For the uninitiated, Google AdWords and pay per click campaigns offer advertisers the opportunity to appear as a sponsored result when a user types in a specific search term, keyword or phrase. Looking at Google adwords and setting up pay per click campaigns can seem daunting, which is why conducting thorough research in to keywords and terms is essential. Your keywords are the words and phrases that Google will use to match your advert with users when they input a search in to Google.
It’s also imperative that before you begin you think about your objectives and how using Google AdWords can help you to meet these. Asking yourself who your customers are and what times they will be searching for you and how (for example, via mobile, desktop etc) can help you decide how to run your campaigns.
You should also make use of negative keywords so that AdWords knows if someone includes a specific term in their search that you don’t want your advert to appear in the results. This helps you make the most of your budget and ensure you’re reaching people you really want to reach. This works well for example if your brand sells an item but your pricing structure isn’t at the budget end of the scale, as you may want to consider removing the people who add the word ‘cheap’ to their search.
As with all aspects of marketing, ensuring your copy is targeted is also important. Google wants users to keep on using the search engine so will showcase the results it deems most relevant and helpful to its users. Making sure your ad copy accurately reflects what the searcher wants is important if you are to master this step.
Taking note of the score provided to you by Google AdWords is key – platforms that offer paid advertising such as Facebook and Google will offer scores that help you to determine the success of your adverts compared with others placing a similar style of ad – in this instance check your advert quality score and aim as high as possible to get the lowest cost per click.
Making your adverts different from that of your competitors can help you stand out and is key to Google AdWords success, as is ensuring your clicks from users are directed to suitable landing pages. For example, if the landing page you are sending users to in your adverts is not relevant and does not mention the same topic and phrases as your advert, your chance of Google AdWords working for you is much lower.
As with Facebook advertising campaigns, it’s advisable to use location targeting and create multiple ads and test their performance. Monitoring performance can help you ascertain which adverts people are responding to and can therefore help you decide what style of advert to use in future campaigns.
If you have a low budget or simply want to trial campaigns via Google AdWords, consider a remarketing campaign to make the most of a modest budget. These campaigns work by targeting users who have visited your website and ‘following’ them around the web so that your adverts appear to them while they’re on other webpages.
