Quality Score is a very telling metric. It directly influences your cost per click, the probability of your ad being shown and the likelihood of a click happening. A high Quality Score on your most important keywords is a good indicator that your campaign is going smoothly!

Quality Score: What you need to know

1. Each keyword in your campaign has its own Quality Score.
2. Google doesn’t disclose the exact formula of how it calculates the Quality Score.
3. We know that including the keyword in the ad content and optimizing your landing page to match the ad helps raise the Quality Score of the keyword.
4. Quality Score of 8/10 to 10/10 is excellent. It usually means that your ad and landing page match the keyword perfectly.
5. Quality Score of 4/10 to 7/10 is average. It means that your ad and landing page deliver an average experience for users.
6. Quality Score of 3/10 and lower indicates a poor fit between the keyword and what your ad and landing page are promoting. These keywords are usually performing poorly.
7. Quality Score may increase or decrease with time.

How to check the Quality Score of your keywords

(Note: you should be running your campaigns in Expert mode to follow the steps below.)

1. Log into your Google Ads and click Campaigns from the left-most column.
2. Click on the campaign whose keywords you want to check for quality.
3. Click Keywords –> Search Keywords in the light-grey column on the left.
4. Check the data for columns named Quality Score or Quality Score (hist.).
5. If none are present in the table, find the Columns icon just below the performance graph and click Modify columns.
6. Click on the 🔍 icon and type “quality score” to quickly locate the metric.
7. Find Quality Score and check the boxes next to Quality Score and, optionally, Quality Score (hist.).
8. Click Apply.
9. Now you should be able to see the Quality Score rating for each of your keywords!

Don’t despair if the Quality Scores are low. This simply means there is room for improvement and optimization! If you need a Google Ads expert in your corner, give me a call.

The post Keyword Quality Score in Google Ads appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

All new accounts start off in Smart mode by default. Google doesn’t tell you that; instead, it starts asking you questions about your goals and your business needs. This is understandable, as they want you to get going ASAP. The option to switch to Expert is present, but not very noticeable:

Unfortunately, running Google Ads in Smart mode simplifies your experience and removes the granular level of data access you need. You can switch from Smart mode to Expert mode at any time, but doing it as early as possible will save you a lot of headaches.

Any campaigns you create in Smart mode will stay in Smart mode. You will assume the full control over your settings that you (and potentially I, or another Google Ads consultant you bring in to help) need only after the switch.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Log into your Google Ads account and click on Tools & Settings at the top right.
2. Find and click the option to Switch to Expert Mode.
3. You’re done!

Now you have the ability to take full advantage of Google Ads’ functionality. Any tips and advice I give on running Google Ads in this blog and everywhere else rely on Expert mode.

Smart mode is simply not smart enough for us, trust me 😉

The post Expert Mode vs Smart Mode appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

Once you start running ads—any ads—you quickly realize that tracking their performance is the most important thing for you. Ever. How else would you know what’s working and what’s not? All ad platforms have data reporting and metrics to show you, but they may not be enough for you to judge your ads’ performance.

Google Ads are no exception. You can certainly rely on the built-in metrics, which are very robust. But to really take your ad performance to the next level, you should use them in tandem with Google Analytics (or a similar traffic tracking tool).

Not only does it provide an added layer of information about your ads and website performance, but it also gives you additional tools and handy resources to create more effective ads. Anything that makes the whole process easier is worth doing, and doing well.

So let’s talk about Google Ads and Google Analytics!

Step 1: Infrastructure

For the sake of this discussion, let’s assume that you want to work with both Google Ads and Google Analytics *and* you haven’t started running ads yet.

Add the code

First things first: you need to add the Google Analytics tracking code to the website that you plan on advertising. Google Ads do not require code to run, but Google Analytics needs to be present on your website in order to collect (non-personally identifiable) visitor data.

Register for a Google Analytics account and set up your first Property, basically, the domain you want to track visits for. Once you create the Property, it will have a Property ID that looks similar to UA-XXXXXXXXXX-1. The Property ID must be present in the Google Analytics code snippet that you place on your website in order for Google Analytics to send the data to the right account.

There are several ways to add the code to your website:

If you’re using a popular CMS like WordPress, SquareSpace or an eCommerce platform like Shopify, all you need is a plugin or a Settings field to insert your Property ID into.

If your website is custom-built or there is no option to use the ready-made tools, you will have to insert the code snippet manually. Do it yourself or ask your web developer—this should be a straightforward task for them.

