How to Optimize A Google Grant Account: 8 Mistakes & 9 Tips

Whether you’re still debating whether to apply or have already created several ad campaigns, many nonprofit professionals are naturally curious about optimizing a Google Grant account and maximizing their campaigns’ results.

By not understanding Google Grant optimization, many nonprofits miss out on the incredible opportunities the Google Ad Grants program provides every day.

After receiving a Google Ad Grant, the steps taken are just as important as the application process. Managing and maintaining an optimized account is essential to ensure your account is not suspended or revoked. Proper management also helps you maximize your $10,000 budget and the number of conversions made in response to your ads.

At Getting Attention, we specialize in helping nonprofits optimize their Google Grant accounts. To help, we’ve compiled our knowledge of Google Grant optimization into these core topics:

• Avoid These 8 Google Ad Grant Management Mistakes.
• Follow the Appropriate Google Grant Account Structure.
• Choose the Right Keywords for Your Google Grant Account.
• Optimize Your Google Grant Account’s Ads.
• Track Your Google Grant Account’s Conversions and Other Metrics.
• Use Manual Bidding for Your Google Grant Account.
• Use Targeting and Extensions To Improve Response to Your Ads.
• Maintain The Website Associated with Your Google Grant Account.
• Let A Google Grants Professional Optimize Your Google Grant Account.
• Look into Google Ad Grants Training.
• Google Grant Optimization Checklist

Using the tips we share, you’ll be several steps closer to optimizing your Google Grant account and connecting with more prospects. Let’s get started.

Avoid These 8 Google Ad Grant Management Mistakes.

Mistakes can happen, especially in the confusing world of Google Grant management.

Whether you’re a seasoned Google Grant user or a beginner, many factors can contribute to the mismanagement of your funds. Confusion or unfamiliarity with Google’s Ad Grant policies can result in an unintentional violation of Google’s guidelines. Conversely, you may not be up to speed on the current, rapidly-evolving Google landscape.

Whatever the reason, management mistakes are bound to happen and can drastically impact your ability to optimize your Google Grant account. What matters is that you are aware of them and strive to avoid them. With that in mind, let’s cover the top management mistakes that you should aim to avoid, and note that a Google Grants expert can drastically simplify this.

Mistake #1) Failing to Follow The Google Ad Grants Management Policy

Several years after its inception, the Google Ad Grant program created a set of compliance policies that nonprofits must follow to maintain their status in the Google Ad Grant program. These policies include guidelines for your account and the ads you run. Following these rules is imperative, as failing to do so can result in suspension or loss of the grant.

Some of these requirements include:

• Having at least 2 ads per ad group
• Having at least 2 ad groups per campaign
• Maintaining a 5% CTR each month
• Not using single-word or generic keywords
• Having a minimum keyword quality score of 2
• Enabling at least 2 sitelink ad extensions

The goal of these rules isn’t to deter nonprofits from using the program. Instead, they’re intended to ensure nonprofits benefit from the program and enhance the search experience for users. Ultimately, following the compliance guidelines is a significant part of optimizing a Google Grant account.

Mistake #2) Using Broad Keywords

Another mistake in Google Grant management is relying on broad or generic keywords. A common misconception is that tracking broad keywords will yield better results. However, short, generic keywords like “fundraising” lack the specificity your ads need to be effective.

For one, using broad keywords is a violation of Google’s Ad Grants policies. The guidelines specifically ban the use of single-word keywords and overly generic keywords, primarily because they won’t connect you with qualified prospects. Not to mention, larger organizations and companies bid on these terms, making it less likely for your ads to be shown over theirs.

Instead, look for more specific long-tail keywords. For instance, you might bid on terms like “animal shelter volunteer opportunities” rather than “volunteer opportunities.” These will connect you with more qualified users, and they’re also typically cheaper to bid on.

While it may be tempting to capitalize on a broad search term, the consequences of violating Google’s guidelines far outweigh the benefits of those keywords.

Mistake #3) Using Dirty Keyword Data

Any nonprofit professional who deals with metrics understands the importance of data hygiene. In terms of Google Grant management, cleaning your keyword data is a process that involves pausing or removing irrelevant or low-quality keywords.

Some nonprofits fail to clean their keyword data. However, cluttered or dirty keyword data can limit the efficiency and accuracy of your ad campaigns and hold you back from making important discoveries. Here are some of the key reasons you’ll need to optimize your keyword data:

• Keyword traffic may fluctuate over time. Some of the keywords you target will not be relevant year-round. For example, seasonal keywords or those related to specific events do not need to be tracked outside of those time frames.
• Low-quality keywords can clutter your data. Google assigns a quality score to keywords, calculated based on expected CTR, landing page experience, and ad relevance. Scores below 3 are considered poor quality. Using low-quality keywords is against Google’s policies, and targeting these terms is a waste of your ad budget.

As we’ll explore later, keywords are a vital part of optimizing a Google Grant account. Not to mention, it plays an essential part in your nonprofit’s organic SEO strategy. Meeting Google’s keyword requirements is a great start, so start your account optimization process by using search terms with a quality score of at least 3 and removing irrelevant ones. We’ll explore keyword optimization tips that will help your ads efficiently target supporters later on.

Mistake #4) Featuring Just 1 Ad Per Group

Nonprofits often make the mistake of featuring only one ad in each ad group, resulting in account suspension. Within Google Grants, individual ads are organized into groups that fall under broader campaigns.

Let’s say your nonprofit is running an ad campaign focused on increasing sign-ups for a newsletter. You target relevant keywords, follow all Google Grant policies, and create multiple ad groups, but the ad’s performance falls flat.

Even if you follow every other compliance step, using only one ad per group is not viable for optimizing a Google Grant account. For one, using one ad violates Google Grant guidelines, so your account could be suspended or removed. Plus, single ads also don’t allow nonprofits to analyze performance across different ads. This can result in missing opportunities for growth and learning what works.

Instead, include multiple ads per group. Differentiate your ads by including different ad copy to determine what drives users to click through to your site. Then, a week or so later, look at campaign results and see which ad had a higher click-through rate, more conversions, and higher site engagement. Finally, swap out the losing ad with new copy and refine your ads to drive better results and maximize your Google Grants conversions!

Mistake #5) Providing a Poor User Experience

We have all had poor user experiences, so it’s easy to know firsthand how frustrating they can be. In the context of Google Ad Grants, a poor user experience is most often linked to your ad copy, call to action, and linked landing page being misaligned. It can be confusing for viewers when they click on an ad urging them to join an email list but instead are directed to an online donation page.

This mistake can frustrate potential supporters, deter them from taking the action you want them to, and ultimately impact your ability to optimize your Google Grant account. Your supporters shouldn’t have a hard time doing what you are asking of them, so think critically about the user experience you’re providing with your Google Ads.

Mistake #6) Neglecting Your Landing Pages

Your nonprofit’s website plays a crucial role in marketing your mission. It empowers you to store all of your resources, content, and marketing material in one convenient location. Plus, any ads you create using your Google Grant account will direct users straight to your website. In that sense, a neglected website and poorly designed landing pages could do more harm than good.

A poor or irrelevant landing page can negatively impact your keyword quality score. What’s more, higher quality scores often lead to a lower cost-per-click rate, so you’ll receive more traffic for the same price.

Here are a few of the most common landing page issues that nonprofits encounter:

• Keywords featured in your ads are not included on the landing page.
• The overall website is challenging to navigate.
• There is a lack of rich, engaging content.
• The branding is inconsistent and makes the site appear untrustworthy.
• There are technological issues like broken links.

Issues like these can repel potential supporters by making it hard for them to figure out how to answer your call to action. For example, if users follow your ad and have a bad site experience, the ad does not result in conversions. Your nonprofit also loses a potential supporter to poor website performance.

Not to mention, there are also rules in place regarding website quality. For instance, you’ll need to include a clear description of your organization, have an adequate load speed, and feature unique content. Failure to meet these regulations will heavily impact your ability to optimize a Google Grant account and maximize your website’s performance. Conversely, optimizing your landing pages will keep your quality score up and maximize your chances of reaching and converting qualified users.

Mistake #7) Forgetting About Geography

Some organizations forget to enable geotargeting for their ads, but this tool is a big help when optimizing your Google Grant account. This feature allows you to limit who your ads are displayed to based on their location, rather than displaying your ads to a broad audience who might not find them relevant. Typically, the location you choose depends on where supporters likely reside or where your nonprofit operates.

