Google Adwords Trends 2015 in the Age of Mobile DevicesIncreasing Competition for Keywords – Adwords Scoring Your Website for Mobile Responsive – Adwords Scoring Site Load Speed
It is a new world in the Adwords World this year. There is more competition than ever for top Adwords spots on the searches.
With smartphone user time now higher than desktop user time this creates a challenge as advertisers compete for top spots on the small smartphone screens.
There is also competition between Adwords for websites and Adwords for Apps. Wordstream and Hubspot statistics show time spent using apps on smartphones was higher than time spent using browsers to search the internet.
Stay updated with the latest Adwords customizations to keep up with the changes and competition.
Understanding How Google Adwords Works
It is important to understand the details about how Google Adwords works to see the significance of customizing the ads.
How Adwords Works – Bidding – Quality Score – Impressions – Ad Rank – Adwords Express – Enhanced Adwords
It is important to be sure to understand how Adwords works in order to take advantage of customizing the ads for the best success and the lowest cost.
Adwords Express Versus Enhanced Adwords
Adwords Express is available for simpler advertising campaigns and is sometimes recommended for small local companies. But Enhanced Adwords which has a greater number of customizations is recommended for more advanced types of campaigns. Enhanced Adwords has extra tools for free to help you get the most success for your advertising at the best cost.
Enhanced Adwords Offers Sitelinks and Extensions to Make the Ad Stand Out
A typical Adwords ad has a title on the first line, a link to your site below that, a line of information and a second line of information perhaps urging the reader to take action.
When Sitelinks and Extensions are used then the ad also has up to 4 additional specialized links below it that you add. The links can go to pages on your website, apps and so on. See below for more details.
Google’s instructions say that ads with sitelinks and extensions usually get a higher rank than ads without them if bid and Quality Score are otherwise equal.
Additional links and text can appear below the ad when you use extensions.
Your ad will stand out and be larger due to the sitelinks and extensions plus it can be ranked higher on the page. Google’s Adwords instructions say the Click Through Rate is generally higher if your ad has extensions.
There is no guarantee of course but having the sitelinks and extensions increases your chance of getting the ad to the top.
Enhanced Adwords offers extra features for free such as sitelinks and extensions.
A list of the manual extensions on Google’s instructions include sitelinks for Apps, Calls, Locations, Reviews, Sitelinks and Call-Outs.
Sitelinks for the Adwords Ad
The sitelinks are additional links that show below the top two lines of your ad.
These links can be set up to jump to certain pages on the website. Adding sitelinks creates a larger Adwords ad with more lines and more links. Since it is easier to see it gets more clicks.
Using sitelinks and extensions helps your ad to look different and stand out next to the other ads.
Typical sitelinks might go be for a call button, location or app download. If someone clicks on one of these you are charged for the click.
Automated Adwords Extensions
Some of the automated extensions are described as automatic if your ad meets certain criteria. This means Google automatically ads the extensions for you to the ad if the ad meets certain conditions.
These can include Consumer Ratings, Previous Visits, Seller Ratings, Dynamic Sitelink Extensions and Social Extensions.
Keywords and Keyword Phrases
Someone types in or more more terms related to a subject. This topic might be a product, service, information, question, entertainment subject or place that they are seeking.
These terms can be one word or a whole phrase. This is called the “keyword” or “keyword phrase.”
All the advertisers who are advertising a product or service related to the words the searcher typed are in a group called a “pool.”
Google Adwords Keyword Tool
The advertisers have written ads in their Google Adwords accounts with the ads designed to show for certain keywords. Advertisers can think of words a searcher might use to find their product or service. They can also get keyword search statistics from the Google Adwords Keyword Tool.
The Google Adwords Auction
When the searcher types the keywords into the Google Search Box and hits Search or their Enter key Google does a quick calculation in a fraction of a second.
Google checks information from the “pool” of advertisers who have said they will pay for a click from searchers who use those keywords.
Google instantly checks the amounts the individual advertisers have said they will pay for a click. This part is called the Auction and it happens instantly.
Maximum Bids
In your Adwords account page there are places to enter the maximum you will bid for an ad. Google checks this and increases the amount of your bid for you automatically up to that maximum to help your ad compete against the others. If your ad is already competing successfully then the entire maximum bid may not be needed.
Setting a Budget
Advertisers set a daily budget or monthy budget. This means Google calculates how often to show the ad according to the budget. If the ad is getting clicked often when it is shown so the budget is getting used up then Google starts showing the ad less frequently.
This is where the advertiser has to decide how much to spend according to the return the advertiser is getting on the investment of paying for the clicks.
