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Google AdWords
Unlike many search engines
Google, to its credit, clearly denotes search listings
that are paid placement. In fact, Google AdWords appear in
a separate section down the left side of the screen.
Google AdWords provide an
inexpensive advertising venue for businesses to advertise
products or services to a targeted audience. Advertisers
have the ability to control their budget, target their
advertising based on keywords. Advertisers are also free
to determine the ad contents.
Google AdWords allow for
nearly instant traffic, which can be turned on and off.
Traffic results can be measured, providing information on
what is successful, what isn't and what needs to be
changed. AdWords can be found that work by running a test
campaign.
Benefits to AdWords
Advertisers bid on
keywords, the more an advertiser is willing to pay the
higher the likelihood the ad will appear higher in
position in the list of ads served. Google, invariably
wanting to make the most from advertisers, determines
placement based on a combination of click through rate,
bid amount and budget. Of course, in order to maximize
revenue and please searchers Google does have guidelines
for ads served and all ads must receive a minimum
percentage click through or they are removed.
AdWord Guidelines
Clearly and accurately
describe the website, this is to the advertiser and
searchers benefit. Ultimately, the more qualified the
visitor who clicks the ad, the higher the likelihood the
clicker will convert into a sale. By providing clear and
accurate information, searchers who click the ad are
qualified leads, which tend to convert more consistently
than unqualified leads. The most effective advertising
communicates a clear message to a targeted audience.
Avoid excessive
capitalization, superlatives and lavish exclamation marks
in the ad. By doing this you are not only serving the
visitor you are filtering unwanted clicks from non-buyers.
Due to space limitations your ad message will need to be
concise. Select keywords that are relevant to your
product, service or content. Call to action phrases are
not allowed (i.e. you cannot use phrases like "click
here" in your ad copy.) There are also no pop-ups.
Steps for AdWord Campaign
1.) Open an account
2.) Target language and
country - This is very important because if your product
or service can not be exported you do not want to pay to
advertise in those countries for which your product or
service can not be sold.
3.) Create Ad Group -
design an ad, select keywords, determine maximum cost per
click that you are willing to spend and define bid
amounts.
Title
The title tag is generally
the most important part of the ad be sure to use a short
phrase that gets the attention of your target audience. An
underutilized feature at Google allows you to put a
question mark in the title, the term searched on
automatically replaces the question mark in the title of
your ad.
Define max click - Google
will suggest a cost per click, but the recommendation does
not need to be adhered to. Arguments have been heard that
#1 position does not always mean increased sales;
sometimes a second position will filter useless clicks and
provide targeted traffic with a higher conversion ration.
The rule of thumb is positions 1-3 garner the most traffic
and best results. Increasing either your maximum
cost-per-click or the ads click through rate will
generally improve the ad's position.
Use keyword variations to
reach more prospects. A variety or spellings and
derivatives of keywords will increase the chances of your
ads being served. Be sure to use common misspellings and
plurals in your keyword list.
Broad match - is targeting
keywords in a loosely defined manner. Ads appear based on
keywords that have been queried by search users. For
instance, if the keywords you are planning on broad
matching are "mountain bikes" and users search
for the terms "bikes that can climb a mountain",
your ad will appear; as opposed to exact match, which
requires that the keywords selections must exactly match
the query.
Phrase match - is indicated
when quotations are used in the phrase. A keyword phrase
set to phrase match will only appear when the exact phrase
is searched on. For example "mountain bikes"
will appear when searchers search for "brand name
mountain bikes".
Exact match - is when the
keyword or phrase is entered with brackets. The phrase
will only serve ads when the entered search phrase is
identical to the keyword phrase. "Mountain
bikes" will only appear when searchers search for
"mountain bikes"
Negative keyword - is
helpful in filtering unrelated phrases. A dash is entered
before the filtering phrase. "Mountain bike -races
will not appear if mountain bike races are searched on.
Landing Page - is important
because this not only helps with tracking, but also
provides a focused and specific landing page for
searchers. Information can be related to the actual
search, while also increasing the conversion ratios for
sales. A focused landing page with content related and
using the same terminology as the actual search, will show
the searcher that your solution is relevant to their
needs.
3.) Define budget - in
order to maximize exposure Google recommends a daily
budget for each campaign.
Google's suggested budget
is helpful in receiving consistent traffic throughout the
advertising campaign. Keep in mind this is only Google's
recommendation; ultimately it is up to you to determine a
budget that is affordable and suitable.
Google supplies tracking
tools that assist webmasters in determining their return
on investment based on keyword searches and phrases. While
the technology is not perfect and cannot track phone and
purchase orders, it should give advertisers a sense of
what phrases and keywords are converting well in their
advertising campaign.
While Google AdWords should
not be your only advertising campaign, but should be a
significant part of your campaign. Google AdWords can
certainly help send those important targeted searchers to
your website. Get started with Google AdWords at http://www.google.com/ads/
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