Retail Industry Knowledge Center

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Get more bang for your buck


A host of techniques to optimize your ads and improve your ROI.

In this tips section we'll cover:


Conversion tracking: Think beyond the click

Why is conversion tracking so important for your business? Conversion tracking helps you understand what people do once they click on your ad. AdWords isn't just about the clicks. After all, you spend money on AdWords to get visitors to do something specific on your website, like make a purchase or subscribe to your online newsletter. We call these desired actions conversions.

Conversion tracking is a free tool that helps you track conversions so you can tell which campaigns, ads, and keywords result in the most business. Based on these results, you'll also be able to make more informed decisions that will help maximize your return on investment.

Press the play button below to watch a short video on ROI and learn:

  • Why you should measure your advertising return
  • How to set up conversion tracking
  • Tips on using conversion tracking to manage your bids effectively



Google Analytics: Learn how visitors interact with your site

Your website is crucial to driving business, so chances are the following questions have kept you up at night:


  • Where are my visitors from, and how did they reach my site?

  • What do people do while on my site? Where do they spend the most time?

  • How can I generate more conversions from my landing page?

  • Which of my AdWords keywords and ad texts are most effective?

  • How does my site compare to others in my industry?
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Don't just guess. Find answers with Google Analytics, a powerful tool that integrates with AdWords and tells you everything you want to know about how visitors find and interact with your site. With a variety of useful data delivered in a number of formats, Analytics helps you focus your marketing resources, improve site navigation, and increase ROI. You can easily visualize and track the performance of all of your online advertising initiatives, including search campaigns, emails, and banner ads.

You can even use the Analytics benchmarking service to compare your metrics to those of other retail websites. You can use this data to gain broader context for your site and identify areas for improvement. Some of the available categories include:

  • Apparel
  • Luxury Goods
  • Antiques & Collectibles
  • Consumer Affairs & Product Reviews
  • Flowers Gifts & Greetings
  • Home & Garden
  • Food & Drink
  • Sports
  • Recreation

Negative keywords: Curb unqualified traffic

To curb unqualified clicks and improve your return on investment, use negative keywords. Your ad won't appear when a user's search query contains one of your negative keywords. Using negative keywords can help lower your advertising costs and ensure more relevant clicks for your business. You can apply them at either the campaign or ad group level.

For example, if you're selling brand-new furniture, your negative keywords might include repair, repairs, antique, antiques, used, second hand, and secondhand.

Negative keywords can also help curb traffic from visitors who aren't yet ready to buy. Include negative keywords like ratings, reviews, and comparison to avoid clicks from window shoppers.

You can also find ideas for negative keywords by running a Search Query Performance report in your account. This report shows the exact terms people are searching for when they click on your ads, including any variations of your keywords. Scan the report for any irrelevant terms, then add them as negative keywords.

Watch this video to learn more about using negative keywords to improve your account's performance.

Your landing page: Deliver on your ad's promise

Studies show that visitors decide whether to leave a website within seconds, so it's important that your landing page delivers on your ad's promise. Send your visitors right to the source: the page featuring the product described in your ad.

For example, if your ad text specifically references a black leather sofa, be sure to link your ad to a landing page dedicated to that particular sofa. This page should provide a clear way for customers to make a purchase. If your ad text mentions a certain promotion or special offer, make sure your landing page prominently features the same special offer and provides additional details.

Google Checkout: Simplify the shopping experience

A short checkout process can improve your customers' shopping experience, turning browsing visitors into buyers. What's the end result? More sales for you.

Google Checkout can help make your site's purchase process quicker and more convenient. Customers who have a Google Checkout account will have a faster buying experience, since their payment and shipping information will already be stored in their account. If you don't yet have a shopping cart on your site, you can easily use Buy Now buttons to direct your customers to a Google Checkout-hosted purchase page.

Website Optimizer: Put your site to the test

To boost your website's conversion rates, try experimenting with your site content and design to learn what visitors respond to best. With Website Optimizer, a free landing page optimization tool, you can continually test different combinations of site content and layouts. You'll save time and eliminate marketing guesswork by simply letting your visitors tell you what works best. Start optimizing your most important web pages and see detailed reports within hours.




To learn more about using Website Optimizer to improve your site's conversion rates and see an example, watch this demo.

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