This Week's Feature ↓
5 Must-Checks 5 Days After Campaign Launch
Launching a Google Ads search campaign is just the beginning. What happens in the first few days can significantly impact the long-term success of your campaign. If you don’t take the time to review key metrics right after launching, you could be throwing away valuable ad spend.
To make sure your ads are on the right track, here are 5 critical areas to check within 5 days of going live:
1. Search Terms: Are You Reaching the Right Audience?
One of the first things to review is your search terms report. This will tell you the exact searches that triggered your ad. While you’ve chosen keywords to target, Google often shows your ads for related (sometimes unexpected) terms.
If your ad is being shown for searches that don’t match your goals, you could be wasting your budget on clicks that won't convert. For instance, if you’re advertising a premium service but your ad is showing up for “cheap” or “free” queries, your campaign is missing the mark.
Action Step:
If you notice irrelevant searches, build a negative keyword list to block those terms from triggering your ads. It’s a simple way to make sure you’re only paying for relevant traffic.
2. Auction Insights: Who’s Bidding Alongside You?
Your Auction Insights report shows which competitors are bidding on the same keywords as you. This is crucial because new players may enter the market, or existing competitors may change their strategies.
Why does this matter? If competitors are offering better deals or have a stronger ad presence, you may find it harder to stand out. Monitoring this report helps you understand where you stand in the marketplace and whether adjustments are needed.
Action Step:
Analyze your top competitors’ offers and messaging. Are they promoting a discount or special deal you’re not? Understanding their strategy can help you tweak your own ads or offers to stay competitive.
3. Ad Variations: Are You Testing Enough?
If you’re running 2-3 ads per ad group, you’re on the right track. Each ad should be testing different headlines and descriptions to see what resonates best with your audience. It’s essential to have variations, as this allows you to discover what works and what doesn’t.
After a few weeks, you'll begin to see which ads are getting the most clicks and conversions. This data will guide you in optimizing your ads for better performance.
Action Step:
Review your ad performance after 3-4 weeks and pause the underperforming ads. Continue iterating on the ads that are performing well by testing new variations.
4. Location Performance: Are Certain Regions Outperforming?
If your campaign targets multiple locations, it’s important to review how each area is performing. Some regions may have higher conversion rates or lower costs per click, making them more valuable to focus on.
By identifying these trends early, you can shift more budget to high-performing areas and potentially pull back from those that aren’t delivering results.
Action Step:
If a specific location is showing stronger performance, increase your bids for that area to maximize exposure. For regions that aren’t converting well, consider lowering your bids or removing them from your targeting altogether.
5. Analytics: Are People Engaging After They Click?
Finally, it’s time to check how users behave after they click your ad. High click-through rates are great, but what happens once visitors land on your website? If they leave quickly or fail to engage, there may be a disconnect between your ad copy and your landing page.
If your bounce rate is high or session duration is low, it’s a sign that your ad isn’t delivering on its promise. This is a critical area to address, as poor engagement means lost conversions.
Action Step:
Check your website’s bounce rate, session duration, and pages per session. If these metrics are underperforming, consider aligning your landing page content more closely with your ad messaging or adjusting your ad to better reflect what’s on the page.
Final Thoughts
By focusing on these 5 areas, you’ll be able to quickly identify what’s working in your Google Ads campaign and what needs improvement. The first few days are critical for setting up your campaign’s long-term success, and making adjustments now can save you both time and money down the line.
Special Offer:
50% Off Google Ads Audits This Week
Need help optimizing your Google Ads campaign? I’m offering 2 spots for a Google Ads audit at 50% off this week! This is a great opportunity to get expert eyes on your account and make sure everything is running smoothly. Reply to this email if you're interested!
