Top reasons why your Google Ad Campaign is not performing like you want it to
As someone who is new to Google Adwords, the whole procedure can be quite daunting. Especially if your first few campaigns do not go as planned. You might have created your campaign with all ad copies optimised, target keywords and call extensions added, etc. And after activating your campaign with all the hope in the world.. No results. No spends, no impressions, no clicks. It can get scary sometimes but don’t worry, chances are there might be one little chink in your armor that’s preventing your ad text from appearing in searches. Let’s look at some of these small, pesky problems and how to tackle them so that they never bother you again.
- Campaign/Ad Groups paused – This first point might seem very obvious and intuitive but a lot of times the Ad Group might be paused and not set on’active’. Make sure to double check this fundamental element.
- Disapproved Ads – Sometimes you will find that your ad text has been disapproved as it may not be adhering to Google’s ad text policy. You can manually check the approval status of the ad text by clicking on the Ads tab for your campaign and checking the ‘Status Column’ for your tab. The ‘Status Column’ lets you know if the text is approved, disapproved or limitly approved. You can also click on the small question mark to get more insight on the status.
- Disapproved Keywords – Now that we have the ad text out of the way let’s take a look at the campaign keywords. AdWords reviews that as well. Google does not permit the advertisement of products and websites related to guns, illegal substances, cigarettes, erotic content, hard liquor, fireworks and more. Like Ad approvals, Keyword approvals can be checked by opening the Keywords tab and checking the status column of the particular Ad.
- Negative Keywords – Do not be shy to add negative keywords to your campaign. They are a great way to sift through the traffic and allow relevant search results to see your ad. But at the same time, one should be careful with them, especially when using a broad match. Make sure to review your list of negative keywords to ascertain that no negative keyword is added at the campaign or ad group level that nullify your keywords within any ad group.
- Low Search Volume – A lot of times we might think that a specific keyword is relevant therefore it will get high search volume. Though this might not always be the case. Always check the status column under the Keyword section to make sure none of your keywords are suffering from ‘Low Search Volume’. Immediately remove or replace these keywords. You can also consult the Adwords Keyword Planner for guidance.
- Keyword Bids Exceed Daily Budget – Simply put your daily budget might be too low as compared to the keyword bids. For example, if the cost-per-click for your keyword is INR 60 and your daily budget is INR 200, then Google will not show your ads. This can be avoided by either lowering your bids or increasing your daily budget.
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- Bad Ad Scheduling – Knowing when your target audience is expected to be online is key to a well planned Ad Schedule. Thorough research on your target audience’s activity can really help prevent poorly planned ads that kill campaign performance.
- Negative Bid Adjustment – Always make sure your bid adjustments are correctly placed. A large negative bid adjustment can be a major factor of campaign underperformance. To explain with an example, a large negative bid adjustment on desktop devices in a desktop campaign would obviously prevent your campaign from attaining optimum impressions and clicks. Be sure to check for large, unwanted bid adjustments during troubleshooting that can affect campaign performance.
- Billing Information Issue – Review your card details like credit card number, expiry date, address, etc. Any issue with the above can lead to Google not serving your ads.
- Keep Patience – If you have all the above nine points under the bag then it is best to wait a little. Google ad text and keywords approval can take time; five days sometimes. After submitting of your ad text and keywords you will automatically be assigned a position in the Google review and approvals queue. If it takes more than five days, contact a representative from Google to get your keywords and text approval checked.
If even after all this your campaigns are not performing, then it is time to speak to a Google representative, for your problem might be much bigger than just text, keywords and budgets.
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