Setting Checklist for the Perfect Ads / AdWords account

Points to keep in mind when creating a perfect Google Ads / Adwords account.

1.) Brief profile of the Google Ads account

The first step is to record basic account information such as:

• • Account name
• • Konto-ID
• • Creation time (How long has the account existed??)
• • Main contact person (supervising contact person)
• • Reachability (Email address and phone number)

2.) Google Ads Account Check: When do I check what?

Now we come to the Google Ads checklist and the regular to-dos.

One-time to-dos

Basic settings

• • Correct account time zone?
• • Correct location?
• • Appropriate language setting?
• • Target group set if necessary?
• • Bid strategy and set bids make sense?

Also check, whether the display network is activated in the search campaigns. if so, you should for a clear separation from Search- and displays remove the display selection!

Conversion-Tracking

• • Is proper conversion tracking implemented??
• • Are all major macros- and micro-conversions and integrated into Google Ads?
• • Is the Google Ads account connected to a tracking tool?, for example Google Analytics?

Google My Business

• • Has a Google My Business account, provided the company has a local store?

Monthly to-dos

Campaign settings

• • Is the nomenclature adhered to in all campaigns?
• • Does the current campaign structure still make sense?
• • Are the campaigns after fire- and non-brand keywords separately?
• • Are the basic settings correct? (Region, Language etc.)?
• • Are search network partners activated?? Does that still make sense if necessary?
• • Are the remarketing campaigns still running without any problems or there may be difficulties with regard to the target groups, etc.. ä.?
• • Include items submitted to the shopping campaigns?
• • Are the shopping campaigns in meaningful ads- and product groups?

Ad extensions

• • Are sufficient numbers of all types of display extensions set??
• • Should expansions be stopped or new ones added for performance reasons?

Ad extensions are an absolute must-have, because they improve the click rate and the quality score and thus the entire campaign- and account performance.

My recommendation for a rough orientation:

• • at least 4 Sitelinks
• • at least 4 Further information
• • at least 2 Snippet extensions

Of course, not all extension types make sense in every case, For example, temporary offer extensions or location extensions for e-commerce shops. But I would always try the three above, to accommodate in every campaign.

Ad wording

• • Do the ads contain the keyword in the title and description??
• • Do the ads contain targeted CTAs?

Keywords (Checks several times a month depending on the amount of data)

• • Ad group level keyword exclusions can be carried over to account level (if they are also relevant for future campaigns)?
• • Do the booked keyword options make sense? Speak: How do they differ in their performance and which ones should remain in the application?

Landingpages

• • Are all target pages accessible?
• • Pass redirects? Then the final URL should be linked in the ad.
• • Are the landing pages optimized for mobile devices??
• • Have there been any major changes to the landing pages, which may cause fluctuations in performance (also article inventory in the e-commerce sector)
• • Does the landing page lead to conversions or the landing page needs a revision? Speak: Keeps the content on the landing page, what the ad promises?
• • Are meaningful CTAs included, that immediately catch the eye?
• • The ad keyword can be found on the landing page?
• • Is the navigation simple and user-friendly?
• • The website loads quickly or takes more than three seconds? Are there differences on the mobile and on the desktop?

Advertising schedule

• • Does an advertising schedule make sense and has it been set correctly??
• • Does the possibly existing advertising schedule still make sense with regard to the current development?

  Device bids

  • • Have reasonable device bids been posted??
  • • Has the campaign performance been checked at the device level?

  As a rule, the devices have different performance data. For websites that are not optimized for mobile devices, the exclusion of smartphones and tablets should be considered!

  Check audience settings (Demographics)

  • • Are the correct target groups stored??
  • • Have important target group exclusions been made??
  • • Was the campaign performance checked at target group level??

  Star ratings

  • • Are star ratings visible in Google Ads or is it worth it?, Enable Google Customer Reviews? Generate Google Ads report
  • • if necessary, more often than once a month

  • Weekly to-dos

  Campaign Performance

  • • Are the KPIs developing as planned??
  • • If necessary, have optimization measures been taken?

  Quality factor

  • • Are all keywords with a factor of 8 or higher rated?
  • • Have countermeasures been taken for keywords with a rating below 8?

  Quick note:

  Google Ads gives you the following metrics for each keyword:

  1. Quality factor
  2. expected click rate
  3. User experience with the landing page

  Google rates the quality factor as a maximum 10 (Scale from 1 to 10). From a rating of 7 or lower, you should definitely go into optimization. Because as you probably know, Lower ratings tend to result in higher click prices. With the help of external tools, you can sometimes also get an overall rating for your Google Ads account.

