In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, selecting the right Google Ads bidding strategy is crucial to achieving your goals—whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving traffic, generating conversions, or maximising revenue. With so many bidding options available, figuring out which strategy best aligns with your objectives can be daunting.
This blog aims to simplify that process. We’ll explore the various bidding strategies in Google Ads, ranging from manual to automated approaches, and provide guidance on choosing the best one to help you maximise your ad spend. If you’ve been wondering how to optimise your bidding strategy, you’re in the right place.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- The differences between manual and automated bidding strategies in Google Ads.
- A detailed overview of each Google Ads bidding strategy.
- When to use each strategy, along with key considerations and cautions.
What is Bidding in Google Ads?
Google Ads Bidding is the process through which advertisers set how much they are willing to pay for specific actions, such as when a user clicks on their ad, views it, or completes a conversion like submitting a form or making a purchase. This system is fundamental to Google Ads’ auction model, which determines when and where ads appear.
Every time a user conducts a search or engages with relevant content, an auction takes place. Ads are ranked based on a combination of the bid amount, ad quality (Ad Rank), and the relevance of the ad to the user’s search query or context. These factors influence the cost of user interactions and the prominence of your ad across Google’s networks, including search results and partner sites.
It’s important to note that the bid you set isn’t always the final amount you’ll pay. Google adjusts the actual cost based on competition, ensuring you pay the minimum necessary to secure your ad’s placement. The combination of your bid and ad quality dictates not only where your ad appears but also its frequency and under what conditions.
To help advertisers meet their specific goals, whether it’s driving clicks, boosting conversions, or increasing visibility, Google Ads offers a range of bidding strategies tailored to different objectives.
Types of Bidding Strategies
There are several types of bidding strategies available in Google Ads, each tailored to specific campaign objectives, such as driving traffic, increasing conversions, or maximising visibility. Google offers two main types of bidding:
Manual Bidding: You manually set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each click (cost-per-click, or CPC), giving you full control over how much you’re spending on individual keywords.
Automated Bidding: Automated bidding, also known as Smart Bidding – is when you configure your campaign to allow Google to use machine learning and algorithms to automatically adjust bids based on the likelihood of a user taking the desired action (such as clicking or converting). This includes various strategies that optimise for different goals, like maximising conversions, clicks or return on ad spend (ROAS).
Manual Bidding Strategies in Google Ads Explained
Before the age of everything AI, bidding was only manual which gave advertisers full control over how much they are willing to spend for specific interactions, such as clicks or impressions. While automated bidding relies on Google’s algorithms to optimise bids, manual bidding allows you to directly set and manage your bids at the keyword, ad group, or campaign level.
With Manual Cost Per Click (CPC), you set the maximum amount you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks on your ad. This strategy is ideal for advertisers who want complete control over their bidding process. You can adjust bids for individual keywords or ad groups to better manage budget allocation and performance. However, it requires constant monitoring and optimisation to ensure you’re not overpaying or missing out on potential opportunities.
Manual bidding is an excellent choice for new advertisers who lack historical advertising data. It provides full control over bid amounts and allows you to learn which keywords and placements perform best.
Automated Bidding Strategies in Google Ads
Google Ads offers a range of automated bidding strategies that use AI and machine learning to optimise your campaigns based on specific goals. These strategies automatically adjust your bids to help you achieve objectives like increasing traffic, conversions, or visibility while minimising manual effort.
Here’s a breakdown of the key automated bidding options:
Maximise Conversions & Target Cost Per Action (tCPA):
Designed to generate the maximum number of conversions within your budget, this fully automated strategy optimises bids in real time to increase conversion rates. Target CPA optimises bids to get as many conversions as possible at your target cost-per-acquisition, making it ideal for businesses looking to control cost-per-conversion.
Maximise Conversion Value & Target Return on Ad Spend (tROAS):
If you’re focused on maximising revenue, this strategy adjusts bids to generate conversions with the highest value, ensuring the best return on your ad spend. This strategy adjusts bids to maximise conversion value while targeting a specific return on ad spend. It’s perfect for campaigns focused on profitability.
Maximise Clicks: This strategy focuses on driving as much traffic as possible by automatically setting bids to get the most clicks within your daily budget.
Target Impression Share: For campaigns that prioritise visibility, Target Impression Share allows you to set a goal for how often your ads appear in search results, whether at the top of the page or elsewhere.
