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Never in the history of online advertising have you been able to shell out 10 bucks, spend 5 minutes writing an ad, and quickly reach hundreds of millions of people in less than 15 minutes. Now, with Google AdWords, you can do just that. Are you ready to connect with new customers today?--Customers who at this precise moment are hungrily searching for your products or services?
Setting up a PPC AdWords account on Google is not difficult, but there are many tips and tactics that you should keep in mind. As head of the PPC division for a high-volume Stamford, CT website and graphic design marketing agency, I can probably set up a Google AdWords campaign in my sleep. But that's a bad thing, because once monotony sets in you may be in trouble.
For others, setting up a Google AdWords campaign is much more challenging. I've tested the Google PPC advertising system for several years now, and I've had both successes and failures. In this article, I'd like to share 9 simple strategies I've come to rely on and trust when creating any Google AdWords accounts.
These tips are designed to help you create ads that generate higher click through rates, and lower cost per click fees.
TIP #1: Create Then Refine Your Keywords As Much As Possible
Defining and then refining your keywords is extremely important. This means using brackets "[...]" around your keyword(s) and key phrase(s). For example: [cooking] and [Italian cooking]. By doing this, your ad will only show in the listings when someone searches for the exact keyword phrase you have written inside the brackets. Your ad won't show for searches that include other keywords (i.e., "cooking recipes" or "cooking shows.")
TIP #2: Try To Advertise Only The Benefits Of Your Products/Services In Your Ads
Lots of Google ads don't really do enough to grab the reader and make them feel hot and fuzzy all over, which is really what you need to get someone to click on your ad. That's because most ad writers focus on the wrong ideas. Generic descriptions (like "we're the premier company") and fancy slogans are not very impressive to most people, even though advertisers love them. To be most effective your ad should enumerate one or more major benefits that the search engine user will get when they either click on your ad or use your product/service.
Some examples include "Save Money!" "Look Younger!" "Lose Weight!" "Live Healthier!" "Improve Your Relationship!" and so on. You may even consider starting your headline with an action word or an attention grabbing word. "Free," "New," and "Sale" immediately spring to mind.
Also, make sure you take out common and unnecessary words like "a, an, in, on, it, of", etc. These words do not absolutely need to be in the ad. Remember, make every word count. Think of your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) and try to use that in your ad as well. What is it that makes your product or service better or different from the rest? Say it in your ad!
TIP #3: Find And Use Keywords That Evoke Emotion & Encourage Enthusiasm
No one likes to be bored and no one wants to read boring things. So in your ad, make sure to use plenty of power words (tremendous, greatest, unbelievable, etc.) and also plenty of call-to-action phrases (try it now, call now, visit us now) that provoke emotion, enthusiasm, excitement, and response. Other examples of power words include "cheap, sale, special offer, one-time only, tricks, tips, enhance, discover, learn."
Call-to-action phrases are important also, like: "Buy Today And Save 50%," "Sale Ends Tomorrow," "Download Free Trial Now." Make sure the power words and calls to action you choose are right for your business, otherwise Google may reject your ad.
TIP #4: Test Different Ads Simultaneously, And Keep Testing
If you want to market anything cost-effectively, then you've got to test your ads. Now, you may have heard that before, and that's because it's a known fact, proven to work. With PPC, you should always try to test 2 (or more) ads simultaneously, known as A/B split testing.
Now, obviously you're split testing for a reason, and that reason is so you can find out which ad creates the most excitement and thus the most interest. You can measure this by
finding out (via Google's analytics tools) which one gets a higher click through ratio. Once you've determined which ad is doing better, replace the weaker performing ad with a newer one. Rinse and repeat. Continue this process in your ultimate quest to get the highest click through ratio possible.
TIP #5: Use Laser Targeted Keywords Throughout Your Ad
The more targeted your ad the better it will run. It's really that simple. So make sure you use targeted keywords in your headline and in the description of your ad. Google will see the keywords in your title and highlight them in bold, but they'll also see your keywords in your ad, and they'll highlight those as well. Here's an example:
Website Marketing Pros
Website Marketing Firm, Stamford, CT
Call For Your Free Consultation Today!
When search engine users scan search results, they naturally gravitate towards the keywords and key phrases they've entered. When these keywords are highlighted in bold, this amplifies the power of the words and most search engine users feel compelled to click on the ad. Why? Because this is exactly what they were searching for. This is precisely why ads that utilize searched keywords often perform better than ads that do not.
TIP #6: Link All Of Your Ads Directly To Specific Landing Pages On Your Website
In this era of specialization people want to be catered to. They don't just want a cookbook; they want an Italian cookbook. They don't just want a travel magazine; they want a French travel magazine. Your ad should cater to this mentality. If your ad is for a specific product or service, create a landing page specially designed to receive the people who clicked on that ad and who are looking specifically for that product or service.
What's more, it's tremendously important to include relevant and useful information to convert those visitors into leads and/or potential customers. Statistics show that a nicely designed landing page with the proper sales copy (i.e. written by a professional copywriter) will almost always convert more visitors than if you simply sent visitors to your home page.
TIP #7: Track Your ROI (Return-On-Investment) For Every Ad You Run
While Google tracks the click through ratio of each ad, Google doesn't track the conversion ratio, which means you don't know which ad scored you a lead or sale. So to find out which ads are working best, you may want to try using a special tracking link in each ad to track its conversion ratio. As an example, you may decide to attach each ad to an affiliate tracking system link. Doing so, you can ensure that every ad you run produces an acceptable ROI.
TIP #8: Target Your Market By Language
This may seem more than obvious, but making sure you target the right market is critical. You'll want to select the countries and languages that will be interested in your products and services. That means you've got to exclude all the countries where English is not the major language. So, if you're selling international products/services (like web design), then you'll want to make sure to include England, Australia, and so on.
TIP #9: Discourage Tire Kickers And People Out For Freebies
If you include the price of your offering right on your ad, you will automatically weed out undesirables. This will improve your overall conversion ratio and lower your average customer acquisition cost. Sure it may reduce your CTR (Click Through Ratio) but that's OK. After all, you don't want to cast too wide a net and target everybody; only your potential customers. In most cases, freebie hunters will never become paying customers anyway. Think about it. Imagine you were looking for a new car for under 25k and you saw some ads for cars under 25k and some for cars over 50k. Sure you may out of curiosity click one or two of the over 50k car ads. But chances are most of your clicks will be the under 25k car ads, as that's the focus of your task at hand.
There are plenty more tips, tricks, and strategies you can learn to starting and managing an effective PPC campaign on Google. Hopefully, these suggestions will do their part in helping you get some idea of what to do and what not to do when starting your PPC advertising campaign.
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