Google Ads

Hey there, Digital Marketer. Do you cringe a little when you hear the words “setting up tracking in an ad channel”?  😅

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Tracking may be the unsexy side of marketing, but I promise that Google Ads Tracking Templates are simpler than they sound. 

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In this article, I’ll show you how to set up tracking right, capture accurate data, and see what’s really driving your conversions and revenue. 

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Let’s dive in! 👇

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TABLE OF CONTENTS: 

• What is a Google Ads Tracking Template?
• How to install Tracking Templates in Google Ads
• Benefits of adding Tracking Templates to your campaigns
• From clicks to conversions: Master Google Ads for B2B

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What is a Google Ads Tracking Template?

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Tracking templates allow you to streamline your link tagging process and pass static and dynamic values. 

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I created this little cheat sheet for you here to give you an understanding of a tracking template.

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Here’s what each parameter means:

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• {lpurl}: This is your landing page URL. So whatever the URL is in your ad, the template will automatically inherit it and then automatically append these different static and dynamic values based on these parameters.
  
  
• UTMs: These are your standard UTMs, like UTM source, UTM medium, campaign, term, and content.
  ‍Check out our Free UTM Tagger Tool to easily create them in bulk and for more info about each parameter.
  
  
• Static Values: Static means it’s always the same, it’ll remain consistent. So a static value will always be a text.
  
  So in the image example above, we always want the UTM Source to be google, the UTM Medium to be cpc, and the UTM Campaign to be trial.
  
  
• Dynamic Values: Dynamic means it changes. The values here usually have squiggly brackets like {keyword} or {matchtype}, which tell Google Ads to populate that field dynamically.
  
  For example, with {keyword}, the UTM Term will automatically insert the keyword that drove the click, giving you granular detail on the search behavior driving each visit.
  
  
• Custom Parameters: These are parameters you can create that are not part of the UTM parameters, which are your standard ones.
  
  You’ll probably want to use custom UTM parameters if you have some sort of advanced tracking setup.
  
  Anything that is available in the URL, you can then set up with JavaScript the ability to pass the data from those parameters into hidden fields in your form, to then be able to route and track and do all sorts of things in your backend.
  
  In the cheat sheet above, the ad_name parameter will give you details about which ad drove the visit.
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So this is a tracking template, and it’s really important as this is going to allow you to get a lot better data and ultimately, better insights from your activities. 

How to Install a Tracking Template in Google Ads
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You can install a tracking template at the campaign, ad group, or ad level. You could even do it at the account level with the tracking script, but I recommend that you start off at the campaign level.

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Here are the steps you need to follow in your Google Ads account 👇

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1. Open your account,  then open the campaigns tab and choose one campaign. Now go into the settings by clicking on this little gear.

2. ‍Scroll down to additional settings.

3. Go to the Campaign URL options and paste your tracking template in the “Tracking Template” field.
   

Here you’ll want to follow the format from the cheat sheet I shared at the beginning of this article because that is the syntax of the tracking template.
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To be easier, you  can copy this tracking template below  and just add  your static values in the highlighted fields:

{lpurl}?utm_source=entersource&utm_medium=entermedium&utm_campaign=entercampaign&utm_term={keyword}_{matchtype}&ad_name=enteradname

• UTM Source: People usually use Google or AdWords.
• UTM Medium: People usually put CPC or paid search. This 100% depends on you and your business, your company, and how you want to track things.
• UTM Campaign: You can put the name of your campaign. The downside is that you have to do this for each campaign.
• UTM Term: This will dynamically push the keyword that drove the click and the match type.
• Ad_Name (custom parameter): This is 100% optional, and most of the clients from our agency don’t really need custom parameters, but I just want you to be aware of it.
  
  Once you’ve mastered basic tracking, custom parameters can add another layer of insights by capturing non-standard data. For instance, if you want to differentiate ad variations, you could set a custom parameter like ad_name=RSA1.
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You can also find all the Value Track Parameters Google supports here:

I usually like to set my tracking templates at the campaign level, which suffices. So, in this case, each campaign must have a unique tracking template.

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Another cool thing about the tracking template is once you create the tracking template at the campaign level, you no longer have to worry about tagging your ads with UTM parameters at the ad level. 

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It'll automatically inherit the campaign URL tracking template and tag your links appropriately.

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If you're just putting all of the tagged URLs at the ad level, it can be really problematic sometimes and time-consuming to make changes and miss things. This helps streamline things and push those dynamic parameters. 

