The Newbies Guide to Using Adwords

Google Adwords and PPC Management (Pay Per Click) is a great way to market your business on the internet. With the ability to promote your services on the web you can market your services locally, nationally, and even internationally. If that isn’t enough to entice you then consider that the pricing for Adwords is next to nothing and this is an advertising tool that can get you great results.

Here I’ll discuss some important things you need to know before you start using Adwords.

1. Have a Clear and Compelling USP

Your USP is one of the most important points in all of your advertising. This is even more important when using Adwords because you’ve only got 70 characters to work with. You need to focus on the selling points of your product. How does your product or service help people? Your USP should be based on your answer to that question, which you can then tailor your PPC campaigns around.

2. Setting and Sticking to a Budget

Setting and sticking to a budget is vital when using Adwords for PPC marketing because if you don’t it can end up being your downfall. Many companies can get carried away with Adwords and they end up overspending. This is because they change the layouts too often and get too caught up in all the advanced features of Adwords. It’s better to just keep things simple and stick to your budget.

3. Use Good Keywords

You need to find a few specific keywords to focus on in your PPC campaign. Don’t use too many keywords because it can be more expensive and make sure that you don’t use too many keywords that your competitors are already using. If you use keywords your competitors are already using, it will drive up the price of your campaign. Pick specific keywords related to your niche and business and you’ll do much better.

It’s important that your keyword is also used in the ad copy itself and not just your website and offer.

4. Make Your Ads Specific

One of the advantages you have when using Adwords is that you can be incredibly specific about what audience you target. You don’t want to have a haphazard approach with your ad campaign and just hope that it reaches the right audience. Focus on a specific audience by targeting strong keywords and using your personal Analytics as a constant reference.

5. Create Honest Ads

Creating honest ads means that the page your ad links to must be what is being advertised. There is nothing worse than a prospect clicking on an ad only to be directed to a web page that isn’t what was promised in the ad. Not only is this a bad way to treat your prospects but it’s just a waste of your money because you won’t get any decent conversions.

6. Tweak Your Ad When Necessary

One of the great things with Adwords is that you can test and tweak your PPC campaigns. You can do an A/B test to see which ad performs the best, and then learn from your results that you can apply to future campaigns. You can test all the elements of the ad to see what works best such as the headline, visuals, landing pages, descriptions, and more. This is why Adwords is such a great marketing tool for companies worldwide.

When You Shouldn’t Use Adwords

Adwords is a brilliant marketing tool that can reap great rewards for your business. However, there are times when you shouldn’t use Adwords. If you have a product that your target market doesn’t know exists then you would be foolish to use Adwords because no one will search for your product. This also applies if you are in a very niche market.

Competition in the market is also something worth considering. If you offer a product that has a low selling margin but are needing to spend large amounts of money on your ads just to get someone to your website then Adwords may not be worth it. You will end up losing money in this instance.

Lastly, your Adwords campaign needs to be used in conjunction with strong resources. What that means is that you need a great looking website. You need good web copy on your web pages. If your website lacks these things and does not look professional then you are not going to convert those leads into paying customers.

In Conclusion

Adwords is a great marketing tool for any business but it needs to be used with care. It isn’t easy to get the hang of initially but in time you’ll have a great understanding of Adwords and be able to use it to generate leads for your business.

Have you had much success with Adwords in the past?

For more advanced users you can check out my posts on the various AdWords conversion types, how to identify long tail keywords for a higher ROI, 10 great tips for successful PPC campaigns and how you can use seasonality can improve your PPC performance.

#googleadwords #digitalmarketing #ppcmanagement