Our existing clients are seeing a new application this month to use in booking Google Ads strategy calls with our team. We are testing out Microsoft Bookings and would appreciate your feedback.
Our clients will now be able to choose a 15 minute of 30 minute call. In most cases the call will be free but in some cases when you do not purchase more than 4 to 5 hours of time in a month for services, you may see a charge for the extra time for this call on your month end statement.
You will now be able to select to receive text message reminders of your appointment, select your date and time based on your own time zone in the calendar, and will receive a reminder email the day before and then 15 minutes before the call.
You will also be able to easily cancel or reschedule the call.
We will also ask what technology you want to use for the meeting – a simple phone call, Zoom video/screen sharing call, Google Meet video/screen sharing call, or the new Microsoft Teams call with the ability to simply join from a browser without a login or download.
We look forward to your feedback on using our new scheduling app. We are looking for ways to make the experience more user-friendly and better for your personal needs.
If you are one of our client’s you receive a report daily on your account activity from Data Studio. These reports help you as a business owner to understand the conversion activity that Google Ads is driving with your advertising investment.
I have posted several screenshots to help you understand several very important and common scenarios.
Limited by Budget
When I see many spikes in an account during the month, it typically shows that the account is limited by budget. Google is trying to meter out the ad spend to spread it over the month, but has to lower the daily budget between activity as there is simply not enough budget in the account to support the activity that exists.
The image below shows a longer time frame of an account limited by budget. You can see many peaks and valleys as Google overspends on some days and then cuts back on others as it tries to pace the budget to cover demand.
The image below shows in a smaller time period this same peak and valley. When I go into the account I can see that Google spent more than 20% on one day and then had to cut the budget back for the next several days, causing this jagged appearance.
Business to Business Activity
Another scenario we see frequently is typically seen in business to business accounts. Here, although ads continue to serve 24/7, we can see that conversion activity is typically happening on weekdays. In this case the valleys in the account match Saturday and start to show strong activity happening consistently on specific days of the week. Notice how the peaks of activity are at nearly the same height throughout the month. This account is not restrained by budget, but rather is reflecting how customers and prospects react with ads.
Google Reacts to Both Scenarios
When using Smart Bidding in your account Google’s machine learning algorithms work hard to deliver conversions and over time understands how your prospects and customers use your ads. For Business to Business clients Google pays less for clicks and even drops ad spend on times it knows your customers are not converting or are not active. In the scenario in the image above, Google does not spend the full daily budget on the weekends, saving more money to spend on active weekdays.
Experience Makes the Difference
As a Google Partner and a Certified Google Ads Professional, McCord Web Services know Google Ads and can leverage this knowledge to provide the lead generation results you seek. Find out more about our programs today.
We encourage you to review our price list to understand that we work hard to make exceptional account management affordable for you and your agency.
There were just a few memorable announcements or developments this week. Below of the ones that I consider of merit for your attention.
Surprise! Google is Rolling Out a Web Core Update in December
This is the third core update rolled out this year by Google. What is of note is that these Core updates are used in the organic search placement formula that Google uses to rank websites. Google is calling it a “broad Core Update”. Not necessarily good news just before the holidays. More info…
Google My Business Releases a New Dashboard
For do-it-yourselfers, Google My Business may be one of your most important tools to use. Google has announced that they have just released an update to the Dashboard to provide more helpful information about how people interact with your information. More info…
Google Think on Pivot and Pivot Again
Google Think has an interesting article on marketing plans in this age of Covid and suggestions to help market your business during the pandemic. It is all about pivoting to what your prospect consider valuable from you and staying relevant to their needs. More info…
Get More Insights in Google Ads with This New Feature
Google ads just added an Insight button to the left sidebar navigation in Google Ads. Clicking this brand new button let’s you see tailor-made insights for your business and may be of value to identify important trends in your marketplace. It is all about trends, so you can stay on top of what consumers are searching for and reacting with to help you stay relevant. More info…
As a Google Partner and Bing Partner, I feel like I can speak with authority on this topic. In AdWords alone, I manage an actual monthly ad spend for clients of over $120,000 per 30 days or $1,441,776 yearly. As an experienced account manager I have to say that I simply hate broad match.
Don’t get me wrong, I like using broad match modifiers for keywords, but I feel that for most clients broad match is simply a way to bleed cash out of a pay per click account.
Google AdWords and Bing Ads (especially Bing Ads) Love, Love, Love broad match keywords. Heavy use of broad match without a reality check on the terms your ads are showing for is lining their pockets with your cash.
McCord Web Services is a Bing Partner and Accredited Bing Ads Professional.
If you don’t believe me, click just one of your high click volume broad match keywords and then click the drop down to view search queries. You will be shocked to see what is there.
Even with a huge and extensive negative keyword list, the way both Google and Bing Ads show your ads on synonyms for your broad match keyword would simply not be a good fit for most businesses that are focused on direct action or lead conversions and sales.
I hate to say never, but as click costs rise in an account the first thing I do is move out of broad match, use only broad match modifiers, phrase match and exact match. I end up with a much better cost per conversion and better overall results.
To help you fuller understand the new terminology in your Dashboard report and the changes that Google has made to drop the Average Position metric, here are the definitions of these two new important terms that appear in your reports.
Explanation of Search Top IS (Impression Share)
Search top impression share (IS) is the impressions you’ve received in the top location on the search result page divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive in the top location. Use this metric to bid on the top page location.
The top location is anywhere ads appear above the organic search results. Eligibility is based on your current ads’ targeting settings, approval statuses, bids, and quality.
Explanation of Search Abs. (Absolute) Top IS (Impression Share)
“Search absolute top impression share” is the percentage of your Search ad impressions that are shown in the most prominent Search position.
Absolute top impression share = absolute top impressions / total eligible top impressions
What this means for you:
By using two new metrics, Google more clearly details where your ads fall in the competitive auction for first page placement. Google no longer shows when your ads appear underneath the organic search results in position 6-10 or on the second page of search results.
By reviewing these new metrics, you can identify if your bids, budget, and quality score which are used to determine ad rank are high enough to support ads appearing in the positions above the search results either in any position or the very top position.
We get a chance to check our current Google Ads strategy against your needs.
We get feedback from you on what is trending in your business and in sales so as to rearrange our program if needed.
We get an opportunity to review your budget to keep on track with your marketing plan and revise budgets up or down.
I personally find that when we have regular feedback from the client in regards to how Google Ads is working for them, that performance is better and customer satisfaction with Google pay per click is higher.