How to optimize Google Ads Search Campaigns

When it comes to Google Ads, optimizing campaigns can be overwhelming, as there are many aspects you can adapt, from bidding & optimization types, to keywords, headlines, extensions and many more. Hence, we have come up with a guide on the optimizations you can make per campaign. On this first series, find below how to optimize your Google Search campaigns.

Weekly Optimizations:

• Check search terms, you can find this section inside the insights & reports tab, it shows the real terms people have used, and for where we have appeared.
  • Include keywords into campaigns, this can serve as inspiration to add new keywords, and change the broad terms we have on some campaigns with phrasal & exact matches, which oftentimes, have less volume but are more qualitative.
  • Add negative keywords when needed, every week add as negative keyword all related to neto/bruto calculations, free software, or keywords mentioning our competitors, in order to get more qualitative traffic.
  💡TIP:

  For negative keywords it is better to work with lists, this way if you´re managing a lot of campaigns you only have to add the keywords once, with one click. It saves lots of time. We recommend to have at least 2 exclusion lists (General keywords & competitors).

• Active Keyword check: Deep dive into your ad groups if you have low performing keywords compared to other ones. If for example CTR of most of your keywords is around 20% and there´s 1 keyword with 5% pause that keyword, and try to add an alternative.
  • Review Quality Score for your most important keywords. Focus on Expected CTR, Ad Relevance and Landing Page Experience to identify optimization opportunities.

Monthly Optimizations:

• Ads optimizations: Check if you can add some of the new added keywords to the ads that you have running, in order to increase cohesion.
  • URL Accuracy & Landing Page Accuracy Verify that all final URLs are working correctly and directing users to the most relevant landing page. Ensure landing pages match ad messaging, load correctly on mobile devices and provide a strong user experience.
  • Use this moment to ensure that your headlines are balanced, and contain different keywords, USPs & CTAs. We recommend to include 3/4 of each type.
  • Check insight tab to ensure that your ads have all necessary extensions & callouts. These often increase CTRs.

• Ad Group rearrangement: check within your ad groups if there are some keywords that take all the budget, can you create a new ad set with clustered keywords? then do it, this will work better in the long term, you will have to make the ads a little bit more specific, but will have more qualitative results.
  • Review Search Impression Share, Search Lost IS (Budget) and Search Lost IS (Rank) to identify whether budget limitations or ad rank are restricting growth.
• Segments check: on a monthly basis you have some extra time to zoom out a bit and look for specific trends or insights, some recommendations on what to check:
  • Search partners segment: on campaign level select segment Network (with search partners). By default display placements are included here, this placement usually delivers a lot of impressions but very little traffic, hence check the numbers, and remove when necessary. Check also other search partners results, as often times this segment has also not a lot of value.
  • Conversion actions segment: If you want to see which are the main conversions your campaigns are delivering this will help you see it, and give you insights on buyer journey. With this info you can adapt your messaging.
  • Remarketing Audiences Review audience lists and visitor volumes regularly. Where relevant, use audiences in Observation mode to identify high-performing user groups and optimization opportunities.
• Budget Analysis Identify campaigns that are limited by budget and evaluate whether budget should be reallocated from lower-performing campaigns to campaigns with stronger results.
• Bid Adjustments Review performance by device, location and audience segments to identify opportunities for bid adjustments where applicable.

Quarterly optimizations:

• Account level check ins: It's important to keep accounts clean & tidy, so on a quarterly basis we will ensure that everything is correct on account level.
  • Naming conventions & UTMs. By following the rules we ensure that all data is properly tracked and we can have a proper campaign analysis. If you´re not sure check this article.
  • Users & Security: Has there been an intern in your team over the last month? please let us know so we can remove people that is not working anymore on the account.
  • Review campaign structure: Is there any extra campaign you can run for the quarter? this might be the moment to add some time limited campaigns linked to seasonality around specific topics.
  • Egregious Errors Check Review accounts for common setup issues such as broken tracking, duplicate conversions, incorrect geo-targeting, inactive ads, disapproved assets, or campaigns accidentally serving on unintended networks.
• Campaign level check ins: Review campaign structure to determine whether campaigns should be consolidated to improve machine learning efficiency or segmented further to support specific goals, audiences or locations.
  • Branded Search Strategy Review branded search performance separately from non-branded campaigns. Monitor impression share on branded terms and evaluate whether additional protection or investment is required.

Google Ads Optimization Checklist

Looking for a quick way to audit your campaigns?

Download the Google Ads Optimization Checklist and use it as a companion guide during your weekly, monthly, and quarterly optimization sessions. The checklist covers key areas such as:

• Measurement Foundations
• Structure & Targeting
• Budget & Bidding
• Search Intent & Keywords
• Creative & Destinations

It can help you quickly identify opportunities related to campaign structure, impression share, quality score, landing pages, budget allocation, keyword management, and overall account health.

📥 Download the checklist here: [Google Ads Optimization Checklist (PDF)]

Pro Tip: Keep the checklist open while performing the optimizations outlined in this article to ensure no key review areas are missed and to standardize account audits across teams.

If you need extra help, don't hesitate to send me a message so we can take a look at your account together.