Benefits of Adding Tracking Templates to Your Campaigns

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Setting up tracking templates in Google Ads is a powerful way to automate link tagging and capture high-quality data.

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The better data we pass through our tracking template, the more insights we can receive. 

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With standard UTMs, dynamic parameters, and custom fields, you’ll get a clear view of what’s driving performance and find better ways to allocate budget, optimize campaigns, and ultimately boost results. 🚀

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Why deny yourself incredible insights such as “which keywords drive the most revenue?..” when you can capture that information at no additional cost? 

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That’s it about tracking templates! 🎉

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Now go build your first one and let the data guide your ad strategies! 🤓

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I hope you found this article useful!

From Clicks to Conversions: Master Google Ads for B2B 🔥

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If you want to become a Google Ads pro, check out our free B2B Google Ads courses, where you'll learn how to launch, optimize, and scale your campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue.

‍

‍

Here's what you'll learn in each course: 

‍

⚙️ B2B Google Ads 101 - How to Launch Dangerously Effective Campaigns for Beginners

• The Googleverse: The Game You're Playing & How To Win
• Measurement: How to Make Sure You're Profitable
• Targeting: How to Show Up For the Right Searcher
• Planning: Putting It All Together

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🎯 Google Ads 102 - How to Clicks Into Profit

• Visibility: How To Find the Hole Sucking Profits
• Workflows: How to Optimize On a Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Basis
• Experimentation: How to Test & Automate Profitability
• Troubleshooting: How To Solve Inevitable Problems

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🚀 Google Ads 103 - How to Scale Google Ads For Advanced Advertisers

• Methodology: How to Vertically Scale Google Ads From A-Z
• Campaigns: Scaling Horizontally Through Campaign Themes
• Channels: Scaling Outside of Paid Search

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Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

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Hey there B2B SaaS marketer! Are you getting FOMO around Google Ads? 

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Every day thousands of SaaS businesses are converting clicks into profitable pipeline on Google Ads, and conversely thousands are burning clicks into wasted ad budgets. 

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After $10M in Google Ads spend management for incredible SaaS companies like ActiveCampaign, Mixpanel, and others, I’ve developed a criteria for Google Ads success.

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I call it the Google Ads Sweet Spot. If you want Google to be a significant driver in your pipeline generation you need to make sure your SaaS company checks these 3 criteria. 

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After reviewing, it’ll be clear if Google is right for you, let’s dive into it 👇

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TABLE OF CONTENTS: 

• Proven Concept
• Existing Demand
• Sufficient Margin
• Master Google Ads for B2B

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Proven Concept

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The first criteria in the Google Ads Sweet Spot is a Proven Concept. 

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You see, in order to succeed with Google Ads your product has to be built on a time-tested and proven concept. 

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Imagine running Google ads for a generative AI product before the invention of ChatGPT. 

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Because AI products still hadn’t gained popularity, you probably would have struggled to generate sufficient searches and clicks on your ads. 

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If you create an innovative product in a new category that no one understands, you likely won’t see a great return on effort from Google.

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In this case, it’d make more sense to focus on educating the market about the problem you solve via demand gen channels such as paid and organic social. 

Existing Demand

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The second criteria of the Google Ads Sweet Spot is Existing Demand. 

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This is directly connected to the first criteria: you won’t generate pipeline or revenue if people aren’t actively looking for your solution. 

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If you only have, for example, 100 people searching for your product every month, it’s going to be impossible to generate significant results from Google. 

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For example, assuming the industry average conversion rate of 3%, and 5% clickthrough rate (CTR) you’re looking at 5 clicks from the 100 impressions, and you need a minimum of 33 clicks to generate a single lead. At 100 impressions/month it will take you six and a half months to generate ONE lead 🤯– extreme example but I hope you get the point. 

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You need enough search volume, so you have enough clicks, and ultimately conversions. 

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To verify that you have sufficient search volume, you can use the Google Ads keyword planner. 

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Let’s say you want to bid on the term Google Ads courses within the United States. You can see that there are approximately 2,900 searches every month for this specific term, which validates that there’s sufficient search volume to have a chance at success. 

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Keep in mind monthly searches in the keyword planner are just an average and always changing – use them to inform your estimates but take them with a grain of salt. 

Sufficient Margin

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The third criteria of the Google Ads Sweet Spot is Sufficient Margin.

