Pay per click advertising – beyond the basics
In my last post I explained to you what a Google AdWords pay per click campaign could do for your business. Now I will start to explain how to set one up. Signing up for an AdWords account is really easy. You simply go to adwords.google.com and follow the instructions. All you need is a credit or debit card to pay for your ads. There is even now a local rate helpline if you’re struggling and need to call Google for help.
So, let’s assume that your AdWords account is set up and you’re ready to set some ads up and start advertising. Where do you begin?
It’s all about the keywords….
Whatever you do, don’t just start writing your ads. Your ads will show when your keywords match what people type in to Google. So, take a step back and take the time to find out what people actually type in, rather than just using the words that you would use, as you may be surprised. With a bit of research, you might just find some keywords that you would never have thought to include.
Incidentally – in the world of pay per click advertising, a keyword is typically a phrase rather than just a word. Very few people search using just one word. If you’re advertising TVs, then “Samsung LCD TV” is still considered a keyword.
So that’s what a keyword is, so how do you find them? Well, there are many ways to research keywords, some free, some not. Probably the best free tool is Google’s Keyword Tool. If you enter a keyword you can see how many people searched Google for that term last month globally, and also within your country. It even suggests some alternative keywords you might want to consider.
Find as many relevant keywords as you can for your product or service, and you’re ready to set up some ads.
Setting up your campaigns.
So you’ve now got a list of keywords. You might only want to advertise one product or service, or you might want to advertise several. What you need to do now is split your keywords out in to some broad themes. For example if you’re an accountant offering a range of services, you might have some keywords for tax advice, some for audit, and so on.
What many first-time advertisers do is throw all their keywords in to one ad group and show one generic advert to all of them, and anyone who clicks through will be sent to their homepage. This is the wrong way to do it, as it will drive your costs up and make your ads less effective.
As an example, if someone enters “tax accountant” they should see an ad with “tax accountant” in the headline and be sent to a page about tax accounting if they click through. This might sound pedantic, but it really makes the difference. Google will reward you with lower click costs if your content is highly relevant to your keywords, and users will be more likely to buy or enquire if you give them the information they’re looking for straight away, so you’ll save money and be more likely to make money if you split your adverts out in this way.
Doing it this way takes a lot more time, but trust me, it IS worth it! If you don’t have the time to write dozens of separate ads, then my advice is to just to write ads for one or two products, and write the rest when you get some free time. You’re far more likely to succeed writing one or two good ads for one or two products, than to write one average one-size-fits-all ad for all of your products.
In my next post I’ll explain how Google decides where your ad will be shown and you’ll see why it’s important to structure your campaigns this way.