These automated bidding strategies are designed to align with your campaign goals, whether you want to drive more clicks, maximise conversions, or increase visibility, all while leveraging Google’s advanced AI to optimise performance in real time.
How Online and Offline Conversion Tracking Improves Automatic Bidding
Incorporating both online and offline conversion tracking into your Google Ads campaigns significantly boosts the effectiveness of automatic bidding powered by Google’s machine learning. While many advertisers focus on online conversions, there’s a growing trend to integrate offline conversion tracking—especially for service businesses generating leads, or e-commerce companies managing larger transactions over the phone or via POS systems instead of online checkouts.
By providing Google’s AI with a complete view of the customer journey—both online and offline—the algorithm can make more precise bid adjustments, improving campaign performance and increasing ROI.
Improved Bid Optimisation: With both online and offline data feeding into Google Ads, machine learning can refine bid adjustments more effectively. Automatic bidding strategies like Target CPA can optimise both online leads and higher-quality offline conversions, which are often more likely to convert into customers. Likewise, Target ROAS can focus on attracting high-revenue customers rather than just increasing the number of conversions.
Higher Quality Leads: Offline conversions, such as in-store purchases or closed deals, typically represent higher-value transactions. By tracking both online and offline conversions, Google Ads can differentiate between high- and low-quality leads, enabling automatic bidding to focus on leads that are more likely to drive sales, ultimately improving lead quality and ROI.
Better Attribution for Smarter Bidding: Offline conversion data enhances attribution by providing a fuller picture of which ads, keywords, or campaigns drive both online and offline results. This enables automatic bidding strategies to make more informed decisions, adjusting bids toward interactions that lead to the most valuable outcomes.
Enhanced Audience Targeting and Retargeting: Combining both data types allows Google’s machine learning to refine audience segments with more precision. For instance, if a user engages online but completes the purchase offline, Google’s AI can exclude that user from retargeting campaigns. This makes audience targeting more efficient, reducing wasted ad spend.
Real-Time Bid Adjustments: Google’s machine learning algorithms continuously adjust bids based on available data. With offline conversion tracking, the AI can account for actions taken after online interactions, like offline purchases. This real-time optimisation ensures that your bids target users more likely to convert, whether online or offline.
By leveraging both online and offline conversion data, Google Ads’ machine learning can make smarter, data-driven adjustments to your bids. This improves the overall efficiency of your campaigns, aligns your bids with real-world outcomes, and ultimately enhances lead quality and ROI. If you want to explore these topics in more detail, see our guides: How to Use Google Ads Online Conversion Tracking, as well as How to Use Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking
How to Choose the Right Google Ads Bidding Strategy
Selecting the right bidding strategy for your Google Ads campaign depends on your specific goals, budget, and data. To make the best choice, it’s essential to align the bidding strategy with what you want to achieve—whether it’s more traffic, higher conversions, or better visibility. Here are key factors to consider when choosing your bidding strategy:
Define Your Campaign Goals
Your primary objective will drive your bidding strategy choice. If you’re looking to generate clicks and drive traffic, strategies like Maximise Clicks may be best. For campaigns focused on leads or sales, Maximise Conversions or Target CPA are more suitable. If you’re trying to maximise revenue or ROI, consider using Target ROAS. What are your campaign goals? You may prioritize getting more impressions, clicks or conversions. With Google Ads, you can choose a bidding strategy that drives towards each.
- Build Awareness: Focusing on impressions may be your strategy. You can use cost per thousand viewable impressions (vCPM) or cost per view (CPV) bidding to put your message in front of customers.
- Increase consideration: Focusing on clicks could be ideal for you. Cost-per-click (CPC) bidding—manual or automatic—may be right for your campaign.
- Increase conversions: It may be best to implement conversion tracking in your campaign and focus on conversions. (Leads or Sales). Cost-per-acquisition (CPA) bidding lets you do just that.
Consider Your Budget
Automated bidding strategies are designed to optimise performance within your budget, but some strategies, like Maximise Conversions, can spend aggressively. If you have a limited budget, using strategies like Target CPA or Maximise Clicks with cost controls in place can help manage spending more effectively.
Evaluate Your Available Data
Strategies like Target CPA and Target ROAS work best when you have enough historical conversion data for Google’s algorithms to optimise effectively. If you’re starting with little to no data, Maximise Clicks or Enhanced CPC can provide a smoother transition until more conversion data is gathered.
