Google AdWords is a pay-for-results form of online advertising that can be extremely cost-effective when based on recommended Google AdWords management practices. Here’s the condensed version of how it works: you set up your account, create an ad that displays on Google’s search results for your chosen keywords, and pay only when someone looking for information related to those keywords clicks on your Google AdWords ad.
Recent independent studies credit Google with a 67 percent share of the total search engine market. That makes Google the most logical choice for just about any type of search engine marketing, especially pay-per-click, or PPC, advertising.
Setting up Your AdWords Account:
Setting up your account is easy, and shouldn’t take more than a few minutes. Go to the AdWords website at https://adwords.google.com and enter your name, date of birth, email address, website address, mobile phone number, and your country. You’ll also be asked to create and enter a password for accessing your account.
Determine Your Most Effective Keywords:
• Start by listing each of your major product lines.
• Write specific keyword phrases of 2 to 5 words for each of your product categories. Write down as many keyword phrases as you want to target for your ads. The more specific your phrases, the more targeted and effective your results will be. Try to imagine how your customer would describe and search for your business; don’t get too technical or use industry terminology that few customers would even know about.
• Google has a free Keyword Planner that can help you with keyword selection and even give you an idea of how a given set of keywords would perform. You can access the Keyword Planner by signing in to your AdWords account, select the Tools and Analysis tab, then select Keyword Planner.
Set Your Campaign Parameters:
• Each of your major product lines or services should be a separate campaign. Google allows up to 25 campaigns per AdWords account.
• Within each campaign, you can establish one or more ad groups, each one targeting a specified set of keywords. By creating multiple ads within an ad group, you can run different ads in rotation to determine the most cost-effective ads that you should focus on.
• You can specify specific geographic areas if your target customers are searching by state or city.
Determine Your Budget and Keyword Bid Rates :
• Set the maximum average amount of money you are willing to spend each day for each of your campaigns.
• Set the maximum amount you are willing to pay for each click on your AdWords ad. You can set maximum click rates either by ad group or for individual keywords.
• If you want to skip the sometimes tedious process of competitive bid setting, Google offers automatic bidding. Just provide a 30-day budget and Google will set your maximum per-click bids and ad schedule automatically.
Create Your Ads :
• For each campaign, or major product line, create a separate ad group around each major keyword phrase that you are targeting.
• Write one or more text ads for each ad group. Each ad should contain a headline and two lines of ad copy, for a maximum of 95 characters. Your copy should offer a clear-cut value, or benefit, that sets you apart from the competition.
• Set your display URL. This is the website address that will be displayed in your ad, and cannot exceed 35 characters.
• Set your destination URL. This is the address of the website that you want visitors to be directed to when they click on your ad, and cannot exceed 1,024 characters.
• Make sure that the content of your ads and landing pages matches your key phrases.
Monitor Your Results:
Effective Google AdWords management provides for tracking results, and making adjustments as needed. You can access tools through your Google AdWords account that will help you evaluate the quality of your ads as well as analyze your campaign profitability. Another great free tool is Google Analytics, which provides a wealth of information about your website’s performance and visitor traffic.
