For years, the Google AdWords interface has maintained the same look and feel, leaving advertisers comfortable with navigating around campaigns and making adjustments.  Google has decided to shake things up with their AdWords appearance by not only giving it a fresh coat of paint, but an extreme makeover.

Google’s new AdWords interface, while still in its beta format, makes a cohesive transition to a Google Analytics experience.  Not only can advertisers view campaign data in graph format, but they are also able to compare mutiple metrics at the same time.  The new interface is more efficient by allowing bulk changes to budgets and cost per click rates.  The update also makes adding negative keywords across the entire campaign an easy process.  Best of all, Google AdWords revised interface makes downloading campaigns simple; with just one click you can send your client’s up to date versions of their campaigns.

While the new interface is still in beta mode, Google will be making the transition to solely using this interface in the near future.  Eligible advertisers can click the ‘new interface (beta)’ link at the top of their AdWords account to try it out.  During this transition, Google makes it easy to switch back and forth between the current interface and new interface.  Advertisers can take a tour of the new interface by watching a Google produced YouTube video.

Whether you love or hate the new interface, one thing is clear: Google’s new interface is here to stay.  Take time to click around and explore the new interface.  Who knows? You might even find that you are a fan too.

Google Adwords moved forward with the development of their new interface March of this year. The existing Beta interface offers new and improved ways of productively managing Google Adwords campaigns. The new interface may look intimidating, but it allows swift campaign, ad group, and keyword updates with analytical data.

When managing campaigns daily in the new Google Adwords Interface, you can now view Google Analytical data graphs. The data that would generally be obtained from Google Analytics to optimize campaigns is now readily available on all account levels (i.e. campaign, ad group, and keyword) in the new Google Adwords Interface. Like Google Analytics, you can manipulate the data and/or graphs by your specified dates or date ranges.   

The graphing options in the new Google Adwords interface can be maneuvered to view metrics by clicks, impressions, click-through-rate, average cost per click, cost and average position. There is even an option to view two metrics at once for comparison of data.  Having this data available in the Adwords interface immensely helps managing Google campaigns efficiently.
 
The new Google Adwords interface has a lot more tools than Google Analytics graphs. New reporting features have been added, account settings (geographical targeting and ad scheduling) can be done in bulk, and more optimization tools have been added to the platform. Google’s new interface should be used suitably to make instant campaign changes. The analytical data in the interface that is now there show immediately show and support up your reasons for campaign changes.

So your AdWords campaigns have grown into architectural masterpieces -structured with multiple, tightly-themed ad groups each containing precise keyword lists that have been expanded, scrubbed, and polished over time.  You are rotating 3 or more versions of ad copy concurrently, removing the impression-cannibals and replacing with fresh ads – always aiming to improve upon click through rates.  Now what?

To make even more of an impact, consider layering on Google’s Conversion Optimizer as part of your overall bid strategy.  Conversion Optimizer is a feature provided by Google that allows you to bid using a max CPA (cost per acquisition or lead) strategy.  This setting is applied at the campaign level.  Google will optimize your campaign performance for the best possible ROI.  CPA bids are set, but you are still charged on a per click basis.  The tool calculates a CPC bid, working back from the max amount you are willing to pay for a conversion, and also using historical conversion data to determine the likelihood your ads have to convert. 

Conversion Optimizer should be considered for campaigns:

1. Generating conversions on a regular basis at a similar rate
2. With a Minimum of 30 conversions over the last 30 days (required)
3. 2 weeks minimum recommended conversion tracking history

Be aware that it is possible to exceed your max specified CPA. Changes to your website and ad copy should be made cautiously during the early stage use of Conversion Optimizer.  These types of changes can have a huge impact on your conversion rate.  If the actual conversion rate turns out to be lower than the conversion rate predicted by Conversion Optimizer, your actual CPA may exceed your maximum CPA bid. 

As with any new strategy, tracking results after changing from manual bidding to Conversion Optimizer is critical.  The chart below provides a snapshot comparison of campaign performance for a 10-day timeframe running Conversion Optimizer versus manual bidding. 

If we were measuring success by click through rate or cost per click, our test would appear to be a failure.  However, our goal with this client was to maintain a consistent lead flow at a pre-determined cost per lead.  With the implementation of Conversion Optimizer, we saw just under a $6 decrease in the cost per conversion over the first 10 days of use……translating to 14 additional leads for our client.

Don’t overlook your top campaigns for bid optimization!  While a manual bidding strategy is necessary for establishing strong positions and click through rates, a CPA bid strategy powered by Google’s Conversion Optimizer can be ideal for taking established campaigns to the next level.  Although campaigns may continue to convert at a respectable rate, you may be missing out on volume by not leveraging this free tool.