And this is where the importance of IP address blocking comes into play. It’s often the first go-to strategy for many advertisers against the influx of unwanted traffic. The rise of ad fraud, on the other hand, has also increased the awareness of advertisers to protect their ads from fraudulent interactions. 

But why do you need it, and how can you minimize the risks of such interactions on your Google Ads campaigns? Let’s dive into the article and explore this crucial aspect of protecting your ad campaigns and budget.

The importance of blocking IP addresses from your ads 

The rates of fake traffic in paid marketing are growing exponentially. An average business loses 5.9% of its ad budget to fake clicks. That means for every $1000 of ad spend, you’re losing, on average, $59 on ad fraud. This number varies depending on your industry, location, keywords, etc., and can reach 18.9% in some regions.    

There are several reasons why you need to block IP addresses: 

Repetitive clicks

• Issue: Competitors or malicious entities may repeatedly click on your ads without genuine interest, draining your ad budget. 
• Solution: If you block the IP addresses associated with these repetitive clicks, you can ensure that your ads won’t be displayed to them again.    

Bot traffic and click farms 

• Issue: Bots and click farms are common sources of non-genuine ad interactions. Bots are software programs designed to interact with ads in an automated way, while click farms are locations occupied with many devices that are used to generate fake ad clicks, views, or impressions.
• Solution: You can block known click farms’ IP addresses from your Google Ads, and this will prevent them from accessing your ad campaigns in the future.

Paid-to-Click (PTC) sites 

• Issue: PTC sites reward users to click on ads, leading to low-quality traffic that doesn’t convert into meaningful engagement. 
• Solution: Blocking IP addresses linked to PTC sites ensures that your ads are not being clicked by users motivated solely by financial incentives, preserving your ad budget for genuine prospects.

Enhanced analytics accuracy  

• Issue: Inaccurate data due to non-genuine clicks can lead to misguided decision-making and inefficient use of resources.
• Solution: To ensure your data and analytics reflect genuine user interactions only, it’s best to block those suspicious IP addresses.     

Read this article to understand the impact of ad fraud on your ads and business.

How to block IP addresses manually in Google Ads?    

Swift and strategic action is the key when it comes to protecting your Google Ads campaigns from problematic IP addresses. Manually blocking these addresses is a go-to tactic for advertisers seeking immediate action and solutions.  

As soon as you identify repetitive clicks, suspicious behavior, or unwanted engagement, diving into your Google Ads account and initiating manual IP address blocking becomes paramount. This approach ensures that you block the IP addresses causing trouble from further interactions with your ads.

Step-by-step guide 

1. Identify suspicious IP addresses – Regularly monitor your website traffic for unusual patterns. You can do this in your Google Analytics or other web analytics software and track patterns such as repetitive clicks or spikes of clicks at unusual times. Such behaviors usually indicate suspicious activity. 

2. Access your Google Ads account at ads.google.com

3. Navigate to the “Campaigns” icon in the left-hand menu – Click the Campaigns drop-down in the section menu and select “Campaigns.”

4. Choose the specific campaign you want to block IP/s from

5. Access campaign settings – Click on the settings icon (Admin Icon) to access the “Settings” page.  

6. Expand IP exclusions – On the “Settings” page, find and click “Additional settings.” 

7. Click to expand the “IP exclusions” section on the page

8. Enter IP addresses – Within the “IP exclusions” section, input the IP addresses you want to block from seeing your ads.

9. Save your changes – After entering the relevant IP addresses, click “Save” to apply the changes. 

Additional tips for blocking IP addresses in Google Ads   

Enhance your IP address-blocking strategy with these insightful tips to fortify your Google Ads campaigns: 

• Use wildcards for IP address ranges – You can use an asterisk (*) as a wildcard to block entire IP address ranges. For example, entering *192.168. will block all IP addresses in the 192.168.0.0/16 range.

• Be careful when using wildcards – Exercise caution with wildcards, as you can exclude thousands of real users with an incorrect wildcard.   

• Leverage third-party IP exclusion lists – Explore the option of excluding IP addresses through third-party IP exclusion lists. Those are lists obtained and maintained by cybersecurity services that have repositories with IP addresses already known as sources of suspicious or malicious traffic. This approach can provide additional layers of protection against known harmful IP addresses.

• Consider ad fraud protection services – When dealing with a substantial volume of IP addresses to block, consider the efficiency of click fraud and ad fraud protection services. These services are tailored to identify and exclude fraudulent clicks while ensuring no legitimate users will be excluded.  

The limitations of the manual process of IP address blocking

While manual IP address blocking is a handy process to disrupt interactions from malicious sources with your ads, it does come with its limitations. 

Tracking and identifying fraudulent IP addresses takes time, during which your ad budget may already be affected. The process of spotting patterns can be tricky; what seems suspicious might sometimes be genuine users interacting with your ads. 

Moreover, sophisticated bots and click farms have their own bag of tricks, smoothly navigating through various IP addresses and locations using proxies and VPNs. 

So, while manual blocking is a step in the right direction, it may not catch all the nuances of the ever-evolving strategies employed by fraudulent actors in the digital space.  

Blocking IP addresses with automated click fraud detection software   

Unlike manual processes, software solutions operate at lightning speed, swiftly detecting and blocking fraudulent IP addresses before they can cause serious damage.  

The advantage lies in their efficiency – automated systems eliminate the need for time-consuming tracking and identification of suspicious IP addresses. Typically, these solutions can catch any fraudulent traffic sources before they even interact with your ad.

Our team at ClickCease, for example, has built a solution that combines over 2,000 behavioral tests to identify suspicious activities, even when there are confusing patterns. This also ensures that you’re not blocking real users.

Automated click fraud detection software can also be used to identify and block sophisticated bots and click farms. It’s known that these entities often use proxies and VPNs to hide their true locations. While it’s hard to identify fraudulent IP addresses that change frequently, advanced click fraud detection software can still identify and block them effectively.

You can try ClickCease’s 7-day free trial to experience firsthand how it can help you save money on your ad budget and improve the overall performance of your ad campaigns. ClickCease is easy to use and can be integrated with existing Google Ads campaigns to efficiently help you with the IP address-blocking process.  

Sign up for ClickCease’s free trial today and ensure that your ads reach the right audience and deliver the results you desire.        

FAQs:

What are the common suspicious patterns to look for when identifying IP addresses?  

If you regularly track your ad campaign’s analytics, several common patterns can indicate that an IP address, or multiple ones, may be involved in suspicious behavior. Look for the following patterns:

• High click-through rates (CTR)
• Large number of clicks from a single IP address
• Large number of clicks from a small number of IP addresses
• Suspicious spikes of clicks occurring consistently at the same time each day
• Unusual device or user patterns, like clicks without mouse movements

If you spot any of these patterns, it might be a sign that you need to block those IP addresses and minimize the impact of fraudulent activities.  

Does blocking IP addresses impact my ad’s performance?   

Blocking IP addresses can be a helpful tool for improving your ad performance, but it’s important to use it carefully. Blocking invalid traffic, such as clicks from bots or competitors, can lead to a better click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and cost-per-click (CPC).        

However, blocking legitimate traffic is risky if you don’t do it carefully. Only block IP addresses that you’re sure are invalid or unwanted. If you’re unsure whether or not to block a certain IP address, consider using a third-party tool to help you identify and block invalid traffic.

What happens if I accidentally block a valid IP address?    

Blocking a valid IP address in Google Ads can have unintended consequences, including reduced ad reach and missing out on potential customers. If you suspect you have blocked a legitimate user’s IP address, you can amend this in your Google Ads settings and remove the IP address from the exclusion list.     

The post Defend Your Google Ads: The Art of IP Address Blocking appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

To unlock ChatGPT’s full potential, it’s crucial to have a set of prompts tailored to specific situations. 

In this blog post, we’ll explore how ChatGPT prompts could make lives easier for PPC experts. You’ll also find a list of the most effective prompts for PPC, categorized for easy reference.       

How do ChatGPT prompts work? 

Consider the prompts as the conversation starters with your AI assistant. You ask your question or give a command, and it responds back with your specific need.

It’s like asking your virtual assistant Alexa to increase the temperature by 50 degrees Celsius while preparing the last layer of your cake. But if you don’t specify that you need the temperature in the oven increased, you will end up sweating until you notice that your room temperature is increasing and your cake is ready but undercooked…        

In other words, the AI assistants, while smart, still lack the capacity to understand your current circumstances.  

That’s why clear and concise instructions are everything. They set the stage for the information and responses you receive to help you create PPC ads that make money.     

The role of ChatGPT prompts for PPC experts 

We all know there are still separate opinions about the true value of ChatGPT when it comes to paid ads.        

Some express concerns about its accuracy, while others worry that the generated content might lack emotional intelligence, making audience engagement harder.      

But let’s keep it clear: with just a few tweaks, you can always add a “human touch” or adapt based on factors like audience location, pain points, USPs, or product specifics, etc. Plus, once you become more proficient at identifying which prompts work best in different situations, your use of ChatGPT becomes even more effective.  

It will definitely help generate unique ideas and will help you save time and energy on time-consuming and manual tasks such as keyword research.          

Just to picture it better, these are just some of the benefits you and your PPC team can experience with ChatGPT:     

• Automating routine tasks 
• Identify and target new audience segments
• Generating new creative ideas
• Decrease the workload of your PPC team
• Better resource allocation
• Better results and higher Return on Investment (ROI)

1. Keyword research

Keywords – the initial starting point of any Google ads or Bing (now Microsoft) ads search campaign. 

ChatGPT can assist in generating keyword ideas and providing insights on search intentions, competition, and relevance, helping advertisers identify the most effective keywords for their PPC campaigns.

These prompts can supercharge your PPC keyword strategy:  

• Suggest relevant keywords to advertise this landing page: [URL to the landing page].
• List [number] keyword ideas to advertise about [product name].
• I’m running a [platform and ad format] campaign about [few details about your campaign]. Find keywords similar to this one [keyword or list of keywords].
• Generate the most popular keywords for the topic of [topic].
• I’m running an ad campaign about [product or service with few details]. My target audience is [your audience]. Brainstorm negative keywords for the topic of [topic]. 
• Group the following list of keywords in categories by search intent and category: [list of keywords].   
• Create [number] ad groups for the following list of keywords: [list of keywords].

