Best Practices for Conversion Optimizer

Here are some best practices to help you get the most out of Conversion Optimizer.

Use the Conversion Optimizer on mature campaigns:
The Conversion Optimizer relies on historical conversion data in order to predict an accurate conversion rate, so the longer a campaign has used conversion tracking, the more data the Conversion Optimizer has available to improve your ROI. For this reason, it's best to modify existing campaigns rather than create a new one.

Troubleshooting for Conversion Optimizer

You may encounter some of the following problems or limitations when using Conversion Optimizer:

Can't enable Conversion Optimizer: The Conversion Optimizer relies on historical data collected through AdWords Conversion Tracking, so it isn't available for new campaigns, campaigns that just started using conversion tracking, or campaigns that have received fewer than 15 conversions in the last 30 days.

Actual cost-per-acquisition (CPA) exceeding maximum cost-per-acquisition (CPA): Your actual CPA depends on factors outside of Google's control, so it may exceed the maximum CPA you specify.

Using Conversion Optimizer with Conversion Tracking

Overview of Conversion Optimizer

The Conversion Optimizer is an AdWords feature that uses your AdWords Conversion Tracking data to get you more conversions at a lower cost. It optimizes your placement in each ad auction to avoid unprofitable clicks and gets you as many profitable clicks as possible.

How it works:
With the Conversion Optimizer, you bid using a maximum cost-per-acquisition (CPA), which is the most you're willing to pay for each conversion (such as a purchase or signup). Using historical information about your campaign, the Conversion Optimizer automatically finds the optimal equivalent cost-per-click (CPC) bid for your ad each time it's eligible to appear.

Getting Started with Website Optimizer

Overview of Experiments with Website Optimizer

The intent of all Website Optimizer experiments is to find the best-performing content for your page. What specifically "best-performing" means can vary from one page to another, depending on the goals of your site. A few examples:

• an e-commerce site can test whether users complete a purchase more often when they see pictures of the product or people
• a newsletter site can test if the headline "Cheap Widget Fixes" gets more paid sign-ups than "Fix Your Widget Fast" or "Need a Widget Fix?"

Understanding Website Optimizer Reports

Overview of Website Optimizer Reports

Once an experiment begins running on your pages, Website Optimizer will show the data being collected in your reports. The statistics available in Website Optimizer reports vary depending on the type of experiment you're running. If you're running an A/B experiment, you'll see conversion data for each alternate page variation that you're trying out, along with the performance of the original page. If you're running a multivariate experiment, you'll see conversion data for each combination as well as each page section overall.

Google Website Optimizer

Overview of Website Optimizer

Website Optimizer is a tool that can help you improve the effectiveness of your webpages. By allowing you to test different versions of your site content and layout, you can determine what will best attract users and lead them to convert on your site. Website Optimizer does not optimize your pages automatically or offer redesigning services, but it can help you determine what content will lead to the results you want.

Basic Techniques for Website and Landing Page Optimization

Basic Strategies for Optimizing Websites and Landing Pages

Below, we've highlighted some strategies for improving landing pages on your site, as well as techniques that can be used to improve the performance of your site overall.

Improving landing pages
When selecting a destination/landing page for your ad, above all, make sure the page is one where users can find the product or service promised in your ad. Keep your original objectives (sales, leads, downloads) in mind. Refer to specific keywords, offers, and calls to action on your landing pages.

Benefits of Optimizing Websites and Landing Pages

There are numerous benefits to optimizing website content:

• Increasing ROI on your advertising
• Teaching you about the likes and dislikes of your customers
• Trying out alternatives used by competitors
• Breaking down preconceptions about what works
• Convincing your team to try something bold or different

The most significant benefit, and goal, of optimizing websites is to keep users on your pages and improve your return on investment.

Optimizing Websites and Landing Pages

Introduction to Website and Landing Page Optimization

Overview of Optimizing Websites and Landing Pages

Through AdWords, you can tailor your ad text and keywords in order to maximize your clicks and drive users to your website. However, getting users to your pages is only part of what you need for a successful website. If your users reach your site, but leave right away, then you're not getting significant return on your investment. To attain a high-quality, highly effective website, you'll need to optimize your website content.

