Google Ads should not use more than 20 keywords for each adgroup. This limit on keywords for adgroups helps you maximize your budget and target the right audience.
You should limit the number of keywords in your ad groups to no more than 20. This is due to the following factors which impact the performance and quality of your Google AdWords Pay Per Click (PPC).
Ad Group Relevance
You should choose keywords that are highly relevant to your ad copy for each Google Ad Group. Keyword relevance is important to ensure that your ads are seen by the correct users on Google. It also increases your click-through rate and reduces your costs. You don’t need to add any more keywords to your ad groups than you absolutely have to.
Increases quality score
Google AdWords assigns your ad campaign a Quality Score on a 1-10 scale. It is available at the keyword level. According to Google, a higher Quality Score indicates that your ad campaign and landing page is more relevant and helpful to someone searching for the keyword you are targeting, as compared to those of other advertisers.
The Quality Score is based on how well your ad matches a user’s intent. If your ad targets the wrong keywords, the wrong users will see your ad, and this will result in a lower quality score.
The Google Ads Quality Score directly affects the cost-per-click (CPC) you pay. A lower quality score = higher CPC cost, while a higher quality score = lower CPC cost.
Ad Budgets: Better Ad Budget Use
You must set a daily budget when you run PPC ads through Google AdWords. You can maximize your return on investment by limiting the number keywords per adgroup.
If you have a daily advertising budget of $60, and the average CPC per keyword is $1, you can get up to 3 clicks for each keyword if your adgroup contains only 20 keywords. ($1 CPC x 20 keywords x 3 clicks per keyword = $60.)
If you have 60 keywords in an adgroup, you can only afford 1 click for each keyword. ($1 CPC x 60 keywords x 1 click per keyword = $60.)
You can find out faster which keywords are the most effective for your ad groups by using a smaller set of keywords. You can afford to click each keyword three times per adgroup for $60. This will allow you to know faster which keywords are most relevant to your audience and get the highest amount of clicks.
You can find a guide here on how to buy Google keywords if you need assistance with AdWords.
After you’ve learned how many keywords you should have in an ad set, we can move onto the second part. This guide will explain if you should keep the same keywords or use different ones in each Google Ads group.
Can Ad groups have the same keywords?
Ad groups may have the same keyword, but it will determine which ads appear when a keyword matches the search term of a user on Google or partner sites. Google AdWords determines the best keyword and ad groups for the auction using a set preferences.
According to a Google document about using similar keywords for Google Ad Accounts, you might have several keywords that are identical or overlap in their meaning and could match a search query. If this is the case, then only one keyword can cause an ad from your account to appear.
You might, for example, have both “SEO Course” and “SEO Training Course” in one adgroup or two different adgroups, which match the query “training course SEO”. Only one keyword can be used to trigger an ad. Two ads from the exact same Google account cannot appear at the same moment on Google’s partner websites or the SERPs.
Google AdWords uses Ad Rank to determine the winning keyword and ad in the auction. Ad Rank is calculated based on factors such as your bid amount, ad-quality, context of the search etc.
Should each ad group have different keywords?
You should not repeat the same keywords in different ad groups of the same campaign. By using different keywords for each ad, you can target a wider range of search queries. This will also prevent your ads from being in competition with one another.
Search Engine Land says that having the same keywords in multiple ad groups can lead to a variety of issues: “You lose control over which ads are shown for a particular term.” This can cause problems later on in the optimization and reporting phase, as it may generate false information about what keyword performed.
It is acceptable to use the same keyword for more than one adgroup, as long as they appear in different campaigns with different targeting. To increase relevance and avoid overlaps with other adgroups, you should always group keywords into themes. Consider including at least one keyword from your group in your headline.
How many keywords can I use in Google Ads?
Google Ads permits 20,000 keywords for each adgroup and up to 5,000,000 ad groups targeting keywords. You can have as many negative keywords as you want per campaign.
Visit this page to learn more about negative keywords and Google Ads.
Keywords per Ad Group Summary
This guide should answer the question of how many keywords you should use per adgroup for Google Ads.
You may have noticed that the recommended number of keywords in an adgroup is no more than 20. This recommendation will help you maximize your budget for AdWords and reach the right audience with each adgroup.