One of the most essential yet challenging aspects of Google Ads is keywords. Without the right set of keywords, Google Ads never perform the way they are expected to, and marketers struggle to get any kind of traction on the Ads platform. With a well-crafted keyword strategy, businesses can maximize ROI, drive conversions, and target the ideal audience. However, mastering the art of researching and selecting the right set of keywords can be challenging, especially in this dynamic landscape of search marketing.
What Really Happens When Your Keywords Don’t Perform?
Recently, across UAE, on analyzing 28 million paid ad clicks across 150+ campaigns, it was revealed that a significant 5% to 15% of the ad spend were invalid or fraudulent clicks, which drained the real budget. Source
You have been running a campaign on a specific keyword, and it is bringing the desired number of clicks, but with zero conversions. Invariably, the next thing you wonder is whether to pause it or keep it going. Public question forums like Quora and Reddit are dotted with questions like 'why aren't my Google ads working or converting?', implying that this problem is widespread.
And logically, it makes marketers ponder the risk of wasting budget on non-converting keywords. In this write-up today, Proquantic will explore the basic concepts of Google Ads keywords and then dive into the challenging scenario of their underperformance and provide tips on when to pause them, when to handle those patiently and when to figure out that it’s not actually the fault of the keyword at all.
To start with the basics,
What’s a Google Ads keyword?
In Google Ads, a keyword is the phrase or term that is used for targeting the ads to the right audience. When the users search on Google, any word, term or phrase that matches your keyword, the ads become eligible for appearing in websites or search results. Crucially, keywords bridge the gap between ads and what people want to look for online.
What makes a keyword good?
A good keyword is precise and is applicable to the target market or industry. It must have a significant search volume and a reasonable CPC. While selecting the keywords, it is crucial to consider the researcher’s intent and take it into account. A very general term can generate a lot of impressions that are not relevant and a specialized term might produce impressions that may not be useful.
It is crucial to remember that the users’ search query will mainly determine whether or not to click on the Google ppc advertising copy. Hence, through proper keyword optimization, one may maximize conversions by ensuring that the right audiences come across your ads at the right moment.
Selecting the right keywords needs effective research
A potent Google Ads keyword strategy begins with deep keyword research. The process includes identification and selection of high-performing and the most relevant keywords that will drive more traffic and conversion for the campaigns.
Let’s have a look at its crucial aspects:
Leveraging the right tools for keyword research
Use keyword research tools like Google Trends, Google Ads Keyword Planner and other third-party tools for gathering insights and ideas. This will support marketers identifying the most popular search terms along with details on search volume and the level of competition for each of them.
Understanding the target audience
Carry out thorough audience research for better understanding of audience search behavior and target market. This will improve the chances of identifying the most relevant keywords for including in Google Ads campaigns and maximizing the chances of connecting with potential customers.
Assessing competitor keywords
Analyze the competitors’ keywords for figuring out the opportunities for your own campaigns. Identify gaps for targeting as well as capitalizing on the keywords that they might overlook.
Selection of the right keyword match types
Google Ads services provide a variety of match types for keywords and each of them offer a specific level of flexibility for targeting. Understanding each of these match types and selecting the right mix will help managers optimize the campaigns for maximum ROI generation and lead conversion. Let’s have a detailed look:
Broad match
Broad match keywords offer broadest reach, and they trigger advertisements for showing the instances where users search for a particular term related to the keyword. While this can drive a significant volume of traffic, the process can also result in low click-through rates and conversion rates because the ads based on broad match type keywords may always not be related to the users’ search.
Did you know? Missing negatives and broad match types account for nearly 15% of wasted ad spend through irrelevant queries.
Exact match
Exact match keywords are the most chosen type because they trigger advertisements only when the user searches with the exact keyword or its closest variation. The exact match keywords in general have the highest conversion rates and CTRs but they can also sometimes offer very limited reach.
Phrase match
Phrase match keywords trigger advertisements when users search for an exact keyword phrase or a close variant. This type provides balance between relevancy and reach, typically resulting in better conversions and click-throughs than broad matches.