Test the setup

Once the Google Analytics code is in place, you have to test it to make sure the data is flowing. I recommend waiting for at least a day before you start testing. Since the data doesn’t update in Google Analytics in real-time, there is usually a slight delay for it to appear, and you don’t need to panic unnecessarily if you see zero activity there.

Once 24 hours have passed since the implementation, open your Google Analytics and go to Realtime — Overview. Visit your website in a different tab and click around to see if data pops up in the Realtime view. It may take a couple of seconds to appear.

If you don’t see any activity, check if you have any overly eager ad block or privacy plugins like Ghostery enabled—many block Google Analytics from firing in your browser. (This is useful to keep in mind for other visitors too.)

Testing in several browsers, Incognito mode, ad blockers disabled and still no data? Check your code setup or ask your developer to verify, then test again. If you found an error that you fixed, wait another 24 hours before testing.

Success! You have Google Analytics enabled on your website.

Step 2: Conversions

Make an MVP list

Now that Google Analytics is in place, it’s time to start training it to recognize the most valuable actions users take on your website. A lot of us think of purchases when we think about conversions, but a conversion can be anything, as long as it brings value to your business.

So what is the single most useful thing a visitor can do on your website?

Is it:

• Creating an account?
• Signing up for a newsletter?
• Downloading a PDF?
• Visiting a pricing page?
• Requesting a demo?
• Placing an order?

Write down a list of these actions. There may be more than one but keep the list short—it will allow you to focus on the key ones. Remember also that there is no right or wrong answer. Your business is unique so your conversions will be also.

Can Google Analytics track it?

Now that you have your list, check if you can track the conversions with Google Analytics. I mean, the answer is actually almost always “yes” regardless, provided you’re not afraid of more code. But Google Analytics is a powerful tool that has many predefined conversions (“Goals”) that you may use to track your own without too much coding.

Some examples of conversions you may implement without more code or additional setup:

• Visits to a specific page (e.g. Pricing)
• Session duration
• Number of pages visited per session
• Events like button clicks and form submissions

As you can see, the list isn’t very long. However, Google Analytics works well with Google Tag Manager (GTM), which may help you define more specialized conversions without additional code. If you aren’t familiar with GTM but want to get fancy with Google Analytics, you will need some custom code to add to your website. It is, however, worth your time and effort—conversions are key to track!

The next step is to create these conversions, called Goals, in Google Analytics!

Step 3: Create Goals in Google Analytics

With your conversion list in hand, it’s time to enter them into Google Analytics.

1. Go to Admin, look for View column on the right and find Goals.
2. Click the red +NEW GOAL button.
3. Choose Template to guide your goal configuration and click Continue.
4. Specify the name for your goal and select its type. You’ve got options:
   • Destination
   • Duration
   • Pages/Screens per session
   • Events
5. Select the most appropriate one and click Continue.
6. This is where the rubber hits the road: you need to tell Google Analytics exactly what action would constitute this Goal being completed. For Destination, you would enter a URL. For duration and pages per session, you would specify the duration of the session or the number of screens per session that you want. As for Events, these are most commonly sent to Google Analytics with the help of Google Tag Manager.
7. If you already have data in your Google Analytics, click Verify this goal to check if you set it up correctly.
8. Click Save!

Repeat the process above for each conversion on your list. Once all Goals are entered into Google Analytics, wait a day or two before testing. You will find the data for completed Goals under Conversions –> Goals in the main view of your website property.

Step 4: Link Google Analytics to Google Ads

With Google Analytics ready to go, it’s time to capitalize on your hard work and see it work for you in Google Ads.

Connecting Google Analytics to Google Ads allows the data to flow from one to the other in both directions, making it easier for you to analyze the results. All this setup of Goals in Google Analytics is also not in vain—you can import your Goals into Google Ads as conversions, which is an extremely valuable tool at your disposal.

Link your Google Analytics to Google Ads

1. In Google Ads, go to Tools & Settings and click Setup –> Linked accounts.
2. Select Google Analytics, which should be the first option on the left, and click Details.
3. Look for the Google Analytics property that you want to link to Google Ads. Naturally, it should be the one you worked so hard to set up.
4. If you do not see it on the list, make sure you are logged into the same account as the one you used to set up Analytics. (They should be the same account anyway!)
5. Click the word LINK found in the right column next to the correct property.
6. Choose to link and import site metrics (that includes Goals) in the pop-up window. Click Save.
7. Your Google Ads is now linked to Google Analytics!