2. Ad creatives and copywriting

With information about your product or service, campaign goals, intended audience, etc, ChtGPT can help you create compelling ad copy variations.  

Here are the most effective prompts to use for generating your ad copy:

• I’m creating a Google search ad for [product, service, or topic]. I need you to create [number] suggestions for the ad headline and description.  
• I’m running a [type of your PPC ad] about [product or service] with [targeted keyword] as the main keyword. I’m targeting [describe your ad group audience] with this ad: [ad copy]. Adapt this copy for the ad group of [describe your new ad group audience].
• With the ad copy below, I’m targeting [audience group and description]. Generate 10 similar variants in which the Call to Action (CTA) will be shorter, stronger, and more concise: [ad copy], CTA to be edited: [CTA].
• I need to create a Meta video ad for a story as placement about [describe your product or service]. My target audience is [few words to describe the target audience]. Please suggest creative ideas about the video and the description.
• I’m currently running a responsive search ad on Google about [describe your product or service], and the target audience is [description of your audience group]. Based on the headline and description I currently use, please suggest other variants to target different pain points of this target audience for an A/B test.
  The current ad creative: 
  [Headline]
  [Description]

3. Defining the target audience

Even if you already have clearly defined your “ideal” buyer persona, don’t limit your audience possibilities.  

ChatGPT can provide guidance on audience segmentation and demographics, helping you identify or refine your customer profiles for precise targeting. Check the prompts below for this step: 

• I’m running a [type of ad campaign] for [product/service]. Suggest audience groups that I can target based on [criteria].  
• I’m running a [type of ad campaign] for [product/service]. My target audience is [audience specifics]. I need you to identify the most common pain points of this audience group associated with [your product/service] and generate [number] of ad copy suggestions based on this.
• I’m running a [type of ad campaign]. My target audience is [audience demographics, interests, etc.], and I’m targeting with these keywords [targeted keywords]. Generate hypotheses about what factors might affect the performance of my campaign.
• Act like you are an experienced PPC expert. I want to run Google ads for [describe your business and product or service with its specifications]. Create an ideal audience for this ad.

4. Campaign strategy

ChatGPT can offer strategic advice on campaign goals, budget allocation, bidding strategies, and ad scheduling. This will help you come up with better-informed decisions to maximize campaign ROI.  

Leverage these prompts to design winning PPC campaigns:      

• I want to run a creative display ad on social media for [product or service]. Suggest the best placements and platforms I should consider to attract potential customers. 
• I’m preparing a PPC campaign for [short business and product/service description]. Act as an experienced PPC strategist and suggest ad platforms, placements, and format combinations so I can set up multiple campaigns. 
• I’m preparing a Google search ad campaign about [describe your product/service]. Please suggest ad groups with ad copy and headlines for each of these keywords [list your keywords]. Group them in a table format.
• I’m running a PPC campaign about [product/service description]. My target audience is [describe your audience] on the following platforms: [list the platforms where you run your ad]. Suggest a budgeting strategy per platform.

5. Generate product descriptions and names

Let’s face it: many PPC experts claim that creativity is not their strongest skill, and crafting unique and engaging product descriptions for your advertised products requires a touch of artistry and linguistic finesse. 

With these prompts, you can let ChatGPT generate product names and descriptions that are engaging and informative: 

• Please craft a compelling product description about [describe your product]. It needs to address the following USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) [drop your defined USPs].
• I’m running a PPC campaign about [describe your product]. My target audience is [describe your audience]. Please generate 2 product descriptions and names for A/B testing that address the audience’s pain points.
• Please provide a product description for [Product Name]. This product is [Product Category] that [Main Feature/Benefit]. It is designed for [Target Audience] and is [Product Specification]. Source.
• Please write a [number] words engaging product description with a catchy name about [your product]. Focus on these main product features [product features] and use [type of tone of voice, e.g., casual, enthusiastic, etc.] tone of voice.

Search Engine Land suggests that you can use existing Excel spreadsheets with your list of products to generate product descriptions with ChatGPT. Check out their article about this and see how you can utilize it to generate even better product descriptions and names.

6. Landing page optimization

Yes, with the right prompts, ChatGPT can help you optimize the final destination your audience should land on. 

It can suggest ways, for example, to enhance the user experience by providing information on website usability, navigation, and personalization to increase conversion rates and customer satisfaction.  

Follow these landing page optimization prompts:

• Suggest best practices on how to optimize my landing page about [product type]. The main target audience is [target audience].
• I’m running a PPC campaign about [product description]. Suggest ideas on how to optimize its landing page with pain points relevant to [target audience].
• Suggest optimal CTA (Call to Action) to optimize my landing page about [type of product] for better conversions.
• Suggest creative ideas on how to optimize the design on my landing page about [product type]. It should be relevant for [target audience] to motivate them to take the next step.

Check out these prompt ideas for landing page optimization. They might inspire you to adjust or craft your unique prompts applicable to your current needs.

Additional tips for maximum results with your PPC campaigns

As a PPC expert, you can significantly streamline your work with ChatGPT and AI tools in general. However, once you’ve crafted a flawless campaign, don’t forget to make sure your ads reach real users only. 

ChatGPT prompts are great for building the strategy, keywords, and creative elements. Unfortunately, there’s no prompt that will help you get rid of invalid traffic (IVT) and bad actors that are draining your ad budgets. 

Shockingly, in 2022, nearly 40% of all online traffic was confirmed as invalid, resulting in a staggering $35.7 billion of wasted ad spend for PPC campaigns.

To ensure a PPC campaign’s effectiveness, it’s crucial to combine the power of ChatGPT assistance with an AI-driven bot detection solution.  

Bot detection tools for higher Return on Investment (ROI)

Employing a bot detection tool will help you maximize your PPC results, ensuring that your budget is dedicated to genuine interactions, ultimately driving real business outcomes.

ClickCease is tailor-made for PPC experts like you, protecting your ads against fraud. This way, you can invest your time and effort in continually enhancing your campaigns and mastering the art of generating effective ChatGPT prompts.       

Get your ads protected for free for 7 days.

FAQs:

Can ChatGPT be useful for PPC experts?

ChatGPT can offer valuable support for PPC experts in multiple ways. It can simplify tasks by automating repetitive PPC management responsibilities like campaign strategy creation, keyword research, or ad copywriting.

This automation frees up time for PPC experts to focus on more strategic aspects, such as, setup audience targeting, identifying relevant keywords, planning the campaign ad groups, etc.  

ChatGPT can pinpoint well-performing keywords, identify negative ones, and suggest areas for campaign improvement. 

How to write the perfect ChatGPT prompt for PPC?

To craft the perfect ChatGPT prompt for your PPC needs, follow these steps: 

Be clear and concise: Start by being clear about the current state of your PPC campaign. Indicate whether it’s a new campaign or one that’s already running. Specify the platform or ad type, such as search, display, or social media ads. 

Detail your optimization goals: Clearly state what you aim to optimize within the campaign. Whether it’s ad copy, keywords, bidding strategy, or targeting parameters, articulate your primary objective. 

Provide examples: Offer examples of your previous keywords, ad copies, or copy ideas that you’ve been considering. Sharing this information can help ChatGPT generate more contextually relevant suggestions.     

The post Top Must-Use ChatGPT Prompts for PPC Experts appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

Basically, the idea of this tool is to assist advertisers in optimizing their campaigns based on the score it provides.

But how does this score work? Is it truly beneficial, or is it just a ploy to push advertisers to spend more money? Let’s explore the Google Ads Optimization Score and see how you can leverage it to optimize your campaigns. 

What is the Google Ads optimization score?

Google Ads optimization score is a useful tool by Google Ads that assigns a score to advertisers’ accounts. This score provides them with insights into how well their campaigns are doing and offers recommendations to improve their overall performance.

However, you may be wondering why it’s important to improve your Google Ads optimization score. The answer is simple: a higher score indicates that your account is healthier, more profitable, and more cost-effective. It ranges from 0% to 100%, where a score of 100% indicates that the campaigns are optimized for the best possible performance. 

You can access the optimization score under the recommendations tab. It’s available at the Campaign, Account, and Manager Account levels.

With a quick look at the scoring bar, you get an instant idea of whether your campaign is doing well or there’s room for improvement.

The Google Ads Optimization Score analyzes your campaign settings and configuration and helps you identify where your campaigns are performing well and where they can be improved.

The score is available for active campaigns only. Fortunately, Google is constantly updating the list of campaigns for which this optimization score works. It’s currently shown for the following types of Google Ads campaigns:

• Search campaigns
• Display campaigns
• Discovery campaigns
• Video Action campaigns
• App campaigns
• Performance Max campaigns
• Shopping campaigns

Ultimately, the main benefit of using the Optimization Score is to ensure that your campaigns are performing as they should be and that you’re making the most out of your Google Ads investment. So, be sure to check it out and take advantage of this valuable tool!

How do Google Ads calculate your optimization score?

Google Ads campaign optimization score is a real-time calculation that takes into consideration a range of factors in your account and campaigns.

Its algorithm analyzes the statistics, settings, and status of your account and campaigns, as well as the impact of available recommendations and recent recommendations history.

Google’s recommendations depend on various external elements as well, like trends in the world of Google Ads, search volumes, etc. This means that your optimization score and recommendations can often change. Any modification made to your campaign or account, or shifts in the external trends affects your score right away.

With such a diverse set of factors impacting the calculation of the Google Ads optimization score, it’s helpful to break it down into several aspects to better understand the process: 

• Real-time tracking – Every single change in your account and campaigns is tracked, and the score gets updated instantly.
• Other data factors – Google collects data from other advertisers’ campaigns in your niche, which is used to determine how their data and factors will affect your own campaigns.
• Your campaign goals – Based on your bid strategy, Google determines your business goals and generates recommendations to achieve them.
• Your account and campaign settings – Google monitors your active campaigns and overall account settings to determine how they impact the success of your Google Ads.
• Past and recent recommendations – The algorithm evaluates both historical and current recommendations and analyzes the effectiveness of previously implemented recommendations.
• Trends – Google follows search volumes and trends and incorporates their impact into the recommendations.

