Should I split a massive multi-country Google Ads account into separate accounts?
I got this question from one of my mentees. They'd just taken on a new client with an elephant of an account. More than 8 000 keywords scattered across 150 plus campaigns.
It was overwhelming.
They'd won the account on the basis that they'd be able to better the current results. They were eager to prove that the client was right in choosing them, but they had no idea of where to start.
They thought that splitting the account into smaller accounts - one per country - would make it easier to optimise.
At first glance it seems like a reasonable assumption. But, there are downsides to splitting a big account into smaller accounts. And, there are ways to make big accounts easier to manage without having to break them up.
The downsides of splitting a big Google Ads account into smaller accounts.
Poor performance.
There is always a risk of fewer conversions and higher CPA. You see, you can't move a campaign to another account. You can copy the campaign's structure - ad groups, keywords, ads etc - from one account to another. But, you can't copy the campaign's history.
The campaign will have to start learning what works from scratch in the new account. Performance can take a hit during the learning phase. And, if you're unlucky, the campaign will never perform as well in the new account as it did in the old. I don't know why this happens but I've seen it more than once.
Conversion tracking gets complicated.
Conversion tracking is easy to get wrong with just one account. Managing separate conversions across multiple accounts increases the chances of an expensive mistake.
Cross account conversion tracking in manager accounts attempts to solve this problem, but it's not bulletproof.
Setup mistakes.
About 130 of the 150 or so campaigns from the existing account would have to be re-created in new accounts.
A lot of this is copy paste in the Ads Editor, but there are some settings that can't be copied. There is a good chance of making at least one embarrassing or expensive mistake somewhere in those 130 campaigns.
You lose access to some shared features.
You can share setings like audiences and negative keyword lists between accounts from a manager account. But (at the time of writing) not all shared features are available.
Everything takes an extra click and a slow page load.
It's ironic because the thinking is that splitting an account will make it easier to manage. Instead, it adds another layer of complexity. And, everything requires an extra (often slow) step to switch between accounts.
Data is fragmented.
The data for the business performance is now spread across several accounts. That makes reporting more complex.
How to make a massive Google Ads account feel like a small account.
A small account feels easier to manage because you can fit the whole account into your brain. You can look at one screen and see all the campaigns. You can dive into a campaign and understand all the ad groups. It's simple and uncomplicated.
A big account might be simple and uncomplicated, but because there is too much to fit into your short-term memory it feels overwhelming. The good news is that there are ways to make a big account feel smaller. Here are some ideas...
Cull unproductive entities.
The 80:20 rule applies to Google Ads accounts: A few campaigns and keywords driving most of the conversions, the rest not very productive.
This can be pronounced in older accounts, especially the keywords. Back in the day you needed lots of long-tail keywords. Now long-tails are forgotten in the back of the cupboard gathering dust.
You can probably get rid of unproductive campaigns and keywords without impacting performance. I like to do this in 2 steps:-
- Label and pause the unproductive entities. I use 2 labels: 'Delete' and the month 6 months from now eg 'Delete' and 'July 2024'.
- Once a month I search for entities with the 'Delete' label and the current month and remove them from the account.
I set up filters to exclude entities with the 'Delete' label. That way I don't see them today, and by the time I remove them I'm confident that I didn't need them.
Use the tools in the Shared Library.
Your Google account comes with tools to make managing larger accounts easier. You'll find them in the Shared Library. At the time of writing they include:-
- Audience manager
- Bid strategies
- Negative keyword lists
- Brand lists
- Shared budgets
- Location groups
- Placement exclusion lists
- Asset library
Group campaigns.
Campaign groups, (a.k.a. campaign sets), are a way to organize and manage multiple campaigns. You can group campaigns in several ways - by goal, product, targeting location etc.
Use labels.
You can labels campaigns, ad groups, keywords and ads and filter your views by label.
Saved filters.
You can filter almost any view by several criteria and then save the filter for the next time you want the same set of campaigns etc on the screen.
Apply a consistent naming convention.
Decoding someone else's campaign names is hard. What the heck does "new-ssp-bmm-loi-final-2" mean anyway?
You can safely rename campaigns without affecting performance.
I offer 1-to-1 mentoring and consulting. You’ll get help, advice, support and answers without having to commit to a long-term contract. Details here.
Related articles
How I track WhatsApp conversations as conversions in Google Ads At the time of writing Google has no way of tracking WhatsApp leads as conversions. I've used a couple of work arounds to solve this.
