Last year I talked about why Google Grants are a powerful part of your marketing arsenal. If you are a non-profit, it’s essentially free advertising – courtesy of Google, providing up to $10,000 of Adwords for free each month, so you should be using it.
Once you’ve scored a Google grant, the tricky part is maintaining it. So, how do you maintain eligibility?
- Log in monthly. If you don’t, then the account is subject to be paused without notification.
- Reflect your organisation authentically. The grant is given to promote your organisation on a non-profit basis so:
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- Make sure all of the ads you run link to the URL that was approved in your application and not to external sources.
- Make sure your ads reflect your non-profit’s mission. Any product selling can only be promoted if the proceeds are going to supporting the program.
- Make sure your ads are only asking for small donations. Ads for donations in the forms of large goods like property donations are not allowed.
- Keep best practice in mind. Google monitors accounts to ensure meaningful and relevant activity is being made by your organisation, so showing you are maintaining your account is key.
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- Make sure your proper location settings. Separate campaigns by geographic area to ensure that users can benefit from your services in their geographic location.
- Have at least two active ad groups per campaign.
- Have at least two unique sitelink ad extensions.
- Achieve a 5% Click Through Rate. If you fall short two months in a row, then your account will be temporarily deactivated.
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- Using single word keywords or overly generic keywords can also result in a warning and ultimately your account being temporarily deactivated.
If that sounds like a lot, the benefit of having an agency manage your Google Grant is that we have experience in working within the limitations of the grant and can get the most out of your account.
If you think your attraction might be eligible for a Google Grant or need some help with yours, get in touch. We could have you up and running within 7 days! Just email me on info@digitalvisitor.com or give me a call on 0117 440 0500.