Failing to target ads geographically can reduce the effectiveness of Google Grant Ads. Targeting large areas that may or may not contain potential supporters is not the best way to optimize your $10,000 budget. There is no point in targeting people who live in Texas if your organization serves only Oregon. Even when leveraging geotargeting, many nonprofits fail to realize they can select more targeted keywords and develop ad copy that speaks to a specific region.

Overall, selecting a geographically-relevant area to target your ads will boost meaningful conversions and increase local supporters, especially if you target the ad copy to speak to that audience.

Mistake #8) Ignoring Seasonal Keyword Adjustments

When optimizing a Google Grant account, many nonprofit professionals aren’t aware that timing is one of the most significant variables that influence conversions. To put it simply, specific times of year lead to increased traffic for specific keywords.

Inexperienced nonprofit marketers might take a set-it-and-forget-it approach and won’t adjust their Google Grant account’s campaigns to include seasonal keywords influenced by weather, holidays, and cause-related events. However, an optimized Google Grant account will include ad campaigns that target seasonal terms related to the organization’s cause.

For example, as the end of the year approaches, you’ll naturally see keywords relating to Giving Tuesday increase in traffic. As another example, there may be a shift in traffic for keywords related to world conservation around Earth Day or after a natural disaster since those events will naturally spark prospects’ curiosity.

Overall, ignoring seasonal behavior in your Google Grant account strategy is a huge missed opportunity. Failing to account for the rise and fall in traffic for different keywords will ultimately lead to less traffic, fewer conversions, and wasted grant money.

As you revisit your keywords throughout the year, we also suggest that you revisit your keywords whenever the season changes. Use it as an opportunity to get rid of any that have a quality score of under 3, so you can keep your keyword strategy fresh and optimized.

Follow the Appropriate Google Grant Account Structure.

After you apply for Google Ad Grants and are approved for the program, you’ll set up your first ad campaign. Before creating your ads, it’s vital that you understand the structure of your Google Ad Grant account. That way, you can get a feel for how you’ll need to set up your campaigns for the best results.

Your Google Grant account is broken down into the following:

• Campaigns: These are the largest building blocks of your Google Ads account. They contain multiple ad groups and even more ads. To optimize your Google Ad Grant account, we recommend assigning a theme to each campaign. For instance, if you work for an animal shelter, you might create a ‘Volunteer’ campaign with keywords related to animal shelter volunteer opportunities in your area. You might have another campaign for “Donations,” “Adoptions,” etc. Themes allow for easy organization of your ads within campaigns.
• Ad Groups: Think of these as clusters of ads within your campaigns. Ad groups are associated with specific keywords that someone might search related to your cause. Note that Google requires you to have at least two ad groups per campaign.
• Ads: This is the smallest element of your Google Grant account but is arguably the most important. Google requires you to have at least two ads per ad group. Google will automatically rotate between these ads and provide you with performance data. For instance, if ad A performs significantly better than ad B, you’ll know to tweak ad B to improve its performance.

One important thing to remember when optimizing your account is not to spread your budget too thin across several ad groups and keywords. Instead, you’ll have more success if you allocate more funds to a core group of services or resources related to your mission.

While this structure is required for your nonprofit’s Google Grant account, following it will provide you with insightful performance data you can then use to produce better ads over time.

Choose the Right Keywords for Your Google Grant Account.

Another crucial component of optimizing your Google Grant account is the keywords you select for your ad campaigns. While you might know what keywords are related to your cause, choosing the right keywords requires research into monthly traffic, the user’s intent behind searching the term, and other factors.

When someone searches a term or phrase on Google and scans through the results, your ad will stand out more if it’s relevant to what they’re looking for. Relevance directly impacts whether they’ll click through to your site or even read your ad in the first place. That’s why effective keyword research comes in handy.

