Adwords structure issue

[mat2015]

Background: We manufacture and sell our own products to the UK and English speaking world. We rank well for major terms but there is lots more traffic to be had with PPC so we've always used Adwords

At present I target keywords in 3 ways.

1. I have an [exact match] campaign that I use to target terms like [acme widget]

2. I have a broad match campaign that I use to target keyword targets I have identified through research like +blue +acme +widget.

3. I have an even broader campaign that I use to target the very long tail terms that it would be too time consuming to create groups and ads for like +camo +rocket +acme +widget

The problem: My 3rd category won't show! I use varied bids to make sure the more relevant ads show where they overlap (eg 2nd campaign bid is 50% of 1st campaign, 3rd campaign bid is 50% of 2nd) but 3rd campaign wont show for long tail searches when I test it with the random crap that people search for! I get the error message...

Your ad isn't being displayed for this keyword because there may be other ads within your account that are ranked higher and have similar keywords.

2 questions I suppose, is my structure acceptable and if it should work why isn't it?! Thanks so much all!

Matthew

[guillermoga]

Hi Matthew,

Sounds like your ads are competing with each other. It's often called internal competition. Logically, those keywords on your third example can also trigger ads from your second example. It will usually tend to choose the ad performing better but can also show your other ad occasionally.

You can use negative keywords at Ad Group level to prevent this from happening while keeping your current structure. So, for example, on your 2nd category you can add as negative keywords the words: camo and rocket.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

[Alick300]

Hi Mat,

I don't think it is good idea to create three separate campaign for each match type. IMO best practice would be create separate Ad group for each match type in your case.

Second thing there is no use to create separate campaign/ Ad group for like +camo +rocket +acme +widget because I don't think modified broad match type having four words will give significant traffic. As far as I know modified broad match type shouldn't have more than three words.

As far as your current structure is concern technically there is no issue but practically you should create three separate ad group rather than three campaigns for each type.

*** You can add 'camo' as negative keyword in second campaign to remove  the error "Your ad isn't being displayed for this keyword because there may be other ads within your account that are ranked higher and have similar keywords."

[mat2015]

3rd campaign is actually by super broad one so would use the terms +acme +widget. The example I gave was of what I would NOT have time to do, my fault; confusing!

I use separate campaigns so I can see at a glance differing conversion rates and data etc.

Oddly it does appear to be working now. My 3rd super broad campaign appears to be hoovering up traffic the two more focussed ones are missing. Strangely this is at higher CTR's than both of them. Go figure!

[Linda-Vassily]

Here is a good article on bid stacking in Adwords that might help you adjust your strategy.