Import your Google Analytics Goals to Google Ads

To make it so much easier to track conversions, you can import your Google Analytics Goals to your Google Ads. Here’s how:

1. In Google Ads, click on Tools & Settings and go to Measurement –> Conversions.
2. You may see a list of existing conversions or an empty screen. Click on the blue “Plus” icon, choose Import and select Google Analytics from the list. Click Continue.
3. You should see the list of Goals from your Google Analytics property pop up on the screen. If you don’t, make sure you linked Google Analytics to Google Ads correctly and that you’re logged into the right account.
4. Select the Goals you want to import as conversions and click Import and Continue. Done!

Bonus: Enable Advertising Features

Thinking of getting fancy with your ads and reporting? Go to Google Analytics, visit Admin and find your property settings. Click on Tracking Info and then Data Collection. Enable Advertising Reporting Features. This will give you access to more demographic and interest data. More on that here!

You may also enable Remarketing in the same menu, to use Google Analytics data to run retargeting campaigns with Google Ads (details here).

Remarketing is a more advanced “exercise”, so if you’re not planning on retargeting campaigns just yet, leave it off. No need to collect more data that you won’t use!

In closing…

So there you have it: your Google Analytics is now best friends with Google Ads! Once you start running ads, you can look at both Google Ads intel and the Google Analytics metrics under Acquisition → Google Ads.

Happy advertising!

The post Make Google Analytics your Google Ads’ best friend appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

When you search for a local pizza parlour and see a business profile pop up – you’re looking at a listing that can be managed with Google My Business. If you own and/or operate a brick-and-mortar business that’s open to the public or delivers goods or services to the customer, you should take advantage of this free functionality.

Google My Business is still a lesser-known marketing tool than, say, a Facebook business page. While a lot of my clients are at least somewhat aware of local SEO and local marketing, GMB proves enough of a mystery to raise a lot of questions. Let’s address some of them below!

The Basics

Is Google My Business free?

Yes. It’s completely free to create, claim and verify a Google My Business profile. As long as your business fits the eligibility criteria, there is no financial barrier to using it to your advantage.

How does Google My Business work?

Think of it as an online business profile similar to Yelp or Foursquare, except prioritized to look good across the Google family of products. A Google My Business listing may appear on Google Maps, in the search results and more.

Can I use Google My Business without a physical address?

It depends. If you want to keep your business address private and not show it on your Google My Business profile, you can. If you have no physical address to provide when registering your business on Google, you may still create a listing if you specify that you deliver goods or services to your customers.

You may, however, run into difficulty when trying to verify your listing as a physical address is required in a lot of cases. That said, if you fit the eligibility criteria, you may try to proceed without an address and use alternative verification methods.

Google My Business verification

Going through the verification allows you more flexibility and control over your listing information, including faster implementation of changes and more posting capability. There are several verification options:

• A snail mail postcard to your business address 🐌
• A phone call to your business number ☎️
• Via email (no details provided by Google) 📧
• Instant verification with Google Search Console 🌐

Google doesn’t actually specify what businesses are eligible for what methods, so I cannot get any more specific either. The mail verification with a postcard is always available, so if you have a business address, you should be patient and use that one. If you don’t, and there are no other verification methods available to you, it’s possible that your business isn’t eligible for a listing.

The Nitty Gritty

Google My Business posts

One of the most valuable functionalities available on Google My Business is posts. Posting allows you to keep a mini-blog to immediately communicate updates, offers or changes to your customers on the platform. Each post is visible on your profile for 7 days so it’s good to get in the habit of making a new one at least weekly.

Where do Google My Business posts appear?

Google My Business posts appear on Google Maps, on Google Search whenever your listing is visible, as well as accessible directly from your listing profile. Handy!

Google My Business info, products/services, photos

Of course, GMB also hosts a wide variety of useful information about your business that may help your customers find you and buy from you. I recommend filling out as much of it as possible:

• business hours
• location/address
• appointment booking links
• products and services
• photos of your business
• team photos
• and more!

The more information you provide, the richer the experience of someone looking at your profile and the higher the probability of them contacting you.

Google My Business reviews

The first thing a customer sees on your Google My Business listing is the aggregate rating of your business, based on the user reviews. If you do not have any, it’s fine, but a 4.5-5-star rating goes far to persuade a potential customer to give you their business.

Once you register and claim your business, start accumulating reviews as soon as you can. You can respond to each one you receive straight from the profile—Google highly recommends you do!

