UPDATED 2.0 : We added new content, more tips, and a tutorial video to jumpstart your SKAGs build.
Originally Published: 16 May 2019
Before you read the article, you may just want to dive in and start building Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs) with our Google Sheets tool.
If so, you can watch the video tutorial above and download the free SKAGs builder by clicking the banner below.
If not, keep reading.
What are Single Keyword Ad Groups?
Single Keyword Ad Groups (SKAGs) refer to an advertising strategy whereby you create dedicated Ad Groups for each keyword in your account.
In theory, a perfect SKAG structure would yield a 1:1 ratio between keyword & user search. With dedicated ad copy, ad extensions and landing pages.
Let’s imagine you implement the perfect SKAG structure with customised ad copy for each Ad Group, dedicated ad extensions and landing pages.
A user conducts a search on Google (search query).
They see relevant ad messaging based on their query, which increases their likelihood of clicking on your ad (increased click through rate).
If you’ve pushed the boat out and created hyper focused landing pages, the complete user journey is tightly themed to their query and intent.
Your potential customer feels like the journey from a search through to conversion was personalised to their needs.
This has wide-ranging benefits which we’ll discuss in great detail throughout this article.
Keyword Match Types Explained & How They Affect SKAGs in 2020.
First, we need to understand the relationship between a keyword and search query.
Search query – The actual searches people make on search engines.
Keywords – The keywords advertisers select so their ads appear when a user conducts a search.
It’s important to understand, a keyword can trigger many different search queries, which leads nicely onto the next point.
Match Types
Google offers 4 keyword match types
- Broad
- Modified Broad
- Phrase
- Exact
The table below highlights each match type and their relationship to search queries.
Over the years Google’s made many changes to keyword match types. For us PPC geeks it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions.
“Exact” used to mean exactly that!
If you added the keyword [360 survey software], your ad would only appear when the search query “exactly” matched your keyword.
This gave advertisers precise control and made it far easier to create the “perfect” SKAG structure.
Fast forward to 2020 and the rules of the game have changed.
For example, in the case of exact match, this is how Google defines it,
“Exact matches or close variations of that exact term with the same meaning”
What was that Google?
This was not well received in the PPC industry.
To make things even more confusing, Google defines close variants for each match type in a different way.
Close variants include misspellings, singular and plural forms, abbreviations and acronyms, and stemmings (like “floor” and “flooring”).
PPC professionals are frustrated with Google loosening the reins on match types, which started in 2014.
It’s understandable, sophisticated advertisers should have the ability to control “exactly” which search queries trigger ads.
Google’s argument is that 15% of its daily search queries are new.
Loosening match types saves advertisers missing these new searches and the time to create exhaustive keyword lists.
Google is also pushing very hard on their machine learning algorithms which can infer intent from each search query. Saving advertisers creating huge keyword lists and controlling which queries fire their ads.
So how does this all relate to SKAGs?
Let’s touch on the iceberg effect.
What you see on the surface are keywords but under the surface are search queries.
Theoretically the perfect SKAG structure would yield a 1:1 keyword to search term ratio.
In reality, with the recent match type changes this is almost impossible.
Let’s take an example from an Ad group with just one exact match keyword: [website wireframe]
Over a 1-month period this single exact match keyword generated over 40 unique search terms.
There are ways to combat this which we’ll touch on later, but Google is making it more and more difficult to implement a “perfect” SKAG structure.
I believe the SKAGs approach is as valid today as it was 5 years ago, but let’s not kid ourselves the “perfect” SKAG structure is virtually impossible to execute.
With that being said, let me take you further down the single keyword Ad Group rabbit hole.
How many keywords per Ad Group?
This may seem like a f**cking stupid question, a single keyword right?
Well, no.
Single keyword Ad Groups can include the same keyword but with multiple match types.