Track Performance Metrics
Once you choose a strategy, monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as cost-per-click (CPC), cost-per-conversion, and return on ad spend (ROAS). Regular tracking helps you ensure that your chosen strategy is delivering results, and allows you to adjust as necessary.
Test and Adjust
Often, the best way to find the right bidding strategy is through testing. Run campaigns with different strategies to see which performs best for your objectives, and be prepared to adjust based on real-time results and changes in your business goals.
By aligning your bidding strategy with your specific campaign goals, budget, and data, you can optimise your Google Ads campaigns for maximum efficiency and return on investment.
Focus on Clicks Bidding
If your primary goal is to drive traffic to your website, there are two main cost-per-click (CPC) bidding strategies you can use in Google Ads: Maximise Clicks and Manual CPC Bidding. Both strategies aim to increase the number of clicks your ads receive, but they offer different levels of control and automation.
1. Maximise Clicks
The “Maximise Clicks” strategy is an automated bidding mechanism favoured by those seeking a direct approach to bid management. By setting a daily budget, advertisers allow the system to automatically adjust bids to achieve the highest possible number of clicks without exceeding the set budget.
This strategy is particularly cost-effective, enabling more clicks at a lower cost. It is especially advantageous for capturing traffic from less competitive keywords, thus offering an efficient method for new advertisers aiming to increase website visits and enhance their online visibility. The process is designed to be user-friendly, providing a straightforward setup that is easily manageable by marketers at any level of expertise. This simplicity and efficiency make it an optimal choice for those new to online advertising, facilitating a smoother entry into digital marketing landscapes.
Maximise Clicks is a good option if:
- You have a set advertising budget that you want to fully utilise.
- You prefer not to manually manage bids and are comfortable with Google adjusting bids automatically.
- Your primary goal is to increase traffic to your site, especially if you’re new to Google Ads or unsure of the right bid amounts for specific keywords or placements.
Maximise Clicks might not be suitable if:
- You have goals related to achieving a specific Ad Rank or cost per conversion.
- You want control over individual CPC bids for specific keywords or placements, as Maximise Clicks doesn’t allow for granular bidding adjustments, although you can set a maximum CPC for your campaign.
2. Manual CPC
Manual CPC bidding gives you full control over how much you pay per click for individual keywords, ad groups, or placements. You can allocate more budget to high-performing keywords or placements, ensuring that your most profitable terms receive more visibility. This approach is useful when you have enough data to understand which parts of your campaign drive the best results.
Manual CPC is a good option if:
- You want control over your bids and prefer to adjust them based on the performance of specific ad groups, keywords, or placements.
- Your primary goal is to increase website traffic and you have a clear idea of which keywords or placements are most profitable.
- You’re not concerned about hitting a specific budget each month, allowing flexibility in how you distribute your spend.
Manual CPC might not be suitable if:
- You need to manage a strict budget or want to automate bidding to save time.
- You’re uncertain which keywords or placements perform best, in which case Maximise Clicks may be more efficient.
When using manual CPC, here are some tools to help decide on starting bids for new advertisers.
- Bid Simulator: predicts “what-if” scenarios like, “How many more clicks or impressions would be obtained gotten if the bid is $1.00 higher ?”
- Keyword Planner shows keywords search volume, along with cost estimations.
- First-page bid estimates shows the required bid increase for the keyword to put the ad on the first page of search results.
Focus on Visibility with Google Ads Bidding Strategies
If your primary goal is to increase visibility and ensure your ads are seen by as many people as possible, you can leverage several bidding strategies designed to maximise impressions.
Target Impression Share: This automated strategy adjusts bids to ensure your ads appear at the top of the page, absolute top, or anywhere on the search results page, based on your preference. It’s ideal for campaigns focused on dominating visibility in Google Search.
Focus on Conversions
Google Ads previously offered four distinct conversion-based bidding strategies: Maximise Conversions, Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), Maximise Conversion Value, and Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
These options have now been streamlined, with the Target CPA setting integrated within the Maximise Conversions bid strategy and the Target ROAS setting within the Maximise Conversion Value strategy. While legacy bid strategies remain accessible through shared bid settings, new campaign setups now provide only Maximise Conversions and Maximise Conversion Value.
