WRONG!
Do you really think it is that easy? Let’s get a grip here for a minute, the world and their dogs would be doing it, if it was that easy!
A more accurate representation would be: Write a small advert for your website, pick your keywords, submit. Result – Fair amount of visitors to your website, no sales to speak of, or even at all, cost a fortune. Result: Won’t be doing that again in a hurry.
Do not worry, because by following some simple steps, you can get right back on track. Read on and let us help you succeed with Google Adwords.
There are several factors to be considered when planning a successful Google Adwords campaign. Each one of equal importance. However, Keywords are the common factor of all.
The first aspect to take into consideration, before planning your campaign, is the Google Adwords Quality Score. The Quality score is awarded on keyword relevance. The keywords used to trigger the Adwords adverts must be relevant firstly to the Adwords advert, but of equal importance, the page the visitor lands on must also be accurate and related to the initial search, too.
The reason being, that Google are not stupid. There are literally thousands of advertisers out there, looking to gain an advantage over all their competitors – so Google will ensure that when they send a visitor to your website, via your campaign, that your website is ABSOLUTELY related to their search.
Why is this so important?
Well, think about it. Google are a multi-billion dollar corporation. Their reputation relies solely on the quality of their searches. If they allow unrelated websites, for particular searches, then their validation, and reputation of their search engine infrastructure would go down the drain – overnight. You think they are going to allow that? Of course not. Hell would freeze over first.
So, ensuring that your adverts don’t just lead to your homepage, but to the URL that the keywords are relevant to is of utmost importance, too. You need to achieve as high a quality score as possible for greatest results, as the higher the quality score, the higher position the Adwords advert will achieve and also the lower the cost per click, adverts with a higher click through rate will be shown more often.
Quality Score – The New Benchmark
Low quality scores as well as being higher cost per click, can result in the advert not being shown or account suspension, either temporary or permanent, so adhering to the guidelines is crucial. With that in mind, we now know to choose our keywords carefully. Use the Google content keyword tool to check whether Google thinks your chosen keywords are relevant before submitting them for use with your Adwords campaign.
Now we know that the most relevant factor for a successful Adwords campaign is keywords, so we need to look at which keywords to choose to trigger your Adwords adverts.
Using the Adwords keyword research tool, which you probably have done already to identify searched keywords for your items, you have probably selected the high volume searched keywords. These are the keywords that will have cost you dearly, as these keywords are also the ones with the higher competition. They will also produce a low conversion rate; this is because they are less targeted keywords. To achieve success, higher click through at lower cost per click and good conversion rate, you need to target lower searched keywords or key phrases. Key phrases are the most effective, as they tend to be more descriptive, therefore closer to what the searcher is looking for.
Example: Football badges has a high search volume, so will cost more per click and has a lesser chance of converting to a sale than Chelsea Football Badges. If a person types in Chelsea Football Badges and your Key phrase is Chelsea football badges, and your Adwords advert includes these keywords also, you are far more likely to get a sale at a much cheaper cost per click. Revising your keywords so that they are highly relevant to your page content, rather than your overall site content is your true aim.
Use the Google Adwords keyword tool to find an exact match, or phrase match, to help you identify lesser searched keywords, or preferably key phrases with lower advertising competition to streamline your Adwords campaign. (Not forgetting to check the relevance of your keywords with the website content feature). Providing you have a good, overall advert, and quality landing page, then you are on the road to success.
As has been said previously, the keywords that trigger the adverts must be relevant to the advert itself. So, it is important to include the keywords in the advert. If you notice, when you do a search on Google, the keywords you have searched for show up in bold on the Adwords adverts, making them more visible. If you have used a keyphrase such as Chelsea Football Badges it is a good idea to use this as your Advert title. This will then be emboldened and your advert will stand out more. Another good tip for writing a good advert is to show a price that is including the price of the item in the title – this also gives you more chance of achieving the click through to your website.
Avoid the timewasters!
The reason this works, is because it will also save you money on your campaigns – Why? Because if you are showing the price, then potential ‘clickers’ will either be interested, or not. They will already know what the price is, so if they are not in the ‘ball-park’ of that price range, they will not click your advertisement – therefore saving you money, and saving you from ‘timewasters’.
Adverts need to be compelling, and you need to entice the searcher to click on them. Words that attract are often advertised as features or benefits; ‘free’ or ‘discount’ are good compelling words; ‘buy one get one free’ is also used to good affect.
Spend some time browsing other Google Adwords adverts to see which make you want to go and look or might make you want to buy. Take ideas and tips from them. Learn how to write good Adwords adverts. After all, it is the combination of all these factors that bring the click through to the sale – and this is what you need to achieve for a successful campaign.
Trialling keywords and adverts for a period of time and running others to see which are more effective is a good idea, don’t just settle for mediocre results, when you can always improve and always achieve higher.
Don’t lose your shirt!
It is all too easy to get caught up in the moment when trying something new, and exciting. And let’s face it, when you know you are pretty much guaranteed to increase your visitor count, via Adwords, then it is all too easy to get carried away.
Very many people have lost a LOT of money using Google Adwords – and this this because they have not followed some simple, fundamental rules:
1. Know how much you can afford to LOSE.
That’s right. There is a chance your Google campaign might not work, and therefore only be prepared to ‘bid’ what you are prepared to lose. For example, if you have a £200 advertising budget, then make sure you stick to it – UNTIL you have ended the campaign, and have analysed the results, and KNOW that it is a worthwhile campaign – hence you can then increase your budget.
2. Start your keyword bidding SMALL.
Start small, and then gradually increase, depending on what you can afford, and your desired search positions. It is quite possible that for some of your potential keywords, you could be paying £1 a click, but by paying 50 pence a click you may well receive less click-throughs, but you are also paying levels that you can afford – again, until you have analysed your results, to see what works.
3. Always be checking, and testing your campaigns.
Chances are, that you will not just be able to create an Adwords account, and start flying high from day one. No, what is more likely, is you will receive a variety of different results. Some expected, and some maybe not. BUT, you must check your results; then you can tweak your bidding amounts, keywords and content, to create the desired effect – the right results.
Adwords is not for everybody – not by any stretch, but if used properly, and with a degree of caution, you could quickly be creating campaigns, that not only bring in great traffic – but bring in substantial sales.
Good look, and remember to test!
Karen Batty
2 Comments Posted
good pointers, can you elaborate on the quality score, how is it got?
Google give you the quality score, depending on certain critera, like relevance, and content. That is a whole new topic by itself
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