Understanding how Google Ads calculates your optimization score can help you optimize your campaign more effectively. By regularly monitoring it and making adjustments, you can improve your ad performance and gain a better Return on Investment (ROI).

What is a good optimization score for Google Ads?

Now that you know how Google Ads calculates your optimization score, you may be wondering what is a good optimization score. Well, there’s no such one-size-fits-it-all score and it mostly depends on your campaign and business goals.

It’s important to note that even a 100% Google Ads optimization score won’t guarantee miraculous results. Most experienced advertisers aim for an optimal average of 75%-80%, which is a good benchmark to strive for.

However, the ultimate goal is to stick to your campaign and business objectives and use this tool to help you achieve them.

So, before you start making some adjustments, remember, the optimization score should serve as a guide to improve your campaign’s performance and achieve your business goals. With a little tweaking and fine-tuning, you can increase it and see positive results.

Optimization score recommendations and their benefits

Aside from just a score, Google Ads also provides a bunch of recommendations. Whether it’s improving your ad copies, bidding, or keywords, these suggestions definitely help you make better-informed decisions. 

But keep in mind that these recommendations are not mandatory, and you can choose to accept or dismiss them based on your campaign goals.

What I personally find quite a cool feature is the prediction of the potential impact of the changes. By having insights into the possible outcomes, you can determine more easily if these changes would bring the desired outcomes.

Undoubtedly, as an advertising platform, Google Ads aims to provide the best experience for its advertisers. Lower CPC, increased ROAS, better campaign performance, and overall positive results are the factors that make advertisers want to continue their campaigns on Google.

However, whether all of these recommendations align with your goals and whether you need to implement all of them, mostly depends on your specific objectives and personal experience.

If you’re a beginner at using Google Ads, you might want to test out a few of the different recommendations it comes with. With time, you’ll get a better understanding of what kind of changes are working well for you and what you can skip.

If you’re more experienced, you can more easily determine what can bring the results you’re aiming for, and what will just increase the optimization score number without leading to any significant benefits.

However, you shouldn’t listen to these recommendations blindly, nor should you ignore them. Use them as a reminder to revisit your ad campaign setup, keywords, or budget.

This tool can still give you some good ideas of what can make your Google Ads account better. Taking a look from time to time won’t hurt the healthiness of your campaign.  

How to increase your Google Ads optimization score using the recommendations?

Once you grasp the concept of the Google Ads optimization score and its calculation, you can leverage it to enhance your Google Ads campaigns. To take advantage of this score, you can utilize Google’s recommendations.

It covers a wide range of areas and campaign types, currently counting above 80 different recommendations. To make it easier, Google has grouped them into seven types of recommendations:

1. Ads and assets
2. Automated campaigns
3. Bidding and budgets
4. Keywords and targeting
5. Repairs
6. Measurement
7. Other

With such a diverse list of recommendations that you can get, attempting to implement them all at once can be a kind of a mess. Also, not all of these recommendations may always be suitable for you. Factors such as your business goals, target audience, and industry or niche can impact their effectiveness.

To fully leverage the Google Ads optimization score, it’s best to prioritize the critical areas that matter the most to your business.

Key optimization areas to focus on

Drawing from our own experience and extensive research, we have identified the following key areas that are worth being prioritized:

1. Ad relevance: Ensure that your Google Ads are highly relevant to the keywords you are targeting and the landing pages they are linking to.
2. Landing page experience: Make sure your landing pages provide a high-quality user experience, load quickly, are mobile-friendly, and are relevant to the ad and keywords.
3. Ad format optimization: Choose the right ad formats for your campaign goals, and make sure they are optimized for different devices and placements.
4. Keyword quality score: Continuously monitor and improve your keyword quality scores by focusing on relevance, click-through rates, and landing page experience.
5. Ad copy and messaging: Craft compelling ad copy and messaging that speaks directly to your target audience and highlights the unique benefits of your product or service.
6. Account structure and organization: Ensure that your Google Ads account is structured in a logical and organized manner, with ad groups that are tightly themed around specific keywords and topics. 
7. Bid optimization: Continuously monitor and adjust your bids to achieve the best possible ROI for your campaigns. 
8. Negative keywords: Regularly review and add negative keywords to your campaigns to exclude irrelevant traffic and improve ad relevance.
9. Ad extensions: Use ad extensions to provide additional information and value to users, such as site links, callouts, and structured snippets.
10. Conversion tracking and optimization: Track and analyze your conversion data to identify opportunities for optimization and improve your campaign performance over time.

Although this list isn’t exhaustive, it’s a great starting point to guide you in the right direction. Of course, there may be other areas that are more relevant to your specific business or campaign which you should also focus on.

Additional tips for increased ad campaign effectiveness

Before you start obsessing over your optimization score, remember that it’s not the only factor that matters. The overall effectiveness of your ad campaigns is just as important, so make sure you’re driving real results.

One thing that can seriously mess up your ad campaigns is fake clicks. It can be worthless to put all that effort into improving your Google Ads campaign optimization score if your campaign effectiveness is affected by click fraud, for example.

Tools like ClickCease can help you block fake traffic coming from click fraud, so you can focus on driving real results and improving your overall campaign performance. You can check it out with the free trial to keep your Google Ads clean from invalid traffic.

So go ahead, optimize away, but keep your eyes on the prize and focus on what really matters.

To sum it all up, I’ll wrap this article up with a brief overview of the benefits of improving your Google Ads optimization score, as well as common mistakes that you can avoid. Hopefully, these insights will be of help for your future optimization efforts.

Benefits of improving your Google Ads optimization score

Undoubtedly, Google Ads optimization score can be of great value for maintaining optimal campaigns and Google Ads accounts. Here are some of the benefits of having a high optimization score: 

• Better Ad Placement: A higher optimization score means that your campaigns are performing well, which can lead to better ad placement. Google rewards advertisers with high optimization scores by placing their ads in the most prominent positions on the search results pages. 

• Lower Costs: By improving your optimization score, you can lower your costs per click (CPC). Google Ads rewards high-quality campaigns by reducing the cost per click, which can result in significant savings. 
• Higher Conversion Rates: A higher optimization score indicates that your campaigns are performing well. By improving your optimization score, you can reach your target audience more effectively, resulting in higher conversion rates.
• Competitive Advantage: By improving your optimization score, you gain a competitive advantage over other advertisers. A high score means that your campaigns are optimized for the best possible performance, which can help you attract more clicks and conversions than your competitors. 

Common mistakes to avoid when improving your Google Ads optimization score

While it’s essential to improve your optimization score, it’s equally important to avoid common mistakes that can hinder your progress. Here are some common mistakes that you can avoid when trying to improve your optimization score: 

• Focusing Too Much on the Score: One of the most common mistakes advertisers make is focusing too much on the optimization score. While the score is essential, it’s crucial to remember that it’s just a tool to help you achieve your campaign goals. It would be best if you stay focused on your campaign objectives and strategies, not just the score. 

• Blindly Following Google’s Recommendations: Advertisers often make the mistake of blindly following Google’s recommendations without considering their impact on their business. Google’s recommendations can be helpful for sure, but they may not always be the best fit for your business. Evaluating each recommendation carefully and considering its impact on your campaigns before implementing it is crucial.
• Neglecting Your Overall Campaign Goals: Improving your optimization score should always be aligned with your overall campaign goals. Focusing solely on improving your score without considering your campaign objectives can lead to suboptimal results. Ensure your optimization efforts align with your overall campaign goals to achieve the best results.
• Not Monitoring Your Score Regularly: Your optimization score is not static; it changes based on various factors, including changes in your account or campaign settings. Therefore, it’s crucial to monitor your score regularly and make necessary adjustments to improve your score continually.

In conclusion, avoiding these common mistakes can help you optimize your campaigns more effectively and improve your overall Google Ads optimization score. Remember to focus on your campaign goals, evaluate Google’s recommendations carefully, and monitor your score regularly to achieve the best possible results.

The post Google Ads Optimization Score – How to Get the Most of It? appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

Getting your CPC lower in Google Ads isn’t actually too difficult, and just a few simple marketing hacks can save you a percentage of your ad funds.

One thing we recommend is that before you look at how to reduce your CPC, you should also run a PPC audit to identify issues that can be fixed. This will allow you to get more of an overview of your Google Ads campaigns general performance so you’re not just changing things blindly.

What does lower CPC mean?

With each click on Google search ads costing you money, a lower CPC means that your ad budget goes further and, hopefully, you get more conversions too. By optimizing your ad campaigns properly you can get much more traffic for your money and see your ad rank improve too.

So what steps can you take to get a lower CPC on your Google Ads campaign?

1. Bid lower on keywords

The obsession with being numero uno on the SERPs drives most marketers into a battle of keyword bidding. When it comes to your paid search, lowering your cost per click might drop you a place or two on the listings, but would it necessarily impact your conversions or traffic?

In fact, although the first spot does get more clicks (around 50% more in fact), does being number one in paid make a big difference to your sales?

The jury is out on this. And, like many factors in pay-per-click marketing, it can also depend on your industry, product, USP, ad copy, and a multitude of other factors. 

More clicks don’t always equate to more paying customers. In fact, when it comes to e-commerce or retail, it can equate to more window shoppers being lazy and clicking your result because it’s first.

If you’re offering a high-value service, let’s say legal support, for example, your audience is more likely to read your ad carefully to make sure you are what they’re looking for.

TL;DR?

You can probably afford to lower CPC bids on (many of) your keywords and see what happens if you miss out on the top spot.

Play with lowering your bids by a few cents at a time and see if it makes a difference to:

1. Your traffic
2. Your actual conversions, and of course…
3. Your bottom line

Another reason to lower your keyword bids? 

By reducing your CPC you’ll be able to extend the life of your daily or weekly budget, therefore potentially displaying your ads when others have run out of marketing juice.

