Use the Google ad preview tool whenever you aren’t sure if your keywords will trigger your ads!

There’s a reason Google ads are the juggernaut in the search engine marketing industry: over 85% of the world’s searches flow through the site. Using the Google ad preview tool provides insight about your ad’s performance, giving you feedback without searching for the keywords on another tab.

Knowing if your Google ads are showing and which keywords are triggered by your search terms provides valuable information about where and how your ad money goes.

This article will dive into three ways the Google ad preview tool can save you time managing your own Google ads campaigns!

Searching from a different location.

Search engine marketers often put themselves in the shoes of their potential customers. Having a feel for how people would find a business based on what they search for allows for creating quality keywords. Then, ads will show for people interested in a service or product without targeting people not interested in becoming customers.

Are you wondering if a particular search term triggers your keywords? Use the Google ad preview tool.

This tool is especially useful if you don’t live in your target market. Instead of figuring out a way for Google to think your computer is in the target market, the Google ad preview tool allows for the setting of where the search originates.

The tool also provides insight into which keyword is triggered by the entered search term.

Save time with the Google ad preview tool.

Before we dive into how the Google ad preview tool can save you time, let’s discuss how you get there.

1. Log into your Google ads account.

2. Go to “Tools and Settings” at the top of the page.

3. Click “Planning,” then navigate to the “Ad Preview and Diagnosis.”

Checking location, keywords, and competitors using the Google ad preview tool can help you decide your account’s bid strategy and keywords.

For the following example, let’s pretend we’re checking on the results for the search term “water damage.”

Check location

Algorithmic Global does a lot of ads management for restoration companies throughout the country. If a company is located in Atlanta, we don’t want their ads showing up in Maryland; no company is making the trip up the east coast for a restoration job!

So, we want our ads to show in Atlanta and not in Maryland. To check this, search for “water damage” in both areas. It should show up in Atlanta and nowhere else.

Now, we aren’t going to go through and check every possible place the ads can’t be served. Running a search from Maryland is just a quick check.

Checking the location has been a vital part of our quality assurance process, making sure ad dollars aren’t spent in areas not covered by the company.

Check keywords

A benefit of the Google ad preview tool is seeing which keywords are triggered by your search terms. 

For example, searching for “water damage” triggered ads tied to the keyword +water +damage mitigation. 

Put yourself in the shoes of potential customers. What might they search for when looking for your services? Enter these into the search bar and make sure one of your ads show up. If not, go back to your keywords and plug any gaps in your coverage of the potential search terms.

Check competitors

Whatever shows up when you search for your ads is a snapshot of the search results page at that moment in time. Take a look at where on the page your ads show.

Is there a competitor ahead of you? 

If your ads don’t appear, and it isn’t because of coverage by your keywords, is it because of low ad rank? Or do you get an alert about another keyword providing a better match?

Keep one thing in mind: the Google ad preview tool is just one snapshot in time. We often see an alert that our ads are probably being served but weren’t for the particular diagnosis. This alert isn’t something to worry about; search again until your ads show up.

How do I check my Google Ad?

You can check your Google ad using the Google ad preview tool. This tool allows you to search as if you are in another location, which is excellent if the ads you’re investigating doesn’t service your current location.

You can discover which keywords cover your search terms and set the device you are searching from—for example, searching as a mobile device from your computer.

Find the Google ad preview tool by going to the “Tools and Settings” section at the top of your account. The preview Google ad preview tool is under the “Planning” tab.

Why are my Google ads not showing up?

There are many potential reasons why your Google ads aren’t showing up. The two most obvious reasons are your bids for your keywords are too low, or your campaign is out of budget.

One reason–which you don’t want happening–is that your keywords don’t cover your desired search term. Using the Google ad preview tool, enter your desired search term. If your keywords DO cover the search term, you’ll find out why your ad isn’t shown. If your keywords DO NOT cover the search term, go back and add more keywords to your list.

How do I fix low ad rank?

Ad Rank is a combination of quality score and the bid amount. 

Make sure ad copy aligns with landing page copy. Not only will this help your quality score, but it will also help conversion rates for those who click on your ads.

Bid amount is the quickest way to fix ad rank. Ideally, we want our bid as low as possible while still generating as much business as possible. Determine if raising ad rank through bid amount is right for your strategy before adjusting it higher and increasing low ad rank.

Then, double-check your ads are showing using the Google ad preview tool.

Google ads quality assurance.

The Google ad preview tool is one of the most powerful tools in the quality assurance toolkit. It allows for checking to make sure that keywords are triggered for desirable search terms, provides insight about competitors for specific searches, and gives the ability to search in any target market in the world.

In short, using the Google ad preview tool provides another check for making sure ad dollars spend in the most effective manner possible.

If you are looking for Google ads management services, the team at Algorithmic Global can help! Reach out to us via our contact page, and our experienced team will reach out. With data gathered from previous restoration clients, we can provide you with an effective, high-performing campaign!