The difference between Google My Business and Google Maps

It’s quite simple: Google My Business listings may appear within Google Maps. They pop up whenever users are searching for relevant businesses or are simply browsing the area in which your business is located.

Your listing may be previewed on Google Maps so that you can see exactly how it appears to your customers.

What is a Google My Business Website?

GMB listings have an option for business owners to create a mobile-optimized mini-website hosted by Google (for free) and updated automatically with the information from Google My Business. These websites are lightly customizable and offer an optimal viewing experience regardless of the device your customers are visiting it on.

By default, the free hosted Google My Business website has the URL of “yourcompanyname.business.site“. If you want to use a custom domain like “example.com” to point to the Google My Business site you create, you can, but you will have to buy it either from Google or from a domain registrar of choice.

Learn more about creating a website on Google My Business.

The Advanced Stuff

Can you schedule Google My Business posts?

Apparently, yes. There are several tools that allow you to do this, although the choice is much narrower than for social media scheduling in general.

Google My Business for ecommerce

Should you create a Google My Business profile for your ecommerce business? It depends.

On its marketing page, Google states that [w]hether you’re a home-based business or a service-area business, you can list your business details to appear on Google with or without a physical address.

In the GMB service guidelines, however, the wording changes. Listings on Google My Business can only be created for businesses that either have a physical location that customers can visit, or that travel to visit customers where they are.

Depending on how you interpret “travelling to visit customers” you may or may not be eligible for a listing. However, if you have an office and/or an official business address, you should try.

Google My Business for agencies

It makes total sense to create a GMB listing for your services agency, especially if you have an office. If you and your team work from home, it still makes sense. Potential clients may discover you on Google Maps even if they can’t visit in person!

I view my Google My Business listing as a storefront of valuable client reviews. The rating itself is lovely too (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ #humblebrag), but it’s the client testimonials that are the best feature. I couldn’t come up with reviews this glowing even if I tried!

Google My Business with multiple locations

The ability to manage chains and multiple business locations is built into Google My Business. Read Google’s guide here. There is no difference between managing one location and several, as all features available to you are the same. You will have to verify each location individually to get the most out of each listing.

If you operate ten or more locations, you have the option of verifying them all in bulk. The fairly complex guidelines for that are spelled out here.

Why is my Google My Business post rejected?

It’s probably a technical issue but it doesn’t hurt to look critically at what you’ve written. Check if the post you wrote is in line with Posts content policy. If you see where you erred, fix it and try again.

If the post doesn’t violate guidelines, it could be a temporary issue or a glitch. Wait a couple of minutes to refresh the page and check if the post has uploaded. If not, try again a little later.

Does Google My Business help SEO?

I know what you’re asking, but in the strictest sense—does having a Google My Business listing help your search engine rankings?—the answer is no, not really. However, it does help your visibility across Google, which is what you’re ultimately after.

Your potential customers or clients see a beautifully optimized listing rather than a mere snippet of text in the search results. They immediately have access to your contact information, which is a win. They might click through to your website. So Google My Business does help SEO. Indirectly.

The Existential Questions 💭

The questions below are also common but difficult to answer without context. I’m offering my thoughts on each which hopefully will help guide you in the right direction.

Is Google My Business worth it?

Google My Business is worth the time investment if your business is the type to benefit from a Google Maps listing and good Google reviews.

Just like any other marketing tool, it will give as much as you put into it. It’s not a magical pill that you swallow and wait for hordes of customers to show up at your doorstep (what social media was believed to be 10 years ago).

If you’re adding Google My Business to your marketing arsenal, it’s worth doing well and nurturing it carefully.

Does Google My Business work?

Google My Business works to connect your customers to you, whether they are searching for you specifically or are browsing for services or goods that your business offers. It works for what it’s supposed to do. The rest—updated information, fresh photos, regular posts—is up to you!

Why is Google My Business listing important?

Google My Business is part of the Google ecosystem which is increasingly an important aspect of our lives, whether we like it or not. Harnessing its capabilities to help your business’ bottom line is not a bad thing. Even if you are anti-Google, the vast majority of your customers aren’t. Meeting them where they are is Business Marketing 101. Go for it!

I’d love to know:

Does your business have a Google My Business profile? How’s it going for you? What aspects of it would you like me to discuss next? Please tell me in an email or on Instagram!

The post Google My Business: Common Questions, Answered appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

I’m sure your business is no different. As a business owner, you have a lot on your plate already and you face the same dilemmas I do. Learn to DIY, delay or hire a pro? Whatever the task at hand, getting the answer right is crucial.

