Part 3: Setting up your Ad Grant

It’s time to set up your Google Ad Grant! Part 3 of our series will take you through the Ad Grants set up process, step by step.

Google Ad Grants help connect people with non-profit organisations (NFPs), through free Google ads but if you’re not familiar with Google Ad Grants, check out Part 2 of our series for a simple guide.

Top Tip: Make the most of your Ad Grant, by starting well! Here’s how.

Start right, see amazing results

Optimise your Google Ad Grants

Here are four ways to make the most of your Google Ad Grant, by optimising your account:

1. Make sure your account complies with program policies and account structure requirements.
2. Customise your ad campaigns, ensuring user know exactly what they need to do, to connect with your organisation (eg. contact us, click here etc.)
3. Measure your Ad’s impact and optimise the account using Conversion Tracking and Google Analytics.
4. Pay attention to what does and doesn’t work over the course of your campaign and make changes to the campaign accordingly.

• reflect a non-profits primary mission
• be relevant to the non-profit’s programs and services
• be specific in order to provide a good experience for users.

Educate yourself

So you can get the most out of your Google Ad Grant, it’s important that you understand how it works.

• Each campaign has a monthly budget of $10,000USD ($329USD daily).
• Maximum pay-per-click campaign of $2USD.
• Feature only keyword-targeted text ads and campaigns on Google search results pages, beneath paid ads.

Structure your account well

Make sure your Google Ad Grants account is structured to at least the minimum standards in 3 steps:

1. Visit the Campaigns tab and make sure your Google Ads account contains:
   • 1 active Search Campaign
   • 2 active Ad Groups
   • 2 active text ads per Ad Group
2. In the Ads & Extension tab, select Extensions and ensure there are at least 2 approved site links.
3. Click through to the Locations tab and double-check that geo-targeting is active and correct for all active ads.

Get your keywords right

Using the right keywords is absolutely vital to the success of your account.

1. Refine your keyword strategy by visiting the Keywords tab, click through to Search Keywords and pause or delete any keywords which aren’t performing well.

They may be:

• single-word keywords
• keywords which are too generic
• active keywords with a quality score of 1-2
• any keywords with low CTR scores – even if their impression is high

2. Review your search query reports by visiting the Reporting tab and identifying any search terms which are triggering your ad but are irrelevant to your organisation. Take note of the top performing queries here and add them to your list of Negative Keywords.

3. It’s the small details which make a big difference so perhaps consider creating a branded campaign, utilize keyword planner to ensure you’re using the best keywords possible and even group your keywords lists into themes and categories.

Track your results

Perhaps one of the most effective things to do is to keep an eye on your account, taking note of what does and doesn’t work.

Set up your tracking, to make this easy:

1. Setup Conversion Tracking by clicking through to the Tools > Conversions tab, where you can measure each campaign.
2. If you notice any poorly performing conversion rates, check your landing pages and make sure the content on each page is relevant to the keywords and queries which have brought people to your site – and that all domains here have been approved by Google Ad Grants.
3. Once the campaign has been running for a month, consider tweaking your campaign bid strategy to ensure you can maximise conversions, target your CPA or ROAS (these aren’t subject to the $2USD bidding cap).
4. For more ideas on optimising your account, check back at the Opportunities tab for updated information and opportunities.

Ready to start tracking your campaign’s conversions? Check out part 4 of our Google Adwords for NFPs series for a simple guide here.

If you’re having trouble setting up your account or if you have any questions, feel free to get in touch! We’re here to help.