Google AdWords – The Basics
How to get started
We are often asked what Google AdWords are and how it can be used to increase business. Google AdWords is an method of advertising on the Internet whereby advertisers pay to have small ads appear when a person types in certain words (called keywords). The ads appear above organic listings.
Above is an example of what an ad might look like if a person types ‘Electrician Melbourne’.
A Google AdWords campaign needs to be developed before you can start advertising. There are some key components of a campaign that need to be carefully considered for any campaign to be successful. Key components include:
Keyword research
Keywords are the terms that people use to find a product or service. For example, a person looking for a new concrete driveway might type in “driveways Melbourne”. So if you are a concreter you would consider using these keywords.
When first setting up a campaign it is recommended that you start with 5 or 6 keywords and add / subtract keywords as the campaign develops.
There are lots of tools on the Internet that can be used to develop effective keywords. It is important that keywords are carefully researched, developed and monitored as they are the foundations of a successful campaign.
Additionally, you might wish to exclude certain words, like “cheap”, to improve the probability of a successful conversion. This is called “negative keywords”.
Ad content
Once the keywords are worked out the actual content of the ad needs to developed. It is important that the keywords match the content of the ad. A bad example of matching keywords to the ad content is where keyword is ‘carpet cleaning’ and the content of the Ad is ‘couch cleaning.’ The job of the ad content is to entice people to your website and it won’t do this if the ad content is not relevant.
Website design
The goal of an AdWords campaign is to attract customers to your website and to ultimately purchase the goods and / or services that you offer. This means that your website has to match your AdWords campaign. For example if you are offering a 10% discount in your AdWords campaign the website should contain details of the discount.
For multiple page websites it is important that the page customers are led to is relevant as well (this is called the landing page). For example if the keyword is “residential house painters” then customers need to be directed to the page that highlights these services rather than say commercial painting services.
Research has shown that you only have a few seconds to engage a customer. If customers do not find what they are looking for quickly they go will go elsewhere. It is therefore essential that customers can find the information easily and quickly.
Despite the importance of the actual website to the AdWords campaign it is often forgotten especially by consultants who only provide Google Adwords services and not website design services.
How much does a Google AdWords campaign cost to run?
The most popular way to pay for an AdWords campaign is ‘pay per click’. This means that you pay each time someone clicks on your website – which makes it very important that the website matches the Adwords campaign or else money will just be wasted.
The actual cost per click varies greatly. It depends on many factors. These factors include the type of business – eg carpenter, gardener etc, the keywords chosen and days and times chosen for advertising. The cost also depends on how relevant the landing page is to the Google AdWords campaign – another reason to make sure the website matches the Google AdWords campaign as this will decrease the overall cost of your campaign.
The bidding process
There is no fixed price set by Google for each time someone clicks onto your website. However, to keep costs within budget you nominate the maximum amount you are willing to bid for your ad to be placed. The amount you decide to bid will depend on your budget as well as what your competitors are willing to pay – but it is not necessarily the person who bids the most that gets the top position. If you have a website that closely matches your AdWords campaign then you can get top position but pay less than your competitors.
Ongoing Maintenance
It is generally recommended that any AdWords campaign is monitored on an ongoing basis. This is important as components of the campaign can change quickly and without warning. For example the popularity of certain keywords may change so the ones you are using may no longer be effective. The amount others are willing to bid may also change – if it changes to a lower amount it may mean you are paying too much for your campaign unnecessarily.
Dynamic Websites specialise in small business web design. We are based in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn and provide services throughout Australia. We understand what it takes to get a small business online at an affordable price and with the minimum of fuss. Along with designing websites for small business, tradies and NDIS service providers we provide online marketing services. Our online marketing for small business extends to Google Ads, Google My Business, Microsoft Advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO), content writing and, blog writing.
