Solved: Phrase Match Broad; Considering Exact Match & Landing Pages

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. Happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance on your Google Ads situation. Sounds like you're pretty clued up already, but hopefully I can offer a few extra ideas that might help.

We'll need to look at your search term report...

First off, I'd take a real close look at that search term report. You mentioned 80% of your traffic being branded or competitor terms. Is that 80% of your spend too, or just the volume of searches? If it's just volume, it might not be such a massive issue if the non-branded terms are still performing well. But if 80% of your budget is going to those terms, then yeah, that's deffo something you need to address sharpish.

I'd be looking at which competitor terms are triggering your ads. Sometimes it can be worth bidding on competitor terms, especially if they're a direct competitor and you can offer something similar or better. Other times, it's just a waste of money because people are specifically looking for them, not you. Are there any trends in the search terms? Are there particular competitors that are more of a problem than others? Identifying those patterns is essential.

It sounds like you might not have your keywords organised in a great way. I'd always recommend trying to categorise your keywords in tight, closely themed ad groups. Then you can write highly relevant ads that will resonate with people searching for those specific terms. I've seen big improvements in QS from that. This way, you also see where the budget is going in more detail and can better assign it as you please.

Then what I'd look at next is if your offer is right for the keywords you're targeting. If you're targeting general keywords, maybe try to target people who already know you by name or know what you do? Maybe start with cheaper more general keywords and then move on to the more specific keywords? I always recommend testing lots of keywords, don't just settle for one thing, especially if it's not working. Always test it out!

I'd say you should try out exact match keywords...

Your idea of switching to exact match keywords has merit. You're right, it will give you more control, but it's a bit of a sledgehammer approach and you need to be careful. I'd recommend you start by taking the opposite approach, targeting much smaller number of people who are already aware of the solution you can provide, then broadening it out once you start to see results, and have a better idea of what works, then it might become clearer.

As you noted, you'll likely see a decrease in impression share and clicks, especially if you just switch everything over at once. That's why I'd suggest a more gradual approach, like setting up a test campaign and running it alongside your existing one. That will give you more control over your budget. Are you using any automations at the moment? If you aren't that might be why you are having problems.

One thing you can do to stop exact match from not working is to combine it with more specific keywords. It is much more difficult to get that kind of traffic but it is much easier to get that traffic.

You probably should manage negative keywords...

Your point about negative keywords is spot on. It's not enough to just reactively add negatives as you see irrelevant search terms popping up. You need to be proactive and anticipate what people might search for that's similar but not relevant.

Think about all the different ways someone might be searching that isn't your service, and make sure you exclude those terms. We've found this to be a right pain, but it's well worth the effort in the long run. What you might want to do is target keywords that are very closely related to your business, that will help you narrow down the people you need to see your ads. I always tell my clients to start with the obvious keywords, then move on to long-tail keywords.

The aim is that you will get less impressions, but the people who are being shown the ads will be more interested, so more qualified. What might also work well is to have some more general keywords that drive people to your website or socials, where they can learn more about you.

You'll need to look at targeted landing pages...

Building targeted landing pages is a solid idea. But don't just create landing pages that are technically relevant, make sure they offer a good user experience. We use a copywriter with experience writing specifically for SaaS, which has shown good results.

If the page is slow, not mobile-friendly, or doesn't have a clear call to action, people will bounce. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to convert. This is where good copy helps a lot, it gives you some persuasion to convince your visitors. That might include talking about the problem the visitor is currently facing, then talking about how you can help. If you can convince them you can help, then they'll be more likely to click through.

Also, I've noticed that if your business is based locally, this will help you in two ways. Firstly, it will give the visitor some reassurance that you're based near them. Also, it will help your google ranking. That said, it could also prevent you from reaching a wider audience, so be careful. But what if, say, you were a national chain, then you could show them the nearest shop?

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Anyways, hope that's been helpful! You seem to be on the right track, but sometimes it helps to get a fresh perspective. Scaling software campaigns is something we do quite a lot of. For example, for one medical job matching SaaS client, we reduced their cost per user acquisition from £100 to £7 using a combination of Meta and Google Ads. We understand the challenges and know what works.

If you'd like to chat more about your specific situation and see how we might be able to help, feel free to book in a free consultation. No pressure either way, just happy to share our expertise.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh