When setting up your AdWords campaigns, the default is automatically set to “broad match” default type which matches your keywords more loosely allowing you to target the widest audience. Other types include exact match which offers specific keyword matching without much wiggle room, phrase match, negative keyword, and the combination of the exact and broad match.
If you are really looking for highly targeted traffic to increase printed good sales, you will want to either adjust this to another type or when using default, ensure you are using negative keywords.
Negative keywords are those terms you don’t want your site to be found with – terms that are not relevant to what you are selling and bring the wrong kind of traffic. If you are an online store that sells drop shipped printed t-shirts, for example, then your negative keywords would be “work shirts” or “dress shirts.”
The most important first step in getting more targeted traffic is to properly understand which keywords are bringing you conversions so that you can test, track and tweak your campaigns more closely. This will ensure you’re bringing the right kind of traffic to your store.
Conversion tracking is a free AdWords tool that tracks exactly which keywords are bringing in converting traffic, ‘showing you what happens after a customer clicks on your ads’.
Just because you can reach potential shoppers in 250 countries doesn’t mean you have to. Segmenting your target market into location and creating different campaigns catered to that audience will keep your budget safe while bringing in more targeted traffic. Also, don’t forget to eliminate countries you are not drop shipping to. You can change your location settings by following these steps from Google’s help.
Pro Tip: Set up multiple target locations one within the other (country, state, city, area) – to analyze where conversions are coming from and adjust bids in areas where most conversions are coming from.
If you are selling in multiple countries, then consider posting ads in their native tongue. Google will not translate ads, but AdWords does allow ecommerce advertisers to target around 38 languages. In other words, you can effectively speak to those potential shoppers in their own language, while Google matches your search ads to those users whose browser interface language matches the language of the ad.
Here’s the thing… when someone types in a search phrase, they are actively looking for something. When they view a Google Display ad (which is displayed on sites using AdSense), they are in the middle of something else and may just pop over out of interest (or by mistake) and then carry on. We are not saying display ads don’t work, but if you are a new store trying to get more targeted traffic on a smaller budget, search ads will get you the best ROIs. Use display ads if you’re looking for branding or have ‘sexy’ products that you can back up with awesome creatives. When you do start looking at display ads, remember to keep an eye on those conversions and ensure that it’s right for your products before you invest a chunk of your budget there.
The truth about ensuring AdWords success is content management and tweaking. Keyword trends, bid competition, quality score, and Google search specifications – to name a few – are continuously changing and you will need to tweak your campaigns accordingly to ensure the traffic stays on target within the budget you need. If you don’t have the time, but have a big enough budget, hiring an AdWords PPC expert will ensure your campaigns are on target. If budget is an issue, then apps like our own Traffic Booster are for you.
Traffic Booster was designed by eCommerce AdWords advertisers with over 10 years’ experience. Its algorithms will automatically tweak your campaigns for you at an affordable price, leaving you with more time to work on other marketing avenues, sales funnels or your next big printed product.
If you want to ensure that the traffic you are driving with your AdWords is almost ready to buy what you’re selling, then your ads should be as straightforward as possible. Including the price, shipping fees or discounts in your search ad copy can go a long way to ensure people who do click through are those potential shoppers who are willing to pay your prices, and ultimately more ready to make a buying decision then and there.
Simply put, Google Quality Score is how Google rates the relevancy of your ads. This score is worked out based on CTR, ad and keyword relevance, landing page quality and account performance. In other words, if you are misleading customers in your ads, and they click through to find the landing page they are being sent to is not what they thought they would be getting, then your quality score will decrease. The lower your quality score is, the bigger the chance Google will put a competitor’s bids before your own.
Quality score is a mark given from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. You are able to check your current scoring for your campaigns if you go to your AdWords keyword tab like this: From the AdWords Dashboard, click on ‘Campaigns’ tab and then ‘Keywords’. Then click on the speech bubble near your Keywords status.
Using remarketing with Google AdWords is aimed at ensuring your ads are shown to those users who have already visited your store. Why? Because this traffic is more targets – they know your brand from an initial visit, making your store seem more familiar and therefore are more inclined to click through.
Here’s Google’s step-by-step guide to running your first AdWords remarketing campaign:
Pro Tip For Quicker Results: Check Your Delivery Method
When you create an AdWords campaign, the delivery method is always set to default. This default is the ‘‘standard” delivery method, which results in your ads being distributed throughout the day according to your daily budget. If you want faster results, which is particularly vital in those ads on time specific deals, discounts, specials, etc., then make sure you change your campaign advanced settings to ‘Accelerated’ in order to drive that targeted traffic to your store more quickly.
Ultimately, to truly excel with AdWords, you need to test, test, test! Not all tweaks may work for your products or target audience. As we mentioned above, monitor your campaigns closely and with every small change A/B your campaigns to find the winning formula specifically for your store. If you’re looking for hassle-free cost effective traffic, try Traffic Booster.
Nicole Blanckenberg is the content writer for StoreYa. StoreYa offers a suite of marketing and advertising apps which help SMBs increase sales, leads and social following. We support more than 160,000 business owners from 186 countries.
