10 Ways Businesses Can Save Money on Google Ads

I've seen firms of all sizes spend too much on PPC. It's straightforward to do and even easier to think that any engagement will increase your business, which isn't the case.

Most keywords have a 0% chance of resulting in a customer.

The easiest way to reduce your PPC spending is to use your available data and be very picky about what words you advertise. You can also try the following optimizations.

1. Use long tail keywords

A long-tail keyword refers to a keyword phrase that is longer than 3-4 words.

Google's automated campaigns recommend that you use broad-match keywords in your campaigns. That only makes sense if you have long-tail broad-match keywords.

Why?

Long-tail broad matches are very specific, and the user's intent is obvious. They also match semi-specific search terms.

Examples: "best ways to save on google ads" or "save money on ads."

• Long-tail keywords are more specific and generally show much higher intent than short-tail keywords.
• Long-tail keywords are also where most conversions happen historically.

They can be excellent places to find high-converting words for your business. As you create your PPC campaigns, consider adding some long-tail keywords.

However, if you know your long tail keywords, why not just use phrase or exact match?

2. Stop using broad match keywords

A search term is a set of words that a user enters into a search, while a keyword is a word that a user enters into an Ad group. Depending on the match type, a search term can match with variants of a keyword.

Broad-match keywords can eat up your whole budget on nonsense queries.

In general, broad-match keywords will make your life easier by saving you the effort to find what's working, but they will also cost you more money.

See the examples below. If your company was in the business of selling image editing for conference presentations, how relevant are the following searches? The bulk of your budget could get eaten up by the term with the most search volume. And if you used an automated campaign, the campaign would probably bid on those irrelevant terms just to waste your money.

Broad Match Keyword	Search Term	Intent	Search Volume
Editing	Image editing	Selfie editing	20k
Editing	Video editing	Youtube video editing	200k
Editing	Instagram edits	Tips for editing Instagram pictures	100k
Editing	English editing	English paper proofreading	110k
Editing	Video edit software	Free editing tools for selfies	210k
Editing	Best image edits 2022	A list of really good selfies	300k
Editing	Conference image editing	Your product	1k

3. Use keyword negatives

Keyword negatives are a simple way to ensure that you are targeting the right keywords, increasing the chance that your ads will bring in relevant traffic.

A search term is a precise phrase that a specific user typed into Google that matches your 'keyword.' Think of a keyword as a category that matches an intent and the search terms as precise sentences.

For example, the broad match keyword "attorney" matched with the phrases "free employment lawyers" and "Denver car accident attorney" and "divorce attorney denver."

If you want to stop getting calls from people who think that you're a free lawyer, add the search term [free employment lawyers] as a negative keyword.

The [brackets] mean that the keyword is an exact match. This is the default for keyword negatives, and you can usually negate exact-match search terms without any problems. If you remove the brackets, it becomes a broad match negative, which is usually a bad idea without further research. Broad-match negatives can match will all sorts of terms.

You can negate up to 5000 keywords per negative keyword list or 10,000 negative keywords per campaign.

1. Go to your Adwords Account
2. Select a Search Campaign
3. Click on Keywords
4. Click on Search terms
5. Click on the Search terms you want to negate
6. Select the Campaign or Adgroup you wish to add the keyword negatives too
7. Click save

Keyword negative lists are handy if you can quickly identify what is irrelevant to your product. For example, if you sell video editing, you might not sell English editing, so negativing words in that entire industry might be a great use of a negative keyword list.

4. Improve your Google Quality Score

The Quality Score is a rating that Google gives each of your keywords based on your ad's landing page, ad relevance, and expected click-through rate. This rating is a number that ranges from 1 to 10, where a higher Quality Score indicates a better Ad Rank.

The Quality Score is composed of three parts. 

• Clickthrough Rate (CTR) has a significant impact on the Quality Score. Therefore, improve your CTR through audience targeting, headlines, promotions, or extensions.
• Ad relevance will affect your quality score, so put your keywords in your headlines and landing page.
• The landing page experience will affect your quality score as well. Consider your core web vitals.

The Quality Score is not input at auction time but is a diagnostic tool for Ad Rank. Ad Rank is the elegant name for the Google Ads auction.

We can never know our Ad Rank, but the Quality Score can give you a historical diagnostic of your Ad Rank.

The Quality Score is primarily affected by ad extensions, the length of time your ads have been running, the frequency of your ads being clicked, and the relevance of your ad's landing page. Therefore, it's essential to keep tabs on your Quality Score and ensure that it is as high as possible, as your ad may not be shown to users if you have a lower Quality Score.

So, how can you improve your Quality Score? Focus on relevant keywords in your ads and on your landing page. Ensure that you have a fast, mobile-friendly website and experiment with Ad text.

The quality score is accessible only to keywords with more than 500 impressions. To access your quality score, follow these steps.

1. Go to your Adwords Account
2. Select a Search Campaign
3. Click Keywords
4. Click Columns on the right
5. Type in Quality Score in the search box
6. Select each Quality Score Metric
7. Click Apply

5. Experiment with Ad text

When you create a new ad, you will see a blank text box where you can add customized text to your ad. This text is your opportunity to highlight the benefits of your product or service. Or to include a call-to-action for users to click your ad.

As you create your PPC ad, consider testing different ad text to see which versions get the most results. Testing can help you determine which ad text is the most effective and help you change your future ads based on the data.

Dynamic headlines might sound like a great idea, but I've found that combined with dynamic ad groups, you'd end up advertising just about anything, relevant or otherwise. It doesn't look good when you see find unexplainable headlines on Google search advertising a service that you're not even aware you're advertising. Maybe consider adding your keyword as a headline or using a synonym instead of dynamic headlines.

