There are so many settings to choose from in each AdWords campaign, how are you supposed to know which ones are best for you? You can definitely do your research, but a lot of the ideas out there are conflicting and can leave you even more confused. Below you will read about the settings we like to use best and why.
Networks & Devices: A lot of people get stuck on this setting. Basically there are three networks: Google Search, Search Partners, and the Display Network. Google Search & the Search Partners can both be targeted in one campaign. However, if you are targeting the Display Network, you’ll want to create a completely separate campaign and opt that campaign out of Google Search & the Search Partners, and only include the Display Network. The reason for this is because results and statistics vary dramatically between networks. You’ll want all of the data you gather for the Display Network to be separated from Google Search & the Search Partners so you can optimize accordingly.
Bidding: Under the bidding options, you have four options: 1. Manually set your bids for clicks, 2. AdWords can set your bids, 3. Use enhanced CPC that uses conversion tracking data to optimize your bids for conversions, or 4. Focus on conversions. All of these settings can be useful in different circumstances, but the one I will always recommend is option number one. It’s typically best to manually set your bids. That way, you have total control over what is being bid on each and every keyword. Google can never jump in and make you bid more. I like having total control over my accounts, knowing that I adjust bids how I see fit. I don’t want to leave that up to someone else.
Delivery Method: There are only two options to choose from here: Standard or Accelerated delivery. This delivery method is referring to the delivery of your ads and how often they are shown. Whichever option you choose really depends on your budget. If you have a limited budget and spend it pretty early on in the day, you’ll want to choose standard delivery. That way, your budget is saved and spent evenly throughout the day so you don’t exhaust your daily budget by 10:00 AM. If you have a higher budget to work with or you’re having trouble hitting your daily budgets, you can choose accelerated delivery. This will allow Google to show your ads as often and as quickly as possible. This will allow you to be shown more often and therefore, spend more of your budget allowing you to hit your daily caps.
Ad Delivery: Unfortunately, ad delivery is one setting that many accounts I review skip over. You have three options with this setting: 1. Optimize for clicks, 2. Optimize for conversions, and 3. Rotate evenly. These settings refer to how often you want to show an individual ad over another ad. I, personally, do not like any of the options but rotate evenly. If you choose either of the other options, one ad will be shown (roughly) 90% more often than another one you are testing in the same ad group. The reason I like rotate, is because if you are testing two different landing pages against each other, or different ad text to see which ad converts better, you will not get an accurate reading on those ads unless you choose the rotate evenly setting. That setting allows both ads in one ad group to show 50/50, not 90/10 or 80/20. This setting is crucial to any ad test that is being conducted and as we know, ad tests are very important to the success of a PPC campaign!
Those are just a few of the settings in AdWords, but also some of the most important to know about. PPC management can be tricky, but following these recommendations will definitely make managing your campaign a lot easier.
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