Thinking about advertising on Google AdWords? Here’s two things you should know before you get started to get the best results from your investment…
1) Be as specific as possible with your keywords
One of the mistakes AdWords newbies often make is adding a couple of broad keywords, then leaving their account for a few days. They then come back to see they’ve spent hundreds of pounds on clicks and have nothing to show for it.
Luckily, you can reduce the likelihood of this happening by using keyword match types. For example, let’s say you’re renting a Shepherd’s Hut in Somerset.
Just using the broad term Shepherd’s Hut will bid on any search which uses a keyword related to that term. That might include people looking for a Shepherd’s Hut in Scotland or people looking to buy or build their own Shepherd’s Hut. This would be wasted spend for you as you only want to target people who might be interested in renting a Shepherd’s Hut in Somerset. To combat this, you could use broad modifiers, so a search term will have to include all the following words…
+rent +shepherds +hut +somerset
You might also get people searching for Shepherd’s Huts with specific features, such as a hot tub or dog friendly. If you don’t want to target those people, adding negative keywords will help filter out those irrelevant searches, for example…
-hot tub -dog friendly
2) Landing pages matter just as much as your ads
You also need a relevant landing page. Sending people to your home page will not normally have good results. Before you think about setting up any ads, make sure you have a strong landing page that directly relates to your keyword and ad copy. It should be user friendly and also mobile friendly if you are showing ads to smart phone users. If your landing page isn’t relevant Google will reduce your Ad Rank, potentially increasing the cost per click of your ads and decreasing performance.
This is what Google say…
“Landing page experience is AdWords’ measure of how well your website gives people who click your ads exactly what they’re looking for – quickly and effortlessly. Your landing page is the URL people arrive at after they click your ad, and the experience you offer affects your Ad Rank and therefore your CPC and position in the ad auction. Your ads may show less often (or not at all) if they point to websites that offer a poor user experience.”
Using Google AdWords as part of an integrated marketing strategy is the key to successful campaigns
Using AdWords on their own will probably get more visitors to your website if done properly, but using AdWords as part of an integrated marketing strategy will really help boost your website traffic and grow your business. Contact us today to learn more about integrating your AdWords into a successful marketing strategy.
