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Throughout the past few weeks C2 have been busy revamping the online advertising strategy with Google AdWords. There are multiple advertising channels to choose from to market a brand, from social media, radio, magazine, bill boards, TV etc. However, the main tool that targets an audience that we have an interest in at this moment in time, Google Ad Words. After many days of planning, making mistakes, our aim to getting our adverts on the first page of Google eventually paid off! I wanted to create and share this blog about AdWords to provide some guidance on how you can use AdWords to promote your business or organisation.
Firstly, what is Google AdWords? How does it work?
If you are new to paid search advertising these are among the first questions you will have. Let's cover the basics and bring you up to speed on how to get started with Google AdWords advertising.
Before you start…
There are four essential elements you must have in place before you consider launching any AdWords campaign, if you hope to achieve the best results you need:
1. a product or service,
2. an advertising budget,
3. a website, and
4. a conversion goal.
With these four components in place, you are now ready to get started with your online advertising. I have to point out that AdWords is created from your Google account and can be accessed at www.google.com/adwords.
How does Google AdWords Work?
Adverts are clearly distinguished from the natural search results by Google and are clearly marked. A typical side column advert is shown below:
Advertisers bid on keywords in order to serve an ad which, when clicked upon, leads the searcher to a website landing page where a conversion goal, such as a lead generation or purchase, can be completed.
Advertisers compete against one another in the Google AdWords auction for ad slots on the Google Search results page. Advertisements will appear primarily above or to the right-handside of organic listings.
The Google AdWords auction is based around two fundamental elements: keywords and cost-per-click (CPC) bidding. Advertisers bid on search terms related to the product or service they provide. The CPC bid is the maximum amount an advertiser is willing to pay each time their ad is clicked.
Google AdWords Account Structure
Consider the account structure layout to grasp how the AdWords system works. The AdWords account contains one or more campaigns. Each campaign contains one or more ad groups. Each ad group contains one or more keywords AND one or more ads.
Campaign
Budgeting, targeting, and several other functions are controlled at the Google AdWords campaign level. Each campaign is assigned a daily budget (the amount you are willing to spend each day), and the AdWords system will work to spend up to that point each day that the campaign is active.
You will also determine device targeting, location targeting, language targeting, and a number of other settings at the campaign level.
Ad Groups
The main function of ad groups is to organise your keywords and related ad copy into very small, tight-knit groupings. Doing so will help to ensure that your keywords are as relevant as possible to the ads they trigger. You will set a CPC bid at the ad group level which applies to all keywords housed within the ad group.
Ads
Ads are triggered by the keywords that reside within the same ad group. They are comprised of a headline, two description lines, a display URL, and a destination URL.
Ads are the face of your product or service. The ad copy should be keyword-rich, enticing to a consumer, and accurately represent what they will find when they click through to your website's landing page.
Keywords
A keyword is a word or phrase that an advertiser selects to bid upon. Keywords should be relevant to the advertiser's products or services. When searched by a user, keywords will trigger the ads which are housed within the same ad group.
Google AdWords recognises five different match types which, when put to use, can either broaden or restrict potential ad reach. Each match type is denoted by using a variety of symbols:
- Exact match keywords have the narrowest reach. They will be triggered when they match exactly to the search phrase being bid upon in the exact word order. No other words can appear in the users search query. Exact match type is denoted by surrounding the keyword phrase in square brackets. E.g. [Dynamics CRM Free Trial].
- Phrase match keywords will be triggered when a user's search query contains the exact phrase that is being bid upon in the exact word order. Other words and phrases can appear before or after the keyword phrase but NOT within the phrase. Phrase match type is denoted by surrounding the keyword phrase in quotation marks. E.g. looking for a "CRM free trial" offer.
- Modified broad match keywords will be triggered when a user's search query contain the words used in the keyword phrase in ANY order. Other words and phrases can appear before, after, OR within the phrase. Modified broad match type is denoted using plus signs (+) before each word in the keyword phrase. E.g. +Microsoft +Dynamics.
- Broad match keywords have the broadest reach. They will be triggered when the system detects that the keyword is SIMILAR to the users search query. The search query doesn't need to contain any of the words or phrases that were used in the keyword. Broad match keywords are denoted by using no symbols. E.g. Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015.
- Negative match keywords are used to exclude your ad from serving when particular word or phrase is included in the user's search query. If a search query contains one of your negative keywords, your ad will not serve. Negative match keywords are denoted by using a minus sign (-) before the FIRST word of the phrase. E.g. -cheap CRM system.
Using Google AdWords has dramatically changed the way businesses advertise. When someone is looking for an answer or a solution, they are most likely to use Google to find what they are looking for. Once certain key words are triggered in a search, Google AdWords will display the appropriate adverts which are the closest match. The adverts are then categorised to what the business is willing to pay for a click. The one with the most relevance of the search who is willing to pay the most per click will be at the top of Google advert listings for the search results page.