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You SHOULD NOT run Google Ads if you don’t have enough margin, or in other words, a high enough lifetime value (LTV) to offset acquisition costs. Without a high enough LTV, Google will never become a profitable channel for your company. 

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Here’s an example: 

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Let’s say you have an LTV of $100 per user, and your average cost per click is $10. In this case, the likelihood of running profitable campaigns is slim – you’d have to convert 10% of your total traffic just to break even 😅 (when the industry average conv rate is 3-5%). 

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If you’re selling a variety of products and you have a small budget (<$10K/month), I recommend running ads for the products with the highest lifetime value to maximize your chances of profitability. 

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If your campaigns aren’t profitable right away, that’s okay, as long as you know you’ll recoup your investment 3-6 months down the line. 

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If you want to see if the math adds up to run Google Ads profitably for your company, check out our free Google Ads Budget calculator. 

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I hope you found this article helpful!

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Google Ads definitely is not for everyone but if your SaaS meets these three criteria your chances of success are far greater than not based on my experience. 

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If you have any questions, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. 

‍From Clicks to Conversions: Master Google Ads for B2B 🔥

‍

If you want to become a Google Ads pro, check out our free B2B Google Ads courses, where you'll learn how to launch, optimize, and scale your campaigns to drive pipeline and revenue.

‍

‍

Here's what you'll learn in each course: 

⚙️ B2B Google Ads 101 - How to Launch Dangerously Effective Campaigns for Beginners

• The Googleverse: The Game You're Playing & How To Win
• Measurement: How to Make Sure You're Profitable
• Targeting: How to Show Up For the Right Searcher
• Planning: Putting It All Together

‍

🎯 Google Ads 102 - How to Clicks Into Profit

• Visibility: How To Find the Hole Sucking Profits
• Workflows: How to Optimize On a Daily, Weekly, Monthly & Quarterly Basis
• Experimentation: How to Test & Automate Profitability
• Troubleshooting: How To Solve Inevitable Problems

‍

🚀 Google Ads 103 - How to Scale Google Ads For Advanced Advertisers

• Methodology: How to Vertically Scale Google Ads From A-Z
• Campaigns: Scaling Horizontally Through Campaign Themes
• Channels: Scaling Outside of Paid Search

‍

Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

Mastering quality score is essential if you want to pay less per click and outrank competitors.

In this article you’ll learn the 80/20 of what you need to know about quality score. 

Let’s dive into it! 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• Quality Score Simplified 
• How is Quality Score Calculated?
• How to audit your Quality Score?
• How to improve your Quality Score?
• Quality Score FAQ

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Quality Score Simplified 

Back in 2005, Google released Quality Score. 

This is a number from 1-10 that Google created to determine how relevant your ads are to what people are searching for (1 being the lowest relevance, and 10 being the highest). 

Google want’s people who search to find what they are looking for.

This way they come back to Google and search again in the future.

Quality Score is how they gamified the system to achieve this objective. 

It’s the perfect trinity between advertiser, searcher, and Google: 

• Advertisers are rewarded with lower costs when having higher quality scores
• People searching for answers on Google will now find more relevant information 
• Because people find relevant information they use Google again in the future 

Before Quality Score was introduced Google was filled with tons of  irrelevant ads leading to a poor experience for searchers and ultimately less people using Google in the future. 

(In my opinion) Quality Score was one of the most important features released that transformed Google into the most dominant search engine in the world. 

The secret to improving Quality Score is relevance.

How is Quality Score Calculated?

Ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR are the three variables that go into calculating your Quality Score. Depending on how relevant each is to your keywords you’ll have a final score between 1-10 (1 being the lowest relevance, and 10 being the highest). 

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Ad Relevance

A metric that determines how relevant your keywords are to your ad copy. 

Above average signifies great relevance, below average signifies room for improvement, below average signifies poor keyword and ad copy relevance. 

Ad relevance is 100% in your control and below average ad relevance is usually the result of poor ad group structure resulting from too many keywords and/or few variations of ad copy. 

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Landing Page Experience

A metric that determines how relevant your keywords, ads, and post click experience matches the search intent of the user. 

It’s not just about having your keywords on the page, it also takes into consideration page load speeds, page structure (ex: H1, H2s, H3s), and mobile optimization. 

Above average signifies a great landing page experience, average signifies room for improvement, and below average signifies poor post click experience. 

Expected CTR

A metric that determines the likelihood of someone clicking on your ads once seen in the Google search results. 

