If you’re running a Google AdWords campaign but are not getting people to convert (take a specific type of action your business is interested in), there are several reasons that could explain why your ads aren’t getting the results you want.
And that means there are also several ways you can fix them. In this article, we’ll go through some easy steps digital marketers can do to improve their ads conversion rate.
What Is the Conversion Rate?
The conversion rate is simply the percentage of website visitors that have completed the desired action. For instance, if you run a PPC ad to get people to buy a specific product, your ad conversion rate is the percentage of people that buy your product, from the total number of users that clicks your ad.
The conversion rate is an important metric that reflects campaign performance. Now, conversion rates can differ a lot across industries, depending on the product or service that’s being promoted through the ads.
If we look at some statistics, the average conversion rate for the eCommerce sector is estimated at just 1.6 per cent, which may seem like nothing, but put into perspective it’s a decent conversion rate.
The advertising medium also matters. The conversion rate for social media ads is usually lower for conversion rates on Google Ads.
Additionally, it’s also about what your goal is. If your conversion is lead generation, then you can expect higher rates since users are more likely to sign up for a newsletter after a fist ad interaction than buy a product.
While taking these nuances into account, the general rule all digital marketers live by when it comes to the conversion rate is this: there is always room for improvement.
How to Improve Your Conversion Rate
To increase your conversion rates, you essentially have to fine-tune your Google Ads campaign to make sure you’re making the most out of it. Luckily, the PPC system allows you to make any modifications to your PPC campaigns in real-time, so you can optimise your ads quickly to get better results.
Use Conversion Tracking
Before you make any modifications to your search ad or campaign, we should first make sure you are using Google Ads conversion tracking.
By default, Google Ads will show you the number of impressions and clicks your ad is getting, but to get a better sense of how well it’s converting you will need to set up the conversion tracking. It’s essentially a tag you can install on your website to allow Google to track specific actions you are interested in with more details, such as the number of “buy now” clicks.
Once you’ve installed the tag, you can access a lot more data about your campaign performance, and see what your conversion rates currently are. Then, we can move on to the ways you can improve your conversion rate.
Focus on Specific Keywords
An important step to a PPC campaign is the keyword research – finding those search terms to include in your ads and bid on. It’s a lengthy process, and it’s very likely for much of your conversion rate issues to step from the keywords.
As a general rule, you should focus on specific keywords that can help you match user intent and are likely to help you convert. For instance, bidding on the term “toys” may bring a lot of impressions, since the keyword has a big search volume, but it won’t do anything for your conversion rate.
The keyword “toys*says nothing about what you are offering, nor does it speak to why a user might be typing the word into a search engine. More specific keywords do come with lower impressions, but they help you reach users most likely to convert. Think of keywords such as:
● Buy toys online
● Toy shop Melbourne
● Where to buy toys for toddlers Melbourne
A mix of these specific keywords in your ad groups can really improve your conversion rate!
Use Negative Keywords
You might be getting traffic from the wrong users who are not ready to convert. Negative keywords help you stay away from those search results and ensure you are only getting users who are likely to convert.
If we take our toy shop example, a physical Melbourne toy shop might use the word “online” as a negative keyword to avoid reaching users interested in online shopping.
Test Your Landing Page
If you have a good ad click-through rate, but users aren’t converting, and even closing the page very quickly, the problem may lie with your landing page. It could be the content, design, navigation, call to action, the offer itself, or a plethora of other reasons.
The only way to know for sure is to test your landing page. The most-used method is the A/B testing, where you have multiple versions of a landing page and create an ad for each. The traffic is split evenly between the pages, so the one with the best conversion rate is the winner.
Change the Conversion Window
The conversion window is the period of time between a conversion and an ad interaction. The default window is set at 30 days, but for some businesses that may not be enough. If the conversion happens after this window, Google will not record it, so you will not have an accurate view of your conversion rate.
If you know your product or service has a long buying cycle, consider modifying the conversion window.
Back to You
If you need help to improve your conversion rates, Australian Internet Advertising, the best Google Ads Agency, is happy to assist. Book a free 30-minute strategy session with us now or call our office at 1300 304 640.
