Most AdWords accounts are not set up to maximize results for the advertiser. Of the dozens and possibly hundreds I have personally evaluated, most could be quickly and easily optimized to decrease spending and greatly increase traffic and revenue by following the strategies laid out below.
NOTE: Be sure to also check out these two highly recommended posts:
- You Missed the Golden Days of Internet Pay Per Click Advertising for specific AdWords issues to be avoided
- AimClear Search Marketing‘s 6 minute audit for evaluating the performance of your AdWords account
ADWORDS OPTIMIZATION OBJECTIVES:
- Maximize Traffic
- Minimize Cost Per Click (CPC)
- Increase Click Through Rate (CTR)
- Maximize Return on Investment (ROI)
EVALUATION and SETTINGS at CAMPAIGN LEVEL:
- RECOMMENDED BUDGET: Ensure the Daily Budget is sufficient to buy all available quality traffic by using Google’s Recommended Budget Function so your ads will show as consistently as possible. If you wish to limit spending it is better to selectively pause some Ad Groups so that ads for your most important keywords display consistently. Many potential buyers will look for you the same way they originally found you when they’re ready to buy. If they can not find your ad you may lose their business. [WARNING: Raising or setting your budget significantly higher than necessary can result in increased spending and VERY POOR QUALITY traffic! Keep your budgets just high enough to prevent your ads from being limited.]
- BUDGET DELIVERY METHOD: Standard or Accelerated? I recommend always setting it to Accelerated to ensure your ads are running consistently and the recommended budget is adequate.
- BUDGET OPTIMIZER: It is not advisable to use budgeting functions to limit spending because they cause ads to appear inconsistently.
- AD SCHEDULING: Not recommended. Best results are obtained by having ads running consistently. Your buyers use the Internet 24×7 and your ads should run all the time. The only exception is for a business that only sells live via telephone during their business hours – and if you are doing that you really need a better business model and improved Web site.
- POSITION PREFERENCE: This function did not work as advertised the last time I tested it. IF it works now it would be worth using. Testing to verify that would be necessary.
- AD SERVING: Optimize or Rotate. It is best to leave this set to optimize except when testing new ads or landing pages.
- SEARCH NETWORKS: I recommend running ads on the search network and NOT the content network (more detail below). You can run your ads on Google.com only or on Google.com and the Google Search Partners Network. You can not choose to run them on the search partner sites unless you run them at Google.com. While logically one would think that Google search would convert best, I have tested and found that often the search partner network converts better. Unfortunately you can not usually opt out of poor quality search partners so you either accept all qualities or get none of them.
- CONTENT NETWORK / CONTENT BIDS: Content ads almost always convert far less than search ads because someone specifically looking for something is more likely to take action soon than someone clicking out of curiosity. For most advertisers, I advise only considering content or display ads if they are already buying ALL available SEARCH trtaffic. The exception can be carefully targeted ads on hand-chosen content sites with the results tested. Content can occassionally convert higher than search in some niches on some sites.
- LANGUAGE: If your site is in English you would normally only run ads in English.
- LOCATIONS: If you sell across your entire country select that country. If you ship outside your country location select those countries IF you meet the language requirements. If you sell regionally you should start with ads running in your desired location and then expand to running national ads with two types of Ad Groups: 1) that contain general keyword phrases and contain locations in the titles of the ads and 2) that use phrase or exact match keyword phrases that include locations.
AD GROUP SETTINGS:
- BROAD, PHRASE or EXACT MATCH? Broad match keywords or phrases are entered without quotes or brackets around them. Those new to AdWords will often be using only broad match without realizing the danger. Phrase match keywords are within parenthesis: “phrase match keyword” and Exact match keywords are within brackets: [exact match keyword]. Exact match is the safest and should be used to test new keywords. Your ads will be displayed when that exact phrase without any other words is searched. Phrase match can be fairly safe if you use at least two words. Your ad will display for any searches that include that phrase in the exact word order plus any other words before or after it. Although broad match is responsible for sending at least half of sales and traffic in most accounts, it is now so broad that it can be dangerous to use. Before adding any broad match keywords ensure you have as many negative keywords as possible and watch carefully for high traffic and dismal conversions that indicate poor targeting of your ads.