Because 99.9% of advertisers should ignore broad match, that leaves just 3 options:
- Modified Broad
- Phrase
- Exact
There’s no right or wrong answer how to approach this. Like most things in paid advertising it really depends.
We advise to start with all 3 match types and making adjustments based on performance.
If you have a tight budget, it makes sense to start with Exact match only. Based on the theory that Exact match provides a greater level of control.
If you start with Exact match only ensure you create extensive keyword lists.
I show you how to do this in our SKAG tutorial video.
Larger advertisers can afford to experiment with more broadly related search queries and scale back.
Smaller advertisers should do the reverse. Start more targeted and scale up based on performance.
Campaign Structure
The last point worth making on the number of keywords per Ad Group is how you structure your campaigns.
You may have heard of Alpha / Beta campaign structures. Otherwise known as Exact / Broad.
The concept is that you further divide your SKAGs into dedicated campaigns for each match type.
Imagine you have 1 campaign with 100 Ad Groups. Each Ad Group contains 1 modified broad match keyword.
You would duplicate this campaign and convert the modified broad match keywords to exact.
You would then add the exact match keywords as a cross negatives to the broader campaign.
This ensures that if a user searches that exact query they go to the exact match campaign and cross over is limited.
This approach can work well if you have decent volume. Use the BETA (broad) campaigns for testing and systematically move high converting search queries as keywords to the ALPHA (exact) campaign.
Give extra budget to your ALPHA campaigns which you know have better performance history.
In our experience for most advertisers ALPHA / BETA structures aren’t worth the hassle.
It takes considerable time and effort to implement and optimise, the negatives outweigh the benefits in the majority of case.
10 Benefits of SKAGs
1. Increase Click-Through-Rates
A SKAG structure alone won’t increase CTR but it lays the foundations. You need to put in the work.
Once you have a granular structure in place, put the work in! Create customised ads for each Ad Group.
My recommendation is to include the keyword in the first headline (H1) and in the description and display URL (different to final URL).
This will massively increase your CTR.
The SKAG tutorial video shows you how to customise ads to push the needle on CTR and create experiments quickly.
Bonus tips for writing successful text ads
- Highlight what makes you unique – Standing out in the SERPS is tough. Why should someone choose you over everybody else?
- Include any exclusive offers, discounts and promotions. Most people are a sucker for a bargain.
- Call To Actions – Be explicit in what you want someone to do. Call now, sign up, subscribe, get a quote.
- Message Match – Follow the message through from ad to landing page. Don’t break the promise you made in your ad copy.
2. Increase Quality Score
Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. It’s a numerical value between 1 & 10.
Higher quality scores lead to lower costs and improved visibility.
The major components of quality score are,
- Expected click through rate
- Ad relevance
- landing page experience.
- Expected impact of ad extensions
These can all be controlled with much greater precision using SKAGs.
Bonus Tip – Use the tool we created and put the work in up front.
3. Boost Impression Share
Impression share is the number of impressions you’ve received divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive.
Think of it like market share.
The higher the impression share, the greater piece of the market (searches) your ads appear.
The beauty of increasing your CTR is that you increase quality score which increases your impression share.
For all the nerds out there (like me).
4. Increase Average Position
As we just mentioned, increasing CTR, increases quality score. And by improving quality score you improve ad rank.
For the same cost you can achieve higher average positions, reach more people and get more bang for your buck.
5. Decrease Cost Per Conversion (CPA)
SKAGs when implemented with precision can improve quality score.
There’s a strong correlation between quality score and cost per conversion
6. Decrease Cost Per Click
Again we come back to quality score. No need to dig into this one.
Improved quality score = lower cost per click.
Simple.
7. More Traffic
There are many ways to get more traffic. What matters is getting more of the right traffic.
Because there’s a finite number of people searching for what you’re selling you want to capture as much of that traffic as possible.
Execute SKAGs well and you’ll increase CTR. That means you’ll attract more people searching for what you offer.
And we know increased CTR improves quality score so you’ll pay less, boost impression share and average position.
