11 Ways to Drive Targeted Traffic Using Google Ads (Formerly Adwords)

One of the leading ways to drive more shoppers to your online store is by using Google Ads – formerly known as Google AdWords. 

These ads can help you start generating more traffic no matter where you are in your SEO optimization process. And the best part is – they work wonders for both new and established stores that want to push new products, deals, and promotions in a timely fashion.

If your Google Ads aren’t performing as well as you expected, you’re in the right place. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through 11 traffic-driving Google Ads tips and hacks that will help you reach your target audience and drive more sales.

1. Adjust your keyword matching

When setting up your Google Ads campaigns you’ll notice that the default keyword match is set to broad match which lets you target the wide audience. But there are other types of keyword matches that you can use to reach more specific audience. Here’s a quick breakdown of each:

• Broad match: This is where Google matches searches to your keywords in a broad way and includes misspellings, typos, synonyms and related keywords.
• Exact match: This is where Google only matches your ads if the searcher is using the exact keyword to search, without much wiggle room.
• Negative keywords: These are keywords that ensure you are excluded from irrelevant searches.
• Phrase match: This type of keyword matching will ensure that Google only matches your keyword phrase to searchers who are using the exact phrase, without any variations.
• Broad match modifier: This match type is similar to broad match except it allows you to pinpoint exact phrases or keywords you want to be matched to.  

If you want to drive highly targeted traffic to your store to increase your sales, adjust keyword matching, or use default matching with negative keywords.

As mentioned before, negative keywords are those terms you don’t want your site to be found with – terms that are not relevant to what you’re selling and bring the wrong kind of traffic. If you’re an online store that sells t-shirts, for example, then your negative keywords would be “work shirts” and/or “dress shirts.”

2. Set up conversion keyword tracking

Running successful Google Ad campaigns requires you to understand which keywords convert best. So test, monitor and optimize your campaigns closely. 

To do that, use Conversion Tracking. It’s a free Google Ads tool that tracks precisely which keywords are bringing in converting traffic. This tool also shows what happens after a customer clicks on your ad. In case you’re new to Google Ads, watch this step-by-step video guide from Google to learn how you can track the performance of your Google Ads campaigns.

And if you feel like conversion tracking isn’t your strongest side, make sure to learn the basics from this beginner’s guide to ecommerce analytics.

3. Tighten up geo-targeting options

Just because you can reach potential shoppers in 250 countries, doesn’t mean you have to. Segmenting your target market into locations and creating different campaigns catered to those audiences will keep your budget safe while bringing in more targeted traffic.

Ideally, you want to target different areas (country, state, city, area) in the different ad groups of the campaign. This will help you identify the locations that bring you the most conversions, allowing to adjust bids so that you’re spending your ad dollars on ad groups that are bringing you more sales.

4. Tweak your language targeting

Language targeting lets you reach customers who speak one or multiple languages. This targeting option is especially helpful for those businesses that want to increase global presence.

Here’s how you can use this language targeting according to Google:

If you want to communicate with your potential customers more effectively, seriously consider translating your ads to other languages. Ask your multilingual friends for help, or hire freelance translators to ensure your copy is on-point.

5. Add Google Shopping to your traffic strategy

Google Shopping campaigns are killing it. According to a Merkle report, Shopping campaigns account for as many as 60% of Google ad clicks. What does this mean for ecommerce dropshippers like you? Well, if you’re not running Google Shopping campaigns, you’re leaving money on the table.

If you haven’t used Google Shopping before, you will need to create your Google Merchant Center account (this is where your product data is inputted and product feed is generated from). You’ll be asked to:

• input your tax and shipping information
• verify that you are the owner of your online store site
• link your Merchant account to your Google Ads account

When choosing products for your Google Shopping campaigns you want to ensure that they are as unique as possible to keep your competition low and your demand high. Other products you may want to include in your feed are:

• products that have higher profit margins
• products that are already your top sellers
• entry products that shoppers are likely to buy more often or in larger quantities

6. Consider holding back on Google Display Network Ads (at first)

Google Display Ads appear on third-party pages across the web depending on how you target your ads, to whom you choose to show them, and the types of ads you create. While this might sound like a perfect opportunity for many business owners, marketers argue that Display Ads can be quite distracting, resulting in poor user experience and brand image.

This doesn’t mean that Display Ads don’t work. It’s just Search Ads have better ROIs for new stores on a tight budget. 

7. Get Help From the Experts

Keyword trends, conversions, bid competition, and quality score – to name a few – are continually changing and you will need to adjust your campaigns accordingly to ensure the traffic stays on target within the budget you need.  

If you don’t have the time or skill, consider trying automated tools like Traffic Booster that will do the expert work for you without any additional budget outlays.

The algorithm behind it will ensure your campaigns are optimized in real time, leaving you with more time to work on other marketing activities, sales funnels or your next big printed product.

If you choose to work with an agency, it is a good idea to keep an eye on the proposed Google Ads budget spendings.

8. Include prices and other details in your ads

If you want to see more sales rolling in, your ads should be as straightforward as possible. The less you play with customers expectations, the higher click-through rates you can expect. That said, don’t hide shipping rates or other fees, use accurate pictures and detailed product descriptions. 

9. Keep an eye on your quality score

Google’s Quality Score is how Google rates the relevancy of your ads. This score is worked out based on CTR, ad and keyword relevance, landing page quality and account performance.

In other words, if you are using misleading information in your ads, you’re damaging your Quality Score. And the lower your score is, the greater the chance Google will put a competitors’ bids before yours.

Quality Score is a mark given from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best. You can check your current scoring for your campaigns if you go to your Google Ads “Keywords” tab. From the Google Ads Dashboard, click on the “Campaigns” > “Keywords”. Then click on the speech bubble near your Keywords status.

10. Don’t forget to remarket

Remarketing campaigns on Google Ads helps you reach internet users who have already visited your store. And since they’re already familiar with your brand, they are more likely to trust your ad.

You will need to create remarketing lists that you can then use for your Search, Display, Shopping and YouTube campaigns. To do this, you will need to access “Audience manager” from your Google Ads dashboard tools, like this:

You can then create your audience based on user interactions on your website, app, and  YouTube.

Ideally, your Google Ads remarketing strategy should include Search, Display, Shopping and YouTube campaign types.

11. Check your delivery method for quick results

When you create a Google Ads campaign, the delivery method is always set to the default. This default is the ‘standard’ delivery method, which results in your ads being distributed throughout the day according to your daily budget. If you want faster results, which is particularly vital to time-specific deals, discounts, specials, etc., then make sure you change your campaign’s advanced settings to ‘accelerated’ in order to drive that targeted traffic to your store more quickly.

Keep testing

If you want your Google Ads to be successful, you have to be ready to test them continuously. Remember, not all tweaks may work for your products or target audience. But by closely monitoring your campaigns and adding small changes to your tests, you’ll eventually find the winning formula for your store.