- KEYWORD SELECTION: The best keywords and keyword phrases are specific to what you are offering. ALL keywords in an Ad Group should be similar and appear in the ads – preferably in the Title if they will fit – and on the selected landing page. DO NOT put unrelated keywords in the same Ad Group. Using separate Ad Groups for each set of similar keyword phrases works best; however, you must balance increased effectiveness with additional management from having hundreds or thousands of Ad Groups.
- USE OF GENERAL KEYWORDS: Never use keywords that are so general that they are not specific to what you’re offering. They can be used as part of a phrase that DOES relate to what you advertise.
- USE OF SPECIFIC KEYWORDS: Good use of specific keywords targeting specific products produces the highest conversion rate. Consider adding as many low volume, low cost keyword phrases (commonly referred to as “long-tail” keywords) as possible. Targeting additional specific products by brand, model, model number, color maximizes profits. [NOTE: Most keyword tools only show search phrases that have been used more than a set number of times in a month – usually 10-12. Logical choice of phrases that do not appear in these tools can generate sales especially for high dollar products.]
- NEGATIVE KEYWORDS: Negative keywords are essential for targeting your ads and elminating clicks for products and services you do not offer. They lower your impressions for unrelated searches which increases CTRs which in turn can greatly lower your CPC. Both can reduce ad spend and increase ROI. [WARNING: Running ppc advertising without thoroughly researching and adding negative keywords has been accurately referred to as financial suicide.]
- NEGATIVE EMBEDDED KEYWORDS: These are exact match negative keywords used to block specific phrases from triggering your ads without blocking ads that use those words but not that exact phrase. See how to use Negative Embedded Keywords.
- BID AMOUNTS: There is a tactical advantage in bidding odd amounts. Because most advertisers will end their bids in 0 or 5 and use similar amounts ($0.25, $0.50, $0.75, $1.00, $2, $5) you can easily move in front of many ads for only pennies per click. If more than one person manages your AdWords account each can choose a different odd number to end their bids. That way they know who last changed each bid.
- BIDDING STRATEGY: For maximum traffic at minimum cost, select a target ad position range and adjust bids to display within that range. For most advertisers I recommend third to fifth position as providing the best Return on Investment (ROI) and fifth through eighth for maximum traffic at least cost. There are only rare exceptions that make bidding into first or second position necessary or advisable.
- KEYWORD MATCH ADS: Make sure your Ads and ideally your Ad Titles match your keywords in each Ad Group. If they don’t they should be split out into additional Ad Groups running matching ads which use a landing page specifically optimized for that product.
- ADD TESTING and EFFECTIVENESS: Review all ads and delete any with poor CTRs. Test additional new ads to improve CTR, increase traffic, lower CPC, and increase ROI. [NOTE: For best results always leave one ad unchanged, add new ads, and then delete the existing ad later if desired. Deleting or editing the only existing ad can cause your ads to disappear temporarily. Google manually reviews new ads. Existing ads also have a historical advantage which is lost if they are edited or deleted. Editing ads in AdWords equals deleting and adding a new ad!]
- URLS in ADS: Google allows the capitalization of words within URLs. Use this to make your domain name easier to read. For example, instead of https://growmap.com I would use http://GrowMap.com.
- KEYWORD RESEARCH: Use keyword research tools and review your site logs to find new and negative keyword phrases to add.
Anyone buying Google advertising needs to understand all of the above to ensure they are not overspending – and this isn’t all you need to know. Really understanding AdWords can greatly increase your ROI. Although the systems are different, these concepts can also be applied to other pay per click search engines.
Some may not agree with all of my recommendations and they are welcome to leave comments if they do not. Remember that being Google Certified in AdWords means they passed training designed by Google to benefit Google. I believe in managing AdWords accounts in the manner that most benefits the advertiser – not the search engine.