2. Really work on your ad content

In many of our articles about optimizing your Google Ads content, we often mention copy. And, that is because IT IS CRUCIAL. With paid search ads, the copy is everything. 

And even with display ads or video ads, a well-written copy can encourage more clicks once those sharp images of yours have got people’s attention.

So, if you’re going to lower your keyword bids, from our first step, make sure to work on your copy in tandem with this step.

Look at your competitors’ ad copy and work out how you can top that. Understand how your ad messaging speaks to your target audience, and avoid talking about ‘us’ and more about ‘you’.

Some tips to get more clicks on your ads for a lower CPC:

• Say more with less. Cut out unnecessary information and think of ways to use single words in place of chunks of content
• Use those ad extensions – they really can make a big difference
• Play around with your call to action (CTA) – and draw those clicks with a really tempting proposition
• Search for products and services in other industries and get more of an idea of what good written content looks like
• Understand the persuasive language and, in particular, how power words and customer-centric language (you, NOT us) can bring more clicks
• Hire a professional copywriter. It’s their job to make those words count and if they do it right, they’ll make you back their fee in a day or two… 

Check out our expert advice on creating copy for PPC ads.

3. Pay attention to your quality score

The quality score on your Google Ads impacts the price you pay per click. So, by optimizing your ads for a higher quality score, you’ll see the added benefit of lowering your CPC.

This is more of a long-game strategy, rather than a quick-fix marketing hack. But understanding how the quality score affects your CPC will help you in the long run. 

It’s made a little more complicated by the fact that the QS can be applied individually to each keyword, ad, and campaign. 

Whatever it applies to, the quality score measures how relevant your ads are to the searcher, by measuring a mixture of metrics including:

• Click through rates 
• Historic impressions vs clicks
• Relevance of ad copy and keywords
• Factors related to landing pages such as bounce rate and loading speed

In short, in the long term if you want your CPC to come down, pay attention to it and try to build a higher quality score. 

Basically, make your ad as relevant to your searcher as possible, and give them a good (the best) reason to want to click. 

Having a well-optimized landing page customized for your specific ad group can help to bring down your bounce rate and by extension, improve your quality score.

And, if you do get traffic to your landing page, you’ll also need to be sure that you’re blocking invalid traffic – which we’ll look at in more detail shortly.

4. Use negative keywords

Another point that comes up often when we look at creating ad copy, and one that could definitely lower your CPC, is the use of negative keywords. 

Find those keywords that attract a relatively high volume, but low conversions, and try adding negative keywords to your Google Ads list. Usually, negative keywords are those general terms that might attract people at the top of the funnel, those doing their window shopping.

Another reason to pay attention to a negative keyword is for your quality score, as mentioned above. For each time your ad is displayed but attracts no clicks, Google assumes that your ad relevance is low. And, as a result, your quality score is impacted.

And for each time your ad is displayed in the search results by a broad keyword, you have a higher potential to pay for a click that likely won’t convert. If you’re looking for particular keywords with a higher chance of converting, look at things such as long tail keywords, or try to limit the amount of broad match targeting you use.

Look at:

• General terms, i.e; car parts (too general) vs replacement parts for Audi A8 (specific)
• Long tail, i.e; Salsa dance (too general) vs Salsa dance classes in *My Town* for beginners
• Potentially irrelevant, i.e; Vegan cakes vs vegan wedding cakes in *region/town*

In short, give your search ads less chance of showing for general search terms. And, if you’re aiming for conversions, avoid search terms that are more likely to be used in the research and awareness (top of funnel/ToFu) stage.

5. Optimize by location and scheduling

Any paid search marketer has probably noticed that some days, weeks, or months are just not as effective for ads as others. Perhaps your service or product is seasonal. Or maybe it’s affected by the demands of the working week.  

Switching off during these lean periods, or at least running a reduced campaign, can be a useful way to preserve your quality score and your ad budget too. In the long run, this can also serve to bring down your CPC.

The location also plays a major factor in how effective your ads are performing. Narrow down your geo-targeting by areas that have a track record of delivering results. If you cast that net too wide, yes you catch a lot of fish, but you can end up with a catch full of tiddlers and other less useful returns.

6. Prevent invalid traffic

When it comes to invalid traffic, or IVT, this can impact your PPC ads in a number of ways.

Firstly, factors such as high bounce rates and irrelevant clicks can impact your quality score, and by extension your CPC.

And secondly, invalid clicks on your ads cost you not just the price of a click, but lost business. For each invalid click you pay for, that’s one less real customer who could find their way to you. And if you’re not working with a bottomless pit of a marketing budget, you will likely want to make every click count.

Shockingly, 90% of all Google Ads campaigns are impacted by fake clicks. In fact, recent data from our own research shows that advertisers in some industries see up to 60% of their ad budget impacted by click fraud, or IVT.

As the industry leading click fraud prevention software, ClickCease blocks bot clicks on your ads and helps to spot accidental or malicious ad traffic. By using ClickCease to block IVT you get more real human clicks, more potential for conversions, and less chance of a quality score penalty.

And, as a result, you can even lower CPC across your Google search ads and improve conversions on display ad campaigns too.

The bottom line

The first step in lowering your CPC in Google Ads is an obvious one; lower your keyword bids.

Beyond that, look into your ad quality and continue to optimize and fine-tune the content and your bidding strategies.

Getting a lower CPC in Google Ads, and on any ad platform, means understanding how the components work and how to use them effectively.

Remember though that competitive keywords are always going to be the most expensive. You may have to swallow the cost of these, but you can find ways to game the more niche keyword variations on your list.

Found this guide useful? Check out our Ultimate Guide for Creating a PPC Strategy.

If you’re running any Google Ads campaigns, or even ads on Facebook or Bing Ads, try ClickCease for FREE.

With our 7 day free trial, you can run your own traffic audit and find out how much difference stopping fraud on your ads can make.

The post 6 ways to lower your CPC in Google Ads appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

But did you know you can customize your dashboard experience? This can be done using both Google’s own software and a range of third-party dashboard providers.

Google actually makes it easy to create a customized view using dashboard templates to help you stay on top of your most important Google Ads metrics.

But you might also want to add extra insight, collate information from across other ad campaigns or go deeper than the default view allows. 

So, if you’re wondering what data you can access to check and optimize campaign performance, we’ll take a closer look at the world of Google Ads dashboards.

Why do I need a custom Google Ads dashboard?

The Google Ads dashboard offers an essential overview of your ad campaigns with the key metrics you need. But by creating your own customized dashboard for Google Ads you can view performance metrics that are tailored to your specific needs quickly and easily.

Most search engine marketers will spend a lot of time reviewing their Google Ads campaign performance and sharing it across departments. So having the right statistics to view can make the difference to both your own workflow and if you need to collaborate with team members or clients.

These custom dashboards can be accessed easily so you can switch between them without too much hassle.

You can also share custom dashboards with specific people, for example, team members or clients. This makes it easy to share campaign-specific data without needing to grant access to your standard dashboard. 

So how can you set up your own custom Google Ads dashboard?

How can you set up a custom dashboard in Google Ads?

The custom dashboards can be accessed from the ‘Reports’ icon at the top of your Google Ads homepage.

On this page, you’ll be presented with a blank canvas to create your custom dashboard. You can view a sample dashboard to get the creative juices flowing or jump straight in.

If you start with the new dashboard, you’ll see a blank canvas of 12 blocks – two rows of six.

You can then insert your elements into these blocks.

You’ll find the full instructions on Google’s page for creating and editing custom dashboards.

When setting up a custom Google Ads dashboard you can create using the templates for:

• Reports
• Scorecard
• Notes

Reports

This is where you add the data about your campaign results and performance. You’ll find all manner of bar charts, pie charts, and additional insights. An example of the reports you can integrate into your dashboard using this category include:

• Conversion data
• Traffic data by time, date, or location
• Auction insights such as keyword or campaign performance 
• Comparisons between paid and organic search

Scorecards

With scorecards, you can monitor important metrics such as bounce rate, conversions, ad impressions, and your click-through rate.

The scorecard can be customized by date range such as previous 30 days or a specific date.

You can also customize the view as a chart, percentage view, or absolute change over the specified time period.

Note

As it sounds, this is where you can add notes related to your dashboard. This can be useful to add context or information for other viewers of your custom dashboard.

Sharing Google Ads dashboards

You can schedule a snapshot of the report in your dashboard with whoever you like, via email. Simply hit the share button add their email and customize the time, date, or frequency you’d like to share the data.

If you prefer, you can download a snapshot of the dashboard as a PDF by hitting the download button. This is obviously useful for adding to reports or presentations. 

Alternative Google Ads custom dashboards

Monitoring your Google Ad campaigns doesn’t just fall to Google.

There is, of course, a huge selection of software tools that can be used to manage your Google Ads as well. 

All of these tools can easily integrate with your Google Ads accounts and be used to monitor everything from your ad impressions or advertising budget to your conversion rate and other key performance and engagement metrics.

Some popular options include:

• Adzooma
• Adalysis
• Funnel
• Report Garden
• Optmyzr
• Skai
• ClickCease

All of these tools are built to monitor and optimize your PPC campaigns, giving a different perspective and a more complete view. And you can also export the data from these custom dashboards for your clients, or to present it to your own team, or as part of a PPC audit.

Taking Adzooma as an example, you can monitor ad campaign performance across multiple platforms, not just Google Ads. So if you need to see how your key metrics for Meta for Business ads are performing vs Google then you can add that to your custom dashboard.

With ClickCease, we focus on preventing fake traffic from bots or competitors. This invalid traffic, known as click fraud, can account for up to 60% of clicks and views on Google Ads campaigns. 

Find out more in our complete guide to click fraud.

Using ClickCease gives you a unique view of your invalid traffic that Google doesn’t see. For example, although Google does pick up invalid traffic, it isn’t in real-time. So when traffic is picked up as fraudulent, you’ll either need to apply for a refund yourself or wait for Google to refund you.

ClickCease also works with Facebook Ads and Bing Ads and can help greatly improve your ROAS on your ad campaigns.

