is improper or no conversion tracking. From the below image, it’s clear that the conversion rates for most ads are less than 5%. The typical conversion rates for Google Ads are 2% to 3%.

 However, Disruptive Advertising found from their study that the top 10% of ads that have set up accurate conversion tracking have conversion rates of at least 20% or above. 

That’s saying something when we look at the meager 2% conversion rates for most ads. Yet again, setting up accurate tracking for conversions and monitoring them routinely is the solution for good conversion rates.

4. Wasted Ad Spend

There are some keywords and strategies that yield 0% conversions. Without appropriate keyword monitoring, you may be spending money on zero-profit keywords!

According to a recent study of Disruptive Advertising, 61% of ad spend is wasted on unproductive keywords. 

To know where your ad money is getting wasted, you need to track the campaigns and analyze where your money goes.

At YellowFin Digital – PPC Advertising Agency, we audit Google Ads, set up conversion tracking, and create Google ads that lead to significant ROI. Call us at 361-844-8550 to discuss the specifics.

Conclusion 

You might know this. Why Should Your Business Use Google AdWords?  

The first step to succeeding in Google Ads is to understand them. Next, implementing proper tracking of ad ROI enables marketers to make informed decisions relative to proper keywords and ad spending. The power of data is what all marketers need to get a handle on money spent, the proper keywords to spend it on, and the tracking features that let you know the conversions. 

YellowFin Digital’s fully certified Google Ads experts would love to work with you and your business to create high-performance Google Ad campaigns!