While I once made a living managing AdWords and other ppc accounts I have been away from doing it full time for a couple of years and systems do change. I believe all the above is still accurate and will ask other consultants who are still full-time AdWords consultants to review it and make suggestions.
Do also read my post You Missed the Golden Days of Internet Pay Per Click Advertising for specific AdWords issues to be avoided. We also recommend using AimClear Search Marketing‘s 6 minute audit for evaluating the performance of your AdWords account.
We have recently come across a brilliant PPC management company and highly recommend their blog posts:
- PPC: The Wrong Way to Improve Efficiency
- PPC: Holiday Bid Management Tips
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Gail Gardner
Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap
Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers.
After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends.
Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.
Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)
- Regular Live Online Small Business Events Tues and Wed - April 11, 2021
- Small Business Websites: How to Make Yours More Compelling [Infographic + Video] - April 8, 2021
- Career Choices: How to Find Work in the Remote Economy [Infographics] - March 15, 2021
I am learning google adwords. Thanks for sharing this post. There are lots of things that does matter for performing well in google adwords.
Hello Ekoonomi,
You will probably want to switch to an alternative as Google very rarely reactivates an AdSense account once they disable it. Here are two possible solutions you can read about:
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..For Serious Marketers! 65 Tasks You Need to Outsource Immediately
Wow!
Congratulations!
This is not just another blog post that writes about PPC, this truly outstands from the others!
providing real value is the way to go, keep going….
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Thanks for this post, Im really excited to effectiveness my adwords account. We will back to this blog on your new tips..
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i have been using Ad-wards for past one month and it is bringing me visitors! post id very helpful.thanks!
Fantastic advice…on choosing the right Keyword for a successful adwords campaign. Thanks!
thanks for this post on Adwords. Really helped me to learn about adwords evaluation.
Dear,
This is incredibly helpful, thank you! I wish I’d known all this before I hired an agency. It gives me a good framework for judging their work, and knowing what to ask the next time I hire. Great details. I think Eleanor’s comment makes a really important point as well.
Chers
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After going through the above mentioned details, i have learned how to evaluate adwords accounts. Its really a good piece of information and i appreciate your work on it.
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A great and very informative post.I dont know the full utilization of Adword tool but this is really a complete guide with each and every thing disscussed in details.Thanxx for this wonderfull article…now i can use the tool in more effective manner.
Very useful article Thanks for share with us Keep it
really nice concept. I totally agree with you mir.Gail Gardner, nice explanation. Yes Remember that being Google Certified in AdWords means they passed training designed by Google to benefit Google.
I love Adwords so much I’m currently studying for the Advanced Adwords part of the certification process. No other marketing meduim can offer this much control and ROI!
I find adwords difficult to work with, even if the documentation seems to be extensive and you can always ask people if you get stuck. But however much you try, you won’t be able to build a campaign like a pro does. And when we’re talking about money, you don’t want to waste them thinking you’re “mrs know-it-all”
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Nice Method. I should appreciate your post because of your efforts for evaluating adwords accounts.
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Good day there…. I personally find your blog so much interesting and very informative one. Gives the readers the tips and ideas more about evaluating your accounts and understanding it a lot. Thanks for sharing this.
Great advice. You provided a lot of information that the reader should know and written it well.
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Great advice; however, never forget to make sure organic work is also being done. I had a Client that wanted to do everything separately – press releases, blog, twitter and so on and they could not figure out why their PPC campaigns bombed despite my warnings. They had zero branding!
Deepak would love you to read ..Working Virtually by Alexander Bartosch- Founder of klobecard
WARNING: Running ppc advertising without thoroughly researching and adding negative keywords has been accurately referred to as financial suicide.
I had good campaigns without adding negative words, it really depends on the words you use and the campaign details. BUt is definitely a good idea to add negative words whenever is possible.
Patel
Urvisha Patel would love you to read ..Treatment for Diabetes In Dogs
Some helpful tips here. What does everyone think about the revamp of Google’s new keyword/Adwords research tool? Do you think it’s easier to use compared to their legacy tool? They seem to have consolidated some functions into one making it a bit easier to navigate.