Negative keywords
Negative keywords enable marketers to exclude many terms from triggering the ads. This process helps in minimizing wasted ad spending with the reduction of irrelevant traffic. Marketers have to be sure while reviewing and updating the negative keywords list frequently for maintaining optimal performance of the campaign performance.
Google keywords strategy optimization
Marketers analyze and monitor Google Ads performance data for identifying areas of improvement, figuring out high-performance keywords and identifying trends. The process includes researching the relevant keywords and then organizing them into the relevant and effective groups by choosing the right types of match and continuous monitoring and adjustment based on the performance data.
The goal here is to ensure that the ads are shown precisely to the targeted audience which leads to higher CTR, better quality scores to generate higher ROI and conversion.
Take a look at the crucial processes:
Performance analysis and monitoring
It is imperative to regularly review the performance of your Google Ads for identifying high-performance keywords, areas of improvement, and trends. Using this information enables marketers to adjust keyword strategy to ensure optimal performance of the campaigns consistently.
Adjusting budgets and bids
Keep experimenting with your daily budgets and keyword bids for figuring out a sweet sport to achieve the best ROI. Monitor the effect of these changes on the campaign performance and keep refining the approach as needed.
Test your landing pages and ad copies
Consistently optimize landing pages and ad copies for ensuring maximum effectiveness and relevance. A potent landing page and ad copy combination eventually improves quality score and lowers cost-per-click costs alongside enhancing ad rankings.
Scaling the Google Ads keyword strategy
As marketers grow more comfortable with Google Ads and witness success in the initial keyword strategy, they can consider scaling their efforts for further driving better results. Take a look:
Expanding to new campaigns and ad groups
Figure out new keyword opportunities and build new ad groups for targeting these terms. This enables marketers to consistently grow Google Ads to reach and attract new customers.
Exploring the dynamic search Ads
Identification of new keyword opportunities and creation of additional campaigns or ad groups for targeting these terms. The step enables marketers to continuously grow their reach and attract new customers.
Pausing an underperforming keyword strategy
When the Google Ads spends without generating any significant conversion, it’s time that marketers proactively intervene in the process. The ‘right’ threshold, however, depends on factors like campaign goals, product price point and target CPA.
At this point, the marketers have to define significant spend, for
- Long sales cycles and higher-ticket products marketers can stretch the threshold by 4x or 5x CPA, especially when the keyword contributes to visibility at the upper funnel.
- Direct response campaigns, a particular keyword spending 2x-3x of the target CPA without conversion, must be reviewed.
Non-converting keywords not only just waste budget, but they also:
- Drain the budget from high-conversion keywords which actually generate the desired ROI
- Skew performance data, which makes it harder for the marketers to optimize
- Lowers quality score, which eventually increases cost per click across the platform
Decided to pause a keyword? Here’s what you need to check
Before you hit the pause button on a non-converting keyword, you have to be sure whether it’s the keyword that’s underperforming or there’s a flaw with your ad setup. Because:
- If the keyword is a broad match type, you have to try switch it to the phrase or exact match for tightening the intent.
- Carefully look for the low-intent queries and add negative keywords.
- Assess variations that have clear value props or CTAs that reflect your offer better.
- Check whether the keyword is truly competitive for the search intent or not.
Underperforming keywords can be fixed instead of pausing
Not every non-converting keyword is inherently bad. Broad match keywords attract off-intent searches. For instance, B2B SaaS companies, leveraging the broad match term 'employee management', may give results like:
- The theory of employee management
- PPT on employee motivation
- Disciplining a difficult employee, etc.
People looking for these are not buyers, but researchers, and they are unlikely to convert in direct response to the campaigns. While they can be of help with top-of-the-funnel awareness, they cannot drive conversions within the current campaign goal.
When your objective is lead generation or direct sign-ups for demo, allowing these clicks would drain the budget and reduce efficiency of the campaign.
You can fix it with negative keywords
Rather than pausing a broad match keyword, marketers can tighten it with focus. For example, they can retain the term, ‘employee management’ but ask Google not to show for it. Blocking terms like examples, definition or PPT clearly imply at learning and not buying.