Choosing Your Google Ad Grant Campaigns’ Keywords

One of the first steps you’ll take when setting up your first campaign is choosing the keywords you want to target. Start by asking yourself which phrases and word combinations you’d type into Google to find your organization’s services and programs. For instance, an organization that raises awareness for Alzheimer’s might target variations like:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• Alzheimer’s research
• Donate to Alzheimer’s research
• Fund Alzheimer’s research
• Alzheimer’s treatment
• Alzheimer’s vs. dementia

Instead of blindly guessing what you think people are searching for and will drive conversions, we’ve created a checklist you can follow to come up with educated keyword choices. As you start optimizing your Google Grant account, here are some tips to help you choose the best keywords for your cause:

• Create a list of keywords that you want to target. Using keywords relevant and specific to your organization is an excellent place to start. Leverage Google Keyword Planner to get helpful metrics regarding different keywords, such as search volume trends, average monthly searches per keyword, and bid estimates. It’ll also provide you with keyword suggestions. You can also leverage Google Trends to explore what people are searching for related to your mission and expand your keyword ideas list.
• Avoid generic and single-word keywords. Examples of this include “volunteers” and “animal shelter.” Not only does Google ban the use of these keywords, but your nonprofit will probably be outbid for broad search terms like these. Instead, try using long-tail keywords such as “animal shelter volunteer opportunities near me.” Long-tail keywords like this involve multi-word phrases and are more specific than vague, single-word keywords.
• Target keywords based on time and geography. These keywords could relate to holidays like “Christmas gift drive” or location-specific events like “clothing donation centers in Boston.” Some keywords are seasonal, so focus more attention on them when relevant. When dealing with different locations, try picking out regional differences in your keywords and target them accordingly.
• Separate branded and nonbranded keywords into separate campaigns. You’ll likely rank organically for branded terms, allowing you to allocate more of your grant money to run ads for nonbranded search terms.
• Bid lower on upper-funnel keywords and vice versa. Upper funnel keywords are general search queries that someone higher in the search conversion funnel might search. On the other hand, lower-funnel keywords usually are longer, more specific keywords that people who are likely to convert might search.

Note that a healthy Google Grant account will have around 25 keywords per group. However, having enough time to conduct keyword research could help you uncover dozens more valuable keywords. You can easily have ad groups targeting dozens of keywords, but including around 25 keywords per group is a good rule.

Refining Your Google Grant Keyword Strategy

While initially picking effective keywords will set your ads up for success, you’ll need to continuously revisit your campaigns and targeted keywords to optimize your Google Grant account fully.

Here are a few actionable strategies to help clean up your campaigns:

• Clean up your keyword list regularly. Pause any seasonal terms like “Thanksgiving food donations” when they are not relevant, and remove low-quality keywords that do not serve your account. Keeping your keyword lists free of clutter is a great way to ensure a faster and easier analysis.
• Avoid keywords with a quality score lower than 3. Google scores keywords on a scale of 1 to 10 based on their quality. Keywords that receive a score of 1 or 2 are considered very low quality and are not permitted for targeting. These keywords must be removed or paused until their score increases.
• Stay on top of industry trends and search terms. Look at your keyword list if you’re struggling to maximize spending on your Grant account. What keywords could you add? When was the last time you looked at Keyword Planner for new ideas? What are your competitors ranking for?
• Use negative keywords to exclude your ads from specific search queries. More than likely, there are search terms you don’t want your ads to display for. Add negative keywords to your ad groups to avoid ranking for those terms. You might also leverage a strategy called “traffic sculpting,” in which you add negative keywords to an ad group to avoid competing with your ads in other ad groups.

You should regularly check up on your keywords and adjust your account to ensure you’re making the most of your grant. If you’re struggling to locate valuable keywords or stay on top of monthly maintenance, an expert Google Grant consultant will know how to optimize a Google Grant account, choose the right keywords, and ultimately create effective Google ads.

Optimize Your Google Grant Account’s Ads.

It can be easy to get lost in all account optimization needs. But don’t forget the reason behind all of it— the ads!