Try out ClickCease for FREE for 7 days and get a completely different view of your Google Ads campaigns.

The post Everything You Wanted to Know About Google Ads Custom Dashboards appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

You’ll want to take a look at the auction insight reporting tool for Google Ads. This treasure trove of information can help you adjust your bids and work out areas you need to improve to rank higher.

What is Auction Insights for Google Ads?

The Auction Insights report is a downloadable data sheet that shows how your keyword bids have performed in the real time bidding auctions. It lets you compare the performance of your individual keywords and ad campaigns against anyone else in those auctions.

The theory is that you can see where your ads are performing and where they are falling short – and by how much. You can even see where your ads have tied with a competitor and whether your ad came out on top or not.

Auction Insights is available for:

• Google paid search
• Google Shopping
• Performance Max campaigns

You can then access six unique statistics related to the ad performance. These are:

• Impression share
• Overlap rate
• Outranking share
• Position above rate (Search campaigns only)
• Top of page rate (Search campaigns only)
• Absolute top of page rate (Search campaigns only)

How to access the auction insight report

Your auction insights report can be generated for the Google Ads campaigns that meet the minimum threshold for activity. What is the minimum threshold? Well, no one actually says, but based on other requirements for audience analysis, at least 1000 visitors within the past 30 days will be about sufficient.

To access the data, you obviously need to login to your Google Ads account.

You can then access data based on:

• Campaigns
• Search keywords 
• Ad groups

Choose the page for the data you want to analyze. Once inside, you’ll be presented with a list of available campaigns, keywords, or ad groups. Click the tick boxes for the ones you want to view.

Click on the Auction Insights button and you’ll be taken to the report.

If you have selected only search or shopping campaigns then you’ll have the data available right there. If you’ve selected a mix of search and shopping results then you’ll need to hit the corresponding radio button to switch between pages.

You can then, of course, filter your results.

How to read your auction insights data

So you’ve accessed the auction insights report, downloaded your data and now you’re wondering what it all means. 

Impression share

Impression share is calculated by working out the actual total of impressions against the potential total that were available. So for example, if your ad received 1000 impressions from a potential total of 10,000 then you’d have an impression share of 10%.

Overlap rate

If your competitor’s ad receives an impression at the same time as your ad then this is an overlap. The overlap rate measures how often your competitor’s ads were shown at the same time as yours. So for 20%, your competitor’s ads showed two times in every ten impressions.

Outranking share

As you might have guessed, this is the amount of times your ad outranked a competitor. And, of course, it also highlights the amount of times your competitors might have outranked you…

Position above rate (search only)

Similar to outranking share, this percentage explains how often your competitor’s ad appeared above you in head to head bids. And as stated, this can only be shown for paid search campaigns.

Top of page rate (search only)

Another self explanatory metric, the top of page rate highlights how often your ad appeared at the top of the paid search rankings. 

Absolute top of page rate (search only)

Similar to top of page rate, the absolute top of page rate refers to how often your ad is displayed at the top of the page as the very first ad. 

What can you do with auction insight data?

Now you can see how your ads are performing, the data might serve as a useful starting point for a PPC audit. Can you adjust your bids or up your ad spend? Do you need to work on your quality score? 

Google’s own recommendations for improving your search results and getting your ad ranked higher include:

• Increasing your ad campaign budgets
• Adjusting your keyword bids
• Focusing on improving your quality score
• Adjust targeting 

And of course, with the insight from the auction insight reports, you can see how these changes need to be enabled.

What isn’t shown in Google Ads insight data?

One thing you won’t see in your auction insights reports is data about invalid traffic. Often referred to as click fraud or ad fraud, invalid traffic is any form of non-genuine traffic clicking or viewing your paid ads.

You can actually view your invalid traffic, or IVT rate, in your Google Ads dashboard.

Google Ads normally picks up between 1-3% of clicks as invalid. However, by using our own fraud filters, an average of 14% of all clicks on paid search ads come from bots, competitor clicks, or other non-genuine sources.

Find out more in our complete guide to click fraud.

If you’re running Google Ads for your own business or on behalf of your clients, you can perform your own auction insights using ClickCease.

ClickCease will highlight fake traffic including fraud from sources such as VPNs or outside of geo location, fraud by specific keywords, and much more.

Sign up for a FREE 7 day trial of ClickCease to run your own traffic audit.

The post How to Use Google Ads Auction Insights and Rank Higher appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

In this article, we’ll take a look at some techniques proven to deliver good results when improving CTR. Most of them simply come down to well-written ads and a few clever little uses of urgency. But there are a few other factors in play too, including using Google’s own tools.

Before we start looking at how to improve CTR on your campaigns, there are a few things that you need to take care of on your site.

• Consider creating a good landing page for each ad campaign or at least for specific product ranges
• Understand what type of bidding strategy you’re using and how that can affect your CTR.
• Research your target audience and try to understand what they’re searching for at specific stages of their journey
• Understand your funnel and how you can bring leads in and nurture them to conversion. Use multiple strategies, including organic traffic and social media too…

If you want to know more about click-through rates, or PPC bidding strategies, you’ll find lots of information on our ClickCease blog.

But we’re going to help you get more conversions right here with our top tips to improve CTR on your paid ads.

What is CTR?

The click-through rate, or CTR, is the number of times your ad is clicked on against the number of times it is viewed. For example, if your ad shows up in results 10,000 times, and has 250 clicks, that is a CTR of 2.5%.

The average CTR for a Google Ads PPC campaign is around 2%, so if you’re above that, you’re doing well. 

If you’re looking at anything below 2%, then, of course, there is room for improvement. And these tips to help you improve your CTR should help you fix that!

Does it matter what bidding strategy I use?

In short, no, not really. Your bidding strategy is more determined by your budget and your marketing goals. 

However, not all PPC campaigns are focused on conversions. For example, if you’re running a brand awareness drive, such as with a CPM campaign, you may not need to focus so much on your call to action, or CTA.  

The standard PPC campaigns available in Google Ads and Microsoft Ads/Bing include:

• Cost per click
• Cost per acquisition (or conversion)
• Cost per mille (per thousand impressions)

There is a whole other world of options when it comes to video ads, most of which focus on the CPM or cost per impressions model. 

But we’ll look now at some of the key tips to help you improve your click-through rate on ads in search results.

How to improve click-through rates

1. Know your audience

You cannot underestimate how important your audience research is when it comes to targeting your target audience. If you know your ideal customer persona or at least your demographic, half the work is done for you.

How so? 

If you’ve done your research right, you’ll know key factors such as:

• Understanding how their language and search intent align – for example, what terms they search for at different stages of the journey
• Are they more likely to search from mobile or desktop? 
• What is most likely to make them buy?
• The time of day or year that they are most likely to search for your service
• Which social media might they also be using (ideal for retargeting them)

Although many of these might seem obvious to you, the language may not be particularly specialised in some instances. But having your target personas and demographic research should always be the first step before optimising your content for CTR.

Find out more in our guide to doing audience research.

2. Use a strong call to action (CTA)

When running Google Ads campaigns, don’t be afraid to use that call to action. Some people think it’s cheesy or unnecessary, but the truth is consumers expect a CTA in the ad copy.  

With a CTA, it also makes it clear what you expect people to do with your ad. Some examples of good CTAs are:

• Sign up now
• Get a free quote
• Download your free copy
• Join today
• Learn more

There are a few words in the English language that have a peculiar effect on the reader and can be very effective carrots in closing a sale. These are known as power words, and using some of these in your CTA can’t harm.

Examples of power words to use in your ad copy are:

• You
• Now
• Free
• New
• Increase
• Offer
• Easy
• Bargain
• Hurry

Now, you definitely shouldn’t use all of them in one CTA, but one or two could make a very persuasive case for the viewer to click your ad.

The simple way to remember how to use power words is to focus on your customer (more YOU, less us) and to focus on the benefits of the product (fast, free, easy, quality, etc).

Of course, your CTA comes at the end of a compelling sales pitch. Talking of which…

3. Improve your ad copy

When it comes to improving your click-through rates, you want an ad copy that attracts people. Obviously, right? There is no getting around it, your copy is probably the biggest driver of an effective CTR. But, it is very easy to do your content badly.

Let’s look at some examples. I ran a search for ‘hotels,’ which returned the following result (I’m in Spain, so one of the results is in Spanish).

The top result, Booking.com, although it might be probably the best known of all the companies on the list, has a very wordy ad.

As a pro copywriter, I’d drop words like ‘Get’ from instant confirmation or ‘Read’ from real guest reviews. There’s also a long number in there that just doesn’t read if you scan the ad, so that’s a wasted word count right there. 

By comparison, the second result Hotels.com is succinct and hits a couple of power word sweet spots.

“Find the perfect hotel for you”

You might remember that the word ‘you’ is a powerful word for conversions and a good one to use in any CTA.

If you’re trying to improve your CTA, look at the words you’re using and how your ad scans. People don’t sit there and read a whole ad. They cherry-pick the information they need. You don’t need to read ‘Over 2,541,000 hotels’ (What even… Is that 254 million? No, 2 million..?). Just say, ‘Choose from millions.’

One more example of a great CTA…

After searching for ‘Salesforce’, this result for Zoho comes up. 

They’ve done a couple of clever things in there. They’ve used some power words, including ‘leader’ and ‘better.’ But they’ve also used the name of the competitor in explaining what they do. Then, their copy is short, sweet and tells you everything you need to know in 0.05 of a second.

Sign me up!

BONUS: Capitalize the first letters

Run a search for pretty much anything, and you’ll notice that all the PPC ads have the first letters of almost every word capitalised. The reason is it’s so much easier to scan and read.

Compare the visual impact of these two PPC ads:

The second ad, for SpanishPod101, jumps out at you and is much easier to read and scan. Note that they’ve also managed to get all their content into one line and get their message across. Which one would you choose?

4. Use ad extensions

If you’ve not heard of ad extensions, you might find these a nice way to give your ad that extra oomph. These little extras can add some extra weight to your PPC ad with additional information about features such as customer reviews, location, average prices, and even little incentive points like ‘24/7 callout’ or ‘free delivery.’