James
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Very true, adwords is beneficial if you do it right. If artistically carried out, it is possible to set the various search engines to get results for you and build a brand consumers can easily recognize. A properly carried out pay per click strategy can obtain you brand publicity, assist you to construct your brand individuality, set you up as a specialist within your industry as well as lead visitors to your site.
Sahara would love you to read ..How To Find Affiliate Offers To Promote
This article really helps in selecting the right Keyword for a successful adwords campaign. Thanks!
Using exact keyword match that is tightly related to your product or services is the wisest idea in Google adwords marketing. Exact keywords ensures that only those seeking for your product are clicking on your ad and it increases your CTR much more faster.
I like the idea to look at conversations to inquire about bad trafficking. I also like the idea to use keywords and keyword phrases that are exact words from your product line. Both great pieces of advice.
I’ve been using Google Adwords for two week now and I’m getting more visitors on my own. Thanks for the article.
Interesting article and very useful. Before that, I was not understanding this subject. Thanks.
Hi, Really enjoy reading your article all the comments here. I gain a lot of useful tips about adwords. I glad i was able to come across your blog.
.-= Tamara @ white angel costume´s featured blog ..Sexy Angel Costumes =-.
There is a lot of really great advice in this post and in the comment by other readers. Thanks for that. i wish I had something valuable to contribute as well. It was a lot of information to read through, but I’m glad i did. It will really help me out in my campaigns. Thanks!
That is how these things always go. First they are easy so they get market share and put competitors under and then they raise the prices. That is already starting to happen on Facebook – which, by the way, would not convert as well as AdWords unless they have the equivalent of search.
When someone SEARCHES for something they are far more likely to buy than if they see something in content.
.-= Gail´s featured blog ..Support Small Businesses =-.
Google Adwords supports text & banner ads, allows local or national / international distribution of ads. Yahoo Search M. is a similar type of advertising offered by Yahoo through the Yahoo search engine.
.-= bijuterii´s featured blog ..Bratara crosetata din sfoara, decorata cu perla, sidef si coral 33-1-i14170 =-.
very nice idea thanks for sharing the info. espcially to the beginner of adwords these a big help to all.
Honestly, I have found adwords and PPC in general to be a VERY specific market. 50% of campaigns fail simply because of bad web design and product placement. I find that organic SEO is much better for certain products and niches.
I have spent a lot of time looking at my own Adwords, but I seem to be in the same position as many other people who haven’t yet been able to get decent sales. That’s also a great concept to hear about bidding to get ahead of the other competitors, which I had no idea about.
It is avital resource for me. We all who are involved with SEO know the importance of Google adwords, but this post has some points those have its own value. Good too read..
In many guidelines of seo adwords plays a vital role. Hope this post can also become a guideline for seo. Thanks for sharing.
It is very much vital these people who are connected with the internet marketing field, this type of evalution will help them to know about such important thing. Thanks for sharing such a helpful information.
thanks a lot growmap for sharing such wonderful article about adwords.I am a newbie in adwords actually ,this will help me to get more onto it.
also make sure you aren’t linking to “Bad neighbourhoods”!
That’s really wonderful post and very distinctive and to the point.I like your writing style.thanks!
.-= jim@cheap phone deals´s last blog ..Nokia X6 32GB now available =-.
Google seems pretty finicky to me lately I wish there were a better alternative. I know the bad guys exploit them so they have to be strict but it almost turns them into the bad guys
.-= Emil Croskey@Zhu Zhu Pets´s last blog ..Zhu Zhu Pet Hamster Kids Glass Christmas Ornament =-.
Google Adwords supports both text & banner ads and allows local or national / international distribution of ads. Yahoo Search Marketing is a similar type of advertising offered by Yahoo through the Yahoo search engine
Hi,
Fantastic post.
I really admire this kind of information.
Thanks for tips and advice.
