I am a big believer in online marketing. It’s becoming expensive. But it works if done right.
Google Adwords Explaination
Google Adwords… also known as PPC (Pay Per Click) Advertising is just one form of online marketing.
Long term it’s probably one of the more expensive approaches to online marketing but it’s the one that has the potential to generate the fastest results with the most control.
In the image above, the two areas outlined in red show where, within Google’s search results, the Google Adwords ads are displayed.
Adwords is a service that allows you to create short three line ads and choose keywords. Keywords are phrases related to your business. Such as landscape tampa fl. These phrases are what your potential clients are typing into Google when looking for a company like yours.
When potential prospects search Google using one of your keywords, your ad may appear in one of the two areas shown in the image above.
There are many forms of online marketing.
One of the most popular is SEO (search engine optimization). This is the process of optimizing your lawn care or landscape business website so that it is shown by Google for free when a user types a search phrase that pertains to your business.
SEO takes a while to get results. I prefer SEO over Adwords. However, while you are waiting on results from your SEO — PPC is a great alternative to get immediate web traffic.
You pay for Google Adwords through clicks. Basically every time someone sees your ad and clicks on it, you pay Google. Even if the prospect doesn’t buy – you pay.
Personally, even after you get your SEO going, meaning your website(s) are ranking well in Google, I believe you should continue with PPC.
I’d recommend you do both.
Google Adwords Basics
If you find this topic interesting and you’re considering PPC advertising for your business — I recommend Perry Marshall’s Google Adwords book.
He is the guy to learn from when it comes to Google Adwords. His website is http://www.perrymarshall.com/google/. He is highly reputable and he knows what he’s talking about.
Key Definitions:
Regarding the image above…
A. Clicks – This is the number of times your ad was clicked on during a specific period of time.
B. Impr – Impressions are the number of times your ad was shown. It is essentially the number of times your ad could have potentially been clicked on.
C. CTR – Click Through Rate is the number of clicks divided by the number of Impressions. This number is shown as a percentage.
D. Avg CPC – Average Cost-Per-Click is the average amount you pay for each click. This number is based on the amount you paid for all your clicks divided by the number of clicks you received. AdWords allows you to set a maximum amount you are willing to pay each time a user clicks on your ad. This is referred to as your “maximum cost-per-click bid”.
E. Conv – Conversion happens when a prospect that clicks on your ad makes a purchase. Or takes a specific action such as requesting more info, filling out an estimate form or signing up for service.
Conversion rate is the number of conversions divided by the total number of clicks. Conversion tracking is a feature that must be activated in your Adwords account. It also requires a bit of customization to your website.
G. This area is the break down of all your individual keyword phrases and the specifics of how each keyword has performed. The sum of these results form the averages at the top of the page.
Additional important terms…
Average position (Avg. Pos.) – On average, this is the display position of your ad on a search results page, when someone types in one of your keywords. For example, if your Avg Pos is 3 than your ad typically shows as the third ad on the page.
Landing page – This is the web page on which your customers will ‘land’ when they click on your ad. Said another way… the page Google sends them to when they click on your ad.
Negative keyword – This is very important if you use broad keyword phrases. You can read about this topic on Google’s website or consider buying Perry Marshall’s Adwords book. A keyword with a minus (-) sign before it will prevent your ads from showing on any search that contains that term. Again, I only mention this topic because it is an important one you want to learn more about.
Quality Score – This is a score Google assigns to each of your keywords. It is calculated using a variety of factors and measures how relevant the keyword your using is to both your business and potential customers. Again, I suggest learning more about this topic. The better your quality score the less you pay for clicks.
Important Thoughts About PPC:
1) You can blow a lot of money fast if you don’t pay attention (get a beginners book – it will save you a lot of money).
2) PPC is an awesome way to test marketing ideas fast and cheap – you can split test (rotate) two ads to see which gets more clicks. Use this idea to inexpensively test your marketing headlines for your print marketing.
3) Great way to generate immediate traffic to your website.
4) Part of SEO results is traffic to your site — this is a good way to get traffic fast.
5) Not that hard to measure results. You can easily understand which marketing messages best resonate with your potential clients.
6) Test Test Test – split test your ad copy constantly.
7) Don’t make your ads boring. You can test fast and cheap. Try everything you can think of. You’ll be surprised what works.
Don’t be lazy — improve your landing pages, ad copy, add more keywords, use negative keywords, etc.
9) Google couldn’t care less about you or your money – they don’t need you – follow their rules or they will ban you for life.
10) Don’t set an ad and forget about it. To pay the least amount of money possible for each click and to get the best position possible you must constantly tweak your ads (and keywords).
11) Small changes make a big difference! Try to spend 30 minutes per week working on your campaigns. When you first start, spend 30 minutes per day for the first week perfecting your ads and watching your click cost so it doesn’t get away from you.