There are several best practices to keep in mind when creating your Google Grant account ads. Here are a few to get you started:

• Create compelling ad copy. It should go without saying that your ad copy is one of the most crucial components of your ads. It’s what will drive readers to click through. This is primarily why Google requires you to have multiple ads per ad group — it allows you to see what resonates with people and encourages them to click through. We suggest that you leverage keywords in the ad copy to parrot back similar phrases to what users are searching for, include a specific call to action, and use short sentences to keep your ads scannable.
• Choose the right landing pages. As we’ll explore later, your landing pages are just as important as your ad copy. It’s where you’ll drive users when they come across your ads and will ultimately determine whether they get involved. To optimize a Google Grant account’s ads, make sure you choose the most relevant landing pages for each ad, whether it’s a digital donation page, volunteer registration form, or email newsletter signup form.
• Have 3 to 5 ads per group. While Google only requires 2 ads per ad group, we recommend using at least 3. Try to create variety in these ads so that you can experiment with different targeting approaches. The ads within each group will rotate, and Google will prioritize the ads that perform the best.
• Highlight what’s unique about your nonprofit. Try to stand out in the sea of ads your viewers see each day. Avoid blending in, and instead, say what is interesting about your organization.
• Don’t immediately optimize ad rotation for your campaigns. No more than one ad from an ad group can show at a time. The “ad rotation” setting allows you to specify how often Google will serve your ads relative to one another. Within your Search and Display campaign settings, you can choose “Optimize” or “Do not optimize” for this setting. If you’re starting a new campaign, we suggest that you don’t optimize your ad rotation. Instead, keep ads rotating indefinitely to see which messaging works best and optimize rotation manually on your end.

Producing high-quality ads can seem overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. So keep these tips in mind to steer your nonprofit’s choices when creating ads.

Track Your Google Grant Account’s Conversions and Other Metrics.

As you initially set up your Google Ads account, you should set up Google Analytics and connect it with your Ad Grant account. The metrics you gather from Google Analytics will help you refine your ads, improve your landing pages, and ultimately optimize your Google Grant account.

For one, Google requires you to track and report on conversions, click-through rate, and similar nonprofit performance metrics. What’s more, tracking performance through Google Analytics will let you know how many people clicked on your ads and what actions they took after clicking an ad, such as browsing your website, signing up for a newsletter, or making a donation.

Conversions

For many nonprofits, conversions are the goal of their ads. Conversions measure how many people take the desired action after seeing your ad, such as making a donation, registering for an event, or signing up to volunteer.

Here are a few best practices for conversion tracking:

• Track conversions that are meaningful to your organization. While Google analytics offers different options for conversion tracking, focus on those that meet your goals as a nonprofit. For example, you might track registrations for your upcoming annual gala or donations made during your year-end giving campaign.
• Set up goals in Google Analytics. Setting up goals in Google Analytics can help you see what impacts the conversion performance of your ads. In addition to enhancing conversion performance, Google Grants requires accounts to set up goals.
• Take note of which ads are best at leading to conversions. Experiment with the style and wording of your ads to analyze which ones yield the most conversions. From there, you can improve future ads to ensure the best performance from your campaigns.

Google requires Google Ad Grants accounts to track their conversions if applicable. To do so, set up an account within Google Analytics by using these account setup instructions.

Click-Through Rate

The Google Ad Grant team uses click-through rate (CTR) to indicate ad quality. Google interprets a high CTR for an ad as the ad being very relevant and valuable to users. While Google Analytics will automatically calculate each ad’s CTR for you, it can be helpful to understand how it’s calculated manually.

Our article on why Google Ad Grants are confusing explains that you can calculate CTR by dividing the number of people who click your ad’s link by the number of impressions the ad receives. For example, if your ad is shown to 100 people, but only 5 people click the link, your CTR will be 5% for that ad.

If you notice that your CTR is lower than you’d like, here are some ways you can boost that metric and directly optimize your Google Grant account:

• Pause keywords with a low CTR. Take a look at your keywords that receive the most impressions and pause any with a low CTR. While a keyword may be relevant to your mission, you should focus on keywords that yield results for your work.
• Improve your ads. Do your ads inspire readers to click through to your website to get involved or learn more about your mission? Think critically about your ad copy and whether you’re pointing users to a relevant landing page.
• Use A/B testing. One of the great things about Google Ads is that you can rotate between multiple ads for the same keywords. This makes it incredibly easy to see which ad copy performs the best, so you can boost your CTR with each rendition of your ads.

Google requires you to have a 5% click-through rate for each ad. Otherwise, your account will be at risk of being temporarily suspended. Note that an optimized Google Grant account will easily meet that minimum threshold.

Use Manual Bidding for Your Google Grant Account.

Google recommends that nonprofits automate their bids with Google Ads to save time managing their accounts. Maximize conversions is a Smart Bidding strategy designed to help you increase conversions and spend more of your budget. Google’s intention behind this strategy is to identify which keywords are most likely to result in a desired action, increase bidding for it, and reduce spending on others.