In my experience auditing Google Ads accounts this is the #1 most common variable that drags down quality score for most accounts since it’s the least in your control. 

This is Google’s perception based on historical and predicted performance on how well you believe your ad will be engaged with. 

Above average signifies a highly engaging ad, average signifies room for improvement, and below average signifies poor ad engagement. 

How to audit your Quality Score?

Once you understand the basics of quality score that it is a factor of relevance and three components that determine whether you’re a 1-10 the next logical question becomes:

What’s impacting my quality score performance?

Here’s how to run a Google Ads quality score to find what’s impacting your performance. 

[EMBED YOUTUBE VIDEO]

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Step 1 - Download a keyword report 

Within your Google Ads manager navigate to the keywords section within your account:

Campaigns > Keywords (press G + K for a keyboard shortcut)

Modify your keyword columns to include:

• Quality Score
• Ad Relevance
• Landing Page Experience
• Expected CTR

Once completed download your keywords into a CSV.

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Step 2 - Summarize your keywords into a pivot table

Pivot tables are great for summarizing large amounts of data. 

Within Excel navigate to Insert > PivotTable to summarize your keyword report. 

Once complete format your table as follows:

• Rows = Quality Score
• Values = Count of Keywords
• Filter = Quality score 1-10 (exclude —) 

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Step 3 - Drill down to understand Quality Score performance

With your table setup now you can easily see overall quality score performance and drill down into specific elements such as ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR. 

Switch your rows to drill down into each element of quality score to diagnose performance: 

• Ad Relevance; rows = Ad Relevance, values = count of keywords
• Landing Page Experience; rows = Landing Page Experience, values = count of keywords
• Expected CTR; rows = Expected CTR, values = count of keywords

How to improve your Quality Score?

After completing your Google Ads Quality Score audit it should be pretty clear which factor of QS is hurting your performance? (ex: ad relevance, landing page experience, expected CTR).

Here’s some recommendations on how to improve each QS factor: 

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Improving Ad Relevance

Below average ad relevance is a symptom of poor ad group structure. 

If you have below average ad relevance, fear not! Because this is 100% in your control.

Here’s some tips to improve your ad relevance: 

• Add more headline variations to your responsive search ads to include the keywords within your ad groups. 
• Keep your ad groups tightly grouped with thematic keywords, for the keywords that can’t fit the theme consider putting it into its own group with relevant copy.  
• Consolidate your active keywords and remove below average ad relevance variations that are not receiving any worthwhile impressions or clicks. 

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Improving Landing Page Experience 

Below average landing page experience is a symptom of poor post click experience. 

If you’ve been neglecting your landing pages this is where it’s going to bite you. 

Here’s some tips to improve landing page experience: 

• Include your primary keyword in your headline 1 to match search intent and your ad copy. 
• Run your landing page through PageSpeed Insights to find how you can improve the mobile and desktop experience. 
• Follow on page SEO best practices and have proper headline, and content formatting. Remember Google will crawl your landing pages so make sure it’s technically sound. 
• Install  a session recording tool to see how users behave on your landing page, the insights here are invaluable at understanding gaps. 

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Improving Expected CTR 

This is Google’s perception on how likely your ads will be clicked. 

Unfortunately this aspect of Quality Score is the least in your control but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do to improve it. 

Here’s some tips to improve your expected clickthrough rate: 

• Use as many ad extensions as possible (ex: sitelink, image, structured snippet, etc). Ad extensions provide more info to the searcher and make your ads larger. 
• Test new RSA ad copy on a monthly basis to consistently try and improve your ad clickthrough rate performance on an ongoing basis. 
• Monitor your account clickthrough rate trends month over month to combat negative trends. You can set up an automated rule within Google Ads to be notified automatically via email. 
• Audit your search terms report and build your negative keyword lists. Block  irrelevant impressions of your ads so that you can actually drive clicks. 
• Experiment with dynamic keyword insertion to see if it positively affects your ad CTR.

Quality Score FAQ

How long does it take to improve your quality score? 

Technically every time your keyword enters an auction quality score is recalculated to determine placement of your ad in relation to your competitors. 

However in my experience it usually takes a month to see significant changes in your overall score. 

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Should you worry about low quality scores? 

Yes, low quality scores should cause concerns but it shouldn’t be your initial priority. The first goal should be to drive relevant traffic and convert users. 