Maximise Conversions: Without specifying a Target CPA or Target ROAS, this strategy focuses on driving the maximum possible number of conversions within the allocated daily budget. Google Ads dynamically adjusts bids to optimise for conversion volume, prioritising conversion frequency while staying within budget constraints.
Target CPA (tCPA): When a Target CPA is set within the Maximise Conversions strategy, bids are automatically adjusted to achieve a designated cost per acquisition. If the target CPA is not met, the system may reduce bids, acting as an additional cost-control measure alongside the daily budget. This approach balances conversion volume with acquisition cost targets, enhancing budget efficiency and campaign control.
Maximise Conversion Value: Without a Target ROAS, this strategy aims to maximise the total value of conversions (such as sales revenue) within the daily budget. Google Ads dynamically optimises bids to focus on high-value conversions, effectively allocating spend for revenue growth.
Target ROAS (tROAS): When a Target ROAS is set within Maximise Conversion Value, bids are adjusted to meet a specific return on ad spend target. This setting prioritises conversions that deliver the highest revenue while working within the budget and profitability goals.
We strongly recommend using a Target CPA within the Maximise Conversions strategy or a Target ROAS within Maximise Conversion Value to align campaign outcomes with your profitability and efficiency objectives. These settings help achieve a balanced approach to cost control and revenue growth, making your advertising efforts more impactful and goal-oriented.
Target CPA
Target CPA (cost per acquisition) strategies involve increasing conversions while targeting a specific cost. That means you keep costs limited while focusing on improving conversions continually. It’s obviously a strategy that focuses heavily on the cost of each acquisition, which makes it good for staying in line with budgets and being able to easily track expenditure.
Target CPA helps to get as many conversions as possible at the target CPA by automatically adjusting bids. Target CPA does not operate within a set budget- unlike maximise conversions.
This bidding strategy is suited to when you how much you want to pay for a conversion. The priority is to maintain a specific cost per conversion vs further increasing conversion volume.
Target ROAS
Target ROAS (return-on-ad-spend) involves having your bids automatically optimised at the time of the action, so each auction can be approached in a fresh and appropriate way. It’s a standard strategy that can be implemented across one campaign or multiple campaigns if necessary. It can cope with either situation easily. Ultimately, it’s about securing the best return on your bidding investment.
Target return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) bids more where the Google Ads algorithm estimates ads are more likely to lead to a sale — with the end goal being to achieve as much return on ad spend as possible.
This strategy is effective for advertisers who know the exact value of each conversion to their business. To learn more, see our guide—Google Ads Maximise Conversion Value with Target ROAS.
Maximise Conversions
If you’re less concerned about using either of the targeting techniques mentioned above and just want to spend all of your budget on doing what you can to maximise conversions, use the aptly named Maximise Conversions strategy. The strategy automatically finds the optimal bid for your ad, allowing you to spend your budget while making conversions more likely.
Maximize conversions sets bids at auction time automatically to get as much conversion volume as possible within the campaign’s budget. This bidding strategy is effective when there is a fixed advertising budget and have not decided how much they should be willing to pay for a conversion (a target CPA).
To learn more, see our guide—Google Ads Maximise Conversions with Target CPA.
Maximise Conversion Value
The Maximise Conversion Value bidding strategy is designed to help advertisers get the most revenue out of their ad spend. Instead of just aiming to increase the total number of conversions, this strategy focuses on maximising the value of those conversions, prioritising actions that bring in the highest revenue.
When using Maximise Conversion Value, Google’s machine learning adjusts bids in real-time during each auction, using a wide range of signals such as device, location, and user behaviour. It’s particularly effective for e-commerce businesses or advertisers who value high-return actions, like large purchases or high-value leads.
This strategy is ideal for advertisers who:
- Want to focus on conversion value rather than just conversion volume.
- Have sufficient historical data on the value of each conversion.
- Are looking to make the most of their budget by maximising revenue rather than just traffic or simple conversions.
By using this strategy, you allow Google to automatically adjust bids to focus on actions that generate the highest return, helping you achieve better ROAS (return on ad spend) and optimise your overall campaign performance.
How to Effectively Use Google Ads AI for Your Campaigns
Google Ads’ AI-driven features offer powerful tools for automating and optimising your campaigns, saving you time while enhancing performance. Leveraging Google Ads AI can help you improve bidding, targeting, and ad delivery, ensuring your ads reach the right audience at the right time.