Google Ads is a perfect example. Typically the need to hire a Google Ads specialist comes from a place of either busyness or lack of expertise, but it is often very much both. So if you find yourself running Google Ads but wondering if someone can do it better, this post is for you.

Doing Google Ads by yourself

So, this is how it typically goes in the small businesses I end up working with:

The DIY phase 🔨🧰

You decide to give Google Ads a go and learn to create campaigns by yourself. It’s quickly becoming painful. The “Smart” mode offers too little customization. The “Expert” interface is confusing and clunky. You don’t have the time to deep dive, so the work keeps getting delayed.

You do not have a dedicated marketing manager and you don’t want to delegate Google Ads to your team. They are in the same boat as you – busy with their work projects with little to no time to learn.

The What am I doing phase 😕

So you continue running Google Ads campaigns but they are… meh. You don’t get quality leads (or not many) and you don’t understand if the ads are actually helpful or just eating through your budget.

Time to read up on best practices and browse how-to guides! You tweak campaigns and try new options Google is throwing at you, still feeling like you’re just stumbling in the dark, occasionally in the right direction. Maybe.

Is it even worth it? phase ❓❗

You begin questioning your decision to run Google Ads at all! The payout is too little for what you put in. You know the ads could be improved, but you’re also wondering if there is a better way to spend your ad budget or test Google Ads differently. Have you spent all these ad dollars for nothing?

Do you recognize yourself in any of the above? If so, you could use some external Google Ads help! If only to help you decide whether to stick with it or try another way.

Mistakes may cost you

If you’re in it for the long haul, just spending your budget with zero results is the least of your worries. The worst thing that can happen is a lifetime ban from Google. Yes, a ban that would prevent you from advertising on Google Ads forever. A steep penalty for misusing Google Ads and breaking Google advertising policies.

There are plenty of businesses that are legal but not allowed to advertise on Google Ads. There are also restricted industries that may advertise with lots of limitations. If your business is in the latter, you have to be extra careful in following the rules.

Remember, if something goes wrong, account suspensions are for life. So once you’ve decided to hire a Google Ads consultant, you should do it sooner rather than later. To get the most value out of your ads, to save money, and yes, to avoid mistakes before it’s too late.

Hiring a Google Ads expert

Hiring a consultant for any project comes down to what your needs, budget, and risk tolerance levels are. Google Ads specialists are no different. It’s helpful to ask yourself the following questions before beginning your search:

What do you need?

No, really, who/what is it that you’re after?

• A deep-dive to evaluate your campaign and tell you how to change it for the better? ➡️ A campaign audit.
• Improvements to your landing page? ➡️ A copywriter with knowledge of Google Ads.
• A person to plan, create and manage Google Ads campaigns for you? ➡️ Turnkey, ongoing campaign management.
• A little bit of all of the above as a one-time project? ➡️ A Google Ads consulting package.

Answering this question will not only narrow your search but will help you explain your needs to the consultant you are interviewing.

How much are you willing to spend?

Money is a big subject, and your ad spend is not the only thing to consider here. Depending on how you answered the question above, your budget for a Google Ads consultant may vary.

Google Ads specialists structure their fees in many different ways. Ad budget is almost always separate from the consulting/managing fee. I’ve seen consultants charge a percentage of ad spend as their fee, but the most common is charging per project or hourly.

If you’re hiring a Google Ads manager on an ongoing basis, the fee will most likely be monthly, not counting your ad spend. Consider also that if your budget increases drastically, so may the management fee.

What will it take for you to trust someone you consider hiring?

No matter how you come across at someone who fits the bill of your project requirements, you won’t know if they are a good fit before you hire them. At some point, you will have to take a leap of faith. So what will it take to convince you?

Would it be a referral from a trusted member of your professional (or even personal) network? Glowing Google Reviews for an agency? Their extensive online presence and thought leadership on the subject of Google Ads and digital advertising?

You will most likely use a bit of all of the above plus interviewing the potential partner to see if there is a fit between what you’re after and what they can offer. You may end up talking to several people before hiring someone – and that’s fine!

Key things to look for

Okay, but where do you look for someone *good*? Simply Googling for a Google Ads specialist in your area is a good starting point to get a feel for who’s available. However, you will need to narrow down your search and narrow it down considerably.

