Pete Bowen here. I accidentally became an Google AdWords Google Ads lead generation
specialist in 2007. I co-founded MarketingMotor,
a Google Ads agency, in 2010.
Enough about me...
- If you're thinking about using Google Ads you're probably worried about wasting
money and getting no sales. Read this first: Will Google
Ads work?
- If you're already using Google Ads I think you'll find this guide on landing page optimisation useful.
- If you're having trouble with a Google Ads campaign - fewer conversions, sudden
drop in impressions etc - you should take a look at my book on
diagnosing Google Ads problems. It'll help you develop the skill to ferret out the root cause of
poor Google Ads performance - for today's problem and in the future.
Topics you'll find on this site
How to build Google Ads campaigns for lead generation.
How many keywords should I have in an ad group?
Grouping keywords into ad groups trips people up. This is one of the most confusing parts of building your first AdWords campaign. Getting it right almost always leads to higher CTR , better QS and a lower cost per click.
How to build a pilot campaign.
I know nothing when I take on a new client who’s never used Google Ads for lead generation. The only way to know for sure if Google Ads will work and if the relationship with the client will be comfortable is to test it. Here's how...
How to manage lead generation Google Ads campaigns.
A love letter to statistics
This is for you if you’re interested in making data-driven decisions about your Google Ads. Amy Hebdon, founder at Paid Search Magic, wrote a fantastic article she described a love letter disguised as a how to about PPC data interpretation.
Allocating budget
How do you know the best way to split your ad budget between search and display, between Facebook and Google, between one keyword and another?
Does Google rip advertisers off?
I'm not saying that everyone who's paid for Google ads has turned a profit. That's definitely not the case. But, when people lose money on Google ads its likely to be because Google Ads was a poor fit for their business, or because of the way they did Google Ads. I can't see Google risking their future to steal your advertising budget
Don't believe my writing
I'm not trying to bamboozle you, it's just that my - and everyone else's - writing isn't always right for your circumstances. Read on to find out more...
Google showed your ads to the wrong people today.
Google showed your some of your adverts to the wrong people today. You (or someone you hire) must deal with this or your ads are going to start costing more and generating fewer leads. Here's how.
Has Google jumped the gun on mobile?
How much commercial activity happens on mobile phones? Is it enough to justify a mobile-first approach to development? Case study with mobile vs desktop AdWords generated leads across 7 industries.
Putting a little science into AdWords
In the past I relied on a combination of the change history in AdWords, some rough notes and my memory to keep track of my testing. It worked but it wasn't great. It became more difficult as my business grew. I started to feel like I was losing control. I couldn't answer questions about an account without having to root around in Google docs, AdWords and email. Read on to see how I fixed this.
Should you advertise on Search Partners?
We check the campaigns we manage regularly to see how much it costs to generate an enquiry on Google search versus search partners. Most of the time it costs more or less the same. Sometimes the difference is huge.
How to turn more clicks into leads.
How to improve landing page experience.
Improving page speed helps improve landing page experience. Google's guidance is broad, not specific. That makes it hard to know what to do. Google does provide one specific set of instructions, following these will improve landing page experience and boost conversion rates.
Improve website conversion rates with autocomplete.
Here's a small tweak to the contact form on your website that'll make it easier for people to complete it. Adding autocomplete to your form fields is one of those 1% kaizen improvements. They all add up.
Landing pages: Click-to-call or contact form?
You get the highest conversion rates from landing pages that concentrate on convincing visitors to do just one thing. Offer visitors too many choices and they bounce. But what if there are two equally good things your visitor could do?
Use HTTPS for your landing pages or kill your conversion rate.
The number of website enquiries you get is going to fall off a cliff after 24th of October if your website doesn't use HTTPS. After the 24th of October 2017, Google Chrome will warn people that web pages with forms are insecure unless they’re served over HTTPS. Here's how to fix this.
We read websites like we did 100 years ago
Even though the internet is infinitely more ubiquitous now. Even though we've had a generation grow up with Google. Even though 2-year olds have iPads
. The way people read websites hasn't changed...
What's your landing page's first job?
It’s not to convince someone to buy from you, establish trust, build your brand or educate your customer. Those things are important but they're not the first job. The first job is ...
How to turn more leads into customers.
Google Ads delivers leads not sales
What’s the most important problem in your industry? In my industry the most important problem is that Google Ads delivers leads but doesn’t deliver sales. Here's what I've been doing about that...
How to diagnose and fix Google Ads performance problems.
How long does Google Ads take to work?
You’ve chosen good keywords, written decent ad copy, set up a landing page that should convert. You’re getting impressions and the CTR looks ok but you’ve still not had any conversions. Is this normal or should you worry?
How the distribution of clicks by device can look like a conversion rate problem.
We PPC people dream about the conversions graph going up up up to the right but sometimes the line looks like the side view of a cliff, with an account manager splattered at the bottom like Wile E. Coyote.
