Should You Use SKAG For Your Google Ads?

Last Updated on: 18th December 2024, 05:45 pm

If you want to take charge of your Google Ads and aren’t afraid to spend more time on them, it’s time to consider Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAG, for short).

Since I’m firmly in the camp that says “no” to Google’s insistence that its algorithms know best, I’ve gotten familiar with SKAGs in the past 15+ years of managing campaigns. And in this article, I’ll show you the pros and cons of SKAGs, so you can make the best choice for your campaigns.

Let’s take a look!

What Are Google Ads Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAG)?

SKAGs involve creating ad groups with just one keyword per group. This means that one specific keyword will trigger all ads within the group. 

In practice, it also means you’ll create ads tailored to a specific keyword or search query. And the more relevant you are to each searcher’s query, the easier it is to get them to click and convert through your Google Ads.

For example, suppose you were a personal injury solicitor advertising your firm. 

With the traditional approach to keyword targeting in Google Ads, each ad group would contain multiple related keywords. You’d have keywords like personal injury lawyer, accident attorney, and injury lawyer in the same ad group. 

In business, you know the difference between the three. Personal injury is highly specific, accidents can cause claims for different types of things (including personal injury compensation), and injury lawyer means they could also be workplace injuries.

If you were to use all three keywords within the same ad, your ad couldn’t be as specific as it would be if you chose the SKAG approach – for example, by only targeting “personal injury lawyer.”

This would allow you to write your entire ad copy to resonate with the leads looking specifically for personal injury lawyers. 

And this is just one of the benefits!

The Pros of Single Keyword Ad Groups in Google Ads

SKAG Pro #1. Increasing Your Quality Score and Ad Relevance

When you’re shopping for a very specific pair of shoes (e.g., ballroom shoes), you don’t want to see all the other types. 

You want to get the results you need as soon as possible.

This is a universal feeling and one that Google Ads caters to. The Quality Score of your ads is primarily defined by how tailored your ad is to the query that prompts it. With a high enough Quality Score, your CPC will also decrease, giving you more room in the budget to spend on campaigns. 

On your audience’s side of things, when they see a highly specific ad, they’re more likely to click because they know you have exactly what they’re looking for. Compare that to your competitors, who are just using Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) and the ad copy or extensions aren’t specific to the lead’s pain point. 

Finally, SKAGs also allow you to choose an angle when creating your Google Ads copy and creative assets. You no longer have to be vague just to cast a broad net – you can zero in on the specific challenges and solutions you provide concerning that one keyword. 

SKAG Pro #2. Single Keyword Ad Groups Provide More Control

If you’ve been in Google Ads for a while, you know how hard they push you to let go of the reins, give them the landing page URL, and let them do everything for you. While that may seem practical for small business owners, it’s not a good idea.

Any advertiser – and I do mean any, no matter how big or small – needs to have control over where their money is going. If Google is wasting your budget on keywords your ads aren’t optimised for, you may get the illusion of growth, but when you start to monitor your conversions, you’ll see the needle hasn’t moved much.

(But money had been spent.)

That’s where single keyword ad groups give you more granular control. If you’re only targeting one keyword with that ad, you can easily track and optimise the performance of each keyword individually.

Similarly, you can see what sort of conversions that keyword has generated and set bids accordingly. You can also get specific enough to adjust your bids for devices, locations, and times of day – something which could normally get overwhelming when you have one ad for multiple keywords.

Finally, this visibility also results in knowing which keywords don’t generate traffic. If you know where the issue is, you can add them to your negative keywords lists for the campaigns using the traditional approach. 

SKAG Pro #3. Testing and Optimisation Flexibility

It’s hard to A/B test in an environment where your ads’ performance is being affected by various keywords and other elements. But in a single keyword ad group, you can easily see the effect of each keyword you target and experiment accordingly.

Similarly, the insights are “clean,” so you’ll know how to act on them. In a traditional campaign, you’ll need more robust frameworks to separate the variables and create a proper A/B testing environment.

Now, a common question I get is – “Claire, won’t my reporting look messy? I’ve got hundreds of ads now!”