The following points are important to keep in mind:

• You want to find someone who runs ads for your industry and knows your target market or niche. It’s key to minimizing the ad budget drain.
• If you cannot find an industry match for your specific niche, look for experience with specific types of campaigns that need running. Think Google Shopping vs YouTube ad campaigns.
• No matter what we marketers would like you to think, no one marketer can run all types of ad campaigns equally well for all industries. Talented generalists are rare! We all have our strong sides and tend to work best with industries we specialize in.
• Finally, a good ad specialist will turn you down if they can’t help or aren’t confident in delivering the best results for you. That’s good news! They care about their reputation and your wallet.

I love referring leads to trusted peers. It builds client confidence up even if we end up not working together. They know I respect them enough to be direct and honest, and they, in turn, get to work with someone who is a better fit. A win-win for all involved!

A step-by-step guide to hiring a consultant

While the process I’m about to describe is far from the only one, this is what my clients have shared has worked best for them:

1. Outline your goals, requirements, timelines and budget for the project as we discussed above.
2. Turn to your closest professional network – peers whose judgement and opinion you trust. Ask if they know or have worked with a Google Ads specialist in the past who may be a fit for your project.
3. Your goal is to connect with someone who works with Google Ads projects in any capacity. They will be your way into the community of online ad specialists.
4. During the initial conversation with them, ask about their past projects and experience. Talk in detail about your project to help them assess their suitability for it.
5. If they are not a good fit, ask the lead to be referred to someone they think may help. That’s the key step in continuing your search fruitfully!
6. Go on until you find someone! While it may sound like you can be stuck in this loop for a while, you may be surprised as to how fast you start talking to qualified people. The wonders of the internet ✨

Platforms like Upwork can be extremely valuable to your business and save you tons of time. If you are looking for people to execute on specific tasks like creating graphics, surveys, even writing copy, Upwork could be a good place to look. I know several very, very good people who’ve had a lot of luck both hiring and getting hired there.

However, some jobs shouldn’t be outsourced to Upwork contractors. Big consulting projects on sensitive and complex business processes like Google Ads are, in my opinion, one of them. Just like DIYing, the cost of a bad hire could end up being potentially much, much higher than simply not getting good results.

Working with an external ad specialist

Finding someone PERFECT for your project is hard, just like any other hiring decision. How do you know someone is perfect for the job? Sadly, you can’t know 100% in advance: you need to start working with them to find out.

Here’s what I would suggest you and your hire both do to ensure you get the most out of the collaboration, short- or long-term.

Put appropriate safeguards in place

Signing a contract or a scope of work is a must! The document should include a termination clause in case your or their business circumstances change. It should outline the goals and the appropriate KPIs for the project and contain the next steps for when they are or aren’t met.

Overcommunicate

No such thing as overcommunication before the project starts! Please tell your new hire everything about what you expect, want and need out of the Google Ad campaign(s) they will be running. They, in turn, will inform you of what’s achievable and how. This will be instrumental in them designing the campaign in the most optimal way as well.

Allow expectations to be set

Allow them to set expectations for how the work will be carried out, including the frequency of updates, reports, and check-ins with you. This is the perfect time to outline your preferences as well.

It goes without saying, but once you agree on a work process, respect the boundaries established.

If you’ve got questions about the Google Ads platform itself, feel free to ask questions, within the limits of what you both agreed to. (Google Ads coaching is usually a service billed separately 😉)

Now that you’ve hired them…

Trust them to do the work! 💪

The post Is it time to hire a Google Ads specialist? appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

Google Plus wasn’t perfect — it was different and so unlike any other social network, perfect in its strangeness and incompleteness. It was visually stunning with its emphasis on beautiful photos and vertical graphics. The best part was that Google+ had a hardcore, truly dedicated network of real people using it. Not enough, by Google’s own admission. So this is the end.

Will Google Plus be missed? By some, surely. However, with so many other social feeds to take care of, digital marketers are unlikely to notice the difference. Visiting the old G+ profiles of my clients prior to the shutdown was definitely a trip down memory lane.

A client’s Google Plus profile

Goodbye, Google+!

The post RIP Google Plus (2011 — 2019) appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

With how ubiquitous Google has become in our daily lives, its business-side and enterprise products are even more pervasive. With the ad market share of 37.2% that Google captured in the U.S. in 2018, it is the number one digital advertising platform (with Facebook a distant second). As an individual or as a small business, you will at some point look at advertising with Google. Doing so is a logical decision — search engine marketing (SEM) is much cheaper than offline advertising! But it also carries certain risks, and inadvertently earning a Google Ads account suspension is one of them.

So today, we are not going to talk about the advantages or even disadvantages of PPC advertising. Instead, we are going to address the elephant in the room — accepting and then breaking Google’s Terms and Conditions after creating an account.

