See terms.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nWhy I still stand by SKAGs<\/h2>\n
Both of these Hagakure and STAGs seem promising, but I still advocate for SKAGs.<\/p>\n
I don’t build Google Ads accounts based on conjectures about signal liquidity. <\/p>\n
I don’t build Google Ads accounts based on what Google tells me to do. <\/p>\n
I don’t choose ad structures because they are easy.<\/p>\n
I choose ad structures based on what works.<\/p>\n
We’ve managed over 6,000 Google Ads accounts at my agency. I can see the POP search performance from accounts as they move from either Hagakure or STAGs into our SKAG approach.<\/p>\n
SKAGs consistently win, and that’s all the argument I need.<\/p>\n
But for those who want to understand the mechanism behind SKAGs winning, let’s go one level deeper.<\/p>\n
The premise of SKAGs winning is that the ad relevance is better. This leads to higher Quality Scores and lower CPCs. This is still largely true.<\/p>\n
Even with broad match, LSV and close match variants, the ad built for one keyword is still more relevant than the ad built for five.<\/p>\n
Have broad match, LSV and close match variants made SKAGs today worse than SKAGs in 2019? Yes. But they still beat STAGs and Hagakure.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the premise of STAGs\/Hagakure working is signal liquidity. <\/p>\n
Here’s the problem:<\/p>\n
Signal liquidity matters only at the campaign level. That is where smart bidding is applied and where algorithms learn.<\/p>\n
Addressing signal liquidity concerns<\/h2>\n
If you are concerned about signal liquidity (and you should be), ensure that enough SKAGs are contained within the campaign that you’re reachingat least<\/em>30 conversions per month, ideally 100.<\/p>\nIf you’re still skeptical, I’d recommend this: <\/p>\n
Pull in ad relevance scores at the keyword level. <\/p>\n
Filter for all ads rated “below average.” <\/p>\n
Moving that to an “average” rating should increase Quality Score by ~3 points, which will reduce CPCs by 30%.<\/p>\n
If all keywords currently rated below average saw a 30% drop in cost for the same click and conversion volume, what impact would you have on your account?<\/p>\n
I’d bet that number makes you think it’s at least worth a test.<\/p>\n
\nContributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff<\/a> and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interview 10 Google Ads experts and nine of them will tell you that themed ad groups (a.k.a. Hagakure) are the best way to build search campaigns. I’m the 10th. I’ve been publicly standing up for single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) for some time now – though I’ll admit it is a controversial take. Most recently, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":114,"featured_media":6762,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[22],"class_list":{"0":"post-6762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ppc","8":"tag-ppc"},"yoast_head":"\n
Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024 - SEO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024 - SEO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Interview 10 Google Ads experts and nine of them will tell you that themed ad groups (a.k.a. Hagakure) are the best way to build search campaigns. I’m the 10th. I’ve been publicly standing up for single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) for some time now – though I’ll admit it is a controversial take. Most recently, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Matt Bowen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Matt Bowen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/\",\"name\":\"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024 - SEO\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5c4eb0feadb9b4d0255d172408ae4e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/\",\"name\":\"SEO\",\"description\":\"News, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5c4eb0feadb9b4d0255d172408ae4e\",\"name\":\"Matt Bowen\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/cherylroll.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/author\/matt-bowen\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024 - SEO","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024 - SEO","og_description":"Interview 10 Google Ads experts and nine of them will tell you that themed ad groups (a.k.a. Hagakure) are the best way to build search campaigns. I’m the 10th. I’ve been publicly standing up for single keyword ad groups (SKAGs) for some time now – though I’ll admit it is a controversial take. Most recently, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/","og_site_name":"SEO","article_published_time":"2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00","author":"Matt Bowen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Matt Bowen","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/","url":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/","name":"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024 - SEO","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024.png","datePublished":"2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-19T00:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5c4eb0feadb9b4d0255d172408ae4e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/why-single-keyword-ad-groups-still-matter-in-2024-444260\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why single keyword ad groups still matter in 2024"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/","name":"SEO","description":"News, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4d5c4eb0feadb9b4d0255d172408ae4e","name":"Matt Bowen","sameAs":["http:\/\/cherylroll.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/author\/matt-bowen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/114"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}