So how do you use these extensions?

Well, it is in Google’s interests for you to get more ad engagement, and these little add-ons do help. So Google sometimes adds relevant extensions to the end of your PPC search engine result, normally phone numbers or weblinks.

You can also add manual extensions to your PPC ad, which you can do when setting up your campaign. The options for additional extensions in Google Ads are:

• Location
• Affiliate (other branches) locations
• Callout extensions (those ‘free delivery’ type endings)
• Call extensions, i.e., phone number
• Message
• Sitelink – taking visitors to a specific page
• Price highlights
• App extensions – linking directly to your app

These are all free to use and can really help improve your click-through rate. Although you do pay for clicks on your ad as normal, clicks on some features, such as seller ratings, don’t count toward your PPC budget.

Seller ratings only show on your PPC ad in specific circumstances, which include:

• Over 100 ratings on certain review sites* over the past 12 months
• Must be in a qualifying country, and
• Google needs to have done an evaluation of your site

*(Reviews sites include Google, TrustPilot, Feefo and a whole list of other sites).

5. Add a countdown timer

If you’ve seen a James Bond movie recently, you’ll know nothing gets the pulse going quicker than a countdown timer. Adding one of these clever little clocks to your PPC ad is a great way to trigger that FOMO feeling in your potential customers and improve your CTR.

Best of all? It’s relatively easy to add to your ad. 

To add a countdown timer, simply:

1. Sign in to your Google Ads account and go to Ads and Extensions
2. Choose the text ad that you want to add the countdown to, or click the plus button and then choose your text ad
3. Fill in the ad text (if you haven’t already)
4. You can then insert the countdown timer into the ad by clicking where you want the ad to appear and then adding a { symbol
5. You are then given a dropdown, select countdown and edit the time until the offer expires
6. If you like, you can make it a specific date and time, or if left blank, it will expire at midnight on your chosen date
7. Add the start date, or, if left blank, it will start 5 days before the end date
8. Bear in mind that your countdown clock will take up some of your ad space, so allow up to 8 characters in your text
9. Click Apply to save the ad, then Save new ad or Save new version

Et voila! A countdown timer to get those itchy mouse fingers ready to click through to your fantastic offer… 

It’s a simple method, but one that really does help improve your CTR.

6. Use negative keywords

If you’re not familiar with the term negative keywords, they can be a powerful and very useful tool in the quest for an optimised click-through rate. Used correctly, they can be used to minimise the exposure of your PPC ad to searches that aren’t quite relevant to you.

For example, if you run a language school teaching Spanish in a classroom setting, you might want to show up in the search results for terms such as:

• Learn Spanish in (my town)
• Spanish lessons near me
• Spanish tutor in my city

But, if you don’t do online lessons, you might want to exclude terms like:

• Online Spanish lessons
• Self study Spanish lessons
• Free Spanish lessons

By excluding the search terms that you definitely don’t want to show up for, you’re excluding the possibility that your ad might display.  

If you want to find out more, we have a whole article all about how to use negative keywords.

7. Target long-tail search terms

When it comes to getting a higher CTR, it pays to target search terms with lower search volume. And this is where targeting long-tail search terms is key.

General search terms tend to be shorter but have a high search volume. They will also likely generate a relatively low CTR and be competitive too.

However, by targeting the low search volume keywords, specifically long tail search terms, you’re targeting people with a specific search intent.

What are good examples of long-tail search terms with high purchase intent?

• Best XYZ solution – For example, ‘Best SEO research tool’
• Cheapest XYZ – For example, ‘cheapest mortgage rates provider’
• Which is better, X or Y? – Which is better, Semrush or Ahrefs?
• Where to get X – For example, ‘Where to buy birthday balloons near me’
• How to – For example, ‘How to build a lead generation funnel’
• Best X alternative – For example, ‘The best Ahrefs alternative’

To put it into perspective, you want to be targeting the search terms where people are looking to make a decision ASAP.

They might be looking for the cheapest, the best, or the closest. Understand what it is that drives them to search and be there for them.

8. Improve your headline

The first thing anyone will notice is your headline, so make it a thing of beauty. OK, that might be asking a bit much, but getting your message across in the headline can really increase that CTR on your Google Ads campaign.

These headlines for gyms in London are some good examples of attention-grabbing headlines optimised for click-through.

PureGym London | 50% Off Your First Month Now‎

ClassPass® Studios in London | Start a Free Trial Today‎

Notice that the brand name is included and that they also include the location. The divider splits up the brand name with the call to action on the other side. 

You might also have noticed the heavy use of those power words: NOW! FREE TRIAL! Makes you want to go to the gym, right? Well. Almost.

9. Split-test your ad copy

One way to work out what works best for your click-through rate is to do some A/B testing or split testing. Run multiple versions of the same ad with different headlines and content, and see which one performs best.

It also pays to split-test your landing pages too. By experimenting with landing pages, you can work out which headline works better, whether it’s better to use images or animation, or multiple other factors to encourage a sale.

The term A/B testing might imply just running two ads. But you can run as many as you can afford or manage. If something isn’t working, hit the pause button and divert your funds to the better-performing ad.

BONUS TIP: Boosting your ROAS by blocking fraud

Although most of these actionable tips can really improve your CTR, there is no magic bullet for boosting your Google Ads return on investment. And although you might improve click-through rate or get more clicks in general, that doesn’t necessarily translate to conversions and purchases.

And with every Google Ads or PPC campaign comes another challenge – fake traffic, also known as click fraud.

The problem of invalid traffic is one that is no longer a niche concern, It’s been found in our own research that 90% of Google Ads search ad campaigns are affected by click fraud.

Although average rates of click fraud hover around 15%, some industries can see rates of fake traffic up to around 60-70%.

ClickCease is trusted by professional search engine marketers around the world to deliver cleaner ad traffic and improve both conversion rates and return on ad spend.

By blocking fake traffic in real-time, ClickCease makes sure no fake traffic from bots, competitors, or other non-genuine clicks affect your ads.

Run a FREE traffic audit by signing up for our 7-day trial.

ClickCease blocks bad traffic on Google Ads, Bing Ads, and Facebook/Meta Ads. Try us out on your ads for free today.

The post 9 Tips to Help Improve Your Click Through Rate (CTR) appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

With 8.5 billion searches on Google every day, it’s clear that ranking top can net you some great traffic. Search engine optimization is often the long-term goal for many businesses, but the problem is that it’s a long-term strategy. Running PPC ads on Google can start bringing you traffic within hours or days if done correctly.

And that last point is key. But what is doing it correctly? And how can you create the best Google Ads content to deliver results quickly?

Of course, this varies depending on your industry, your target audience, and your product or service. But, in this post, we’re going to look at some of the best Google Ads examples to help you create the best-converting text ads for your PPC campaigns.

The Best Google Ads Examples 2022

1. MOZ 

This ad from the popular marketing tool MOZ keeps it simple yet effective. The heading tells you exactly what the tool is for, and the copy includes the clear benefits of using their product, plus a clear CTA.

Below the ad, the sitelink extensions make it easy to get extra information about the pricing. Although I like this ad for its simplicity, I feel like the next ad, also for a marketing tool, blows them out of the water slightly…

Highlights

• FREE offer is highlighted in the heading
• Two sitelink extensions direct visitors to useful information
• Additional link to free downloadable guides (lead magnet marketing)
• Content clearly explains product benefits

2. Semrush

While we’re looking at SaaS marketing tools, I’m loving this Google Ads text from SEO giant Semrush. There is a certain swagger in their text which suggests they are top of the class, and they know it.

“Replace a dozen solutions with one suite…”, “Try it free.” Oh, and the validation of the “Best SEO Tool 2022 Winner”. These are all attention-grabbing elements for those browsing.  

The fact that their headline even says it’s the “Ultimate 20-in-1 SEO Tool” just tells anyone searching for the best option everything they need to know.  

The icing on the cake is the sitelink extensions taking searchers to their plans comparison, free trial, and even a call extension so you can speak to someone at customer services. Would you buy this product? I think you would…

Highlights

• Strong use of power words such as ‘Ultimate,’ ‘Best,’ ‘Free’
• Good use of sitelink extensions 
• Call direct from the ad to speak to customer services
• Trial price of $0 is highlighted in the extensions

3. Zuto

This simple Google Ad for car finance company Zuto makes it easy to see the benefits. A decision in 60 seconds? Great – no time wasted.

But for those worried about borrowing money from a brand they might never have heard of, there is plenty of reassurance on display. No fees? 5-star rating? (It’s actually 4.6, but that’s close enough) Trusted by 3 million customers? OK, I’m interested…

They’re missing a trick with the lack of CTA, and I would suggest using a reviews extension instead of the rating mentioned in the copy.

Highlights

• Builds trust with ratings and customer numbers
• The ad title is the service and the benefit – not the company name (Which is a good thing)
• Call directly from the ad
• “No Obligation and No Fees” helps to engage browsers

4. TUI Holidays

UK-based travel agents TUI have crammed loads of great features into this search ad. The search for ‘winter sun holidays’ is highlighted in the ad’s title, with a CTA ‘browse our deals’ in the heading too.

To add to this, the copy is kept very simple. And there are lots of extensions taking searchers directly to what they’re looking for. And, if I want to go into the shop, there are two locations nearby too!

This Google search ad also features an image that catches the attention even more.

Highlights

• The eye-catching image makes the search ad stand out
• Extensions make it easy to jump to your preferred section
• Rating extension builds trust and social proof
• Clear CTA ‘Browse our deals’

5. Jet2 Holidays

Offering a similar appeal to the TUI search ad above, this search result from UK-based airline Jet2 has its own benefits. The headline clearly highlights the search term (Winter sun holidays) and then their USP of hold luggage included. A big consideration for those travelling with kids.

For me, the copy is not direct enough. The ‘why not bag your dream break’ could be said more directly and effectively. But the ad does offer some clear benefits, including the choice of 70 sun and city destinations.   

Those extensions also draw the eye – with ‘Free Child Places’ and ‘School Holiday Breaks’ clearly appealing to the main target audience. 