Campaign and Ad Group Optimization Best Practices

Best Practices for Optimizing Campaigns and Ad Groups

Here are a few important steps and strategies to consider for any account optimization:

1. Know your goals

Before anything else, you need to understand your advertising goals. What do you want to achieve with your ads and how will you know if you succeed? For example, does a particular campaign aim to generate sales, increase traffic to your website, or promote your company's brand? If you're focused on profits, for instance, you'll want to know how valuable a click is rather than just how many clicks you're getting.

Tools and Strategies for Optimizing Ad Scheduling, Serving, and Positions

Ad Scheduling

Ad scheduling can help you better target your ads by selecting the times when you want to show ads. For example, if you offer special late night deals, you can set up a campaign to show those ads only at night. Ad scheduling also includes an advanced setting which lets you adjust pricing for your ads during certain time periods. With the advanced setting, you can set a maximum of six different time periods per day, so choose carefully.

Optimizing Ad Scheduling, Serving and Positions

Overview of Optimizing Ad Scheduling, Serving, and Positions

For more control over the display of your ads, AdWords offers some advanced optimization features. We've outlined a few features that can help you influence the situations below.

When your ads show
Ad scheduling lets you specify certain hours or days of the week when you want your ads to appear. For example, you might schedule your ads to run only on weekdays or from 3:00 until 6:00 p.m. daily. With ad scheduling, a campaign can be set to run all week or for as little as 15 minutes per week.

Optimize for clicks and traffic

• See the effect of different keyword bids. You can optimize your keyword bids using the bid stimulator or traffic estimator tools. Enter a new maximum CPC amount into either tool to see how your keywords might perform at that bid amount.
• Increase the bids for valued keywords to improve your ad position. Because ads with higher positions tend to receive more clicks, you're likely to gain an increase in traffic.

Tools and Strategies for Optimizing Bids and Budgets

Evaluate your keywords' value

The bottom line for any ad or keyword is how much value it generates compared to its cost. To determine the profitability of a keyword, you can track the conversions from that keyword with Google's free conversion tracking tool google analytics With this conversion data, you'll know how profitable your keywords are with their current bids and can identify which keywords could be more successful with adjusted bids.

Optimizing Bids and Budgets

Overview of Optimizing Bids and Budgets

Your budget and maximum bids are tools to help you control costs while you work to get the most profit from your ads. It's important to use performance data to determine where your advertising spend will make the most impact. Then, test and analyze how you divide your spend to find the strategy that best helps you achieve your advertising goals.

Your daily budget helps determine how often your ads can show throughout the day.

Tools and Strategies for Optimizing Display Network Placements

Find relevant placements

Use the Placement Tool to select websites and other placements in the Display Network where you'd like your ad to appear. The tool appears when you create a new campaign or ad group starting with placements, or when you click the Add placements link on the Placements tab of an existing campaign.

For campaigns focused on branding or traffic, think of what type of websites your target audience might visit.

Optimizing Display Network Placements

Overview of Optimizing Display Network Placements

With managed placements, you choose individual websites within Google's Display Network where you'd like your ads to appear. To use managed placements most effectively, make sure the content of the placements is relevant to the ads in that ad group.

Here are some optimization strategies for managed placements:

• Use only relevant placements. The right placements will help you find potential customers interested in exactly what you're advertising.

Optimizing Language and Location Targeting

Overview of Optimizing Language and Location Targeting

It's key that you choose the right targeting options for each of your ad campaigns. This helps keep your ads effective and your return on investment high. By choosing the right targeting, you will be able to reach your potential customers in the areas you serve or do business in.

Your ads are targeted to reach a certain audience based on the language targeting and location targeting you chose. With this information, AdWords works to ensure that your ad appears to your chosen audience.

Optimizing Ad Text

Overview of Optimizing Ad Text

Ad text plays a crucial role in determining the success of your AdWords advertising. A potential customer's decision to visit your site is based solely on your ad and how it relates to what the customer is doing on the Web at that moment. The content of your ads should capture a user's attention and set your business apart. Compelling ad text can drive relevant traffic to your website and attract the type of users you'd like to turn into customers.

Tools and Strategies for Optimizing Keywords

Use these tools to find new keywords and to identify which keywords to optimize

• Use the keyword tool brainstorm ideas for keyword lists and find negative keywords while you're creating a campaign. Once the tool has generated some initial ideas, you can then enter the relevant results back into the tool to generate even more specific keyword ideas. Add relevant keywords to the ad group that focuses on that theme or product.

.Use the keyword analysis field on your campaign's Keywords tab to see an in-depth view of your keyword's performance, including its Quality Score on a 1-10 scale.