In recent years Google Adwords has emerged as the dominant marketing channel for businesses looking to advertise on the web.
The growth in Adwords has been driven by the cost effective pay per click advertising options it provides and Google’s market saturation (accounting for more than 90% of search engine traffic in Australia).
Despite its popularity, Queensland Media Group Managing Director David Perkins said Adwords still presents opportunities for new users to outsmart their competitors.
“Google Adwords is certainly not a secret anymore, however it is still not well understood and many businesses exhaust their Adwords budgets very quickly. While your competitors may be using Google Adwords they are not necessarily utilising it effectively. If you implement the right Adwords strategy you may be able to out perform your competitors, even with less budget.”
To assist businesses to get started with Google Adwords, David has put together a list of seven helpful tips:
1.Start with a small budget
The most common mistake new users make on Adwords is to implement a large budget at the beginning of their campaign. As many users will testify, Adwords budgets can be wasted very quickly.
2.Experiment
The key to achieving Adwords success is to experiment. New users need to trial different strategies and find what works before expanding their campaigns.
3.Focus on Quality Score
Many people do not realise that where ads rank on the search page is not entirely determined by budget. Google has a system called Quality Score that evaluates campaigns on a number of criteria including landing page quality, keyword relevance and click through rate. A high Quality Score can see a business rank higher than their competitors with a significantly smaller budget.
4.Use ‘exact match’ and ‘phrase match’
In the early stages of your campaigns it is best to use specific keywords that relate directly to your product or service. This will allow you to conserve budget and undertake precise testing on which keywords work best. Using ‘broad match’ may help deliver you a large amount of page views, but also result in a low conversion rate and increase your budget significantly.
5.Answer the search question
Businesses need to understand the mindset of the searcher when writing their ad copy & choosing their keywords. They must address the user’s query, not just promote their own product.
6.Align your landing page with your campaign
When people click on the Adwords link to your site, they will expect your landing page to relate to your ad copy and their search query.
7.Utilise Google’s free range of tools
Google has many free tools, which can help you to experiment and fine tune your campaign. These tools include Google Analytics, the Google Keyword Tool, Google Insights, Double Click Ad Planner, Google Website Optimizer and Google Webmaster Tools.
Author: David Perkins, QMG
