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Google AdWords is an online advertising service, developed by Google, where advertisers pay to display brief advertising copy to web users. Google AdWords is an excellent way to drive traffic to your website. Since it can be expensive if not handled correctly, managing your campaigns will get you the highest return on investment. Here are 5 mistakes people make with Google Adwords:

1. Not using ad groups effectively

Not using ad groups is one of the biggest mistakes people make. Instead of segmenting their ads into groups based around similar types of keywords, they lump all of their keywords into one ad group and show everyone the same ad.  Not breaking up your keywords into different ad groups results in lumping everything underneath one ad copy. This doesn’t allow you to customize the ad to be a good fit for the term being searched for. Campaigns will be easier to monitor and optimise with more segregated ads and keywords..

2. Not using negative keywords

Another mistake people make is not using negative keywords. AdWords allows you to use negative keywords to exclude keywords that are not a good match for your product. For example, if you own an online store that sells men’s shoes but not athletic shoes, then you won’t want your ads to show up on searches for “men’s running shoes” but do want them to show up on searches for “men’s shoes.” Thus, you can add “running” as a negative keyword, and your ads won’t be shown for any searches that include the word “running.”

3. Not knowing your competition

Not knowing which ads your competitors are using can be a disadvantage. You need to know who you’re competing against, what keywords they’re using, and what their landing pages look like, or else another digital agency could have you covered. Specifically, you want to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and see which ad you’re most likely to click on. Then, once you do click, pay attention to their landing pages, and compare theirs with yours.

4. Not Directing Visitors to the Appropriate Product or Category Page

A common mistake people make with AdWords is not directing customers to an appropriate product or category page. Instead, they direct everyone to their homepage.

Especially on e-commerce sites where you have category and product pages, it is better to take people to a landing page or a product or category page where people will see a direct match to the ad they clicked, rather than a generic landing homepage.

5. Not managing your expectations

Manage your expectations when it comes to success with Adwords. A lot of people have a really small budget and expect to launch the next big business with budget. They want to get in front of a large audience but have only $100 to $200 to spend per month, which will not get them very far. If your budget is too small, you may not have enough to test your ads until they start performing well. It takes time to run and optimize your campaign to improve your return.

[Disclaimer: This is a student-submitted article that has not been edited or censored. Submitted articles that include subtle attempts at advertising or offensive content will not be tolerated, and we apologise if you find such content within this article. If you find any spam, advertising, or offensive content within this article or the comments section, please contact us immediately and we will promptly remove the article as necessary. Thank you.]

After years of lag, the Canadian ecommerce market is finally on rise. According to Canada ecommerce stats, online sales in Canada are estimated to reach 29 billion Canadian dollars by 2021, up from 18.3 billion last year. Such a booming scene assures immense prospects for budding UBC grads aspiring to launch their own startup. However, the boosted market also attracts tremendous competition.

So, how can you stand out among the scores of ecommerce websites today? Experts stress on making your site more user-friendly to visitors. You only have a few seconds to grasp their attention. If they don’t feel comfortable browsing your site, they won’t hesitate to check your competitors. Here’s a few tips on how you can increase your site’s usability:

Concise & brief sign-up forms

Don’t bore your visitors with lengthy, detailed sign-up forms. It’s a busy world and you have to make things fast for your users. The primary thing you need as an online store is a user’s email and password. You don’t really need to know secondary details like address, occupation, etc. Your customers will prefer a short and concise sign-up form that they can fill in seconds.

Prominent CTA buttons

Higher conversion rates are fundamental to thrive in today’s ruthless competition. The CTA button is one of your most potent weapons to leverage the conversion rate of your store. But you must be careful about its placement and appearance. If your visitors can’t find it, there will be no clicks and no conversion. Don’t make them search for your CTA button. Place it somewhere they can find it easily the moment they land on your homepage.

Incorporate search functionality

Your ecommerce site should also incorporate “search” functionality at the top of the page. It’s better letting them define what they want rather than making them scroll forever through your extensive list.

Mobile app integration

This is another important point to ensure a user-friendly ecommerce site. More than 17 percent of Canadian buyers use mobile for online purchases. Thus, make sure to get the app version of your store online so you don’t miss out on this market.

“If you neglect mobile-based shoppers, you are going to miss out on a huge buyer base. Thus, when choosing an ecommerce builder, make sure it ‘s equipped to help with app integration for your store”, stated Catalin Zorzini, the CEO of leading ecommerce review guide ecommerce platforms.

Help shoppers with breadcrumb navigation

Buying a product from an online store involves a number of steps. Your customers want to keep track of their previous steps while progressing to subsequent ones to understand their current progress with the other. Thus, experts advise integration of breadcrumb navigation into an ecommerce site to make it more user-friendly. Breadcrumb navigation will leave traces of previous steps for the shopper as they move from one step to another. This way, they can easily get back to preceding steps and edit the necessary details (if needed). Breadcrumb navigation will also show the consequent steps a shopper has to complete to finalize the order. Altogether it provides them with a complete picture of the whole ordering and buying process so that they are not lost midway. Finally, be careful to detail the break-up of the total payment so that there are no unexpected charges for the customer.