How do I make my Google Ads more efficient?

One thing first. Efficient doesn't mean cheap. A $10 click that becomes a customer beats a $1 click that never does. Careers have been built on this question, so this is the short, practical version.

Search terms are the exact words people typed into Google before they saw your ad. They are often not the keywords you chose, and this is where most wasted money hides.

In your account, go to Insights and reports, then Search terms. Click the Cost column heading so the most expensive terms come first, then read down the list.

For each one, ask a single question: would this person want what I sell?

If nearly all of them are relevant, move on to step 3. If they aren't, fix your keywords (step 2) and add the irrelevant words as negative keywords, which tell Google never to show your ad for those searches.

A match type controls how closely someone's search has to match your keyword. For a new account, the safest approach is to use exact match only. There are rare cases for anything else, and a beginner is very unlikely to be in one of them.

Note that exact match isn't literal. Google still shows your ad for close variations that mean the same thing. That's fine. It's a long way from broad match, which can wander a long way from what you meant.

When you choose keywords, run this test. Out of everyone who might type this into Google, what share would want what I sell? Aim for 80 to 90 per cent.

A workplace first aid trainer should bid on workplace first aid training, not first aid training. Most people searching the second one aren't thinking about workplaces at all. You'd pay for their clicks and get nothing.

There are situations where broader keywords make sense: a big budget, or manual bidding where you force the bids lower on the wide terms. For a new account, start narrow. Widen later, once you have data to judge it by.

An ad group is a bundle of keywords that share the same ads. One ad group per cluster of keywords that need their own message.

If you also sell workplace CPR training, give it a separate ad group with an ad that says exactly that. Someone searching for CPR training wants to see CPR training. If it's the same thing in different words, one ad group is enough.

A Google ad is built from several headlines. If you let Google choose the order, you get repetition and muddle. Search for "driveway repair Vancouver" and you can find ads with headlines like "Driveway Repair in Vancouver" followed by "Driveway Repair Contractors". That's the same words twice and no reason to click.

Pinning locks a headline into a position. Here's the structure that works:

• Headline 1: the keyword. For example, "Driveway Repair in Vancouver".
• Headline 2: a call to action, such as "Get Your Quote Now" or "Site Visits Within 24 Hours".

The call to action attracts people who want to take that step and puts off people who only wanted information. That's a good thing, because every unwanted click costs you money.

Google will flag your ad as having low ad strength and nag you to unpin. Ignore it. Ad strength doesn't affect your Quality Score. It mostly reflects how much freedom you've given Google. Pinning does limit Google's ability to test combinations. On a small account there isn't enough data for that testing to work well anyway.

You already know you should track conversions, meaning the actions you want people to take, like a call or a form. Once that's working, you can go a step further by giving different actions different values, so Google can tell which visitors are most promising.

That's a more advanced technique. The article on what conversions to track covers this in more detail.

These aren't the only things we do, and I don't want to oversell them. In both of these accounts we made many changes beyond the five checks above, so treat the results as what's possible when you get the basics right and keep improving, not as what these steps alone will deliver.

• An exterior cleaning business: quotes up 178% and cost per acquisition down 57%.
• An insurance client: revenue up 144% and return on ad spend up 68%.

Read your search terms. Cut anything irrelevant. Use exact match. Give each kind of ask its own ad. Pin your headlines. Track real enquiries. Efficiency is just making sure every dollar goes towards someone who wanted what you sell.