If you’re not currently accomplishing this then stressing about quality score is pointless as it’s really only a factor of reducing your costs and improving visibility. 

If you’re not already converting the visibility you do have, getting more of it won’t help. 

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What is a good quality score? 

A good quality score will fluctuate depending on your keyword strategy but overall I’d recommend having 70% of enabled keywords in your account with a score > 7. 

Just know this is highly circumstantial and if you’re running a competitive keyword strategy you will have lower quality scores by default given the difficulty of including your competitors in your ads. 

Hope you found this article helpful! 🔥

Check out our video tutorial linked if you want a visual walkthrough. 

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Resources for mastering B2B advertising

If you’re serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion. 

‍Here’s 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:

✅  100% free access.

✅  Taught by vetted industry experts.

✅  Have workbooks, resources, and templates.

✅  Less than 10 minutes per lesson.

We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:

•  Scale their ideas
• Level up their careers
• Make a positive impact

Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

There’s nothing worse than making bulk changes natively in Google Ads. 

If you’re ready to save hours bulk uploading campaigns, ads, and keywords. 

Mastering the Google Ads Editor is essential. 

Let’s cover everything you need to know 👇

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• What is the Google Ads Editor?
• How to get started with the Google Ads Editor?
• How to bulk upload campaigns, keywords, and ads with the Google Ads Editor

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60-second crash course on the Google Ads Editor

What is the Google Ads Editor?

It’s a free tool that you can install to update your campaigns offline including altering campaign settings, adjusting keyword bids, and creating new campaigns, ads, and ad groups. 

Any serious Google advertiser uses the editor to save hours performing tedious tasks. 

Make sure you download the latest version of the editor to follow along in this article. 

How to get started with the Google Ads Editor?

After installation add your Google Ads account within the Account Manager and download all campaigns so you have the most recent version of your account. 

The Google Ads Editor follows the same account structure:

Account > Campaign > Ad Group > Keyword > Ads

Highly recommend using the Hide Empty Types filter to reduce irrelevant options visible. 

How to bulk upload campaigns, keywords, and ads with the Google Ads Editor

The easiest way to bulk upload campaigns into the editor is using a google sheet template. 

This template should have the following fields fields available (at minimum): 

• Campaign 
• Ad Group
• Keyword

Get a copy the example template below here <<

Once you have your template copy you’re ready to get started. 

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Step 1: configure your campaign import template

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Fill in your import template with all the relevant campaign names, ad group, keywords, and ads. 

Do not modify the column headers as these are meant to match the editors default fields. 

Feel free to fill in whichever fields you find most relevant. 

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Step 2: Upload your campaign import template

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Once you’ve completed setting up your campaign import template with all your relevant details it’s time to import your campaigns into the editor. 

Navigate to Account > Import > Paste Text to begin the import process:

Once complete copy all of the column headers and rows you filled in in your import template and paste them into the import from text window:

Don’t worry about the blank “Not importing” columns this is due to the formatting of the import template I provided, instead review the fields that are filled in the column headers. 

Make sure everything is looking accurate according to what you want to import. 

Once complete click Process to import the campaigns, keywords, and ads. 

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Step 3: Configure your campaign settings and publish

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After reviewing your changes make sure to select Keep in order to retain them. 

Now you should have all of your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads that you filled into your import template visible within the Google Ads Editor. 

The final step is to configure your campaign and publish your changes. ‍

Highlight each of your new campaigns at the sametime to apply the same campaign settings across of all them at once 🚀

Review all available campaign settings and uncheck the Display Network for search.

If you don’t want your campaigns to spend when published, change the status to Paused.

Once your campaigns are ready to be published into your live Google Ads account.

Select Post > Post Changes > Selected Campaigns 

That’s it! 🎉you’ve just saved hours and created campaigns in bulk.

Hope you found this article helpful, see you in the next one!

‍

Resources for mastering B2B advertising

If you’re serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion. 

‍Here’s 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:

✅  100% free access.

✅  Taught by vetted industry experts.

✅  Have workbooks, resources, and templates.

✅  Less than 10 minutes per lesson.

We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:

•  Scale their ideas
• Level up their careers
• Make a positive impact

Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

‍

Google Ads responsive search ads (RSA) don’t leave a ton of room available. 

With 30 character headlines, and 90 character descriptions. 

It’s tough to write persuasive and effective copy. 

In this article you’ll learn a simple 3-step framework to write responsive search ads. 

