How to Achieve a Good Conversion Ratio for your Google Campaign

Achieving a great conversion ratio is always the end-goal of any Google Campaign, and it’s our first reference point when we are optimizing the same. Achieving the best conversion ratio involves understanding the inter-relationship of various other metrics that we can base our decision-making on.

The structure of the campaign also plays an important role in its optimization, by allowing you to gauge the performing and non-performing keywords & placements from search & display campaigns over a short period of time and take instantaneous decisions. Setting up the campaign with the best possible structure is, therefore, an absolute must. The more detailed the campaign structure, the better the conversion ratio.

Example: The Figurative Representation of a typical Google Campaign for say a shoe brand can be as

Once you’ve set up the campaign structure, it is time to optimize it. These are the stats you need to keep checking:

1. Cost Per Click (CPC) & Click Through Rate (CTR)

After the conversion ratio, the first thing to check while optimizing your search & display campaigns is the CPC and CTR, followed by the ad group and lastly, the keywords and placements. It’s always good to check each statistic step by step, in order to get a thorough understanding and take decisions regarding the performance of the campaign. Achieving a good CTR always helps to attain a lower CPC, which ultimately helps in capturing leads at a lower cost i.e. your Cost Per Acquisition (CPA).

However, getting a good CTR can be a challenge, as it mostly depends on the communication of the ad & its average position in the search & display campaign. To get a better CTR, it is important to consistently create communication with the keywords and explain the product briefly, and in sync with the landing page. This will allow you to achieve a higher position in your campaign with a better CTR and thus a lower Cost Per Click. Finally, It is important to use straight forward and simple communication, so that consumers understand it easily and you can drive qualified traffic to your site – thus increasing your opportunity of conversion.

2. Time on Site & Bounce rate

Sometimes we have multiple ways of tracking conversions such as form submissions, calls, live chats, etc. Currently, AdWords does not track every source in every country market and so in such cases, the conversion ratio we see on the AdWords interface might be a little different. That’s when we will also need to monitor the campaign on Google Analytics – to check the Time on Site against each search & display campaign, adgroup, keyword or placement and bounce rate, which shows how people are interacting with your landing page. If the Time on Site & Bounce Rate is good, it usually indicates a good Conversion Ratio. If you are not getting a good Time on Site and Bounce Rate stat, you will need to check your landing page and ad communication (see graphs below).

Analysis of campaign through Google Analytics

Bounce Rate is High & Time-on-site is Low. Hence we need to change the communication.

After Changing the Communication

Devices

Keep an eye on which devices are working for you through AdWords as well as Google Analytics – the latter will give you the complete stats to analyse their performance. In today’s world, you can’t ignore devices such as the mobile and tablet – every device has its own user behavior typical to the product. If you’re not getting good results through the mobile or tablet, check the website or landing page, site load-time and also your content. To get a good conversion ratio, not only should you have a device-friendly site with less load-time but also content tailored to the device experience (as shown below).

To summarize

Getting a better Conversion Ratio involves focusing on the CTR, Bounce Rate, Time on Site and Load Time stats across  Desktop, Mobile & Tablet. In order to improve the same, you will need to dynamically monitor and be prepared to make essential changes on your bid, ad communication & landing pages whenever required. The best way is to start step-by-step and keep checking. Your campaign stats will your best guide in this journey.

By

Yogesh Thakre

Credits – Vaidehi Mirashi