Key Principles

Google Ads has a new Spend Benchmarks report that compares your weekly spend and clicks with similar businesses. But spending less than your peers doesn't mean you should spend more, and more clicks doesn't mean better results.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱.

In our latest blog, we cover:

✔ What the report shows and what it doesn't
✔ How to read spend and clicks together
✔ What to check in your own account first
✔ When increasing your budget makes sense

Read it here: https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/google-spend-compare/

UX and SEO aren't separate disciplines anymore; they work together.

Google now looks at page speed, responsiveness and visual stability (Core Web Vitals) alongside traditional ranking factors.

Key takeaways from our latest blog:
✅ Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) directly influence rankings
✅ Fast, mobile-friendly sites keep visitors engaged for longer
✅ Simple navigation and clear content structure help both users and search engines
✅ Accessibility improvements boost usability and SEO alike

Read the full guide:

Why Is UX Design Important for SEO? | Key Principles How UX design impacts SEO, why Google's Core Web Vitals matter, and practical steps to improve site experience and search rankings together.

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘀-𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 🏑

Saturday 19th September saw the start of the new 2026/2027 hockey season. Manning Ladies, sponsored by Key Principles, got off to a fantastic start with a 6-1 win against Southwell Brincliffe.

This was the highest-scoring opening game Manning has ever had. With four different scorers and a fantastic performance all over the pitch, the team couldn’t have got off to a better start and are looking forward to the next game with confidence levels high.

🎄It's never too early to start planning!🎄

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗣𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀?

Find out here: https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/google-ads-pause-christmas/

Should You Pause Your Google Ads Account Over Christmas? | Key Principles Discover if pausing Google Ads during Christmas boosts efficiency or if strategic planning can sustain your holiday traffic.

🎉Happy 3rd Work Anniversary to Our Paid Media Executive, Will! 🥳

Thank you for all your hard work, and have a great day!

We are delighted to announce our ongoing sponsorship of West Bridgford-based Manning Ladies Hockey Club for the 2026/2027 hockey season.

Following a successful first year supporting the Club, we have funded a new, much-needed away shirt, with our logo proudly on the front!

The squad wore the new shirts for the first time in a friendly last weekend, narrowly losing 2-1 with a few key players absent. All eyes are now on their first match of the season this Saturday!

Seasonal demand is one of the biggest opportunities in paid social, and one of the easiest to get wrong.

More competition, higher costs, and a much shorter window to fix a campaign that isn't performing. Success comes down to preparation, not budget.

In our latest article, we break down:
→ Setting one clear campaign objective and building a genuinely worthwhile offer
→ Working backwards from your seasonal peak to build a realistic timeline
→ Structuring audiences around customer intent, not just demographics
→ Keeping creative on-brand while still feeling timely
→ Setting up tracking properly before a single ad goes live

If you're planning a Black Friday, Christmas or other seasonal campaign, this is worth a read before you start building.

https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/how-to-effectively-launch-seasonal-facebook-ads/

Another great quarterly meeting at Key Principles yesterday! 🥳

This time it was Will's turn to host, bringing the team together to review progress and look ahead.

We've got some exciting plans in the works, so watch this space

⚠️𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼-𝘂𝗽𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀 𝘆𝗲𝘁, 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄.⚠️

As of today, Search campaigns using Automatically Created Assets (ACA) or the campaign-level broad match setting are being automatically switched to AI Max for Search.

The bit to watch: if you're running exact or phrase match keywords alongside ACA, those keywords will start behaving like broad match now that the upgrade has landed. Broad match has its place, but it can also start matching your ads to queries you'd never have chosen yourself. That adds up fast.

Here's what we've checked across our accounts today, and what we'd recommend you should check too:

1️⃣ Go to Campaigns > Settings, filter to Search campaigns, then filter again on "Text customisation = On" and "Broad match keywords = On" to see what's affected. Managing multiple accounts via an MCC? Do this at the manager level rather than account by account.

2️⃣ Check every Search campaign, including paused ones and any accounts you've inherited. ACA was on by default for a long stretch, so older campaigns may be carrying it without anyone realising.

3️⃣ For each affected campaign, decide: → Turn the legacy features off and opt out, or → Turn AI Max on deliberately, setting each toggle yourself. Search term matching can be controlled at ad group level, so exact and phrase match can still be protected where it matters.

4️⃣ If you're keeping search term matching on: → Tighten negative keyword lists at account and campaign level → Add brand inclusions and exclusions → Watch the search terms report closely over the next few days

5️⃣ Set up alerts for significant week-on-week swings in CTR, conversion rate, CPA or ROAS through September, so any impact gets caught early.

💡 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘀 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗜 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 - 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲.

Google is changing how budget-limited campaigns using Target CPA and Target ROAS bidding are optimised.

Here's the insight many advertisers are missing:

If your campaign has been consistently beating your Target CPA (for example, delivering conversions at £22 with a £40 target), Google will now aim to deliver performance much closer to your actual target. In other words, campaigns that have quietly outperformed expectations may not continue to do so unless you review your bidding strategy.

Before the update goes live, it's worth asking:
✔️ Are your Target CPA or ROAS goals still realistic?
✔️ Are any of your campaigns marked "Limited by budget"?
✔️ Are you relying on historical performance that may soon change?

We've broken down everything you need to know, including the practical steps you should take before the rollout.

👉 https://www.keyprinciples.co.uk/2026-budget-limit/

Google Ads Changes Budget-Limited Campaign Bidding | Key Principles Learn how Google's August 2026 bidding changes could affect budget-limited campaigns and discover practical steps to prepare successfully.