Most Google Ads advice is wrong for small businesses A small account needs a different setup and different management. You see, something that improves a $50 000 a month account might tank a $500 a month account.
Modernising legacy Google Ads account structure A successful restructure leaves the account easier to understand, easier to optimise and better positioned for the future. Understanding why the account looks like it does is key to getting from sticky mess to well-oiled machine.
How I reduce wrong-business leads from Google Ads This is for you if you advertise on Google Ads and get leads who think they're contacting a different business. They call or fill in a form looking for someone else.
How I improve lead quality by telling Google which leads are good. By default Google Ads believes every lead is good. But that's not true. You can give Google feedback on lead quality and use that feedback to get better leads.
How's your Chinese? Google shows English adverts to people who searched in Chinese even though the campaign language is set to English. Here's how you can stop this and why you might want to.
Is it safe to use broad match keywords for lead generation campaigns? Google is pushing broad match hard and, some people are reporting good results. But, is it actually best practice now? Or are broad match keywords a waste of money?
Why did Google charge me $300 for a $20 click? Every now and again Google would charge an outrageous amount for one click. As much as 15 to 20 times what they normally paid. Here's how to prevent that.
An easier way to sell services. Bigger value projects take a lot of work to sell. You have to have the discovery calls, meeting notes, customised proposals and quotes. And, you often need several follow-up meetings. There is another way.
Why I don't just delete fake leads from my inbox If the only thing you do with fake leads from Google Ads is delete the lead delivery email you risk getting swamped by fake leads. Here's why and what to do to improve lead quality.
Grow your own big-budget clients Building a profitable agency or freelancing with small-budget clients is hard. Here's how to grow your smaller clients into bigger-budget clients.
Getting a lot of junk leads from Google Ads? You can spot conversion fraud because the leads have genuine email addresses and phone numbers but when you call them they don't remember filling in your form.
My client fired me, and now he’s asking for my secret sauce. A client fired you even though you were doing a good job. Here's how to make this sting less and keep the door open for future work.
You can optimise your client's business like you optimise their Google Ads account. You can give your client a much bigger ROI by optimising their business than almost anything you can do in their Google Ads account. Here's how.
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.
Optimise your words There are a handful of non-PPC tools I'd hate to run my Google Ads business without. Hemingway is one.
Resources for Google Ads agencies and freelancers. Tools, reading lists and discussion groups for digital marketing agencies and freelancers offering Google Ads as a service.
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 do you convince a potential client to trust you if you don’t have a track record? How do you convince a potential client to trust you if you don’t have a track record? This happens a lot when people go out on their own after working in-house or for an agency. Read on to find out how I solved this problem.
How to take over an existing Google Ads account. You’ve taken over a Google Ads account that’s in trouble. You're going to turn it around - more conversions, lower costs, 10 quality scores etc. There’s a lot riding on getting this right...
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 ...
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.
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 you might not be able to attract big-budget clients. Here's how to do OK with smaller clients.
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 every recommendation from Google. The optimisation score is Google’s newest way of telling you how to run your Google Ads account. Read on to see how following it blindly can hurt your business.
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.
How do you get more leads from Google Ads when you’ve maxed out impression share? How do you get more leads from Google Ads when you’ve maxed out impression share? Here's how we solved this problem...
How to get fast traction on a brand new Google Ads campaign. I worked out a process for getting fast results from new AdWords campaigns so I didn't have to worry as much. You're welcome to copy (and improve) my process.
I’m getting too many B2C leads. I want only B2B. I’ve bumped into this problem with almost every client who sells to other businesses (B2B) not to consumers (B2C). Here are some options ..
I'm scared I'll break my campaign If you don't feel confident making changes to Google Ads campaigns this might help...
Improve conversion rates by adding extra calls to action. Need to improve your conversion rate? Here's a tested approach that takes only a few minutes.
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.
Should you show ads to people on their phones? It is a fact that more people use the internet on their phones than they do on computers these days. But are these glued-to-their-phone types going to buy from you?
The hidden trade-offs of automated bidding I like automated bidding. But, there are some trade offs with automated bidding that are not well documented.
Using the Search Terms Report to find negative keywords. The Search Terms Report is a great place to find negative keywords to add to your AdWords campaign. It shows (some of) the actual words and phrases that triggered your ads.
You don't have enough data to be confident that you're making the right decisions. Here are 3 rules of thumb I use to to help me make more of the right decisions when data is scarce.