However, we suggest that you start with manual bidding. That way, you’ll have more control over your budget. 

If you want to go with automated bidding, we suggest that you don’t use the maximize clicks automated bidding strategy, even though it’s Google’s default option. That bidding strategy focuses on clicks rather than conversions (your ultimate goal for your ads). Instead, select the maximize conversions bidding strategy. This will allow you to be more competitive with bidding and effectively spend more of your ad budget.

Use Targeting and Extensions To Improve Response to Your Ads.

Naturally, you want your ads to reach their intended audience and maximize the likelihood of conversions. To help, Google offers targeting settings and extensions that you work into your marketing plan to improve your ads’ performance and optimize your Google Grant account.

Targeting

Targeting ads based on location, time of day, and device type help you streamline your message to address smaller audiences likely to support your cause. Let’s take a look at these three different ways you can target your ads:

• Geotargeting. Begin by narrowing down your target audience. Leverage the geotargeting feature to focus on areas that your nonprofit serves. For example, if your nonprofit operates out of New York, ads that appear in Atlanta won’t be very effective. However, if many of your donors reside in another area (say Chicago), you can target users in that area
• Ad scheduling. Create an Ad Schedule for all of your campaigns —- even those you’re planning on running 24/7. This will help you pinpoint specific times when your ads perform well, so you can adjust your schedule moving forward. To create a schedule, go to one of your campaigns, click on “More” under Settings, hit “Schedule,” select a campaign, choose “All Days,” and save it.
• Device type. If you’re working with a limited budget, it’s smart to exclude tablets from receiving your ads. Tablets tend to have a lower conversion rate than desktops and mobile devices. To exclude a device from receiving your ads, go to the “Devices” tab, choose a device type, change the bid adjustment to “Decrease” by 100%, and apply the changes.

While on the topic of location-based targeting, if you know your competitors’ IP addresses or physical locations, you can exclude them to prevent unwanted impressions and spending your grant on inadvertent clicks. The same goes for your employees.

You only want your ads to display to those who are likely to convert, so you don’t waste your grant money or negatively impact your ads’ performance. These targeting features will help you connect with likely prospects.

Ad Extensions

Ad extensions provide users with more information about a nonprofit’s services, programs, and mission. They help expand the ad listing, ensure it’s as useful as possible to users, and take up more ad space on the search engine results page.

By providing specific information that matches the user’s intent, ad extensions directly impact your ads’ click-through rate.

Some of the most commonly used ad extensions include the following:

• Sitelinks: Create mini-ads within your ads that link to other pages on your site.
• Callout Extensions and Structured Snippets: Include additional plain text within your ads to emphasize key points (great for including extra detail that wouldn’t fit in the main ad’s text).
• Price: Quantify the donation amount or cost of services that a prospect would need to know (e.g., veterinary services, event ticketing price, and so on).
• Location and Call: Display your organization’s address and phone number. Users will be able to click the number and call you directly.

Ad extensions provide users with more ways to interact with your cause, so use them for your ads. Note that your ad extensions won’t always show up with your ads. Instead, Google will show them when the extension (or combination of extensions) is expected to improve the ad’s performance and when your ad’s position and Ad Rank are high enough to show extensions. Your best bet is to include the most relevant ones for your ads, increasing the likelihood that they’ll be displayed.

Maintain The Website Associated with Your Google Grant Account.

Because your Google Ads will direct visitors to your nonprofit’s website, it’s essential to make it easy to use and valuable to users. While first and foremost a rule of the Google Ad Grants program, maintaining a sufficient website will directly impact the performance of your ads and determine whether users become supporters.

Let’s start by looking at the basic compliance requirements before jumping into tips that will help optimize a Google Grant account further.

Compliance Rules

Like with most other aspects of the Google Ad Grants program, there are specific rules you should follow when running your website. An insufficient, unprotected, or otherwise useless website can lead to temporary suspension of your Google Grant account.