I used to dread trying to figure out why a good campaign went bad. Then I learned a technique that lets me get to the real reason for a drop in conversions.
How to find the real reason conversions dropped.
A sudden unexplained drop in conversions is terrifying. You’re paying for clicks but you’re not getting leads or sales. It’s bad when you’re spending your boss’s or client’s money. It’s even worse when it’s your business on the chopping block. Read on to find out how to get to the bottom of coversion problems.
How to Increase AdWords Impressions.
There are two ways to get more AdWords impressions. Increase the reach of your adverts and give Google more incentive to show your adverts. Here's how to do both.
I ignored quality score for a year
I used to think quality score was vital, but in the year I’ve ignored QS and focussed on other metrics: - our ads have been clicked more often. - Our landing pages are better at turning visitors into leads. - Our clients are getting superior leads from their Google Ads spend.
How to freelance or run a Google Ads agency.
How to handle your client's terrible ideas.
Your client has a terrible idea for "improving" the campaign. If you push back you're going to lose the client. Here's how to keep the client without killing the campaign.
Google Reps
You may get an email or call from someone claiming to work at Google. They’ll tell call themselves an account representative, strategist, advisor or account manager. You and I would call them salesmen.
Guaranteeing Google Ads.
It’s uncomfortable when a potential client asks me if I guarantee that they’ll make sales from their Google Ads. In the past my first instinct was to run away. I thought that asking for a guarantee was a sure sign that they’re going to be a toxic client. I was wrong.
How to make OK money from small clients
You have to work with the clients you can get, not the ones you hope for. Sometimes - especially in the beginning - you might not be able to attract big-budget clients.
Here's a list of things I wish someone had told me in my first year of working with low-budget clients.
I've inherited a mess.
Crazy structure, gibberish naming convention and 22 conversion actions that might or might not mean anything. Here is a collection of principles, tips and ideas for when you inherit a messy Google Ads account.
Optimise your words
There are a handful of non-PPC tools I'd hate to run my Google Ads business without. Hemingway is one.
Should I specialise or be a generalist?
I often get asked whether it’s best to specialise or be a generalist. I understand why but I think it's the wrong question. I think a better question is ...
The AdLeg Google Ads Software Suite.
I interviewed Kyle Sulerud, creator of the AdLeg Software Suite about how he started in Google Ads (AdWords) and why he built his Google Ads creation and management software.
How to build custom tools using the Google Ads API.
Death by alerts.
Will your custom AdWords tool monitor AdWords performance? It's surprisingly difficult to work out when your monitoring system should warn your users. Read on for guidelines on alerts and notifications.
What business owners need to know about Google Ads.
Do I really need 7 websites?
Two groups of people visit your website: people who know what you sell and strangers who don't know you but want what you sell. One website can't serve both groups effectively.
Does PPC work for accountants?
The short answer is “Yes, but only sometimes”. Google suggests that AdWords will work for any business but this is not true in real life.
How do you test a business idea?
You don’t want to invest time and money on a business idea unless you’re sure that it’ll get traction. Read on to learn how to use Google Ads to test an idea before committing to it.
How to turn leads into sales.
Two businesses in the same industry. One converts 5% of website leads into sales. The other converts 60%. Read on to find out why.
I can’t get to the decision maker.
"I‘ve got a great product but I can’t get to the decision maker." That’s a problem we smaller business owners face a lot. Can I tell you about how a former client of mine got the decision makers to come to her?
Is AdWords scaleable?
There are a finite number of people who want what you sell, can afford what you sell and are in an area you can reach. Some portion of those people will use Google. That number is the upper limit of AdWords scaleability.
Is AdWords worth it?
"Is Google Ads really worth it? I have found that through tracking my CPC, I am not having that much success." was asked on Quora. My answer saved below.
Selling to strangers is different
Ask 100 small business owners how they find customers and 99 of us will say "word-of-mouth". What we won't tell you is that our word-of-mouth marketing is not well tuned engine that spits out a steady stream of great prospects. They arrive by luck or magic.
The cost of zero.
Every small business owner needs to understand the cost of zero before they next invest in marketing. It does not matter what medium it is: Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn, magazines, radio, or anything else. The reason these campaigns fail so often is never as obvious as you might think.
Will Google Ads work?
Thinking about advertising on Google? There are thousands of people who've used Google Ads and never made a sale. You don't have to be one of them. Read on to learn how.
Zombie Hunting Wednesday 3pm. You in?
We’ve all got zombie leads. These are people we’ve quoted who haven't said yes. They haven’t said no either. Instead they’re ignoring us - our emails go unanswered and they’re always too busy to talk.
Want to increase your conversion rate? For free?
I’ve seen
conversion rates double, triple and even 10X after a few quick and easy changes to the enquiry form.
Subscribe now and I'll send you a free copy of my in-depth ebook High-Converting Enquiry Forms.
You're already paying for clicks. Now turn them into conversions.
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