If there were a company that had one third of all online ad revenue, doubled your investment when buying their ads, and offered you click-through rates higher than that of any other network, wouldn’t you want to advertise with them?

In case you aren’t aware, the company we are talking about here is Google. More specifically, their advertising mechanism, Google Adwords. Running an ad on the SERP is a must for a business looking to increase its customer base, and the results of using it properly are stunning, with some companies being made just through their ad campaigns.

On the flip side, doing it the wrong way can you cost you dearly. Keywords don’t come cheap, and the average one can cost you a dollar or more per click. Driving traffic that is ready to buy is the Holy Grail of any campaign, but sadly (or lucky for you!) most people out there aren’t doing it right. If you want to learn how to drive more qualified leads from Adwords, just avoid these mistakes.

The truth hurts (except for on Adwords where the truth is necessary)

For example, when a user searches for something like “cheap 5 star hotels”, and then your ad displays “5 star hotel for less than $80!”, but when they click on the ad it brings them to a site that sells them travel packages instead, that is really going to hurt you.

If they are looking for rooms, then give them rooms, don’t try to sell them flights, rental cars, and spa treatments.

Make sure that your ad copy is spot on with the keywords that you’ve matched it to, and that your site delivers. Nobody likes a slimy snake oil salesman, and you aren’t doing yourself any favours misleading your visitor.

Bad landing pages

Landing pages are like the face of your company. When people walk in, this is what they are going to see. Right then and there, you need someone that can make them feel comfortable, get their attention, and make the sale. Same goes for your landing page.

When people click your link, they get taken through to a page on your website. This is where you need to make the sale. First, make sure that your landing pages are properly in sync with your targeted keywords. If the ad says 5 star hotels for less than $80, then show them that deal with a big green button that says BOOK NOW!

Don’t give them the run around, and make them jump through hoops just to get to the hotel room that now costs $120 after “taxes and fees”. Congrats, you have just spent a bunch of money to make a user very angry and lost a customer for life. Make sure that landing pages are simple, free of clutter, and only concentrating on the thing that got the customer there. Properly targeted landing pages reduce bounce rates drastically. Plain and simple.

Tip: Videos capture attention. Some received 85% more clicks in major studies. An engaging video can go a long way in pitching your product.

Wrong place (bad geotargeting)

Since Google knows every little thing about you, they obviously know exactly where you are at this point in time. Just kidding, they can just detect your IP address that tells them the same information (though I don’t doubt that they are aware of where everyone is at all times). This means that you can even geotarget your ads.

You need to go through your data, analyze which areas are bringing in the most revenue, identify trends, and target your campaign accordingly. If you are a company that specializes in selling heavy winter gear, then you need to exclude sunny San Diego, California that has beautiful weather all year round with gorgeous beaches and ocean (can you tell I’m jealous?), and double your efforts on freezing cold New England.

Pro tip: If you can, include the name of the targeted location within the ad itself. The text will appear in bold if it matches the query. For example, lawyers in Boston.

Wrong time

Once you have identified your demographic, it is important to figure out just when it is they are going to be buying. That means trying to determine when it is they are going to be asleep, and take that time out immediately. If you are selling to senior citizens, then you should be targeting the morning hours for example.

If your demographic is made up of starving artists, then you shouldn’t be running ads at 7:30am when they have just gone to sleep after a night of trying to “find their inner self”. Although you can use a lot of different tools to try and identify trend, a little bit of logic and common sense goes a long way. The key here is to check out your time stamps, see when people clicked or bought, and try to identify the trends using your brain. Every little bit helps.

Not using single keyword ad groups

A single keyword ad group, or SKAG, is simply when you have only keyword per ad group. Most companies put keywords into massive groups of 20 or more. This is ultimately a hindrance to their campaigns, though, because then it becomes difficult to get any exact matches. For example, if you make a specific ad for a single long-tail keyword such as Lord of the Rings memorabilia, then you can tailor the ad so it has the keyword in it.

When it is an exact match, Google bolds the text, and this in turn leads to higher conversions. Your ad will then look like this “Authentic Lord of the Rings Memorabilia” and your description below it could read “did you cry when Boromir died? We did. Now get his statue in your living room!” or something funny like that.

Any time your keyword is an exact match, it greatly increases your conversion rates, and profits. Many clients and companies have seen their CTR’s grow by several % points over short periods of time after switching.

Not using Dynamic Keyword Insertion

Don’t you wish there were a way to change each landing page depending on which keyword got you the click through? Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to change the headlines and calls to action to specifically fit the keyword that the visitor had searched for?

Well good news, there is! Dynamic keyword insertion allows you to do just that. You can funnel multiple different ad variants right into a properly formatted landing page. When you have extremely relevant landing pages in regards to what the user is searching for, it creates a magical recipe for success. Check out Wordstreams article that goes into more detail here.

Google Adwords, when used properly, is your ally in the war to win customers on the internet. When used improperly, it is going to be a never ending money pit that causes you to throw things across the room in a fit of rage. Don’t fall into the same trap that so many others keep making for themselves.

Adwords isn’t easy, but it isn’t rocket science either. If you do your research, put the time in, and follow these tips, then your life is going to be a whole lot easier. Now that you know how to drive qualified leads with Google Adwords, go out there and do it!