A feature I’ve loved in Google Analytics and desperately wanted in Google AdWords is now here: Notes!

have many spreadsheets filled with notes on account changes made to client AdWords accounts. Now, I can keep them all right within the interface.

Notes are helpful in adding context to your data. Why did traffic drop late last month? We paused 3 campaigns. Why is spend increasing? We launched automated bidding. You can use notes to leave the answers to the questions you’ll have later.

What You Should Know About Notes

Notes can only be added to the account, campaign, or ad group level. Anyone with account access can view a note, but only those who have edit access can create, edit, or remove them.

You should consider creating notes for any account changes that might impact your data. Here are some examples:

• New campaign launches
• Start date of a new ad test
• Any major changes in strategy
• Offline advertising launches
• Major website changes
• Seasonal events
• Any external event that could impact traffic

Let’s take a look at how to create notes in your account.

How To Create Notes

There are three different places where you can create notes within the AdWords interface:

• Performance Graph
• Notes Panel
• Report Table

Performance Graph

The first and easiest way to create a note is to hover over a node on a campaign or ad group performance graph and add a note from the information card that appears.

Click “ADD NOTE” in the information card.

On the information card, you’ll select the date and put in the note details. You’ll also see text telling you at what level and for what client the note will apply to.

The notes will be added to the ad group or campaign you’re viewing when creating the note. If you haven’t selected a specific campaign or ad group in the navigation panel, your note is added at the account level.

After you save your note, a gray square will appear on the performance chart. You can hover over or click on the square to view the note or add a note. You can also choose to see all notes.

Notes Panel

The second way allows you to add a note to any date, without having to select a specific point on the performance graph first.

To access the Notes Panel, click on Campaigns or Ad groups in the left-hand navigation. Then, click the 3-dot icon above the results table.

With this method, you’re also able to see all existing notes in the notes panel.

Create a new note by clicking “ADD” in the top left corner.

From the Notes Panel, you can view all of the existing notes in your account, or search to find specific notes. You can also choose to filter notes based on the level they are applied to in the account.

Finally, you can edit or remove any note from the Notes Panel by hovering over the note and clicking the pencil or trash can icon.

At the bottom of any note, you can see when it was created or last edited. This information is also available in “Change history.”

Reports Table

The third place you can create notes is within the Reports Table. Navigate Campaigns or Ad groups and select the ones you want to apply the note to from the list. Once you select campaigns or ad groups, you’ll see a blue menu bar appear with the option “Add note.”

From here, the information card will appear for you to add your note.

Those are the three ways to add notes to your account. So far, I’ve definitely used the Performance Graph and Notes Panel most often.

Limitations of AdWords Notes

Notes are a great way to provide context for your data, but there are some limitations.

• Notes are only available at the Account, Campaign, and Ad group level. Would love to see this included in Keyword and Ads as well.
• You can only create notes for individual dates, there is no option to include a time or create a note for a date range.
• Notes are not included when you export data.

Have you started using notes in your Google AdWords account? If so, let us know in the comments below!