.-= Prajakta@ashford coupons´s last blog ..Special offer =-.
AdWords and AdSense are the two sides of the Google program. This is great about buying advertising using AdWords. thanks!
.-= jim@indianapolis seo´s last blog ..The Price Isn’t Always Right: Cost Per Click Analysis =-.
hey john thanks you so much for reply now you have increased some more knowledge of mine ,thanks again!
i am little bit confused,but is ppc is a part of adwords? could you please clear me this point? i really want to know.
Hey Remesh – PPC stands for Pay Per Click – it is an industry term of art for any online advertising where the advertiser pays by the number of clicks received to a destination URL (usually a page within your website). Google AdWords is one of many advertising vehicles that fall within the scope of PPC. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much John-Scott for answering Remesh. I appreciate it.
Adwords ad sitelinks does not have a different Max CPC pricing model. As usual by default it will take your Ad Group Max CPC (if you haven’t set your keyword a Max CPC), otherwise it will use your keyword’s Max CPC (if you have set Max CPC for your individual keywords).
Hey thanks for the clarification with broad/phrase/exact matching. I wasn’t sure which one is the ‘safest’ to use when testing keyword bundles.
.-= Zippy@Adwords Make Money´s last blog ..GMoney Pro Review – Adwords Make Money =-.
Exact match is safest. Remember that if you use single words when using phrase matching that they are just as dangerous as broad match (because a phrase that isn’t a phrase = the same as broad match).
Google Adwords have finally started evaluating Landing Page Load Time for calculating Quality Score. They are late by one month as per their previous announcement but they have finally started it.According to Google, quality score is used to calculate ad position placement and minimum bid. Better your Quality Score, higher is your Ad position and lower your minimum bid.
.-= manu@Hostels Sydney´s last blog ..Sydney Summer the Festival season =-.
Hello
The greatest thing about Google Adwords is the flexibility. You can change anything about your campaign at any time you want. Keywords that prove effective can be changed to a higher price per click while those that offer little traffic can be changed or removed.
Thanks!!!
.-= Tanmay@Sunroom Ontario´s last undefined ..If you register your site for free at =-.
Yes Tanmay,
It is true that you can change bids, keywords and ads. Unfortunately that takes much longer today than it did in the original AdWords system.
Serious users almost have to download the free management program they offer; however, be very careful as it is extremely easy to make mistakes in it that can seriously damage your business and increase your spending.
Great tips here and I’ve used many of them in a successful Adwords campaign so I endorse the methods you describe. They work. You’ve also given me some new things to think about. Thank you GrowMap.
.-= Dave@Blaine & Grainger County, TN Real Estate´s last blog ..LAKEWAY #530455 $350,000 =-.
Thank you Dave,
It is always good to have supporting comments indicating that these methods work. Perhaps I should have provided more background on my success at growing businesses by first evaluating their existing AdWords accounts using this process and then expanding on what they were doing.
I hope you’ll become a regular reader. Check out my most recent post mentioned in CommentLuv in this reply. It contains links to the most important posts found here. Perhaps you could share that post with others in real estate who could really use the information right now.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Best of GrowMap: Our Pillar Foundation Content =-.
your strategies are quite nicely described. Particularly you have added great points about keyword selection.
Hello,
There is so much more I could have said about keyword selection. I have often reviewed AdWords accounts to see businesses trying to target words that are far too generic to ever work. Each phrase must equate to what you’re advertising on its own.
It doesn’t make any sense to try to buy traffic on the name of a city or state or an adjective that describes not only your product or service but also dozens of others. For example, if you sell crown moldings you can’t bid on just the words wood or wooden because they also apply to furniture, stoves, and everyone named wood or woods.
Other keywords simply won’t work because of huge competition. Mortgages, insurance and gifts are a good example. For those you need to focus on a specific sub-niche or reach out to a particular demographic.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Top How to Make Money Blogging Resources =-.
yes i agree that we can earn a lot of money through adwords. i appreciate that you shared some useful points here.thanks.