No. No, it won’t. I like to use ad group labels to connect related keywords. That way, I always know what to compare. For example, if you have an accounting firm that also offers auditing and you have 5 SKAGs related to it, simply create an “Auditing” label to be able to get insights in a second!

And Now, What Are the Issues with Single Keyword Ad Groups in Google Ads?

SKAG Con #1. It Takes Time (and I Mean It)

As with everything in the PPC world, I don’t prescribe the SKAG method for every single campaign you run. It takes time, and you should only reserve it for your most profitable keywords. 

By that, I mean keywords that generate the highest-value leads and customers. 

Managing hundreds of ad groups can get complex, especially for campaigns with hundreds or thousands of keywords. Since each SKAG has its own set of ads, assets, creatives, and settings, it can lead to turning your role into full-time SKAG management. Save it for your best performers!

SKAG Con #2. Missing the Forest for the Trees

With SKAGs, there is a real danger of over-segmentation. 

Since you’ll be spreading your audience data across multiple keywords, you could end up with too little data to draw optimisation conclusions. That’s why it’s crucial to use SKAGs for big keywords that generate enough traffic for evaluation.

Of course, you could also use SKAGs for long-tail keywords and specific searches. For example, “personal injury attorney specialising in heavy machinery incidents in California.” (This is actually one of my favourite use cases.)

However, just keep in mind that your data might be fragmented and it will take longer to get qualified information.

How Can I Optimise My SKAGs?

Just like with any Google Ads strategy, using SKAGs requires testing and optimisation. Here’s what you need to do:

Experiment with Different Match Types

By default, Google Ads uses Broad Match, which matches different types of phrases that contain the keyword’s words and can lead to irrelevant clicks.

Test Phrase Match or Exact Match to avoid being too broad and defeating the purpose of the SKAG strategy. Phrase Match shows your ad only when the search query includes your keyword in the exact order you specified, but may include additional words before or after. 

For example, if your main keyword is “personal injury lawyer,” Phrase Match would display your ad for the following query, too: “best personal injury lawyer near me.”

Exact Match, on the other hand, will only show your ad when the user’s search query exactly matches your keyword.

Strengthen Your Ad Copy, Landing Pages, and Ad Extensions for the Best Single Keyword Ad Group Performance

Since the whole point behind SKAGs is relevance, make sure your ad copy and landing pages are tailored to the search intent behind the target keyword. 

Similarly, use the right ad extensions (now called assets) and Google Ads callouts.

For example, if you are advertising a personal injury legal service, your site link extensions should be connected to pages like the “Personal injury” service page and “Personal injury cases.”

Stay Organised

I’ve seen numerous cases where advertisers and/or business owners had highly performing SKAG campaigns and yet, they decided to end them. The number one reason? They couldn’t get organised, the results got muddled, and there was cannibalisation (targeting the same keyword with multiple campaigns). 

Don’t let that happen to you. First, create clear naming conventions and write them down, so you can follow them with your ad group labels and beyond.

Then, create a map in a spreadsheet of all your SKAG campaigns and their target keywords. Whenever you decide to launch a new campaign, check it against your spreadsheet to ensure you’re not cannibalising your previous work.

Finally, regularly audit your SKAGs. As the market changes, you’ll have to keep up. If you also run other campaigns, evaluate your results and choose carefully how to proceed. Check for duplicate keywords, underperforming keywords to add to your negatives list and ad group overlaps.

Are Single Keyword Ad Groups Relevant in 2024?

If the pros and cons I just mentioned match your use case, go forth and use SKAGs bravely! They’ll give you more precision when speaking to audiences who increasingly prefer personalisation.

Plus, as soon as you see the level of control you have over your Ads account, you won’t ever want to go back!

If you need assistance with setting up effective Google Ads campaigns, contact me and my team. We’ve managed thousands of campaigns in the past 15+ years and bring our experience to the table so you don’t have to struggle with growing pains.

Or, if you’d prefer to do everything yourself, grasp the essentials with my best-selling Google Ads book and set up an effective campaign in 7 rapid steps!