Let’s dive into it 👇

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• The 3-Part RSA Writing Framework
• The Anatomy of a Responsive Search Ad
• Should you pin headlines and descriptions in Google Ads?
• Advanced copy tips for writing Responsive Search Ads

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The 3-Part Google Ads RSA Writing Framework

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Here's a simple 3-part framework for writing Google Ads copy:

• The goal of headline 1 = match intent
• The goal of headline 2 = differentiate between other results
• The goal of headline 3 = provide a clear CTA

Keyword: b2b google ads course

• H1: Free B2B Google Ads Course (matches intent)
• H2: No Lesson Longer Than 10-Mins (differentiates)
• H3: Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers (clear CTA)

Here's what it looks like in practice (image below):

When writing, always assume the H3 isn't visible, and if only the H1 was displayed would they get it? 

(Google is always testing different display variations)

From here you would write different variations per position. 

With ensuring legibility between headline combinations. 

Simple but effective ✌️let’s dive into each headline further. 

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The goal of headline 1 = match intent

You’ve got a fraction of a second for a prospect searching on Google to understand if your ad is relevant to their search term. 

Don’t mess this up by being vague, asking rhetorical questions, or wasting valuable characters. 

When it comes to Google Ads the headline 1 position would be eighty cents out of your dollar. 

Maximize your headline 1 by adding the primary keyword in your copy to match intent. 

This is such a simple thing to do, and equally not to. 

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The goal of headline 2 = differentiate between other results

Now that you’ve caught the searchers attention by matching intent it’s time to stand out. 

Here’s a real example of what NOT to do from ads that appeared searching SOC2 compliance:

The sequence of which you write your headlines matter.

This is why I recommend following the 3-part framework as shown. 

Use the headline 2 position to write a core benefit or outcome for differentiation. 

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The goal of headline 3 = provide a clear CTA

Finally in the third headline it’s time to provide a clear call to action. 

This can be as simple as: 

• Request a Demo
• See For Yourself
• Learn More Today! 

When writing your H3 just assume it won’t be visible most of the time as Google is always experimenting with how they display headlines. 

The Anatomy of a Responsive Search Ad

Now that you understand how to approach writing RSA copy.

Let’s discuss how responsive search ads actually function. 

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Character counts for Responsive Search Ads

• You can write up to 15 headlines, and 4 descriptions. 
• 30 characters available per headline
• 90 characters available per description 

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How Responsive Search Ads work

The idea behind responsive ads is Google will take your 15 headlines and 4 descriptions and automatically combine them to find the optimal variations based on machine learning. 

The promise is you can leverage Google’s AI to do the heavy lifting as it will take into account a multitude of factors including keywords, search terms, devices, audience demographics and more. 

Google also tries to guide advertisers on how well their doing when writing responsive search ads with their Ad Strength metric 💩(which we’ll cover in detail shortly). 

With each headline and description you have the opportunity to pin positions.

This is where you’re forcing Google to only serve those variations within that specific placement. 

Should you pin headlines and descriptions in Google Ads?

The answer here is an unequivocal YES, because if your ads aren’t legible they won’t be clicked. 

In a perfect world Google will automatically combine your headline and descriptions perfectly based on performance AND legibility but in reality it doesn’t happen. 

Instead you end up with a bunch of variations like this: 

I personally would LOVE ♥ ️ if Google’s AI can mix and match ads perfectly for performance and legibility but unfortunately the tech still isn’t there.

So in order to prevent this from happening I recommend strategic pinning. 

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How to pin Google Ads headlines strategically

In order to get the benefits of both Google’s AI to mix and match top performing headline/description combinations AND legibility you’ll need to pin strategically. 

Here’s what it looks like in practice: 

• Write 2-3 variations of Headline 1 and pin to position 1
• Write 2-3 variations of Headline 2 and pin to position 2
• Write 2-3 variations of Headline 3 and pin to position 3
• Write 2 variations of Description 1 and pin to position 1
• Write 2 variations of Description 2 and pin to position 2

This will give you the benefit of testing multiple variations per position but safely as you can control which possible combinations are matched for legibility. 

What is Ad strength and does it matter? 

Ad strength is a score created by Google to help advertisers optimize their ad performance ranging from Incomplete → Poor → Average → Good → Excellent. 

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Ad strength misconceptions to be aware of

1. Ad strength has ZERO bearing on actual performance, it's just a predictor of it. 
2. Having a poor ad strength doesn’t mean your ad won’t actually perform well.
3. Having a poor ad strength doesn’t mean your ads won’t receive impressions. 

