For some, just the thought of getting started with Google AdWords makes palms sweat and knees shake. The somewhat steep learning curve all too often results in ineffective campaigns with little return on investment; a big no-no for freelancers and small businesses with limited financial resources. And yet, if you spend just a bit of time understanding the possibilities offered by AdWords, you can quickly learn to develop campaigns that are both cost-efficient and generate real results for your business.
Researching your keywords
Start by figuring out which keywords are being used by people searching for your particular product or service. There are various tools that can help you do this, I personally use the default AdWords Keyword Research Tool. However, do bear in mind that it is not 100% accurate (search volume figures should be taken with a pinch of salt) and make sure you understand the difference between global and local monthly searches.
Create a good, targeted structure
Once you have an idea of the keywords you might use, start thinking about how to structure a targeted ad campaign with as granular a level of control as possible. So for example, if you are a graphic designer based in London, rather that simply creating a generic catch-all ‘graphic design’ ad group, you might want to create separate ad groups for each of the services you offer (e.g. website design, logo design, brochure design, business card design etc.). Another practical example, is the campaign we recently created for MessageBase, where we created a telephone answering services campaign with different ad groups for the variations of the service, including a “call answering” ad group and a “message-taking service” ad group.
At this stage, you should also make sure your campaign is correctly configured with regards to geographic targeting, devices and daily budget. It’s also worth looking at the various ad extensions available, which should be used whenever is relevant.
Write relevant ad copy
The key here is to make your adverts as descriptive as possible, which will help increase your CTR (click through rate) and conversions. Descriptive ads can also help you lower your spend by increasing your keyword quality score and even by acting as a deterrent to people who will not buy anything from you (preventing unnecessary clicks is a great way to reduce your expenditure). So for instance, you may want to include in your ad copy things such as pricing or even your phone number.
It’s also a good idea for you to create different versions of the ad so you can test which works best.
Monitoring and Evaluation
Make sure you correctly install the AdWords tracking code and then enable the ‘Conversions’ column (Columns > Customise Columns) which lets you see various metrics including your conversion rate and cost per conversion (note the difference between one-per-click and many-per-click), as well as total conversion value, which is key to calculating your ROI.
When looking at conversion tracking, it’s also important to note here that you will notice a discrepancy between the AdWords reporting and Google Analytics reporting. This is due to the fact that AdWords tracking works on a ‘first-click wins’ basis, whilst Analytics works on ‘last-click wins’ (see here for a more detailed explanation of what that means).
Google have also recently added a ‘dimensions’ tab, which allow you to view a range of interesting data, including the search terms that have triggered your ads. This provides you with an invaluable amount of data for optimising your keyword list. For instance, it will give you some thoughts as to which keywords should be added as negative keywords (in one case we were using the keyword “virtual assistant” and it turned out that we were getting hits from people typing in “virtual assistant jobs”).
It’s also important to note that AdWords is often used by online marketers to help determine which keywords drive the most click-through’s and conversions, allowing you to empirically test which keywords your SEO efforts should be focused on. So even if you’re not planning to use AdWords in the long-run, the data it can provide you with in the short term certainly makes it worthwhile.
Finally, I strongly suggest that you download the AdWords Editor for making bulk changes to your account – it will save you bags of time.
If you’ve got any questions, comments or tips on AdWords or online advertising in general, let us know in the comments!
Photos by Richard Cocks – CC
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