There are a lot of metrics to consider when you start running ads on Google.
But, for most dealerships, the most important metric is the number of leads generated from Google Ads.
But, before you can optimize the number of leads you generate from your Google Ads, you need to define what your dealership counts as a “lead” or a “conversion” and start tracking these leads in your Google Ads account.
With that in mind, if you haven’t already, the number one action you need to take to get more leads is defining your conversion goals…
Action #1: Define Your Conversion Goals
Google offers many ways to track conversions, but, these are the three most common conversions most dealers find useful to track to determine how many leads were generated from Google Ads:
Submitting a Lead Form On Your Website
Examples of this type of conversion include requesting a quote, checking vehicle availability, or
filling out a “contact us” form.
To track these types of conversions, visit Google’s support website for instructions. Note: You’ll need to be able to edit your website’s code o track these types of conversions.
Calls that Originated From Your Google Ads
Many shoppers will call your dealership when they see an ad for a car they like. With Google Ads, you can easily track calls that come from a call extension on your ad.
Call extensions are an easy way to add your phone number to existing ads. Shoppers can click the phone number to call your dealership directly.
It is very easy to turn on call tracking for your Google search ads. Simply turn on call tracking, and ensure you look add the “Phone Calls” column to your Google Ads reports.
Click here for Google’s detailed instructions on how to track calls from your ads.
If you want to track calls to a phone number on your website, this will take some additional steps because you will need to edit your website code. It’s still a fairly simple process but will take a bit more elbow grease. Click here for additional instructions on setting up call tracking on your website.
Specific Webpage Visits
Most dealerships have certain pages on their website that are more likely to be viewed by more serious shoppers.
For example, if someone visits an individual VDP page, your service page, or your financing options page, you may choose to track these conversions. You can also set it up to only track “hidden” pages like Thank You pages that show after a form is filled out.
This is a pretty easy conversion to set up, but you will need to have Google’s conversion tag added to your website to make it work.
Action #2: Make Your Ads As Specific as Possible
When you make your ads as specific to a search query as possible, a lot of good things happen because better and specific ads tend to also increase your ad quality.
When ad quality increases generally, this means the following will happen:
- Your clickthrough rate will increase (meaning more visits to your website)
- CPC generally decreases because Google charges less per click for higher-quality ads
- Conversions increase because shoppers are finding exactly what they were looking for!
But, what exactly makes an ad specific?
Ad specificity starts with the search term. For a dealership, this is often going to be a vehicle model. For example, let’s say a potential shopper in your area searches on Google for a “Used Honda Civic,” you want your ad to match a shopper’s search query as much as possible.
For the ad to be as specific as possible, the search term will ideally appear in the:
- Ad Title
- Ad Description
- Ad URL
- Landing Page Title (and throughout the page)
Your dealership could choose to set up manual campaigns and keywords for each vehicle on your lot. But, if you have more than a few vehicles, this will be very difficult to manage.
This is because, unlike many other brick-and-mortar stores that have more static inventory, dealers are always getting new inventory and selling older inventory.
If you have a few cars on your lot, you may be able to manage this manually, but most dealers should take advantage of Google’s dynamic search ads.
AutoSweet offers a Google Dynamic Search Ads solution that automatically makes your ads specific to what shoppers are searching for. It also includes dynamic price reduction ads to improve your overall clickthrough rates.
AutoSweet’s Google Dynamic Search Ads average around $1 per ad click compared to the automotive industry average of $2.46! This means you get more than twice as much web traffic and leads for your money when you work with AutoSweet (compared to the national average)!
Action #3: Analyze Your Search Terms and Add Negative Keywords to Campaigns
One way to increase your conversions is to get rid of any search terms that are costing your business money, but not producing leads. You can do this by adding negative keywords to your campaigns.
A negative keyword will stop ads from running when a potential shopper uses that keyword on a Google Search for an otherwise relevant term.
For a basic example, if you only sell pre-owned vehicles, you might want to add “new” to your negative keyword list.
In this example, see how a negative query would impact your ads from showing to searchers:
Ad Would show for the following queries:
- 2022 Used Honda Civic
- 2022 Honda Civic
- Used Honda Civic
Ad Would NOT Show for the following queries:
- 2022 New Honda Civic
- New Honda Civic
To identify high-cost keywords that aren’t producing conversions, you can use the built-in filters in your Google Ads account. The filters you choose will depend on your current budget.
You may also need to expand your timeframe to get enough measurement data to determine whether or not the search term produced conversions.
Need Help Getting Started With Google Ads?
AutoSweet is here to help! Reach out to our digital marketing consultants for a free Google Ads strategy session for your dealership.
