BUILDING ADWORDS CAMPAIGNSTONY PASSEY

WHAT IS GOOGLE ADWORDSAn automated auction

Paid search, not organic

You choose relevant key words

• Search term: word or phrase

When a prospective customer searches using these keywords, or something related to them, your keywords are put into auction along with those of others

• Person with the highest quality score and the highest max bid is listed first.

Ads appear as “paid” search results or as “sponsored links”

HISTORY OF PAY PER CLICK

February 1998 – PPC model presented at TED Conference in California.

December 1999 - Google implemented search engine advertising.

October 2000 - The Google AdWords system was introduced.

Early 2002 - PPC was introduced; until then, advertisements were charged at cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM)

HOW GOOGLE MATCHES ADSGoogle scans millions of web pages using contextual targeting technology to analyze content of various web pages

By looking at keywords and ad text in campaign, Google identifies the main concept behind the advertising message

System automatically places the most relevant ads with the most relevant pages

Remember: Google’s goal is to quickly and

correctly match the search with relevant results.

The better you are at helping Google with quality ads,

The higher your site will rank and the lower your

costs will be.

WHAT IMPACTS THE QUALITY SCORE?

Historical Performance/Click Through Rate (CTR)

• Account• Campaign• Ad Group• Keyword• Display URL

Relevance

•Landing Page (More on this later)•Keyword to Ad / Ad Group•Ad Group to Landing page

CPC

Just because you bid $1, you may not actually pay that much

Google discounts your price so you pay only $0.01 more than is required for your add to appear before your closest competitor

• Actual CPC =(Bid price of ad rank to beat)

(Your quality score) + $0.01

GOOGLE AND DISPLAY

The Google Display Network is a large group of

websites and other products, such as email

programs and blogs, who have partnered with

Google to display AdWords ads on their sites.

- Related Sites- Unrelated Sites- Youtube- Apps- Many more.- REMEMBER – Google just wants to sell ads

GOOGLE AND DISPLAY

Display networks differ from Google search

• Users do not type in a query• Encounter ads while doing something else• Form of passive search• Ads are placed based on context (the content on the page),

not on exact targeted keywords• Search and display should be managed separately - Why?• Be sure to turn off Google Content and Display Networks

• Used budget quickly• Not targeted search

GOOGLE ADWORDS HIERARCHY

Campaign name

• AdGroups• Ads

• Keywords

Tulie Bakery

• Cakes• Cakes in Salt Lake City (Headline)

Best cake in Salt Lake City (Description)

Winner of SLC dining awards (Description)

www.tuliebakery.com/cake (Display URL)• Cake, birthday cake, wedding cake, chocolate cake, etc.

TEXT ADS

Headline no longer than 25 characters including spaces

2 Description lines—no longer than 35 characters each including spaces

• Try putting a benefit on the 2nd line and a feature or offer on the 3rd line, then switch to see if improvements are made

URL: Where do you want the person who clicks to go. (No longer than 1,024 characters)

• Should be a landing page which is relevant to your text ad • Don’t use the home page unless it provides details similar to

what you are advertising

WHO IS YOUR CUSTOMER?

Derive from marketing plan

• Age• Gender• Income• Geography• Education• Employment

Who will purchase product vs. who will ultimately use it?

Use research to back decisions

TIPS FOR CREATING SUCCESSFUL TEXT ADS

Highlight your unique strengths

• Offer, product, etc.• Free shipping, large selection, etc.

Include prices, promotions, exclusives if applicable

Tell customers what they can do using strong verbs

• Purchase, call today, Order, Sign up, Get a quote, etc.

Include at least one of your keywords in text ad

Match ad to the landing page

Experiment

• Create 3-4 ads per ad group and measure performance using analytics

TIPS FOR CREATING SUCCESSFUL TEXT ADSTouch the emotional core of your audience

• More control• Independence• Freedom• More time• More money• Better health• Better appearance• Promotions• To feel included• Social advancement• To be appreciated• Security• Confidence• Enjoyment

Source: Geddes, Advanced Google Adwords

CONSIDER WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO AVOID

More work

Unacceptable risk

Doubt

Criticism

Guilt

Embarrassment

Pain

Feeling stupid

Being ignored

How can your ad copy touch on these things?Source: Geddes, Advanced Google AdWords

SAMPLE ADS THAT TOUCH ON THESE POINTS

Buy a Dell Computer

Be productive on European flights

with our 8 hour extended battery

example.com

Be the Hero – MS Exchange

Save your company Thousands

Download hosted exchange whitepaper

www.example.com

Source: Geddes, Advanced Google AdWords

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS FOR DEVELOPING ADWORDS

Step 1:

• Consider what are you trying to accomplish in marketing plan• Awareness?• Education?• Revenue?