By fully embracing Google Ads AI, you can enhance your campaign performance, reduce manual workload, and achieve better results. The key is to start with the right foundation—ensure that conversion tracking is in place, provide enough data for the AI to learn from, and continually monitor performance to make adjustments as needed. Want to learn more, see our guide: How to use Google Ads AI.
Improving Bidding with CRM and POS Integration
Google Ads Bidding Tips
Start with Manual Bidding: If you’re new to Google Ads or don’t have much historical data, start with manual CPC bidding. This allows you to learn which keywords and ads perform best before transitioning to automated strategies.
Use Conversion Tracking: Ensure that conversion tracking is set up correctly to measure valuable actions such as purchases or sign-ups. This data is essential for automated bidding strategies like Target CPA or Maximise Conversions.
Give Machine Learning Time: When using automated bidding strategies, allow time for Google’s machine learning algorithm to gather enough data before evaluating performance. Typically, campaigns need 1-2 weeks of stable operation to optimise effectively.
Start with a Clear Objective: Choose a bidding strategy that aligns with your specific campaign goals. For example, if your objective is to maximise traffic, use Maximise Clicks. If you want to boost conversions, go for Target CPA or Maximise Conversions.
Set a Maximum CPC for Control: Even with automated bidding, you can set a maximum CPC to control costs and avoid overpaying for clicks, especially when using strategies like Maximise Clicks or Target Impression Share.
Test Different Strategies: Experiment with different bidding strategies, such as Target ROAS or Maximise Conversion Value, to see which delivers the best results based on your goals. Regular testing ensures you optimise performance.
Review Bid Adjustments Regularly: Periodically review performance and adjust bids based on location, device, or audience performance to ensure you’re getting the most from your budget.
Use Bid Simulators: Google’s bid simulator tool allows you to explore how bid changes might affect your campaign’s performance, helping you make informed decisions before altering bids.
Monitor Budget Closely: Some automated strategies, like Maximise Conversions, can spend aggressively. Ensure your daily budget aligns with your overall advertising spend and track how efficiently it’s being used.
Leverage Offline Conversion Tracking: If your business handles offline conversions, integrate CRM or POS data to feed Google Ads with full customer journey information. This allows for more precise bidding, focusing on high-quality leads or sales.
Adjust Bidding for Seasonal Trends: Be proactive in adjusting your bids during peak seasons or special events when customer intent may be higher, ensuring you’re competitive in auctions during critical periods.
Set Realistic Goals for Automated Bidding: When starting with strategies like Target CPA or Target ROAS, set realistic initial goals. Gradually tighten your targets as the algorithm learns and optimises over time.
By applying these tips, you can improve the efficiency of your Google Ads bidding strategies, better manage your ad spend, and drive stronger results.
Summary
In the dynamic landscape of digital marketing, choosing the right bidding strategy for your Google Ads campaigns can make the difference between achieving mediocre results and maximising your return on investment. Whether your goal is driving traffic, boosting conversions, increasing visibility, or maximising revenue, aligning your bidding strategy with your campaign objectives is crucial.
As we’ve explored, manual bidding offers precise control, allowing advertisers to directly manage bids at the keyword or ad group level. This approach is especially useful for new advertisers without historical data, helping them understand the performance of individual elements in their campaigns. For those seeking to add a layer of automation, bidding scripts can assist by automating bid adjustments based on historical data—though this should not be confused with true machine learning, which dynamically optimises bids in real time.
On the other hand, automated bidding strategies—like those found in Google’s Smart Bidding suite—use machine learning to optimise bids based on a range of real-time signals. Strategies like Maximise Conversions and Target CPA are excellent choices for advertisers focusing on conversions, while Target ROAS and Maximise Conversion Value are ideal for those looking to maximise revenue. These strategies take much of the guesswork out of bidding, adjusting your bids in real time to meet your specific goals.
Remember, automated conversion based strategies rely on conversion data, so the ideal situation is to use both online and offline conversion tracking.
Google Ads Bidding Guide
This blog post is part of a comprehensive series exploring various bidding strategies and tactics to help you achieve your advertising objectives effectively.
1. Maximise Conversions with CPA Bidding
2. Maximise Conversion value with ROAS Bidding
3. Value-based bidding for service-orientated companies that generate leads.
4. Primary and Secondary Conversions in bidding