It is common to confuse AdWords with AdSense. You earn money through AdSense and advertisers buy ads through AdWords.
hi,
This is truly a great post. I do use the adwords and adsense. for the adwords the ROI is must, you have explained very good points one should always remember this points to get full benifcial from the adwords .
Keeping the ad title short and specific is always benificial ..
Thanks!! 🙂
Russ – we created Baddlewords for people just like you who are frustrated with spending money on AdWords and not seeing the ROI. Baddlewords gives you a way to work AdWords for profit. We just launched a week or so ago. Check it out for free. If you do, I’d be very interested in your thoughts.
Hi John-Scott,
Are there any reviews of your product published online yet? If there are could you share links to them here? If you do leave a comment with multiple links Akismet will probably grab it but I will rescue it.
If there are no comprehensive reviews yet perhaps I should test it and discuss it with you at length in the near future.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.
We just launched Baddlewords a week or so ago – it’s free to test for 30 days (should be more than enough time to see the benefit).
Maybe you can be the first review (good, bad or indifferent – we’ll use what you have to say to make it better)!
Hi John-Scott,
Swamped as always; however, if I can fit it in I will.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Social Networking is NOT Chat =-.
Did you get a chance to test Baddlewords? We are really eager to have your opinion.
Thanks!
Hello John-Scott,
I had several posts I was researching that were complex and took a lot more testing than I expected. I should have two of them completed this week and maybe then I can give Baddlewords a spin.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Evaluate Your AdWords Accounts =-.
Sad to say I have only ever had any results from organic search adwords even tweeked just sucks up money and any profit.
Hi Russ,
Pay per Click is far more complicated than most people realize. There was a time when many could easily make money using AdWords and Overture. That was long ago and it is not nearly as much fun today. The post The Golden Days of PPC explains many of the changes.
I keep remembering more points I should cover about ppc. Only highly usable sites with a large selection of related products and a very strong shopping cart are likely to make money.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Local Search Directory Taps the Power of Television =-.
Wow that’s some guide, I have used Adwords several times and each time i loose more money. I did a bunch of calculations of adwords V organic traffic and i,m sad to say there is no mathematical way for adwords to work, for me anyway.
Hi Russ,
Thank you for recommending yet one more point I should have made and haven’t yet – that there must be more profit in your probable conversion rate than you spend on the advertising. As you found, for many businesses their profit margins can not support the average cost per click (too high) and conversion rate (too low).
I really do need to add the equation so businesses can calculate what bid level they would find profitable. It is very obvious that many advertisers are spending far more than they could possibly make – and by doing that they are making that advertising economically unfeasible for their competitors too!
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Social Networking is NOT Chat =-.
Nice, thorough list of AdWords tips! One thing we would add is to always test 2 Ads (one line at a time). This is the only way to really optimize for conversion. One Ad will typically outperform the other. We’ve spent a bunch of time creating a successful formula for maximizing conversion, enabling AdWords customers to do so at the lowest cost per conversion. We launched last week and would love your feedback on Baddlewords (http://www.baddlewords.com).
Welcome John-Scott and thank you for adding to my suggestions. As soon as I published it I realized there is much more to share regarding testing ads, selecting keywords, optimizing landing pages, etc. This post was developed from the baseline evaluations we once did as specialists in full-time ppc management.
I really should work on a post on the best processes and strategy behind creating new ad groups. I focus first on getting the keywords in with one ad and then go back and create multiple ads to test. I first test multiple titles using the same ad text, then use the winning titles and vary the ad text.
Obviously more detail is needed to clearly explain this. Your new product could be useful to testing ad variations. You may want to add a comprehensive FAQ section because the benefits of your offering are not yet clear to me.
My first question is whether this is a program that only runs on Windows or it runs in a browser.
I also wanted to share with you and anyone else reading this that this blog uses KeywordLuv which allows those leaving comments to select their own anchor text. If you put John-Scott Dixon @Baddlewords in the Name field when commenting, KeywordLuv will link the words Baddlewords to your URL. This gives you anchor text of Baddlewords.