Highlights

• USP stated clearly in the heading
• Rating extension adds social proof and trust
• The freephone contact phone number extension makes it easy to get in touch
• This ad is clearly targeting the family holiday demographic

6. Blacklane Airport Transfers

Don’t have time to mess about with public transport? This excellent Google Ad from Blacklane hits with the quality service offering straight away, “arrive on time and in style.” Plus, you know you’ll be able to get in touch with people straight away with that free in-vehicle Wi-Fi.

Sitelink extensions also allow you to jump straight to the sections you most likely need. Although I would suggest that perhaps they could add a callout extension for people to phone direct.  

Highlights

• Extensions allow visitors to jump straight to their preferred service
• Multiple benefits highlighted in the ad copy
• The image in the ad draws the eye

7. Industrious

If you’re looking for office space, this great ad from Industrious is definitely going to draw the eye. First, you have that stylish-looking thumbnail image. Although not everyone will see the detail, you can still make out that their claim of ‘Beautiful Workplace Solutions’ is accurate.

The ad copy also highlights the flexible service offer using succinct points such as ‘Month to Month Terms’ and the option of private or open offices. There are also the more obvious necessities of meeting rooms, printing, and office supplies included, which are mentioned within the copy – thereby handling any objections the searcher may have.

This ad also makes great use of ad extensions with quick links to specific locations, as well as their Access Memberships option.

Highlights

• Ad copy highlights the benefits and handles objections clearly
• Sitelink extensions lead directly to the landing pages for specific locations
• Stylish image backs up the headline claim

8. WeWork

This search ad from WeWork is also a good example of paid search. You could argue that the ad copy for the Industrious ad above is clearer in their service offer. This WeWork ad is a bit wordier but says a lot less.

The headline features a CTA, ‘Explore Locations.’ However, this could be improved with a word such as ‘Premium’ or ‘Central.’ There are 30 characters available for each headline, so there is a missed opportunity here.

However, their extensions make it easy to browse specific locations, as well as highlight the starting package price.

Highlights

• Starting price is highlighted in sitelink extension
• Extensions also link to specific locations
• Attractive image supports the claim of ‘Designer Office’

9. Local Locksmith 1

An on-demand service such as a locksmith needs to make their offer immediately clear in their ad copy. Obviously, if you’re locked out of home, you don’t want to be weighing up the best options…

Although this ad for a local locksmith states the benefit twice in the header ‘No Callout Fee’ and ‘No Call Out Charge’ – it is at least clear. They do lead with ‘Available 24/7’, which will also help make a decision.

The copy is also reassuring, as is the review extension. However, there is no callout option from the ad, which is the only thing I’d change.

Highlights

• Service benefits highlighted in the headline
• Rating extension gives trust and social proof
• The ad copy is clear about what service is offered

10. Local Locksmith 2

Another good example of an ad for a local locksmith, this search has been put together slightly better. Again, the headline makes it clear that there is no call-out charge and that they’re available 24/7.

The ad copy is also quick and to the point, asking questions and then reassuring the reader that they can help. And another benefit here, the callout extension, is used so the user can call directly from the ad.

Highlights

• Service benefits highlighted in the headline
• Callout extension included allowing calls direct from the ad
• The copy clearly explains what they do

11. Etsy

Thinking of gift ideas can be tricky at the best of times. But that’s nothing a quick Google search can’t fix, right? This is a good Google Ads example from Etsy with some great copy and use of extensions.  

First, that headline hits the search keyword “gift for wife” and also features a nice selling point, “gifts as unique as they are.” The ad copy then reinforces the headline with gifts they’ll love, supporting small businesses and ‘thoughtful and remarkable gifts.’ 

And, in the age of sustainability awareness, the added benefit of local sellers is appealing in place of international shipping.  

To make it easy to find what you’re looking for, there are quick links to home decor favourites and personalized gifts too.

Highlights

• Good use of trigger words in the headline and ad copy
• Extensions highlight popular departments for ease of shopping
• Short and punchy copy explains the benefits of the site within the ad

12. Local Wedding Photographer

This result for a local wedding photographer has some good examples of both reassuring ad copy and extensions. Many of these sorts of businesses are solopreneurs or one-man bands, so the business owner or a small agency often creates the ad.

This Google Ad example has good use of emotional trigger words, or power words. For example, ‘Free consultation’ and ‘High quality.’ He also explains his style of photography, with ‘a touch of fine art’, speaking to his target audience perfectly.

Below the copy, the sitelink extensions take you straight to pricing, portfolio, and the ‘about me’ page, which are all the most visited pages on most websites.

Highlights

• Good use of descriptive and trigger words
• Callout extension included
• Sitelink extensions link to the most viewed pages, including prices and portfolio

How can you make your Google Ads better?

As we’ve seen from the Google Ad examples above, there are a number of elements that can make your ad good. So if you’re looking to create catchy Google search ads, follow these rules:

• Explain your USP or benefits in the headline
• You don’t need to use the company name in the headline; in fact, sometimes you shouldn’t
• Make your service benefits clear in the copy and use short and easily digestible sentences
• Use a clear call to action somewhere in your copy
• Use sitelink extensions to direct customers directly to specific categories on your site
• Build trust by highlighting your reviews, ratings, or testimonials with review extensions
• Highlight offers, sales, or limited availability in the copy
• Include numbers, prices, or percentages for quick reference
• Ensure your ad copy uses direct language and ‘power words’ 
• Consider if adding your callout extension (phone number) will help customers

Not all of these will apply to every business or ad campaign. But understanding what makes your ads perform well can make a big difference.  

We’ve also looked at the power of high-converting landing pages before. Put simply, if you’ve gone to the effort of creating the best ad copy you can, do it justice with a good landing page too.

What influences the success of your Google Ad

Although we’ve looked at the external appearance of these Google Ad examples, the truth is that more than half of the results come from other under-the-hood factors.

This can include:

Your budget

Your total Google Ads spend can have a significant impact on your ad performance, especially if you’re up against big spending competitors.

Use of keywords

Doing keyword research and then targeting the right search terms is a huge factor in your Google Ads ROI. However, this can take time to distill as you work out which search terms perform best.  

Keyword matching

The use of exact match, phrase match, broad match, or negative keywords can have a big influence on your ad performance. If you don’t know how best to manage keyword matching, make sure to read up first.

Landing pages

If you’ve gone through all that hard work of creating your Google Ads campaigns, you need to make sure your website can convert those visitors. Landing pages increase the chances of conversions, reduce bounce rates, and have a number of benefits.  

Block invalid traffic

More than 1 in 5 clicks on your Google Ads comes from non-genuine traffic sources such as bots, competitors, organized fraudsters, and click farms. This is known as click fraud or invalid traffic (IVT). By blocking invalid traffic, you improve the chance of your Google Ads campaigns hitting their ROAS and cutting the amount of ad spend wastage.

Protecting your Google Ads campaign

If you’re running Google Ads either for your business or your clients, blocking fraud is something you will need to consider. ClickCease is the most effective click fraud prevention tool on the market and is the choice of marketing professionals across the world for good reason.

Because clicks from bots or your competitors will never convert, reducing the impact of these clicks on your ad spend can make a massive difference to your bottom line. In fact, in some highly competitive industries with high-value keywords, the volume of fake clicks can be as high as 60% or more.

We highly recommend running a traffic audit on your PPC ads so you can see for yourself who is clicking your ads. 

With a no-obligation free trial, you can use ClickCease to see whether you need to invest in click fraud prevention.

Try ClickCease for free for 7 days and give your Google Ads campaigns the power-up they deserve!

The post 12 Great PPC Google Ads Examples appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

The problem is that many of these tasks are tedious, time-consuming, and highly demanding. You need to make sure all the links work, create reports, analyze the data, and stay on top of your AdWords campaigns.

Don’t get me started on the tedious and mind-numbing PPC tasks – organizing Excel worksheets, finding ads without price extensions, negating keywords – things that make you question your life’s choices. 

Google Ads scripts take away all that hassle by helping you set up automation to handle the tasks you’d rather avoid. Plus, they can work around the clock without ever needing a break or making a mistake.

But what exactly are these Google Ads scripts? How do they work?  And which ones should you be using? We answer all that and more in this post. By the end, you’ll walk away with enough knowledge to set up and run Google Ads scripts and optimize your PPC ads.

What Exactly is a Google Ads Script?

Google Ads scripts are JavaScript code snippets that automate certain aspects of your ad campaigns. According to Google, they allow you to “programmatically control Google Ads” in your Google account. This can be especially helpful if you run multiple accounts.

If you can think of an activity within your Google Ads accounts or Ads groups, odds are, there’s a script for it. You can auto-create entire ad groups, filter out low-performing Google Ads and pause them, automatically add negative keywords based on search queries, and even tap into the Google keyword planner.

Google Ads scripts can also interact with external data like spreadsheets, email, and even Google Drive to perform your tasks faster and more efficiently than ever.

The miracle of Google ads scripts comes from the fact that, like you, many marketers hate the humdrum of managing Google Ads. Fortunately, they know enough about JavaScript to write code that can take over these tasks and free up time for everyone.

The good news is that you don’t need to develop your own custom scripts to enjoy the benefit of a Google Ads script. You can easily install many of them for free from your Google Ads account.

Why are Google Ads Scripts so Important?

Google Ads scripts can do a lot for you, but at the end of the day, their benefits can be classified into three major categories.

Saving time

How many hours would you say you spend every week combing through spreadsheets and fixing capitalization mistakes? With the right Google Ads script, you can bring that number down to zero. 

Even though these tasks are critical to your campaign’s success, why spend hours doing something you hate when you can have a few lines of JavaScript do it for you?

Catching errors and automating adjustments

Some errors are so glaring that they are impossible to miss. Others are sneaky, and you might not find them until the damage is done. Think of sending traffic to broken links without realizing it.

With Google Ads scripts, you can send less traffic to broken links, manage your budget without visiting your dashboard daily, and even create SMS alerts if your billing falls through.