8. Surface Level Control
We spoke about the iceberg effect.
SKAGs improve the ratio from keyword to a search query.
So what’s happening under the surface is tied to above surface controls.
Imagine a keyword with 500 unique search queries below the surface. Each query has different conversion rates.
Most of your optimisation time is spent above the surface.
A well-executed SKAG structure saves time putting scuba gear on every day.
9. Landing Pages
Keywords are the lowest level you can assign landing pages.
The greater the discrepancy between keyword and search query the less tailored your landing page is to the user.
Take your PPC game to the next level by creating super relevant, customised landing pages, that match the search query.
SKAGs improve search query to landing page ratio.
10. Systematic Scalability & Optimisation
You should have a clear framework and process for optimisation and scalability.
As part of the SKAGs optimisation process (more detail below) you should review your search terms report and move high volume queries as keywords or negatives into your campaigns.
In doing so you eliminate waste and uncover opportunities for growth.
6 Single Keyword Ad Groups Negatives
#1 Google Smart Bidding AI
SKAGs supposedly put you in the driver’s seat. Control the specific search queries for which your ads appear, Control the exact messaging a user sees and optimise bids with precision.
Sounds good right? Us PPC folk love that shit. We make our bread charging clients for this stuff.
But what if there was an alternative?
Well there is. A good one too.
Google AI technology (smart bidding) can do a lot of the heavy lifting for you.
Smart bidding can predict the likelihood of conversion at the query level and decide whether or not to show your ad.
In theory it can take care of what’s happening under the surface for you.
For a moment, consider manual bidding VS smart bidding.
When you adjust bids manually, you’re making adjustments today based on the results of yesterday.
Smart bidding is predicting in the exact moment, the likelihood of conversion. Using 1000s of signals no human could compute.
So the question becomes – Why bother clinging onto the micro management in a world of AI?
Let’s not deep dive into Smart Bidding here, but it’s a powerful argument against SKAGs. Or more to the point… The “perfect” SKAGs structure.
You need to consider how much time and energy you should invest in SKAGs when Smart Bidding can potentially automate the workload.
It’s all about balance. Are you micromanaging your account for the sake of it?
#2 Responsive Search Ads
RSAs ads powered by Google AI.
Upload 15 different headlines and 4 descriptions. Google’s algorithms will determine which ad creatives are likely to perform best and serve the most relevant cocktail of creatives.
That’s ad optimisation in real time…. Nice!
Google recommends that you upload 2 normal expanded text ads (ETAs) with 1 RSA.
Early RSA results have been mixed and not well received by PPC managers, perhaps because they’re powered by machine learning
Humans are forgiving towards fellow humans but for algorithms, we’re far more unforgiving. Remember to allow for sufficient learning and the results may surprise you.
Another advantage of RSAs is their ability to appear in the more auctions.
#3 Data Dilution
The problem is exacerbated with smaller accounts.
By spreading your data across multiple Ad Groups you dilute. Reaching statistical significance becomes far more challenging.
This applies to ad copy tests, landing pages and a bunch more.
We touch on this later but don’t go crazy with SKAGs. Going super granular (especially with a small budget) just leads to bloat in your account plus optimisation and experiment crushing dilution.
#4 Bloated Structures
I speak from personal experience here. I’m a PPC geek, I hold my hands up.
That’s led to me create incredibly granular “perfect” SKAG structures. I’ve thought of every search query and created super focused ad copy.
In reality what happens is you end up with 112 Ad Groups that get impressions and 3,234 with zero.
That my friend is a real waste of time.
Use common sense. Assess the keyword volumes, targeting criteria and budget.
Don’t go crazy when you’re starting out. It’s more efficient to start with broader Ad Groups and then “granulize” (yes I just made that up) as the data comes in.
#5 Eats Up Time
This is when you go nuts at the build stage.
The tool we built helps with the process but don’t go crazy.