Alternatively you could use any other word or phrase such as:
John-Scott Dixon @ AdWords Ad Testing to use the anchor text AdWords Ad Testing for your link. Doing this in dofollow blogs that use KeywordLuv can increase visibility to your new site. See DoFollow Tools and Lists for ways to locate these types of blogs.
You may also want to seriously consider getting your site listed in all the Local Search Directories as explained in the post featured in this reply about High Quality Incoming Links
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.
Hey thanks for checking it out – FAQs need to be built for sure (where does the time go!).
To answer your first question – Baddlewords is Web-based – all you need is an Internet Browser – so you could do your work via a netbook.
Thanks for the great thoughts re: KeywordLuv
Hello again John-Scott,
Good to know that Baddlewords is Web-based so even those of us who choose alternative Operating Systems can use it. You may want to make that more obvious as a benefit – even those running Windows often prefer not to download yet another program.
I know how challenging it is to get to everything. I look forward to reading your FAQ when you get it up and if time allows I’ll check it out further now that I know I can.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Optimize Your PPC Advertising to Benefit YOU =-.
All the success tips that you mentioned in post regarding AdWords Accounts are very useful and also overy handy, as i will definitely go with these tips.
Thanks
.-= Tanmay@hostels Sydney´s last blog ..Sydney Summer the Festival season =-.
GrowMap,
FINALLY, a clear and concise breakdown of what I’m NOT supposed to be doing. Thank you GrowMap for “dumbing” AdWords down for us small biz owners that face the bleeding of our bank accounts every week for what we don’t know and can’t afford to pay someone to tell us.
My REC is that you submit your work to those guys famous for publishing the bumblebee books for DUMMYS as you’d probably strike gold (any coincidence that your logo colors match the books?)
Looking forward to a long weekend of diving into my account, following your instructions and actually seeing if I can get a true feel good for the dollars that are being auto-sucked out of my back pocket.
Thank you!
PS – Can you increase the font size of the math statement (at my age can’t read the fine print and it took 4 attempts at the authentication before I realized I actually had to use my brain and not just my eyes).
.-= William Sutton´s last blog ..Good Millwork: Reclaimed Wood in Seaside, FL =-.
Hi Bill,
I developed this process when I used to offer evaluations of accounts prior to accepting one to manage. This is only part of what I used – the other part was verifying whether their Web site would convert. No amount of advertising expertise can make up for Web sites that are not usable and shopping carts that do not work. (I know that doesn’t apply to your sites.)
I know several people who are authors of the Books for Dummies series but had not thought about publishing on this particular subject. If I could get the ppcSummit founders as co-authors that would be quite a book. The colors were not intentionally but might be because professional designers know the same things about color – that some attract more attention than others.
The font for all my posts is the default for the Thesis Theme as far as I know but I can probably manually increase the size. I believe you are referring to my reference to bid amounts?
I have two tips for you that will help many others:
1) Try holding down the ctrl key and scrolling up to increase or decrease the text size on most Web sites. It works on the browsers I use on both Windows and Ubuntu Operating Systems; I don’t know if it works on Macs. This trick comes in very handy.
2) Register the Avatars you use on Twitter at Gravatar to brand your comments here and in other blogs using it. I highly recommend everyone use the same UserNames and Avatars across all their activities.
I do hope most people who read this strongly consider budgeting to attend one of the ppcSummits. This is only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to knowing what to do in AdWords accounts. The ppcSummit folks stay on top of it far better than I do these days and have the connections it takes to give us all a heads-up when something new is happening before it bites us in the wallet.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Optimize Your PPC Advertising to Benefit YOU =-.
Thanks for the response and tip re the Gravatar…I ‘think’ I’ve properly registered my brand but one never knows until the next comment/reply.
RE my comment re font size was specific to the instructions that required me to provide the sum of the two numbers rather than simply entering what I see…point made, slow down and read the fine print.
.-= William Sutton´s last blog ..Good Millwork: Reclaimed Wood in Seaside, FL =-.