What determines if your ad appears is your Ad Rank. 

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Pin strategically with 2-3 variations of headlines and you’ll be ok, it’s also what Google suggests if you decide to pin. 

Advanced copy tips for writing Responsive Search Ads 

Now that you know how to write effective responsive search ads let’s wrap with some advanced tips you can implement to make your ads perform even better. 

Implement Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI)

Dynamic Keyword Insertion allows you to change your ad copy in real time based on the keywords that are triggering your ads in order to create more relevant experiences. 

Currently there are 3 types of DKI available:

• Keyword Insertion = insert the keyword that triggers your ad
• Countdown = insert a timer that counts down to an event
• Location insertion = insert the location that triggers your ad 

Test variations of your RSAs using relevant DKI parameters vs not to see if it impacts performance. 

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Leverage Business Name, Logo, and Image Ad Extensions

Now that Google allows you to highlight your business name and logo in your RSA, don't waste the characters anymore referencing your brand in your ad copy. 

Save those valuable characters as you’re already getting brand awareness and instead maximize each character according to the 3-Part Google Ads RSA writing framework.  

Ad extensions should always be used as a best practice but when it comes to writing effective Google Ads copy don’t forget to utilize your extensions to provide more information. 

Hope you found this article helpful, best of luck on your next set of ads! 

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Resources for mastering B2B advertising

If you’re serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion. 

‍Here’s 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:

✅  100% free access.

✅  Taught by vetted industry experts.

✅  Have workbooks, resources, and templates.

✅  Less than 10 minutes per lesson.

We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:

•  Scale their ideas
• Level up their careers
• Make a positive impact

Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

‍

Thinking about investing in Google Ads for your SaaS but not sure how much it will cost? 

In this article I’ll break down how to create a winning budget strategy step by step. 

You’ll walk away knowing how much you’ll need to invest on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis. 

And most importantly if Google Ads makes sense for your business. 

Let’s dive into it 👇

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• How much budget is required for a starting Google Ads budget?
• How to forecast a daily, monthly, and quarterly Google Ads budget
• How to allocate Google Ads budget by  campaign strategy
• Frequently asked Google Ads budget questions

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How much is required for a starting Google Ads budget?

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This is the first question that usually comes to mind when considering Google Ads. 

Which will then be met with a variation of questions such as: 

• Is $10/day enough for Google Ads?
• Is $100/day enough for Google Ads?
• Is $1,000/day enough for Google Ads?

And so on, and so on… 

When the reality is it’s all circumstantial based on the keywords you’re looking to target. 

Equally important to how much is required is how many people are searching? 

You could have a keyword that costs $0.01 per click but if only 5 people search is it really worth it? 

So in order to answer this question you have to perform keyword research with the Keyword Planner.

Navigate to Tools > Planning > Keyword Planner within your Google Ads account to access it. 

It doesn’t cost anything to open a free Google Ads account so anyone can access this tool. 

Within the Google Ads Keyword Planner enter your dream keyword you want to research. 

For example, I’ll use “google ads courses” as an example: 

After researching I can see the following keyword costs and monthly volume estimates:

I recommend always using the top of page bid (high range) as your estimate. 

I’ve never seen these estimates be 100% accurate and you’ll never know your real CPC until launch. 

To account for this margin of error I recommend adding +20% on top of your top of page estimate. 

This means in our google ads courses example:

• It would potentially cost me $13.7 per click ($11.42 +20%) 
• I can receive up to 1,600 clicks per month in the USA. 

Based on these two data points we can assume it’s possible to spend up to $21,920 per month on this keyword ($13.7 * 1,600). 

Outside of the return on investment, don’t forget about return on effort. 

If your dream keywords have very limited search volume (ex: < 100/month) it might not be worthwhile. 

How to forecast a daily, monthly, and quarterly Google Ads budget

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Once you know your estimated cost per click you’re ready to put together a forecast. 

We’ve created a free Google Ads Budget Calculator tool that you can use to easily plan your daily, monthly, and quarterly budget. 

You’re going to need the following information for the forecast: 

• Your average cost per click (from the Keyword Planner or real data) 
• Your quarterly sales goal 
• Your average win rate 
• Your average revenue per sale

With all this information at hand you’ll plug these different values into the calculator. 

Based on your landing page conversion rates you can model a worst, moderate, and best case. 