Experimenting with ad text can also help you improve your Quality Score, as the reader could better reflect your product's or service's benefits. In addition, users are likelier to click an ad that shows value rather than an ad with vague text that doesn't tell the user what to expect.

6. Save the Google Display Network for later

The Google Display Network (GDN) is a network that shows your ads to audiences on websites that are relevant to your business. GDN ads are image-based and can be effective. The display network comprises over 2 million websites.

Since GDN ads are usually the cheapest form of advertising in terms of cost per impression, they can be a cost-effective way to reach many people at once. However, the GDN should not be your first choice for PPC advertising, especially if your business is starting.

The display network is like a billboard, whereas the search network is like a phone book. Depending on your targeting, a person typing your services on search is likely in the market for your assistance. Users in paid search are at the end of the funnel. They've already tried doing it themselves and realized they need to call a professional.

The display network is much like a billboard because people are browsing the web on websites that may have little to do with your services. For example, they might read a blog or shop for an unrelated item. So they're passing by your ads and probably will not interact with them.

Many businesses find that GDN ads have a high bounce rate and that those who convert often have unrealistic expectations of your product or service.

Retargeting with the GDN can be very effective. You should probably keep doing that. However, limit this option to cost-effective audiences.

7. Exclude gaming from the display network

If you have to advertise on the display network, try this simple cost-saving trick: turn off all ads targeting gaming.

Content exclusions are great broad-level targeting options that all display campaigns should examine.

Why not exclude adult content which might not fit your brand?

Content Exclusions can be found by going to Campaigns > YOUR CAMPAIGN > Settings > Additional Settings > Content Exclusions.

Gaming is one of the worst offenders in your display advertising. I've seen campaigns that dedicated most of their budget to advertising within kids' games. Advertising in the gaming category is notoriously ineffective. It's so weak, and it's known just how soft that content category is to advertise to just about everybody, including Google, that Google had to prevent you from being able to exclude gaming from your targeting.

See the image below. Note that you cannot quickly turn off gaming in the default settings.

The gaming content category can be ineffective because you end up advertising to apps associated with a profile. And a parent might have kids tied to their Google account.

That means your ads show on kids' apps. Like "Lipstick Unicorn." And all those clicks are misclicks from children. It's entirely up to you to determine if this is the right place for your ads. I think for most businesses; it is not.

It also makes me question why Google thinks it's ok to advertise certain things to my six-year-olds, whose tablets can only be connected to a parent profile.

To exclude gaming, you have to do it at the topic level.

To exclude topics. Go to Campaigns > YOUR CAMPAIGN > Content > Exclusions > (Pencil Icon) Exclude Topics. Then type "Games" in the search field and select as many gaming topics as possible.

8. Target specific locations

So, how do you decide which locations to target? Given enough data, I think you'd find that your customers live somewhere. Meaning that they don't live everywhere.

Ensure you target users with a "presence: People regularly in your chosen locations" instead of the recommended setting, which is "Presence or interest."

The issue with the recommended setting is that people can Google "Colorado" but live in, let's say, Texas.

To change your location targeting. Go to Campaigns > YOUR CAMPAIGN > Settings > Locations > Locations Options > "Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations."

Even if you have a business that doesn't have a physical presence in a specific location, you can still show your ads to users searching a specific area.

• If your business has brick and mortar location, keep in mind most people will not drive more than 2 miles from their home once off the clock, so it is probably a waste of money to target a whole zip code or even more than a few miles around your location. Also, remember that people commute to work an average of 35 minutes, so somewhere in that range is probably the suitable range for your business.

That city that is 90 minutes away? That's probably too broad.

Google's Keyword planner can help you determine how much a click could cost in a specific location.

Internet real estate is like regular real estate in that a location-specific ad in New York could cost more than one in Wyoming. If you're an eCommerce company, sometimes advertising where others aren't is a good strategy.

Here is Google's help section on matched locations.

To find what locations are working for your business. Go to Campaigns > YOUR CAMPAIGN > (From the left sidebar)Locations > Select from the dropdown "Matched or Targeted locations."

9. Try Single Keyword Adgroups

When you create a PPC ad, you can create an ad group with more than 100 keywords. However, it is possible to start ad groups with just one keyword – called single keyword ad groups.

Single keyword ad groups are helpful because they allow you to manage your campaign with precise organization. In addition, each single keyword ad group can represent a specific product or service, so it's easier to see which products perform best and manage your campaign based on that data.

Single keyword ad groups are also helpful because they can help you achieve better Quality Scores. Your single keyword can perfectly match your ads and landing pages.

Single-keyword groups are effective because you can combine highly relevant ad text with negative keywords and a relevant landing page.

10. Target a lower position in search results

When creating a PPC ad, you can target a specific position in search results. For example, you might want your ad to appear at the top of search results, or you might want to test a lower position while still having the same budget.

The position you choose can significantly influence your results, as a higher position in search results usually means that more people click on your ad and that you pay more for that click.

The top spot is sometimes 3x more expensive than the spot directly beneath it. Also, getting the top spot doesn't mean you'll get more sales. Many users ignore the top spot because they're aware that it's an ad.

Competing advertisers who bid on the top spot could have different cost metrics than you because of factors like the Quality Score. So that top spot might be great for one advertiser and entirely a waste of money for another advertiser.

Thus, simply bidding down one spot could save you a fortune.

This kind of control is much easier with manual-style bidding. With automated bidding campaigns, 'bidding for a lower spot' would be the same as lowering your CPA or bidding for a smaller % impression share.

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