Why Aren’t My Google Ads Working?

Last Updated on: 9th July 2024, 01:46 pm

You’ve been running your Google Ads campaigns for a while now, and it’s not bringing you the results you expected.

Let’s look at 5 possible reasons why!

Possible Reason 1 – Too Many Keywords

When adding keywords to your account, did you add 10, 20 or even more as Google appeared to be suggesting you do so in the KeyWord Planner?

This is a common mistake.

Google will suggest lots of keywords, and at first glance they all look great. In fact it could well be right – they might ALL be great.

However what Google is not telling you – is that adding them altogether at the same time is damaging your account.

It drops your Click Through Rate and leads to a low Quality Score, all because you added tons of keywords at the same time (at Google’s suggestion!)

Why?

Because Google rewards advertisers that divide up their Ad Groups into themed sets, so that the ad you have created matches those keywords precisely.

If you cannot fit all the keywords in one Ad Group into a single Ad – then you’ve got it set up wrong!

Instead, the best approach is to divide out your keywords into lots of Ad Groups, so that each one can have a matching ad.

Reason 2 – Poorly Written Ads

When creating your ads, the keywords the prospect is using should be the main focus. So they should ideally appear in the headline, the Display URL and the description.

Most accounts I audit have poorly written ads which have nothing to do with the keywords the prospect has typed. Instead they write the ads about their business, often adding their business name as the heading.

The advert needs to attract the Prospect’s attention by matching what they are searching for, hence you need to follow the advice above.

Well written ads will also include features and benefits of your company as well – so you will most likely also want to add things such as “24 hour delivery”, “Local customer service” etc as an aside – NOT the main focus.

Reason 3 – Failing To track The Results Correctly

If you haven’t set up any form of conversion tracking, then you won’t have a clue which keywords are bringing sales and which are wasting your spend.

It’s essential to set up tracking to track web form leads, phone calls, chats, adds to cart etc – it’s even possible to track clicks on your Facebook Messenger link. Don’t track just leads and sales, consider tracking anything that shows they are interested.

Once it’s set up, you’ll then want to keep an eye on which keywords are working well and bringing in leads, and which aren’t doing so well. You can then adjust your bids accordingly.

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Reason 4 – Accepting Google’s Automated Bidding

Google will suggest you “optimise” your bidding to get as many clicks as possible or as many leads as possible per day via its Automated bidding tools.

With a new account that isn’t already bringing in lots of leads – these features will NOT work and will instead mean that Google puts your bids artificially high to spend your budget daily.

Reason 5 – Not Adding Enough Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are the keywords you don’t want to appear for – as they will waste your cash! These might be words such as free, job, reviews etc. Who wants to pay for a prospect that is searching for something free? Most of us will want to add that keyword immediately to ensure our budget is directed towards people willing to pay.

So it is essential that you keep an eye on what keywords Google is matching you against and add any bad keywords fast to save your budget.

A well-managed account will be adding lots of negative keywords each and every week, eventually ending up with a list of at least 500.

Well there you have it – just a few of the reasons why Google Ads may not be bringing you the results you expect. It’s what I often go over as part of my PPC audits, and now you also know what to look out for!

Need help creating and managing a profitable Google Ads account?

Whether you’d like me to train you in how to run the account effectively yourself or have my team and I manage it for you –  I’d love to help. Simply click here to book in a call today!

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