From here you can see how much it will cost to acquire a customer and the budget required to hit your sales volume target. 

I highly recommend paying attention to the number of clicks required per lead, this will help frame expectations on how much traffic you’ll need and if your search volume is sufficient. 

As you’ll see, your landing page effectiveness is essential at reducing costs 💥

With this forecast at hand you’ll know exactly how much to invest. 

How to allocate Google Ads budget by  campaign strategy

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You should be clear on how much you’ll need to invest in your Google Ads campaigns. 

Now the next step is to figure out how you’re going to allocate your budget. 

In my experience managing Google Ads campaigns for B2B SaaS companies, there are five proven campaign themes to invest in; NonBrand, Brand, Competitive, RLSA, and Content. 

Here’s my recommendation on budget allocation by each if you want to maximize volume. 

Use all of these as starting points and modify the amounts based on your data/nuances. 

NonBrand = 40% of total budget

NonBrand campaigns are where you’re bidding on high-intent keywords that don’t include your brand, for example google ads courses would be non brand for us at AdConversion. 

Think about your keywords you’d like to cover that problem aware prospects would search for. 

NonBrand keywords typically contain high-intent modifiers such as: 

• Software
• Platform
• Tool
• Technology
• Solution

If you have enough search volume on non brand keywords there’s no easier way to drive conversions than showing up for people looking for solutions to their problems. 

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Brand = 20% of total budget

Brand campaigns are commonly referred to as “defense” campaigns where you’re bidding on your own brand name to outrank competitors bidding on yours.  

You can make the case that people searching your branded terms would convert anyways and it’s not worth the investment. 

This is why I recommend no more than 20% of the total budget on this campaign initially. 

I’ve seen exceptions here with some of our clients where they saw net new revenue decline significantly from pausing their branded campaigns. 

Let your data guide your allocation. 

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Competitive = 25% of total budget

Competitive campaigns are the opposite of brand where you’re bidding on competitors' names to appear for their existing customers and prospects. 

These campaigns can be really hit or miss depending on your execution.

Make sure you’re doing it in a classy way and have dedicated comparison pages. 

This theme can be really powerful at driving qualified traffic as these searchers are solution aware. 

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RLSA = 10% of total budget

RLSA stands for remarketing list for search ads. 

This just means search remarketing, anyone that searches your keywords AND is part of an audience. 

For example, anyone that has been to your site in the past 90 days and is searching your keywords.

RLSA campaigns can be really powerful when you have enough site traffic and are dealing in competitive niches. 

Depending on your available remarketing audience sizes you can decide if this makes sense initially. 

Given the limitation of size we typically only allocate 10% here to begin. 

Content = 5% of total budget

Content campaigns are great for supporting SEO efforts. 

If you have certain keywords you’re struggling to rank for, content campaigns are worth investigating. 

This is where you’re going to bid on longtail content related keywords that typically have much lower cost per click prices and drive that traffic to a blog or relevant content piece. 

Depending on your content strategy I’d give this some consideration. 

Hope you found this article helpful! and now know how to create a winning Google Ads budget strategy. 

Frequently asked Google Ads budget questions

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Does Google Ads work on a small budget?

Yes, and no. Small is relative to your average cost per click prices. 

I’d recommend being able to afford at least 100 clicks per month. 

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Does Google Ads work for B2B SaaS? 

Absolutely, intent is what makes Google Ads so powerful. 

The biggest challenge for B2B SaaS is scale. 

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What is a good Google Ads budget? 

A Google Ads budget is one where you can support your business objectives. 

Using the following information you can create a forecast to understand what is good: 

• Your average cost per click 
• Your quarterly sales goal 
• Your average win rate 
• Your average revenue per sale

‍

Resources for mastering B2B advertising

If you’re serious about mastering B2B advertising then you definitely need to join 1,000+ B2B marketers leveling up their paid advertising skill sets in AdConversion. 

‍Here’s 4 reasons why you should consider joining. Every one of our on-demand courses are:

✅  100% free access.

✅  Taught by vetted industry experts.

✅  Have workbooks, resources, and templates.

✅  Less than 10 minutes per lesson.

We believe every marketer should know how to scale paid ads so they can:

•  Scale their ideas
• Level up their careers
• Make a positive impact

Click Here to Join 1,000+ B2B Marketers Today and start leveling up your advertising skill set.

Takes < 90 seconds to sign up (seriously we timed it 😂)

‍