Additionally, some Google Ads scripts allow you to automatically pause your ads when certain conditions are triggered – like website downtime and product stockouts. Scripts allow you to keep your campaigns running at maximum efficiency regardless of the frequency of your input.

Creating more effective campaigns

Every minute you spend without worrying about the minutiae of your Google Ads is time you can invest in creating strategy. 

When your team finally creates a strategy, a Google Ads script will allow you to launch them quickly, effortlessly measure their impact, and easily tweak small parameters, all with a minimal time commitment.

Top 25 Google Ads Scripts to Supercharge Your PPC Campaigns

1. Hour-by-Hour Trends Heat Map

This script shows your Google Ads performance in an easy-to-interpret heat map format. You can see each device’s performance, from mobile to desktop and tablet. Thanks to it, you can forget about sorting through rows and columns of data and instead get quick snapshots of the information you need.

2. Add Pivot Add Data to a Spreadsheet 

Another script that helps you interpret your results better. This Google Ads script will export your Google ads report into Google sheets and allow you to pivot the table. The result is a spreadsheet that’s easier to scan and interpret. This script really comes in handy if you manage more than one Google ads account.

3. Ad Performance Report

Built by Google Developers, this is one of the best free Google Ads scripts out there. The tool will create a report of the CTR statistics of your headline and ad’s display URL, along with the number of instances that each are found in your account. You can also edit the code, so it pulls data for specific description lines for easy comparison.

4. Low-quality Score Keywords Report

This Google ads script makes it so that you never have to worry about using low-quality keywords again. It allows you to set a quality score threshold, and you’ll get a mail showing you the location of keywords that match your criteria. 

5. Quality Score Tracker

Wouldn’t it be great to visualize your account level quality score over time? Well, that’s what this brilliant tool does. The Google Ads script checks your quality score and creates a spreadsheet and graph with your score so you can see it at a glance.

6. Link Checker Script

The link checker script is a simple tool that helps you scan your account for ads that return broken 404 links. The great thing is that you won’t get any emails unless there are broken links, so you don’t have to worry about false alarms.

7. Bid Adjustment Script

This Google Ads script was created by Google Developers, and it’s perfect for keeping your campaigns optimized at every point in time. It can help you increase or decrease bids based on the filters you set within your Google ads account.

8. Ad Spend Report Script

Ad spend is one metric that marketers love to keep an eye on, and this script makes that easier than ever. It will send you recurring email reports that include your ad spend, CPA, conversions, and recommended daily spend. It’s perfect if you’re managing multiple ad groups or more than one Google ads account because you can quickly decide which campaign requires the most attention.

9. Search Query Report

Here’s another helpful script by Google Developers, and it helps you to generate a report of possible negative keywords from your search queries report. Used correctly, it can improve your targeting by adding the right negative keywords to your ad groups.

10. Automate Monthly PresentationMaking

This simple ad script exports data from your Google Ads account to Google slides presentation. You may need to tweak a few things before it’s presentation-ready, but the script will save you time. If you install it, consider using the Automate monthly spreadsheet reporting script as well. It does the same thing but with Google spreadsheets.

11. Pause Ads with Zero Impressions

It’s tough to imagine how marketers got along before this script. It has one simple but essential function – pausing any ads with keywords that generate zero impressions. You can quickly weed out the worst-performing ads in your ad group and stick with the winners. You can even come around later to tweak and improve the ads.

12. Fill Empty Ad Groups with Ads

Worried you might be missing out on high-value traffic but can’t carve out time to write copy? Well, that’s where this Google Ads script shines the brightest. As the name suggests, it helps you fill empty ad groups with a temporary generic copy until you can make it more relevant. 

13. Rotate And Copy to A/B Test

Here’s another Google Ads script that’s focused on helping you optimize ad performance. This one shows you which ads are performing best and gives you a projection of just how well your account would do if you paused the low-performers in your ad groups.

14. Vallaeys Shopping Efficiently Score

Designed to help improve your shopping campaigns, this Google Ads script will help you check the efficiency of your ads account. Specifically, it will analyze how bids are managed across your accounts, making it easier to improve performance quickly.

15. Keywords for Google Shopping Campaigns

This is the script for you if you’re looking to add an extra boost to your Google shopping campaigns. It allows you to specify keywords you want your ads to appear for in a spreadsheet. Once that’s done, the script will analyze the search queries for your Google shopping campaigns and add whatever keywords you omit in your spreadsheet as negative keywords. One beautiful thing about this script is that you don’t have to worry about duplicate keywords.

16. Pause Overspending Locations

Here’s an example of a Google ads script that can optimize the frequently overlooked areas of your campaign. This one will look at location data for your campaign and allow you to disable locations that exceed a predetermined level of spend. It can add a little extra edge to your campaign, which can turn out to be everything. 

17. Copy Google Ads Extensions

Google Ads extensions can significantly boost the click-through rates of your Google Ads campaigns, especially if you haven’t used them before. This script makes it easy to copy these extensions to your various campaigns – a task that would be tedious otherwise.

18. Bulk Shopping Ad Group Creator

Built by Google Developers, this ad script will allow you to create bulk ad groups and product groups in existing shopping campaigns. It will read ad group settings and product group hierarchies and create them in Google Ads.

19. Weather-Based Campaign Management

Wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically adjust your bids when necessary for seasonal products? Well, that’s what this Google Ads script helps you with. It uses an external API that raises your bids when it’s sunny and lowers them in the rainy season.

20. Delete Disapproved Ads

Not all your ads will be approved, which is fine for simple PPC campaign accounts. But when you’re working with multiple Google Ads accounts, it becomes harder to address the disapproved ads. This script lets you delete the disapproved ads with a single click instead of combing through your accounts.

21. Fix Capitalization Errors

An error as simple as a capitalization mistake can affect the performance of your ads and drop your CTR. Luckily, this script helps you avoid these errors permanently across all your accounts by combing through your ads and ensuring there are no capitalization errors.

22. Correct Date and Time zone

If you’re running multiple campaigns in different time zones, using certain scripts can get confusing if your account is in a different time zone than the data center. It will eventually become impossible to coordinate scripts that run on a schedule – like ones that pause ads, for example. This simple script fixes that problem by ensuring that all your other Ads scripts are running in the timezone on your account.

23. Save a File or Spreadsheet in a Google Drive Folder

While it won’t double your CTR, this Google Ads script can save you a few extra minutes by letting you save your spreadsheets directly into your preferred drive folder. That way, you don’t have to worry about reorganizing them down the line.

24. Identify Ad, Ad Group, or Keyword Creation Date

This script comes in handy when you’re trying to track down the source of a change in your Google Ads account. It lets you see the exact date you created an ad group, campaign, or keyword.

25. Pause Suspicious Ads

You can’t always keep an eye on your CTR in real time; many markets with large accounts prefer to generate a report and look over the spreadsheet after. But if your ads are getting invalid clicks, it probably means your campaign is under attack by click bots and similar agents. Luckily, this Google Ads script helps you pause the targeted ads until you can properly address the problem.

One last tip

It would be a shame to invest all this time into your Google Ads, install scripts that optimize performance, and get everything dialed in, only to gain invalid clicks and abysmal conversions.

Unfortunately, that’s the reality for most marketers, as statistics show that 20% of PPC advertisers’ budgets in 2022 are wasted due to advertising click fraud. 

The Pause Suspicious Ads Script can help with this problem, but all it really does is suspend the campaign. You need a foolproof way to keep malicious agents away from your ads, and with real time traffic monitoring and blacklisting, ClickCease keeps your campaigns running while blocking bad traffic. 

By using ClickCease to protect your Google Ads, you’re optimizing your ad spend, CTR, and cost for each conversion. What’s more, ClickCease works with paid search campaigns, the Google Display Network, YouTube ads, and more.

Run a free traffic audit with a 7 day trial of ClickCease.

The post 25 Best Google Ads Scripts to Make Your Life Easier appeared first on ClickCease Blog.

In a press release, Allan Thygessen said: 

“Our advertising partners often ask me, “how can I better understand where my dollars are being spent?” This question isn’t new. But as buying and selling digital ads has become more complex, tracking where the money goes has become more difficult. On average 15% of advertiser spend is unattributable, according to some industry estimates.”

But what is meant by these hidden PPC costs? And is this an issue that we should be more worried about?

What are the hidden costs in PPC?

With respect to the press release, Google is looking at the misrepresentation of fees between advertisers and publishers.

The concern is that advertising tech providers hosting your video or display ads take a percentage of your ad spend: The ‘ad tech tax’. As the post states, an average of 15% of your spend can be absorbed in this manner- but it can be up to half.

Even 15% is a lot to lose in hidden fees on your PPC ads.  And that’s before we even start talking about click fraud or ad fraud.

As Google highlight though:

“While we can’t speak for the many other companies in this space, our platforms do not take hidden fees.”

So, who exactly is sneaking in these hidden PPC fees?

As stated, the technology providers involved in the supply chain might be in the spotlight here. The Ad Tech tax is a real issue, and one that many PPC professionals have been highlighting for years.

There is a lot of software between your Google Ads dashboard and the final placement. 

And if you’re spending $3 on your CPM, how much of that goes to the publisher?

Confirming Gross Revenue is supposed to help clarify this.

Now, any initiatives by Google to improve transparency and reduce fraud are to be applauded. 

However, many advertisers don’t feel that the issue is in the misattribution of fees, but in the problems of fraud filtering from bots and invalid traffic.

Will this help to tackle click fraud or ad fraud?

One of the methods of ad fraud is in falsified bid requests – meaning that a website doesn’t even host the display ad. 

Confirming Gross Revenue will offer the advertisers one way to verify whether their ads have been displayed on certain sites. And, as we’ve seen from previous initiatives including ads.txt and sellers.json, if they’re used correctly it can help. 

The issue of fake web traffic remains a billion dollar elephant in the room. And although this goes a long way to helping verify where ad spend is going, real time fraud blocking and traffic monitoring is still going to require a third party solution such as ClickCease.

In 2021, over $42 billion was lost to fake traffic on ads – also known as click fraud.

Run a traffic audit on your website with our free 7 day trial.

You can read the full post from Google here.

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