I hear it from almost every customer that gives it a try and that is “Google AdWord’s work”. In fact, I spoke to one customer only a few weeks back who told me turning on his AdWords generated up to $4,000 of orders each day. He eventually had to turn it off as he got too busy! Now that’s something you don’t hear every day!
So what are Google AdWords? (http://adwords.google.com)
Simply put AdWords is Google’s paid advertising service. Unlike organic search results which are free and cannot be influenced by any humans with deep pockets, AdWords is a paid service and you pay Google to display your ad. How high and how long you ad displays depend on how much you are willing to pay Google. But a little more on that in a moment 
Google AdWords display in the Google search result and are usually indicated by the word “Ads” and sometimes has a yellow background. They are usually positioned at the very top and to the right of a Google search result.
They can also appear on non-Google websites where the owner as included AdSense (Google’s ad display programme) on their site.
There are essentially a few things you need to do to create a Google AdWord. First sign-up for AdWords at http://adwords.google.com. It’s free at this point so go for it!
When you decide to create an ad there are a few things to consider:
- What products do you want to promote
- How much are you willing to spend each day
- How do you word your ad
Choosing a product to promote
First you need to decide what you want to promote in your AdWord. Google recommends being specific with your products or services and structure you ad around that product or service. These type of ads typically cost less and results in the most traffic to you site. For example, use “AD100 Cell Phone” instead of “Cell phone”.
Daily budget & Keywords
AdWords works off a daily budget and combination of a cost per click (CPC) for keyword you use. When you create an ad you nominate keywords or keyword phrases that you want your ad to appear for. For example, if you want you ad to appear for ‘custom t shirt printing’ then you nominate that keyword.
You then nominate how much you want to pay per click for that keyword. Let’s say $1.00 for example.
If you set a daily budget of $10 then you will get a maximum of 10 clicks of your ad. Once your daily budget is reached your ad will be removed until the next day.
However it’s not that simple. Other advertisers may also be using that keyword phrase as well. They will also nominate a cost per click they are willing to pay. This is where AdWords can sometimes move into a bidding war. Essentially he who pays more appears higher in the ad display.
You could save costs by setting a lot cost per click for your ad but if your bid is to low your ad may not even appear at all.
Use Google’s Traffic Estimator tool to enter the keywords you want to use: https://adwords.google.com/o/TrafficEstimator. Don’t forget to enter your daily budget in the “Daily Budget” field to get an accurate estimate on your costs.
Try different keywords and also keywords that are not overly popular. The more popular they keywords are the more you are competing with others and the more it will cost you.
For example, using “custom t shirt printing” I can expect approximately 3.53 clicks per day at a cost of $4.30 per click. Very expensive and very little clicks!
If I use “t shirt printing” I can expect 14.94 clicks each day at an approximate cost of $0.88 per click. Big difference!
So don’t jump at the first keywords you think of and experiment with different keyword variations.
Checkout Google’s video “3 steps to keyword success” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TqVPoLg3sE and “Control you costs” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIihfzBiyrA.
How to word your Ad
When you write your ad be as clear and concise as possible. You have a limited space so make the most of it!
Some tips:
- Be specific in what you are promoting.
- Include a call to actions for the consumer. i.e. Design online, Buy online, etc.
- Include your value proposition. Fast delivery, 24 hour service.
- Use your keywords! These will appear bold in the ad and stand out.
- Use title case for your ad except for unimportant words like “it”, “to”, “we”, “for”, etc. For example “Custom T-Shirt Printing” instead of “custom t-shirt printing”. It stands out a whole lot more!
- Test, test, then test again. Adjust your budget and you CPC constantly until you get a balance of costs and traffic that you are happy with.
