The Top 5 Most Important Segments and Dimensions to Optimize Your Google Adwords Campaign
So, you've set up your first PPC campaign in Google Adwords, and have been A/B testing different keywords with varied results, settled on a set that seems to be working, and are now looking for new ways of optimizing your ROI from PPC.
No one can argue with the fact that keyword optimization is a must
to successfully manage a campaign. But we also believe that if this is
all you look at, you’re only scratching the surface of your potential.
When we analyze the performance of a PPC campaign, we must look at the data in a number of different ways to determine the real pain points
and opportunities within a campaign. Below are a few reports we suggest
you look at the next time you’re optimizing a PPC Search campaign in
Google AdWords:
Device
You can find this report on the main ‘
Campaign’ tab, under the
‘
Segment’ drop down. This report is going to show you how your campaign
is performing on Laptops & Desktops vs Mobile Devices vs Tablets
with Full Browsers.
If your campaign isn’t performing on mobile devices
you may want to consider adjusting your mobile bid modifiers to limit
exposure and have your mobile site checked for errors.
Day of Week
You can find this report on the ‘
Dimensions’ tab, under the ‘
View:’
drop down. This report is going to show you how your campaign performs
on the various days of the week. Depending on your type of business, you
might perform better on certain days than others.
If your campaign
isn’t performing as well on certain days of the week, go into your
campaign settings and adjust your day parting strategy to limit exposure
on those days.
Hour of the Day
You can find this report on the ‘
Dimensions’ tab, under the ‘
View:’
drop down. Similar to the Day of Week report above, this report is going
to show you how your campaign performs during certain hours of the day.
For most outside of local late night brick and mortar establishments, the hours of midnight to 4am are generally unproductive. If your campaign isn’t performing during certain hours of
the day, go into your campaign settings and adjust your day parting
strategy to limit exposure on those hours.
Network
You can find this report on the main ‘
Campaign’ tab, under the
‘
Segment’ drop down. This report is going to show you how your campaign
is performing on Google.com vs Google’s Network of Search Partners, like
AOL. If your campaign isn’t performing as well on Google’s Network, go
into your campaign settings and exclude Google Search Partners.
Geographic
You can find this report on the ‘
Dimensions’ tab, under the ‘
View:’
drop down. This report is going to show you how your campaign performs
in various geographic locations.
- If you are a local business, you might
want to only show your ads within a strict geographic region.
- If you are
a nationwide or international business, you might find you perform
better in certain regions and less so in others.
- If either of the above
circumstances are happening, go into your campaign settings and adjust
your targeted location settings.
Depending on your situation, you may
need to add or exclude certain regions.
At the end of the day, when it comes to Pay Per Click, it’s our
belief that you always want to focus your energy – and your money – in
the areas of the campaign that have the greatest promise of generating a
return. If you invest the time to analyze and optimize each of the
above aspects of your campaign, we’d say you’re on the right path. Just
remember to check on those keywords every now and then.
