5 Settings to Pay Attention to in AdWords : Devices
January 04, 2012
Marketing a small business can be an expensive endeavor, and if you have decided to forgo pay per click management, setting up a Google AdWords campaign yourself can be a daunting task. There are many different settings that are automatically set in Google’s favor that may not necessarily be the best for your campaign. Here is part 2 of this 5 part series.
2. Devices
If you use device targeting correctly in AdWords, it can be a very powerful tool. Currently you have four options when it comes to devices: All Available Devices, Desktop and Laptop Computers, Mobile Devices with Full Browsers, and Tablets with Full Browsers. This setting is automatically set to All Available devices, which for some businesses is the right way to go. For instance, any local brick and mortar business should advertise on all devices because consumers look for stores and restaurants on their mobile phones. For a purely internet based business, such as an online stores, I would generally advise against advertising on mobile phones, but this can vary widely based on what kind of product you’re selling. In many cases, the likelihood of a phone user clicking your ad is low, which will lower your overall CTR. It is also necessary to make sure that your site displays well on a phone or tablet before advertising on those devices. If your site does not, you should look into creating a mobile specific site.
As always, I recommend testing these settings before turning them off. Run the campaign for a week with all devices on, see what happens, and adjust the setting accordingly. In November, Google added new metrics for tablets and mobile devices to Analytics, which makes tracking this much easier. All of the AdWords reports available in Analytics can now be segmented by tablet and mobile device. Check back next month for part 3 of this series about pay per click management to learn about ad scheduling.