Here are the basic rules you’ll need to follow to ensure your website adheres to Google’s basic eligibility guidelines:

• Your nonprofit must own the domain. Your nonprofit must own the rights to landing pages linked in your ads. If this landing page is a donation-hosting service, it must belong to one of these pre-approved sites.
• Your nonprofit must add any additional domains to your account. If you plan to link to other owned domains with Google Grant ads, add them to your account first. This way, Google is aware that your nonprofit owns these domains.
• Your organization must maintain the account. Any domains used must be high-quality web pages. Valuable web pages have several important factors that we’ll cover in the next section.
• Your organization should avoid any commercial activity that does not align with your mission. Commercial activity like selling products, services, or consultations can’t be the sole purpose of your website. Limited commercial activity is allowed, provided it aligns with your mission. Acceptable forms of commercial activity include selling a product as a fundraising tool for a specific purpose.

Following these basic compliance regulations will help keep your Google Grant account compliant. However, there’s much more your nonprofit should do to optimize your Google Grant account fully.

Optimizing Your Site

Beyond those guidelines required by Google, you also want to ensure your web pages are valuable for the end-user. Otherwise, they may quickly exit your site if they can’t find what they’re looking for:

Here are a few optimization tips that will help you enhance your nonprofit’s website:

• Include high search volume keywords on relevant pages. Search volume is used to measure how many searches specific keywords received. Those with a high volume are searched often. According to this SEO for nonprofits guide, you’ll want to feature these keywords on your important web pages to boost their SEO performance.
• Use only one focus per page. Avoid including multiple concepts on one page of your website. For example, there should be two separate pages for your nonprofit’s services and your volunteer opportunities.
• Feature content that is interesting and engaging. Highlight the most exciting aspects of your organization on its website. Interesting content makes users more inclined to stick around and explore other pages on the site.
• Demonstrate clear calls to action. Showcase clear calls to action throughout your website. Whether you want users to donate or sign up to volunteer at an event, make the request loud and clear with buttons that stand out and use straightforward language. Additionally, ensure that any calls to action align with the ad the page is linked to.
• Make the website accessible for different devices. Your website should be both desktop and mobile-friendly. Especially considering that mobile users make up 33% of online donations, you want users to be able to navigate your website no matter how they access it. You never know when someone may click an ad, and having a webpage that doesn’t function on a cell phone could be a turn-off.

These tips can be helpful as you begin your journey to maintaining a functional, updated website. Make sure to follow Google’s guidelines along with our top tips for a marketable website.

Let A Google Grants Professional Optimize Your Google Grant Account.

Working with a professional agency can take the weight off your shoulders when it comes to optimizing a Google Grant account. Professionals provide tailored services that help you set up and actively manage your Google Ad Grants account as efficiently as possible.

Here at Getting Attention, we strive to help nonprofits make the most of their grant money every month. We make the process simple and easy to understand from completing your application to tracking your data. Our services include:

• Google Grant Applications: The Google Grant application process can be intimidating. The experts at Getting Attention are here to help guide you through the process and make sure your account is accepted on the first try.
• Google Grant Hygiene: Data is crucial for optimizing your Google Grant account. Getting Attention is fully equipped to help you clean up your data and make analysis more efficient. Whether you need to remove irrelevant keywords or outdated information, our experts are ready to step in.
• Google Grant Account Reactivation: With so many compliance rules, suspension can happen, and our team is the best resource for getting your account back up and running.
• Keyword Research: If you’re feeling lost when choosing keywords, let our agency handle the research for you. We fully understand how to ensure that your account tracks the most relevant and effective keywords to extend your ads’ reach.

Our goal is to optimize Google Grant accounts so that nonprofits like yours can reinvest focus into their worthwhile missions. To learn more, contact our team to request a free consultation today. Plus, we’re happy to discuss our expertise in other areas. That way, you’re receiving the most comprehensive support possible.

Look into Google Ad Grants Training.

Even if you outsource work to a professional Google Grants manager, it never hurts to look into training. Google has plenty of free training resources that can help you optimize your Google Grant account and maximize ad performance. Not to mention, third-party sites also provide resources and advice based on their experience.

Here are some great resources that will help you get more out of your Google Grant account:

• Watch Google’s overview video about Google Ad Grants.
• Browse the Ad Grants Help Center, where you can explore Google’s support pages.
• Watch videos on and subscribe to the Google Ad Grants YouTube channel.
• Check out the informational resources on our up-to-date blog or work with our team of professionals.
• Ask other nonprofits questions on the Google Ad Grants Community Forum.
• Opt into “Customized Performance & Suggestions” and “Special Offers” emails to get tailored tips and invitations to events with Ad Grants team members.
• Explore the top FAQs about Google Ad Grants to see if the team has already answered a question you have.