Hello Bill,
You have definitely registered your Gravatar correctly and the great thing about that is they are retroactive so now wherever you have left a comment here or elsewhere your Avatar will appear as it does in the comment above.
I misunderstood which math you meant. I will ask Derek if he can enlarge that fine print associated with the math plugin. I originally thought you meant the numbers within the post itself.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Enhance Your Email Marketing with Social Media =-.
To promote and deliver ideas through adwords, is the best thing to advertise. But the main reason lie behind whether the ads are shown to relevant lookers, whom we can benefit.
Hi Vikky,
I suspect you’re thinking about AdSense – the content display of AdWords ads. While they can benefit Web sites they often don’t benefit the advertisers. There are exceptions of course and they can work on niche sites and for products with broad appeal such as MyLocalLookup Local Search Directory. The post I’ve featured in this reply explains why I believe their service will really take off.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Local Search Directory Taps the Power of Television =-.
I agree that content ads are much more effective, especially because people are more likely to look into something that is on subject. I have spent a lot of time looking at my own Adwords, but I seem to be in the same position as many other people who haven’t yet been able to get decent sales. That’s also a great concept to hear about bidding to get ahead of the other competitors, which I had no idea about.
Hi Mark,
Content ads are actually less effective. I’ll explain. When someone is ready to buy they search for what they want, click and are more likely to buy. When they’re on a site – even if that site is related to what you’re selling – but they’re there to read, research, or interact and they click on your ad it is most likely out of curiosity.
While they may be your target audience and may eventually buy, the odds are against them being ready to buy right now the way they would be if they were actively searching for what you sell.
This is why content ads convert at a far lower rate than search.
In order to make money using ads you must be advertising something people actively search for and make sure your ads appear for the best keyword phrases and you land them on a page specifically for that product or service. You also need much more traffic than most realize. Read the post I’ve featured in this reply for more details on that.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Success IS a Numbers Game =-.
Thanks for sharing information about adwords. I hope your next post is about advertising on youtube or did i miss something about it? Let me know. Thanks!
Hello SEO Las Vegas,
You’re welcome. I had not planned any posts on advertising on youtube; however, a quick search reveals there is much interest and a lot of information available on the subject. I will consider researching it for a future post.
In the meantime you might check out this video recorded at SES 2009 describing the different options for advertising on YouTube.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Instantly Acquire 76 High Quality Incoming Links =-.
Great article. We have been playing with Adwords for the last month and finding it very difficult to convert. We are managing to get a few clicks, just haven’t been able to convert them into sales yet… We are tracking our numbers daily and adjusting as needed. I’ve passed this blog along to our entire team – keep up the nice work!
Hello Jeff,
Depending on what you advertise, generating conversions can be from challenging to impossible. The more targeted you can make the entire flow from keyword choice to ad to landing page the better it will work.
There is so much more to know that I can already see a long follow-up post coming. One thing most people don’t realize is there is always a latency period between first click and most conversions. Even for what would seem to be inexpensive impulse purchases that is usually 7-10 days and for high dollar or complex sales it can be much longer.
I would be happy to provide your Team with some direct input on your account if you’re interested. Even with this post – which was taken directly from the written evaluations I once did for clients – it helps to have experience knowing how to apply each point.
The concepts in the post I’m featuring in this reply apply to AdWords. On average you will need about 100 impressions for each 1-2 clicks and 100 clicks to generate 1-2 conversions. Only those who work very diligently on optimization are likely to ever convert at over 2.5-3%.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Success IS a Numbers Game =-.
we can make a lot of through ad sense. this is well written. useful points given.thanks.
Hi Jim,
Many people confuse AdWords and AdSense which are two sides of the same Google program. This post is about buying advertising using AdWords. AdSense allows bloggers and Web site owners to earn a percentage of the ad cost for displaying those ads – IF the advertiser runs content ads.
It is almost always best for advertisers not to run content ads and best for Web site publishers and bloggers if they do.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Optimize Your PPC Advertising to Benefit YOU =-.