5 ways to spring clean your Google Ads targeting
The clocks have sprung back. The weather is improving. You've given your house a good spring clean. But what about your Google Ads account?
Just like dust bunnies under the bed, if it has been a while since you audited your Google Ads account targeting, there could be some nasties lurking there.
Five of the most important elements to look at in a Google Ads targeting audit are:
Your active keywords
The keyword focus in your ad groups
Irrelevant keywords or underperforming Display Network audiences
Gaps in your Search and Display Network targeting
How well your audiences segments are perfroming
So log on and grab your notebook or launch Excel, because it's time to spring clean your Google Ads account.
Declutter your keywords
Has it been a while since you reviewed the keywords in your account? If you're working with a large or legacy account, the odd irrelevant or poor quality keyword can sometimes fly under the radar, but not after today!
Depending on your tool of choice, systematically go through each ad group in the Google Ads interface or download all of them into the Google Ads Editor. You want to check for keywords that have:
No clear connection to your product or service
Too broad a range to target your ideal audience
A low Quality Score
High CPC and low ROAS or conversion volume
Just like dust bunnies under the bed, if it has been a while since you audited your Google Ads account targeting, there could be some nasties lurking there.
Polish your keyword focus
While you're auditing your Search Network keywords, keep an eye out for rogue yet relevant keywords that have ended up in the wrong ad group or would benefit from being pulled out into a separate ad group.
You'll know if a keyword should be placed in a new ad group or moved if:
It isn’t related to the other keywords in the ad group
It’s similar to the keywords in a different ad group
It has a high CPC and it's eating up the budget
It has a low quality score which could be a result of the term diluting the ad group’s keyword focus
Tidy search terms and display audiences
Are you spending money reaching *gasp* the wrong audience? As Google gets more liberal with what it counts as a "close variant", you could find that your ads are popping up for searches that they have no right to appear for.
Work your way through the Search Terms report for each ad group to check what terms are triggering your ads. Simply go through the list and exclude any ones that are irrelevant or unlikely to get you in front of your audience.
Similarly, look at the performance stats for each of the audiences that you’re targeting in your Display Network campaigns. Are any of them spending a lot but have little to show for it in return? If you’re using audience expansion, check the results breakdown for the audiences you’re directly targeting vs. the expanded audience to find out if it’s producing the desired results or if it needs to be tightened or removed.
Plug gaps in your targeting
When was the last time you did Search Network keyword research or checked Google's Display Network targeting options?
Once you've finished auditing your Google Ads Search Terms report for terms to exclude, go through it again, this time looking for relevant keywords to include that aren't already listed as a close variant.
If you want to go a step further, you can use Google's Keyword Planner tool to see if there are any gaps in your keyword strategy that can be plugged with new keywords, ad groups or campaigns.
Next, go through the audience targeting in your Display Network campaigns to make sure it's still fit for purpose. If it seems a little lacklustre, this is the time to look through the targeting options to find out if there are relevant options you missed the first time around which could give your campaigns a boost.
Check your audience segments
Now it's time to check the audiences segments you set up ages ago to see how they are performing and make sure you didn’t miss any valuable audiences when you set them up.
Review how they are performing to make sure the results haven't dipped over time. Check that your remarketing audiences are still collecting data. Make sure you aren't missing an opportunity to target a new valuable audience i.e. has a new lead type been added to your website or can you segment different audience groups based on the pages viewed on your site?
How did your Google Ads spring clean targeting audit go? If you need a hand to spruce up your account or if you’d like an in-depth professional Google Ads account audit, get in touch for a chat to find out how I can help.