It’s Time to Embrace Simplicity in Your Google Ads Account Structure!

The digital advertising landscape is constantly evolving, and what worked a few years ago might be holding you back today.

This is especially true for Google Ads account structures. Cumbersome, complex structures that were once necessary for manual bidding are now outdated, thanks to the power of machine learning and automation.

If you’re still clinging to a granular, highly segmented account structure, you might be missing out on significant performance gains and efficiency improvements. This blog post, drawing insights from a Google document outlining best practices for modern search, will guide you on how to simplify your account structure and unlock the full potential of automated solutions like Smart Bidding.

The Problem with Complex Account Structures

Traditional account structures often involve intricate segmentations based on:

• Match types (Exact, Phrase, Broad)
• Devices (Mobile, Desktop, Tablet)
• Audiences (Remarketing, In-market, Affinity)
• And many other dimensions

While this level of granularity was once considered essential for manual bid management, it now presents several challenges:

• Difficulty in identifying insights: Sifting through data across numerous campaigns and ad groups makes it harder to identify meaningful patterns and trends.
• Time-consuming management: Maintaining a complex structure requires significant effort, leaving less time for strategic planning and optimisation. Google estimates that simplifying your structure can save up to 20% of your time, allowing you to focus on more impactful tasks.
• Limited effectiveness of machine learning: Granular structures restrict the amount of data available to machine learning algorithms, hindering their ability to learn and optimise effectively.

The Power of Smart Bidding and Simplified Structures

Smart Bidding is Google’s automated bidding system that leverages machine learning to optimise bids for conversions or conversion value. It considers a vast array of signals, including:

• User behaviour
• Device
• Location
• Time of day
• Thousands of other factors

Smart Bidding performs best with simplified account structures. By consolidating your campaigns and ad groups, you provide Smart Bidding with larger volumes of data, allowing it to learn faster and make more informed bidding decisions.

Simplifying Your Account Structure: A Step-by-Step Guide

Here’s how to streamline your account structure for optimal performance with Smart Bidding:

1. Consolidate Traffic:
   • Combine similar ad groups and campaigns based on shared business objectives. For instance, merge separate campaigns for different match types into a single campaign using broader match types.
   • Aim for larger ad groups that point to a single landing page. This approach allows for more query volume and variety while maintaining thematic consistency.
2. Broaden Match Types:
   • Embrace broader match types like Broad Match, especially when using Smart Bidding. Smart Bidding’s ability to manage bids at the query level eliminates the need for redundant keywords in multiple match types.
   • A single Broad Match keyword can effectively cover the same queries as numerous Exact Match keywords, saving you time and effort.
3. Maximize Coverage with Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs):
   • DSAs automatically target relevant searches based on your website content, even without specific keywords. They help expand your reach and capture incremental conversions.
   • Set up DSA targeting at the ad group level alongside keyword ad groups within the same campaign for comprehensive coverage.
4. Leverage Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) and Dynamic Features:
   • RSAs utilize machine learning to dynamically create tailored ads from your provided headlines and descriptions, ensuring relevance to each search query.
   • Enhance personalisation further with dynamic features like IF functions, ad customisers, and Dynamic Keyword Insertion.

The Benefits of Embracing Simplicity

• Improved Performance: Simplified structures empower machine learning algorithms like Smart Bidding to learn more efficiently and optimise bids more effectively. The Google document showcases case studies where advertisers achieved significant improvements in conversion rates, cost per conversion, and click-through rates after adopting simplified structures.
• Time Savings: Managing fewer campaigns and ad groups frees up valuable time for strategic planning, creative testing, and in-depth analysis.
• Deeper Insights: Streamlined structures make it easier to identify meaningful patterns and trends in your data, leading to more informed decision making.
• Reduced Errors: Consolidated structures minimise the risk of inconsistencies and mistakes, improving campaign management efficiency.

Shifting Your Focus from Quality Score to Relevance

While Quality Score remains an important metric, it shouldn’t be the primary focus when using Smart Bidding. Quality Score represents the relevance between your keywords and ads within an ad group. However, Smart Bidding operates at a more granular level, assessing the relevance between the query, creative, and landing page in real-time for every auction.

Conclusion

Embracing automation and simplifying your Google Ads account structure is no longer a choice but a necessity in today’s dynamic digital advertising landscape. By streamlining your campaigns, you empower machine learning to optimise your bidding, free up your time for strategic initiatives, and ultimately drive better business outcomes.