At this point, Google Ads is pretty much synonymous with “online advertising”—and for good reason. While other digital options might be more effective depending on the industry, Google Ads are great at reaching just about anyone you want to find. Plus, since they can be targeted based on keywords, it makes for an extremely granular approach.
But just like anything else in the digital space, you can’t just “set and forget” your Google Ads. Luckily for you, we’ve put together a checklist of some of the top ways to manage your ads, both on a daily and weekly basis.
Wait. Why Only Daily?
We get this question a lot. Why are we recommending you check ads only on a daily basis? What about hourly? After all, digital moves so quickly, doesn’t it?
It does! Checking more frequently than daily can be helpful during specific campaigns. However, it’s important to remember that Google Ads metrics can be delayed up to three hours. That means what you’re seeing may not be the most accurate data, making changing on the fly much harder. To help take that three-hour delay into account, it’s a good idea to check in every day or at least recognize that anything you see that’s more recent is bound to change in the future.
Okay, with that figured out, let’s talk about daily tasks.
Top 5 Daily Google Ads Tasks
While you don’t need to be watching your campaigns like a hawk, there are a few best practices to keep in mind on a day-to-day basis. And don’t worry—we know you don’t have all the time in the world, so we’re keeping this list to the top five most important tasks.
- Check on conversions. Every campaign is built differently, based on whatever your ultimate goals are. Still, at the end of the day, you should have some sort of conversion that determines whether or not the campaign is doing what it should be. We recommend checking in on conversions every day. That way, if there’s a spike one way or the other, you can adjust as needed to keep things trending in the right direction.
- Study your stats. Conversions are great, but they’re only part of the story. If you have really great click-through rates and terrible conversions, well, that points to a bigger issue. By studying your data each and every day, you can identify trends before they tank your campaign. Plus, you might be able to find areas of improvement that you never knew you needed.
- Dive into insights. Speaking of improvements, let’s talk about insights. Google’s Insights tab can be a great way to find areas you can tweak in your campaigns. If you’re more of a visual person, this tab will be more helpful than the raw numbers in the Campaign overview.
- Keep an eye on budget. Different bidding strategies require varying levels of attentiveness when it comes to budgets. However, regardless of your approach, it’s a good idea to check to make sure you don’t have that little “Limited by Budget” bubble we all hate so much…or even worse, the dreaded “Limited by Policy” flag. We can already hear Google Support Line’s hold music.
- Check out keywords. Depending on your industry, keyword performance may fluctuate a lot…or it might stay relatively the same. Regardless, all it takes is one weird video to go viral on TikTok for a keyword to explode off the charts. Regularly checking in on your keywords ensures you can stay on top of trends and cut loose any dead weight before it drags your budget down.
- Review your recommendations. Of course, as with anything from Google for Google, we recommend taking these with a grain of salt wherever budget is concerned (after all, they have to make money somehow). And yes, we hate the “download the Google Ads App” recommendation as much as the next guy. Still, some of the recommendations can be helpful, especially if you aren’t studying ads all day, every day. Checking in on these daily can help make sure your ads stay on track in the long run.
Top 3 Weekly Google Ads Tasks
In addition to checking your ads daily, there are a few overarching Google Ads items that need attention every week. Here are some of our favorite items to tackle every week.
- Adjust schedules. Once you have a decent amount of data (this could be anywhere from 1-2 weeks or more, depending on your industry), it’s time to look at when people are engaging. By seeing when ads were shown and how people did or didn’t interact, you can alter your schedule to show campaigns during the best times and save money during the worst. Of course, every week is different, so as your campaigns grow, it’s always a good idea to look back on more and more data to inform these decisions.
- Compare ad performance. You’ve built your campaigns, checked your daily tasks, and feel like you’re on top of the world. But even if the structure’s good, a campaign’s only as successful as its creative is. By comparing ads and A/B testing creative, you can gain insights about what really resonates with your audience. Checking on this weekly can point you in the right direction, even if that means pausing an existing ad and making something new.
- Check out the competition. We’re pretty damn competitive around here, and that applies to the digital space, too. Auction Insights can provide a great view of how you stack up against your competition. Then, you’ll know exactly whose tactics you need to be paying attention to and who you’re up against. Oh, and pro tip for monitoring your competition: if you’re running Search Ads, make sure to turn that Search Lost IS (budget) column on in your campaign report. Thank us later.
- Forecast campaigns. With all of these insights, data, and takeaways, your head’s bound to be buzzing by the end of the week. There’s no better time to start planning out what your next campaign will be. Make notes of what you find and how they can apply to your next ads. The more you learn, the better the results will be in the future.
Google Ads don’t have to be a big, scary, time-consuming monster…but they shouldn’t be forgotten about either. We hope these checklists can help you dust off those campaigns and gain a little traction toward your goals. And, of course, if you need any help, you always know where to find us.
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