Whether you’ve just launched a new campaign for this year or are planning to, we’ve put together a list of the latest Pay-Per-Click (PPC) trends worth considering for 2021. Google Ads is constantly changing. Every time you log in, there is something different and frustratingly, there is no telephone help at the moment! So here are a few tips from us that may help you on your way…
Automation
Automation has become a staple of the PPC world and simply gives control to the search engine algorithms allowing you to save time, energy and money. The algorithms can determine where you can best achieve the objectives set within the campaigns.
Automation doesn’t simply mean automatic bidding strategies such as maximising conversions, etc, but using rules or scripts can also save you time on analysis, optimising and reporting ultimately leading to more effective campaigns.
There are limitations to automation – human input is still required to ensure there is historical data for the algorithms to work with and of course you shouldn’t allow them to determine everything in your accounts, they still need to be monitored.
Responsive Search Ads
Providing multiple copy variations for paid media has it’s benefits. Just like other platforms, when you provide Google with multiple headline and description variations, it will help the algorithm determine what your best performing ads are and show them more often which will over time deliver the strongest CTR, clicks, and overall engagement.
Match type changes
Late 2018, Google began allowing exact match keywords to match close variants, then in 2019 they started rolling out close variants for phrase match and broad match modified keywords. For example:
- The phrase match keyword “sunglasses” could now match “sunglasses for sale”.
- The broad match modified keyword for +oven +glove could now match with “cheap oven mitts”.
With these changes it’s now more important than ever to have an extensive negative keyword list and analyse search terms frequently.
Voice Search
By now, with the introduction of assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google Home, more and more people are making searches via their voice. Whilst paid voice search has not yet made it out into the world, there are some strategies that can be introduced for when it does. One example is to introduce or update your FAQ pages on your site to include long tail keywords.
Smart bidding
Smart Bidding or automatic bidding is controlled by machine learning. Machine learning can help boost conversions and costs such as cost-per-click, targeted return on ad spend and cost-per-acquisition.
As we head into 2021, smart bidding is one strategy to use as it becomes more relevant and manual bidding becomes a thing of the past. There are many benefits to utilising smart bidding, such as being able to focus more on areas like analytics and strategy.
One last tip…
If you want to add in a standard expanded text ad, then click to add a responsive ad and it will give you the option to change it over!
Want to work with us?
If you’re not too sure how to make the most of these trends, give us a call on 01435 817226 to see how we can help.