Sounds obvious, but…

Every advertiser has to actually abide by the policies they agree to when running ads or risk an account suspension. This is logical. However, Google’s rules are lengthy and change often. Somewhat helpfully, they are written in plain conversational English and aim not only to instruct but also to educate. Still, the sheer amount of information makes it hard to keep up!

When you are a busy bee business owner, the “read it? forget it” outcome is inevitable if you do not visit and revisit the Help Center on a regular basis. To make things even more confusing, some rules apply to the whole Ads platform, and some are applicable only to Search Ads. Some are exclusive to Google Shopping, while some concern specific industries. Then there are YouTube policies, and Display Network policies…

What happens when you break any of those rules?

You would expect a warning email, a pause to your campaigns, a direct request to fix the issue. Sometimes this is indeed the case. Sometimes a Google account suspension occurs with little to no recourse available to the advertiser, with even less hope of lifting the ban. Some offenses are considered egregious and are punished by a permanent suspension that impacts not only your ads and campaigns, but your Ads account as a whole. A permanent suspension bars you from advertising with Google ever again, regardless of your place of work, business, or Reasons.

Small errors, big consequences

Peruse the fantastic Google advertising forums and it will become clear that Google dishes out permanent ad account suspensions to regular advertisers committing errors and making mistakes all the time. If you think these advertisers should have known better, well, perhaps you are right. But if we play the game, we have to abide by the rules, fair or not fair.

Before you tick the I Agree box on Google’s terms and conditions, learn from other people’s mistakes and get the most out of advertising on the platform without risking Google Ads account suspensions. So let’s talk about the most common reasons your Google Ads account could get suspended for life and how to avoid that!

Straight from the source

First things first, here are the rules — note, these links are just the tip of the iceberg!

Google Ads policies –  Prohibited content, Prohibited practices, Restricted content, Editorial and technical quality standards

Google Ads Terms & Conditions

About Google Ads account suspensions

Study them carefully. You need it.

Types of suspensions

Keeping the bigger picture of what you shouldn’t be doing with Google Ads, take a look at ways ad accounts get suspended on Google.

First, you may get suspended due to policy and T&C violations:

• Circumventing Systems — Having more than one ad account and/or employing various black hat techniques (cloaking, gateways)
• Counterfeit — Promotion of counterfeit goods
• Promotion of unauthorized pharmacies
• Unacceptable business practices — Phishing, false or missing business information, concealment of relevant material details about yourself or your business
• Unfair advantage — Gaining the traffic advantage using Google systems, with affiliate marketing being the most common example
• Repeated violations — offenses add up!

You may also get penalized due to billing and payment issues:

• Promotional code abuse — Using more than one promo code, attempting to use expired codes or selling promo codes
• Requesting a chargeback — Google has a real problem with you reversing a credit card charge for a legitimate ads balance
• Suspicious payment activity — Fraudulent or suspicious activities of any kind, including using a credit card linked to previously suspended accounts
• Unpaid balance — The easiest to resolve, this temporary suspension is lifted by making a payment.

Note that Google Shopping is its own beast. Its policies are more comprehensive so the suspensions that occur are an entirely separate topic due to much higher standards to which Google holds its merchants. Merchant accounts are monitored actively. But briefly, the most common reasons for Shopping ad account suspensions are:

• Redirects/dynamic landing page content (specifically language and currency) based on IP address, location and other, as these do not follow Landing page requirements for Shopping Ads
• Missing business information such as a physical address, an email address and a phone number stated clearly on the merchant’s website. Google is very strict on its Untrustworthy promotions clause and considers this violation egregious.
• Dropshipping — The dropshipping business model contradicts the Promote only products available for direct purchase rule and is thus not allowed.

The most common scenarios that lead to Google Ads account suspensions

The rules cover a lot of theoretical ground, but they apply to real-life situations and real-life customers in oh so many ways.

More than one Google Ads account

The most common policy violation I see that results in a permanent ban is Circumventing systems, namely having more than one active ad account. People trip on this one the most, failing to understand that Google expects one business to have one ad account. That’s it. No exceptions.

This is how the typical story goes. An advertiser receives a warning or a temporary account suspension for a myriad of possible fixable infractions. Google is vague in their emails, so the exact offense is sometimes hard to identify without sufficient experience. The advertiser abandons the now useless suspended account and creates another one. Bam! Suspended. Yet another account suffers the same fate.