Click Results For the Advertiser
The advertiser decides whether the cost of paying for the clicks for a particular ad is resulting in generating income from successfully obtaining customers and generating income. Calculating the return on the investment helps the advertiser decide on how much to spend in the monthly budget.
Relevance of the Ad and Its Link to the Search Keywords
It also checks the relevance of the Ad the advertiser has written to the search. Also it checks the relevance of the site page on the advertisers’ sites to the keywords the searcher typed. The loading speed of the advertiser’s page and some other things are used in this analysis also.
Placement of the Ads on the Page
This is how Google decides which ads show up and the order of the ads. The ads are placed above the natural (organic) search results. They also show up down the left side of a desktop or laptop screen and can show up at the bottom also.
Getting Into the Top Three Ads
The goal is to get in the top three ads if the user has a desktop or laptop since the side and bottom ads do not have good visibility and do not get as many clicks.
Ad Impressions Number Compared to Number of Clicks
Google keeps track of the number of times the ad is displayed. This is called an Impression. The number of Impressions compared to the number of clicks on the Ad are part of the Ad’s “Quality Score.”
Click Through Rate – CTR
This refers to the number of times the ad has an Impression (is shown) compared to the number of times the ad is clicked.
Quality Score of the Ad
As a history is formed for the Ad then the Quality Score can change.
Quality Score is important because a higher Quality Score causes Google Adwords to charge you less cost per click on your ads.
Ads with higher Quality Scores and higher maximum bids get shown at the top of the page. Ads with lower Quality Scores need to make up the difference in the formula by bidding a higher amount if they want to show at the top of the page.
You can see how over time the Ads that are having a higher success rate for getting clicked have the cost going down. Google rewards them.
The Ads that do not have a high Quality Score get placed on the side of the page or the bottom. In those areas they may have lots of Impressions (times the ads shows) without getting many clicks so their total Quality Score keeps going down until the advertiser gives up on those.
In the Google Adwords screen you can check the Quality Score for each group of keywords and ads you have written.
How Google Calculates Quality Score to Get Ad Rank
Google multiplies your maximum cost per click bid times the Quality Score to get your Ad Rank.
You can see how a high Quality Score can then reduce the need for a high bid in the formula.
When Ads Are Not Performing Well
The keywords that are not performing well can then be discontinued and more successful ads and keywords can be used.
Google’s Adwords Formula – Amount Bid, Quality Score, Impressions Compared to Clicks
In summary, Google chooses the ad that appears at the top of the adwords according to a formula that includes the highest bid, the best Quality Score and the most relevant ad and landing page for the ad. As your ad accumulates a history of Impressions and Clicks then the ratio of Clicks compared to the number of Impressions also becomes part of the Quality Score.
Keywords in High Demand Have More Advertisers Competing for Them and Are More Expensive
Sometimes there is a large group of advertisers all trying to get prospective customers to click an ad and do business with them after landing on their website.
As in any market when there is high demand then the price goes up.
So keywords for highly competitive markets with high demand are more expensive. If your ad is in a smaller, local market without too many competitors then the price will not have been bid up too high.
Return on Investment for High Priced Keywords for the Ads
Prices per click could be under a dollar or could be very expensive for just one click. If the price of the expensive clicks justifies the expense because it is bringing in customers and generating income then advertisers can decide it is worth it.
Google’s Description of a High Quality Ad
- Relevant to the search query
- Has accurate description of product or service
- Ad is relevant to the landing page
- Landing page provides good user experience because it loads quickly
- Landing page has easy navigation for user to find what is wanted. Navigation paths are short and easy.
- Advertiser’s website is “transparent” which means the site is trustworthy. It has details about the business.
- Site interacts well with the user’s device. This means if the user has a smartphone or tablet the site is mobile responsive so elements and menus reformat to fit the size of the device screen.
- Google analyzes how your site intends to use information that your site requests from the user.
Enhanced Adwords Customizations
Dynamic Keyword Insertion means the ad is written in a generic way so Google is triggered to automatically insert exactly the keywords or phrase used by the searcher so it is a perfect match.
Mobile Specific Adwords
You can choose to only show your ads on deskop/laptop devices. Or you can show on both or only on mobile.
You can enter mobile specific bid adjustments and write mobile preferred creatives (ads). Analytics in the Adwords account provide stats so you can evaluate the results.
Mobile Apps Trend for 2015
Adwords for your mobile apps are one of the newer trends.
Statistics from Hubspot and Wordstream for Mobile Apps
Statistics for 2014 according to Hubspot and Wordstream show 80% of people carry a mobile device with them. Over 61% of smartphone users do internet searches with their device.
Time spent using Mobile Apps per week averages 8 hours a week. Time spent using a mobile browser averages 7.5 hours a week.
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