There are plenty of resources available that you can leverage — it’s just a matter of finding them. If you have any unanswered questions about managing your Google Grant account, our team of professionals is here to help. Reach out and request a free consultation where we can discuss your needs.

Google Grant Optimization Checklist

Now that you’ve learned some helpful tips for optimization, it’s time to put them to use. So we’ve created a checklist to help narrow down the essentials to successful account optimization.

Use our checklist below to make sure you don’t overlook anything when optimizing your Google Grant account:

Account Structure

• Center campaigns around themes
• Include 3-5 ad groups per campaign
• Have 3-5 ads per ad group

Keywords

• Include approximately 25 keywords per ad group
• Choose keywords relevant to your mission
• No generic or single-word keywords
• Target keywords based on time and geography
• Separate branded and nonbranded keywords into different campaigns
• No keywords with quality scores below 3
• Use negative keywords to avoid ranking for those terms

Conversions

• Track conversions in Google Analytics
• Set up conversion goals in Google Analytics
• Track conversions that are meaningful to your organization
• Adjust ads based on which ones increase conversions

Ads

• Use keywords in the ad copy
• Include specific calls to action in the ad copy
• Highlight your mission
• Manually rotate your ads for new campaigns

Metrics

• Track meaningful conversions for your nonprofit
• Use A/B testing to determine what drives conversions and clicks
• Have at least 1 conversion per month
• Maintain a 5% CTR each month

Bidding

• Use manual bidding when possible
• If you set up automated bidding, select the Maximize Conversions option

Targeting

• Narrow down your target audience with geotargeting
• Pinpoint specific times when ads perform well with ad scheduling
• Adjust which devices your ads can be viewed on
• Link to other pages within your ads by using sitelinks
• Include additional plain text with callout extensions and structured snippets
• Include the cost of services with the price extension
• Display your address and phone number with the location and call extensions
• Capture leads with the lead form extension

Website Maintenance

• Ensure you own your nonprofit’s domain
• Include one focus per page
• No commercial activity that’s related to your mission
• Include ad keywords on your landing pages
• Create clear calls to action
• Ensure the site is mobile accessible

Partnering with a Google Ad Grants agency

• Google Grant applications
• Account hygiene
• Keyword research
• Account reactivation

Training Resources

• Google’s overview video about Google Ad Grants
• Ad Grants Help Center
• The Google Ad Grants YouTube channel
• Getting Attention’s blog
• Google Ad Grants Community Forum
• “Customized Performance & Suggestions” and “Special Offers” emails
• The top FAQs about Google Ad Grants

Getting accepted into the Google Ad Grants program is an exciting moment. Keeping up with the ins and outs of account management can be a challenge, but this streamlined checklist should help. Download a PDF version of this checklist for quick access in the future.

Final Thoughts on Optimizing A Google Grant Account

Optimizing a Google Grant account isn’t a one-and-done sort of deal. Rather, someone will need to actively manage your account, watch keyword data, refine your ads, and more. Otherwise, your account will underperform and may even be temporarily deactivated if it goes against Google’s regulations.

To start making the most of your account, implement the tips covered in this ultimate guide. If you’re seeking more assistance with optimizing your Google Ad Grant account, reach out to the team at Getting Attention to set up a free consultation today. We’re happy to discuss your needs so that you can get more out of the program each month.

In the meantime, explore the following additional resources to continue learning about Google Ad Grants:

• The Ultimate Guide to Marketing Grants for Nonprofits: This resource contains anything you need to know about marketing grants for nonprofits. The guide discusses everything from why marketing grants are important to how you can find them.
• Take Your Nonprofit Branding Strategy to the Next Level: This is a great place to start if you want to know more about nonprofit branding. This guide explains nonprofit branding and its key components and offers six branding best practices.
• Google Ad Grants for Nonprofits: Everything You Need to Know: Do you want to know more about Google Ad Grants? This comprehensive guide has everything from confirming your nonprofit’s eligibility to working with an agency.