Useful pay per click campaigns should be viewed as a
useful addition to a current, organic campaign rather than something
that stands on its own with no support. In other words, relying solely
on pay per click campaigns to drive traffic to your website has the
ability to siphon your marketing budget in quick time!
But what if you need customers and you need them now?
Here's how to create an effective Google AdWords campaign that won't
get your accountant off side. But first, a quick look at the benefits of
what an AdWords campaign brings to the table:
- AdWords will act as a test bed for any upcoming SEO key-phrase planning. What works in your AdWords campaigns can then be used in your SEO campaign; what doesn't work in your pay per click ads can be tossed aside.
- Propping up your inbound traffic levels until your SEO campaign results begin to take effect.
- Being able to use long-tail phrases that would otherwise be off limits within a SEO campaign due to their competitive nature.
- Being able to qualify inbound leads via Google Analytics to show the effectiveness of pay per click campaigns.
Getting started
If you're brand new to AdWords or need a freshen-up,
Google has created a series of learning videos that you can view from
their online classroom: http://www.google.com.au/adwords/onlineclassroom/
So for the rest of this article I'll assume that you're up
to speed on the technical side of things, and that you now want some
advice on getting the most from your campaign.
Tightening up your campaign
In a perfect world you'd probably like enquiries to come
from every corner of the globe but that's unrealistic. Of the countries
and/or states/regions in your 'Campaign Settings', do you really need
your ad to be served across the land or would your ad be better served
to just one focussed region? If you're a bricks n mortar retailer for
example, and your campaign is to help drive traffic and enquiries to
your store, then placing your ad interstate will only eat up your budget
unnecessarily.
Choosing a tight region selection will reduce the amount
of times that your ad is served but it should increase your conversion
rate because your ad will be more relevant to those viewing it.
Furthermore, if a Google searcher places "Sydney" in their long-tail
search phrase, and your ad is optimised for Sydney, then your ad will be
served in that instance in Google's geo-targeted results.
Negative keywords
Negative keywords allow you to avoid serving your ad to
users who have included a specific word in their search query. Let's say
that you sell Fresh Green Apples in Sydney. You would then select
negative keywords such as "Red", "Frozen", etc. - any word/s that you
want to filter out as irrelevant to your campaign and product.
Similarly, if you sell high-ticket designer sunglasses,
you're likely to choose negative keywords such as "Cheap", "Bargain",
"Affordable", etc. because searchers that use those words are unlikely
to be hunting for expensive designer optics!
Split testing
Always have more than one ad running for the same campaign
(referred to as A/B split testing). Run both ads together (with
different Titles and Text) to find out which one outperforms the other
with higher CTR (Click Through Rate) and also converts better through
your Goal Conversion specified in your Analytics account. Watch a Google
video about Goal Conversion here.
Once one ad begins to outperform the other, you create a new "B" ad and repeat the process over. This is continuous and by doing so, ensures that you have your best "game on" at all times.
Your Website's Ad Landing Page
Google says that it determines the quality of your landing page.
So it's important to spend time creating a landing page that's
optimised for your ad campaign. It's no good pointing your ad to your
Home page because it's likely that your inbound visitor is expecting to
see a specific product or service, not an overview of your business.
Create a landing page with the following elements:
- Create the page's URL as the ad's key phrase.
- Use the ad's headline phrase in your page title.
- Create the page's Heading 1 tag using the ad's phrase word for word.
- Create the page's Heading 2 tag immediately below the H1 tag that repeats the ad's description.
- Create short, succinct text that describes the offer (within a standard paragraph tag).
- Place another Heading 2 tag that repeats - and elaborates upon - the ad's second description line. This reinforces the ad's message and again reassures the visitor that the ad delivers what they're searching for. Follow this Heading 2 tag with the body text that further elaborates this section.
- Provide a call to action that takes users to the shop cart or contact page - this is the first step in completing your Google Analytics Goal Conversion.
- Update your XML sitemap to reference your landing page.
That should be enough to get you started. Remember that
Google provides good resources via video that explain AdWords in great
detail - it's in their best interest to do so, so take advantage of that
information.
Also Read:
- How to Recover from Google Panda Effect
- Negative SEO: Myths and Facts You Should Be Aware Of
- Matt Cutts: SEO Needs To Focus On Helping Users Not Link Building
- On Page SEO Guide – How To Rank Higher And Get More Traffic
- Penguin 2.0 SEO Update - Google Updates Things Again!
- Top 21 SEO Tips and Tricks to Follow in 2013
- 5 Devastating Local SEO Mistakes—and How to Avoid Them