In generating the greatest number of potential prospects to your site, optimization is a crucial aspect. From Keyword Modifiers to Display Search Ads to Ad Extensions, there are endless combinations of variables that can be manipulated to enhance your ad campaigns at any given time. However, if these features are not updated based on the ever-changing trends of your consumer base—or your company’s changing trends—some very serious problems may surface. So here are some tips to help you avoid the repercussions of low-maintenance AdWords account and keep your PPC revenue high.

STEP 1: Identify Performance Trends
Probably the most important step in this process. If you do not understand what performance trends are impacting your AdWords results, it’s difficult to know how to maintenance your account. First and foremost, check the results. If you notice that certain ads are linked to lower traffic, then ‘test and assess’ what features (or combination of features) are causing the decrease. Is it the keywords? Is it the ad text? Is it the outdated information in the sitelink extension? Whatever the reason, you must first identify the relevant performance trends in your data to understand what combination of variables are affecting your traffic. And from there, you will know where your account needs to be optimized.

STEP 2: Update Information in Ad Extensions
As you identify what factors contribute to consumer trends, you may identify that outdated sitelink information is a premiere reason for the trend. Ad extensions allow AdWords users to input additional information in their text ads so they can optimize their web traffic. Sitelink extensions in particular direct prospects to a certain area of your website (such as the Store Hours page or the Contact Us page). If the information on these pages is not updated, then you risk consumers losing faith in your brand. Being redirected to an outdated page can and often does diminish consumer trust, so it’s extremely important to keep this information up-to-date.

STEP 3: KeyWord Modifiers
Good ole’ KeyWord Modifiers. We recently touched on the importance of using keyword modifiers in broadening your brand visibility. And we can’t stress enough how significant this is to maintaining your AdWords account. For example, if you notice a certain combination of keywords is contributing to lower traffic, it may be wise to use the Broad Match Modifier to account for those iterations in broad search terms that are related to relevant search queries. Even Phrase Match can account for variations in the phrases attached to your keywords to attract a larger pool of potential prospects. Essentially, keyword modifiers afford you greater control in appealing to your target audiences after identifying variables that could be diminishing (or optimizing) your web traffic. It just boils down to identifying what those variables are. And taking a hard look at your data is the first step to understanding which keyword modifiers will help you maintain your account.

Here it is! Three great ways of maintaining your AdWords account. We can’t stress enough the importance of following these steps for ‘well-kept’ ad-campaigns. That is, campaigns that will bring you the results you desire on a consistent basis. However, actually delving into the data and identifying the trends that are causing fluctuations is by far the most important aspect of the process. Without a clear understanding of what works or doesn’t work for your campaigns, you cannot maintenance your account in the proper places. So just take a deep breath as you embark on your Adwords maintenance path, and remember the answers to your success lie in the current ad-campaign data. You just need to assess it.