SKAGs require continuous optimisation. Reviewing search queries and moving them into dedicated Ad Groups.
With smart bidding and RSAs you can eliminate a lot of the optimisation time.
#6 Fighting the shift in technology
Every move Google is making heads towards an AI assisted Ad Platform.
Consider the evolving of match types, smart bidding, RSA’s and a bunch of other stuff.
It makes sense. Why should a human do the work an algorithm can do much faster and better?
It’s debatable how effective these solutions are, but we’re heading in that direction.
We can use the hours saved for strategy and creative. As we move towards greater automation, these skills are more important.
How to set up Single Keyword Ad Groups
I have some good news for you.
We built a tool using Google sheets that we use to build SKAGs.
It doesn’t look sexy, and it’s far from a polished piece of software but it works well.
And best of all it’s FREE.
Check out the tutorial video, which takes you through the entire process step by step.
In the video you will learn how to:
- Build extensive keyword lists.
- Apply cross negatives to ensure search queries are channelled correctly
- Select different match types
- Upload your new SKAG structure from the tool into Google Ads Editor and then into your live account.
- Customise ads at scale for maximum CTR impact.
- Create multiple ad variations for split testing at scale
- Apply labels across ad variations for faster experiments
- Maximise character length in your ad copy to boost CTR.
Apologies for the slow pace of the video. I wanted to make it easy to follow so even a complete PPC novice could build awesome campaigns.
Let me know in the comments if you have questions or even better anything you would like to add to the tool. I’ll do my best to update it for you.
How to optimize SKAGs
The aim of the game is search query refinement.
This involves a constant review of your search term report and breaking out search queries into their own dedicated Ad Groups or adding as them negatives.
Let’s go back to our previous example. The keyword in question was [website wireframe].
You can see by looking at the report we have multiple search terms with over 20 clicks (over a 30-day period).
It would be wise to “granulize” these OR break them out. Either by adding them as a negative or adding them to a dedicated Ad Group.
You should determine the criteria for how you handle this ahead of time. You could say any search terms with 30 clicks and zero conversions are negatives. Or $50 in spend and zero conversions get the same treatment.
This depends on your risk tolerance and whether you’re shooting for growth or efficiency.
By having your criteria documented ahead of time, anybody joining the party late will understand how the account is optimised.
I also recommend using labels. If you break out a search query into a dedicated Ad Group, add a label that contains the date and the criteria in question.
What if you find a search query that has a poor conversion rate but the landing page isn’t suitable?
Instead of adding as a negative never to be seen again, why not direct them to a better landing page?
In my experience unless you set criteria ahead of time people make their own decisions about what should stay and what should go.
Things can get messy fast. Take the time to create the rules of the game before you play.
Search Query Refinement
Going back to our “perfect” SKAG structure with 1:1 ratio between search query and keyword.
The first step is to understand search query cannibalization. In other words, this is where the same search query being triggered in multiple Ad Groups.
Each unique search query should trigger 1 Ad Group in your account.
When that’s not the case, you have a problem. The extent of which can be difficult to diagnose.
For this, we recommend using the duplicate search query checker script
It’s easy to implement and will highlight where you can fine tune your SKAGs.
Upraw Media Single Keyword Ad Group Tool
The quickest way to build single keyword Ad Groups is by using our Google Sheets tool and Ads Editor. As I mentioned before, I recorded a video tutorial and you can view the video transcript as well.
Closing Thoughts
There’s no one-size-fits-all Single Keyword Ad Group strategy.
With the recent keyword match type changes SKAGs fly in the face of Google best practice.
But then again, that’s what’s in the best interest of Google and the best interest of advertisers.
By using the tool we created and best practices we outlined in this video, you may not end up with the “perfect” SKAG structure, but you’ll be well on your way to building high-quality campaigns.
Want to keep learning new ways to grow your business? Check out our article on 29 lead generation ideas you can start learning right now!
Share