Honestly, when you choose a professional PPC management team for the job, like us at Proquantic, tightening the keywords and creating a proper keyword strategy would be quite easy. Speaking from experience, our marketers have been immensely skillful in identifying the queries that costs our clients clicks without generating ROI, and empowering them with tailored strategies which can:
- Keep the campaigns focused with high-potential broad keywords
- Protect the budget from irrelevant searches
- Block low-intent traffic
It’s indeed a practical way of refining the keyword, especially when the keyword shows signs of potential, needing just more precise targeting.
Manage low-volume keywords in Google Ads
Not every non-converting keyword can be deemed underperforming because it’s either expensive or irrelevant. A lot of times, it may not simply get enough clicks or impressions for making affair judgement. Google refers them as low-volume keywords but that does not translate them being having low value. The keywords have minimal search activities and often:
- Take a lot of time to gather data
- Attract only a few impressions
- Appear in the niche industries.
And still, they can reflect on the high purchase intent. Premature pausing of keywords risk on losing valuable and long-tail traffic.
Strategies for low-volume keywords
- Review auction signals for collecting significant data, especially when they closely match your targeted customer demands or your offer.
- Amplify reach by using phrase match or tightly controlling broad match.
- Review the auction signals for addressing the root cause before even deciding to pause them.
What the numbers suggest about low-volume keywords
Industries worldwide experienced a split when they came across Google’s announcement that it would automatically pause the low-activity keywords, the ones which had no impressions for nearly 13+ months. Many advertisers and marketers welcomed this ‘cleaning’ move but many thought about losing control over the keywords which take a lot of time to mature.
The effect of testing period on Google’s ad performance
Whether you are testing a fresh keyword or a new type of match or Smart Bidding strategies, the right time is dependent on the context. There are many factors that shape the testing timeline, like:
- Competition and industry – Various competitive spaces require extended testing for breaking through and gather quality signals.
- Conversion cycle – A low-cost and quick purchase will get a shorter loop of feedback rather than a high-consideration B2B software solution.
- Budget – Higher budget facilitates quicker decision and quicker data accumulation.
- Search volume – Low volume keywords require more time for generating statistically important results.
Go for Smart Bidding Exploration
Smart Bidding Exploration is one of the newest tools that marketers can depend on. In case you are running broad match, TROAS strategy, or AI Max, the tool will let Google test more intensely to find new query variances and traffic sources, without increasing the targets across the board.
It’s a controlled way of expanding the reach and gathering performance data even when the current keyword set is stuck in the data drought.
Assisted conversions matter today, more than ever before
There are many keywords who may have contributed earlier in the journey, but in the long run, they do not get the last-click credit. Last-click attribution, which is still a default across many reports, tends to highlight the final step, while overlooking the series, or chain of influence that led there.
This especially can be limiting across the multi-touch paths that are common to high-consideration consumer purchases and in B2B, where the decisions unfold over time, through multiple queries and across teams.
The multi-touch B2B journey
Suppose there’s a company that is exploring a project option for ‘project management software’. The journey generally looks like:
- The project manager typing ‘top/best project management software for team’. Ads appear and they click which opens the landing page. They scroll through the page, do not sign up and but the brand remains in their minds.
- After a few days, the Vice-President of operations searches for 'resource management software for projects’. At this point, they come across a white paper from the same brand and download it. But still, it is never considered as a formal lead.
- Then, the Team Lead does the final research, visits the competitors’ comparison page and after reading through, the VP returns and types the brand’s URL and completes the sign up.
In the entire process, here’s what each of the keywords contributed:
- Best/top project management software for teams’ created initial awareness.
- resource management software for projects’ signaled growing interest through ‘mid-funnel validation’
- Competitor comparison assisted in shaping the final evaluation, just before a direct visit which led to conversion.
In case you are reporting to the only tracked last-click attribution, you are going to witness the final visit and assume the previous touchpoints never mattered. Though, they were equally crucial in taking the deal forward.
How would you handle the seasonal keywords, pause them or keep them visible?
