Pros and Cons of Default Adwords Campaign Settings

Let’s take a brief interlude from our SEO keyword research discussion and talk about Google Adwords Campaigns…

When you create a new Adwords campaign, there are a few settings that are automatic. Unless you edit these settings your new campaign will default to these parameters. I am not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, I just feel it’s important you are aware of these settings and how they may impact your performance.

I could devote an article to each setting in itself, but for the purpose of this overview, I am going to list the pros, cons, and some suggestions for each setting.

1. Content Network - Content Match is when Google places your Google ads on web sites related to your keywords. These ads aren’t put in front people necessarily searching for your terms, they just happen to be browsing a web site related to your keywords. You are automatically opted into this network when you first create a keyword campaign.

Pro - The content work can be a boon for some campaigns if it is optimized correctly. It can increase your branding and exposure. If you sell Phillies jerseys and your Google ad is on a web site discussing the World Series Champions, it may bring in some new business.

Con - Your ad is not put in front of someone specifically looking for your product. Therefore Search will have higher Click through rate than Content Match. And while in some cases the content clicks can have a lower cost per click than the search clicks, it can have a lower conversion rate since searchers are “searching” and content clickers may just be browsing.

Suggestion - Test the content network in a separate campaign from your search campaign. This way you can control the budget and the amount you want to spend on content clicks as opposed to search clicks. Also, you can adjust bids and the sites themselves based on the ROI of the campaign.

2. Location - When you create a campaign, the default location is the United States and Canada. Unless you edit this setting that is where your ads will show.

Pro - If you want to sell your products or services to as many people as possible, this can work for you. You can even expand this setting to include other regions maximizing your exposure.

Con - If you are a local business, you do not want to be showing your ads across the the country or border. A local landscaper doesn’t want to be advertising to people 5,000 miles away. If you are only doing business in a certain area, you need to adjust this setting to reflect your targeted region.

Suggestion - If you only want to advertise in certain areas, there are a few options Google provides. You can pick your ads to be shown in certain countries, states, cities, metro regions, by radius, or even a custom-drawn map. And if you are unsure about a certain area, create a separate campaign just for that region and test the waters.

3. Ad Scheduling - Google automatically runs your ads 24 hours, seven days a week unless you edit this setting. If you do choose to change this setting, you have the ability to turn days off and on as well as pick certain times of the day to advertise.

Pro - If you want maximum exposure and don’t care when you get your traffic, then you can leave this setting alone. Google will show your ads as much as possible (based on your budget, bids, and q-score)

Con - If you have a limited budget or only want to receive paid traffic during times you are available to answer emails or phone calls, you need to change this setting and adjust to your time frame.

Suggestion - Test different days and times to see what gives you the best ROI on your keywords. Or use a web site analytic program to see what time people are most active on your web site.

4. Search Partners - When you set up your campaign, Google will show your ads on Google. However, they will also show your ads on their partner search engines like Ask.com and AOL.

Pro - Your ads will be shown on other search engines increasing your exposure and not just limiting yourself to people who use only Google.

Con - You may only want to spend your budget on Google and not on other search engines. Check out each engine and see where your ads will be shown. If you have an opinion about a specific engine, you have the ability to turn this feature off.

Suggestion - Run reports and see where the bulk of your traffic and conversions are coming from. If the ROI works for the other engines, let them run. If not, stay on Google only.

5. Position Preference - The default for this setting is off. Google will rank your ad based on your bid and quality score. However, if you have a certain ad rank you desire for your ad or keyword, you can turn on position preferences.

Pro - If you find through research that a specific ad or keyword has a strong ROI in a certain position, you can input a position preference. However, Google offers some pricing strategies that can help you with this as well, but that is a topic for another post.

Con - Google doesn’t guarantee your position preference and turning this setting on can limit your impressions. Google will do it’s best to honor the position preference, but a lot of factors can make that difficult and in some cases limit your performance.

Suggestion - Test it out. Experiment with a certain adgroup, ad, or keyword and monitor the results. Or you can test alternate Google Adwords pricing strategies and see if you can capture that position and your target ROI.

6. Mobile and I Phones - Your ads will be shown on mobile devices. You need to create mobile ads for your adgroups as well. There are different character limitations as opposed to normal Google text ads.

Pro - While mobile ads don’t get as much traffic volume, they do tend to have higher conversion rates since people can call you directly with just the press of a button. And of course this is just another format to increase your exposure. In some areas, the competition level is lower as well. Not everyone is aware of this feature.

Con - If your website is not mobile friendly, people may abandon right away. You might be paying for clicks that have a high bounce rate due to your web site. Also, mobile ads may not be a perfect fit for those who have limited budgets or sell industrial type products that need a full blown web site to convert a visitor.

Suggestion - Test some mobile ads and see if they convert into leads or even phone calls. Keeping track of phone calls is always important for any adgroup, but especially important for tracking the performance of mobile ads.

7. Show Ads as Fast As Possible - Do you want Google to show your ads until your budget runs out or do you want Google to pace your ads throughout the day based on your budget. You have that option.

Pro - Showing your ads until your budget is depleted helps make sure that you spend your budget if possible. It also may get your clicks/visitors in a concentrated time frame. And it can be an indicator of a need to improve your campaigns if you do not deplete your daily budget.

Con - Your budget may be depleted before the day is over. How would you know if the afternoon converts better than the morning if your ads only show in the morning due to a limited budget?

Suggestion - To start, pace your ads throughout the day. Then using conversion rate data for different times of the day, you can decide the best time to show your ads. Then schedule accordingly and show your ads as fast as possible withing that time frame.

8. Ad Rotation Optimization- Google can show your ads evenly throughout the day or show the better performing ad based on performance.

Pro - If you are running two or more ads for the same adgroup (which you should for testing purposes) Google will show the stronger performing ad more often. This is valuable data telling you which ads or calls-to-action generate more clicks and allowing you to create stronger ads.

Con - You may feel you have two quality ads that your want to show 50-50. Or you may want to test two ads and get an even data sample. And one major issue is that Google does not count conversion rates when showing ads. Therefore they may show an ad with a high conversion rate less than an ad with a low conversion rate.

Suggestion - Unless you have a specific reason to show ads evenly (like mentioned above), let Google decide which ads to show more often. However, you have to keep a close eye on conversion rates and adjust accordingly.

9. Show Your Quality Score - If you want to see your quality score in your adgroup, you have to add this column.

Pro - Tons. Add this column and know your quality score.

Con - None. Add this column and know your quality score.

Suggestion - Add this column and know your quality score.

Like I said, each of these setting deserve their own blog post, but I think anyone using Google Adwords should explore these features, test them out, and decide which work best for your campaign. There is no standard setting for PPC advertising. Good luck!