  Conversions

  • • Are conversions continuing to occur at the usual rate and rhythm or are there anomalies - both in Google Ads and in Google Analytics?
  • • Are the tracking parameters appended correctly (gclid) and the data arrives in Analytics accordingly?
  • • Do the conversions included in Google Ads make sense or should you add or remove goals?
  
  

  It is true that these points run under the weekly to-dos, however, you should always have alerts sent to you immediately with the help of automation, as soon as the traffic or conversions fall below the usual level (Third party tools)! Budgets

  • • Do the campaigns exhaust their budget or have meaningful measures been taken, such as budget reallocations between the campaigns or CPC increases?
  • • Do campaigns offer potential for budget increases and were these recommended / implemented?

  Impressions

  • • How many impressions are skimmed off? Missing impressions because of rank or budget? Have meaningful increases or decreases been made?

  Ad groups, Ads and Keywords

  • • Are there at least two display variants for an A / B test??

  Ad groups with no active ads can have a negative impact on the quality of your account and campaign from Google. This in turn results in higher click prices.

  My recommendation and the best practice mentioned by Google itself are at least three parallel running variants for performance comparison.

  • • Too many ads are active, who collect only a little data with it (more than three or four)?
  • • Have enough keywords been included and various keyword options have been tested (Avoid scenario, For example, there is only one keyword with a low search volume)?
  • • Were special keywords with the "largely suitable" option checked?, whether meaningful inquiries are received?

  The keyword option “largely suitable” is particularly predestined for irrelevant search queries due to its generic orientation. That's why I've included it as a separate item in this Google Ads checklist. You should therefore pay particular attention to it!

  • • There are too many keywords, which no longer match ideally with the ad texts?
  • • Is even ad rotation selected at the start of the campaign??
  • • Are only the best performers or looser ads running??
  • • Loungers activated, but rejected ads (Policy violations)?
  • • Are there duplicate keywords in one or different campaigns?, who compete with each other?
  • • Have potential keywords from the search query report already been included in the keyword portfolio??
  • • Have keywords or search terms been excluded?, that generate a lot of impressions without clicks or many impressions and clicks without conversions?

  Merchant Center

  • • Have major error messages been reviewed and fixed in Merchant Center for a clean Google Shopping feed?

  Daily to-dos (optionally several times a week)

  Impressions and clicks

  • • Generate the campaign's reach and traffic?

  Keywordgebote

  • • Are keywords below the first page bid??

  You can also solve such potential problems using automated rules in Google Ads, change the bids independently according to your specifications. Still, you should pursue, how the CPC level changes, to notice unwanted cost increases directly. documentation

  • • Were important problems, Measures and learnings are documented in writing and in an understandable manner?

  Other important points to look out for:

  1. Call to action

  Encourage your customers to click with calls to action like: Get information here now! Now 20% ensure a discount! Or similar.

  2. Repetition of the keywords in the ad text

  The more frequently your keyword appears in the ad text, the more relevant the ad will be for your user and also for Google, The keyword entered is also printed in bold in the text display!

  3. Displayed URL

  Use the characters of the displayed URL by adding the (www.) remove and repeat your keyword in this text field or relevant or. insert related terms.

  4. Align the ad text with the customer

  Reach the searcher with target-oriented formulations that match the search phase the user is currently in. Adapt your ad text to the buying process.

  5. Ad extensions / Rating enhancements

  Make use of all possibilities to fill your ad with additional information by adding call extensions, Location expansions, Extension with additional information, Add sitelinks or a review extension.

  6. Dynamic ad text / Search ad

  With the dynamic ad text, exactly the keyword that was entered by the user is displayed, provided it is in your keyword set. If you 3-4 Create ads, one of these should be a dynamic search ad. The most common use of this trick is in the heading. {Keyword:Your alt text} Instructions for creating dynamic search ads can be found here: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/3249700?hl=de&ref_topic=3119126

  7. USP unique selling proposition in the ad text

  They offer free shipping or free return delivery or maybe purchase on account? Then that should also be in your ad text. Use the extension with additional information or simply write it in the ad text.

  8. Use, if possible all available characters

  headline / Text field / Displayed URL. It is not always easy to put all the information into the given lines, However, you should still think about how you can accommodate as much text and information as possible.

  9. Add mobile ads for top performance
  Mobile devices

  You have a separate mobile page to which you can redirect? Then you should use tablet- and redirect smartphone users to exactly this page. This increases the relevance and the presentation of your ad in the mobile search results.

  10.Always create for each AZG * 3-4 To sue

  (Performance Check)

  In the AdWords campaign settings under Ad delivery you have to set the ad rotation to "even ad rotation", thus you can within 30-90 Compare days which of your ad was best received and clicked the most. After the test you can Pause or adjust underperforming text ads (Few clicks and low CTR).