Seasonal keywords follow predictable spikes. Terms like ‘Halloween costume ideas for couples’ or ‘Christmas gifts for daughter’ or even ‘Cyber Minday best items to buy’ gain traction at specific times of the year and then, drop after the seasons end. In various cases seasonal terms often stay after peak periods, but in many cases, the off-season visibility still pays off.
Low-bid visibility, in this case, can pay off really well:
- The brand name stays in the mind for the research phases
- Created early engagement and awareness
- Captures interest that turn into a booking at the later stages
Visibility problems of Google Ads keywords explained
Sometimes, a keyword fails to work due to lack of visibility. A very recent example illustrates the situation perfectly, by an advertiser:
The marketers were running a PPC campaign by targeting keywords like ‘professional cockroach control experts’. The campaign setup was clean, ads were eligible to run and the search volume was solid. After investigation, it was discovered that the Google Local Service Ads or LSAs were dominating the search results page. The search ads were technically eligible and were showing up extensively.
In many cases, only one text-based ad was showing, appearing beneath the maps and LSAs and buried in the layout.
Another advertiser provided a screenshot for the same keyword but the version of SERP displayed multiple PPC ads. The difference?
The search results page is never consistent and changes based on factors like:
- User history and behavior
- Time of the day
- Device
- Location
Before pausing the keyword that seems like underdelivering, here’s what you must check:
AD-performance analysis
- Consider testing the LSA if they are available in your category, especially when the standard placements are displaced
- Check whether your industry is LSA-focused where the standard ads are not prioritized
- Review the auction insights for competitive positioning
- Analyze the absolute top impression share, search top impression share and analyze search impression share
- Use the diagnosis and ad preview tools for viewing positions of live ads
Ad-level analysis
- Check whether your ad is related to the search query
- Check whether you are testing strong CTAs and clear value propositions
- Check whether your RSAs are leveraging distinct and testable messages or just minimal variations
Keyword-level analysis
- Analyze the trends through audience segments, time of the day, location or device
- Evaluate Quality Score and CTR for signs of low engagement and relevance
- Check negative keyword coverage and match types to avoid non-relatable traffic
- Review the search-term reports for wasted spending or intent misalignment
Landing page analysis
- Are your ads carrying clear messages, with trust signals and visible CTAs?
- Is the ad well-optimized for mobile viewing with quick load time?
- Does the ad promises what the landing page promises or vice versa?
Campaign structure analysis
Many times, poor performance of keywords or ads stems from a flawed ad campaign structure. In your cases, you can check:
- Are the secondary conversions being leveraged for low-data signals?
- Is the conversion tracking at par with business goals?
- Are the keywords split across various campaigns or ad groups?
Pricing and offer alignment
- Are your products or services priced competitively, topping the ad rivals?
- Does your offer address pain points as well as the expectations of your audience?
Proquantic can be your ultimate Google Ads management aide
Dubai's dynamic and intensely competitive market poses a risky field for companies that are struggling with non-converting keywords, especially when it is difficult to understand where they went wrong. It is at this point that seeking help from a professional Google ppc Ads agency like Proquantic.ae ensures that every click counts. Here's how we support every business:
- Deep campaign audits to identify the underperforming ad groups and keywords
- Smart keyword targeting for focusing on high-intent and location-specific search terms
- Ad copy optimization for assessing and refining ad messaging and CTAs
- Real-time performance tracking to pause poor-performing keywords and adjust bids rapidly
- Budget reallocation for shifting the spend towards audiences and keyword conversions
- Transparent ROI reporting for getting clear insights into what is working and how
Conclusions
Not every non-converting keyword can be deemed bad. Many needs refinement while others demand some time, and a lot of them are just victims to limited visibility, off-target queries and poor match types. With a data-driven and structured approach, marketers can successfully deliver. From assisted conversions to adjusting conversions, the key is thorough diagnosis and proactive adjustments before hitting the pause button. In case you are managing campaigns or just want a quicker way of spotting what is helping, Proquantic can help you. We will assist you with the analysis processes regularly by refining long-running leaks of budget, match types, flagging the underperforming keywords, and more, without creating endless reports. Connect with us to know how we can help you with our tailored Google Ads PPC services just for you.