Step 2:

• Consider what type of searches you are trying to capture• Transactional• Informational

ORGANIZING AN ADWORDS CAMPAIGN

Define your campaign

• You can have several• Then expand into AdGroups and Keywords• The campaign name is Susan’s Bakery

AdGroup Cake -Based Lunch-Based

Keywords Wedding cakesBirthday cakesCustom cake designs

SandwichesSoupsHomemade lunchBuild your own salad

ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CONTENT STRUCTURINGBicycle shop example

• Bicycles (Campaign)• Road (AdGroup)

• Cursers (Keywords)• Racers• Hybrids

• Mountain (AdGroup)• Full Suspension (Keywords)• Hard Tail• Ultra light

• Clothing (Campaign)• Men’s (AdGroup)• Women’s• Children’s

• Parts (Campaign)• Accessories (Campaign)• Repair Service (Campaign)

KEYWORD STRUCTURE IN GOOGLE BEFORE INPUTTING YOUR CAMPAIGN INFOKeywords vs. search queries

• Keywords (also known as adwords), are bid on• Queries: What users type in the search box

Match Types for Google and Bing

• Broad: Loose matches, much traffic. • Not recommended• Cheapest, but not targeted

• Broad match: Broader results, but you can specify that certain words must by in the search term

• Phrase: Tighter match, less traffic, more targeted, expensive• Exact: Tightest match, least traffic, also most targeted, most

expensive• Negative: Eliminates words and controls traffic

EXAMPLES OF KEYWORD TYPESBroad match: Used by default

• Keyword: Men’s shoes• Match: Women’s shoes, formal dresses, man’s flip flops,

horse shoes• If you want to use broad match, start with 1-2 word phrases

Modified Broad Match—Allows you to specify that certain words must be in someone’s search term in order for your ad to be shown

• +buy +wedding +cakes• Only works with broader terms• Note the + sign in front of the word, but the space after the

word

EXAMPLES OF KEYWORD TYPES

Phrase match: Your keyword phrase must be present somewhere in the search results

• Keyword: “Men’s formal shoes”• Match: Cheap men’s formal shoes in Miami• Start with 2-4 word phrases

Exact match

• Keyword [Men’s formal shoes]• Note brackets

• Match: Men’s formal shoes

Negative

• Keywords you do not want included: Golf shoes

GOOGLE ADWORDS KEYWORD TOOL

Keyword

• Type• Example = Broad Match• +Example= Modified Broad Match• “Example” = Phrase Match• [Example] = exact match

Competition

Search Volume

• Global vs. Local

Local Search Trends

Estimated Avg. CPC

GOOGLE ADWORDS KEYWORD PLANNERA good place to start is with the keyword search. You can input a few keywords and the tool will help you discover additional keyword ideas.

GOOGLE KEYWORD PLANNER – BID ESTIMATES

Set an estimated bid price and a daily budget and the tool will give you estimated clicks, impressions, cost, click through rate, ave CPC, and average position.

KEYWORD PLANNER – DETAILED KEYWORD ESTIMATES

The tool offers a drill down by keyword so you can estimate top performers and higher search volume. It is important to have a broad keyword list for testing but a refined list for ROI.

OTHER KEYWORD TOOLS•Google Search Based Keyword Tool

•Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

•Thesaurus.com

•Wordtracker

•Keyword Discovery

•SpyFu

•Google Suggest

•Google Trends

•Miva

•NicheWatch

•WordZ

CONSIDER COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

Who are your competitors?

What keywords are they bidding on and not bidding on?

What are they highlighting in their ad copy?

Are they successful?

*Typically if someone is in the #1 ad position they have been spending on adwords for a long time. It is good to see what they are spending on.

THINGS TO AVOIDThe word FREE

Words in all caps

Competitive claims not supported on the landing page

Ads using improper grammar or spelling

Ads which use offensive or inappropriate language

Claims of price, discounts, etc. that are not shown to the consumer within 1-2 clicks from the landing page

Improper punctuation including bulleting each line of ad copy

Repeating the same word multiple times

Words like ‘best’ unless your landing page supports it.

Lack of a privacy policy—especially if taking payments on-line

CONSIDER YOUR BUDGET AND HOW MUCH ARE WILLING TO SPEND

What is a acquisition worth to your business?

What is the average website response rate?

What is the average conversion rate in person, over the phone or online.

What are you willing to pay per click based on conversion rate and acquisition value?

DETERMINE GEOGRAPHIC AREA

You can limit the customers who see your ad by geography

• City• Metro• Zip Code• Three or 5 mile radius of business

Set an appropriate geographic boundary based on your business needs

• Most likely metro

MEASURING SUCCESS

Clickthrough Rate: People who click on your ad

Average Position: Avg. Pos column on campaigns tab. Tells where ad is in search results

• 11 ads on search pages• If position higher than 11, ad not showing on first page

First Page Bids: Understand going rate for being on the first page

• Keyword tab under status column• High first page bid may mean ad not relevant

Quality Score: Click on icon in status column under keywords tab

Sales

Awareness

Google Analytics with conversion tracking should be installed on the site

LANDING PAGE DESIGNThe first page of your site shown after someone clicks on your ad

The landing page has significant impact on your quality score.

Questions your customer is seeking answers to

• Am I at the right place?• Is this what I expected?• Can I find what I need easily• Does this site really have what I’m looking for?• Do I trust this site?• How long will this take?• Where should I go next?• Should I press the back button?

PER SITE TUNERS, THERE ARE 7 DEADLY SINS OF LANDING PAGE DESIGN

Unclear call to action

Too many choices

Asking for too much information

Too much text

Not keeping promises

Visual distractions

Lack of trust