All because the user does not realize that having more than one account is a serious policy violation that results in a permanent ban. Creating a new account sounds like a logical step, but it is very much against the rules. If you create and start actively using an ad account after receiving a suspension, the new account won’t last long either. It is fairly easy for Google algorithms to identify.

I cannot stress this enough: more people get bans for life from Google Ads for this than anything else. All because they get nailed for some other offense and assume that creating a new account is an easy way out.

No. So don’t do it!

Low-quality landing pages

If you bid on Google Ads to get traffic to your landing page only to send people elsewhere — to an affiliate website, to a different domain, to another advertiser’s site via ads on your domain — you are breaking Google’s rules for Destination requirements, a violation that may be severe.

Google Ads exists to help businesses sell their own products or services. The expectation is that the advertiser promotes what they directly control and offer on their website. (This is especially important for Google Shopping Ads).

Most importantly, advertisers’ landing pages have to offer a safe, easy and pleasant browsing experience. Websites that are difficult to navigate, include excessive pop-ups, have banner ads, initiate file downloads or page redirects all break the Destination requirements above.

So take a good hard look at your landing page and remove any violating elements before you are hit with a warning. Repeat warnings may result in a permanent Google suspension, and no one wants that!

Suspicious payment methods

Payment information that Google deems suspicious is a common scenario. A big chunk of these suspensions stems from users creating more than one ad account and adding the same credit card to both — the easiest link for Google to identify to suspend all accounts involved. Tip: if you are setting up a Google Ads account for a client, make sure that they have not connected any credit cards to a previously suspended account.

The name mismatch between the ad account owner’s name and the card holder’s name is another common reason for Google to flag an account, despite there being numerous legitimate reasons for using such a payment card (business name vs personal name, a spouse’s card etc). Furthermore, using some debit cards or virtual cards that are known to Google as possible instruments of platform abuse may result in a suspension as well.

You may appeal account suspensions due to suspicious payment methods. Make sure to submit an appeal after you remove the payment method in question and link another, more trustworthy one, to your Google Ads account.

To sum it up…

One blog post cannot possibly include all the likely scenarios and reasons for receiving a Google Ads account suspension, but hopefully, I have given you an idea of what to look out for and what to pay careful attention to when you advertise with the internet giant. Keep revisiting their policies until you can confidently navigate the murky waters of Google Ads. Google Ads Certification is a good route to take — or talk to a professional. Safe sailing!

The post Google Ads Account Suspensions and How to Avoid Them appeared first on SMM Headquarters.

What is Google Ads Certification?

Put simply, it is a series of online exams available on Google Academy for Ads that are free to take and that come with their own study guides, also free to access. Each exam has a passing grade of 80% — answering 80% of the multiple-choice questions (or more) correctly earns you a badge of completion that is valid for 1 calendar year. Once you satisfy the certification requirements — passing the Google Ads Fundamentals course and the certification-specific course — voilà, you are Google-certified!

Benefits of getting Google-certified

Just like any other standardized achievement, the certification has several benefits.

The number one is knowledge. Unless you are a pro who’s been working with Adwords for years, you will benefit from the deeper dive into the caverns of advertising with Google. The platform constantly evolves, introducing changes big and small, so even the Adwords veterans will find it worth their time. Search, Display, Shopping, Video and Mobile are all available streams to get certified in.

Two, for companies who wish to become Google Partners, one of the requirements is having at least one team member who is Google-certified. If you are in charge of an agency hoping to one day attain this status, start supporting your employees on their quest for Google knowledge today!

Three, taking the certification exams carries no significant risks. If you do not pass a course, you are free to repeat the attempt in just one day. You may revisit the study guides as many times as you wish. The system also recommends the specific study guides for you to refresh, based on your performance during the exam, which is extremely helpful even for those who pass.

So what’s the point of Google Certification anyway?

But Katya, – you may ask, – what’s the big deal if anyone can do it? Where’s the prestige? Where’s the exclusivity?

Well, yes, anyone can do it… yet not everyone does. Ask yourself why, considering it is free and all. Because it is not a priority for a lot of marketers. Because not everyone is willing to invest the time into it. Not everyone needs to. That’s okay. But if you need this knowledge to be efficient, effective and help your clients the best way you can with Google Ads, then you know what your next step is, prestige be damned.

To recap, Google certification is:

• done online via Google Academy for Ads;
• free of charge;
• open to everyone who wants to get certified;
• available to take and re-take as many times as you need.

Over to you! Have you earned any certifications from Google? If so, what are yours?

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