A Guide to Getting Started with Google AdWords
Part One
People who are new to paid search advertising must be asking themselves what Google AdWords is and how it works. Below is an overview of the basics that will bring such individuals to speed on how they can get started with Google AdWords advertising. After all, before someone becomes an expert, he/she has to start from the beginning.
How Google AdWords Work
Advertisers bid on certain keywords so as to serve an advertisement that leads a searcher to a site’s landing page when clicked upon. A conversion goal can be completed using the keywords, the likes of a purchase or a lead generation. Advertisers compete with one another in a Google AdWords auction for select advert slots on the results page of a Google search. Ads will mainly appear to the right-hand side of organic listings or above them.
A Google AdWords auction is usually based on two essential elements: cost per click (CPC) and keywords bidding. Advertisers make bids on the search terms that are related to the service or product they have on offer. A CPC bid is the maximum amount that an advertiser is willing to pay every time someone clicks on their ad. All in all, there are four essential elements that an individual absolutely must have in place before he or she even thinks of launching a Google Adwords campaign if they hope to get the best results. They are a product or service, a website, an advertising budget and a conversion goal. Anyone who has satisfied these four requirements can then proceed with creating a Google AdWords account.
Structure of Google AdWords Account
To understand how the AdWords system works, it is worth considering the account structure. One should think of Google AdWords as a vehicle engine having numerous moving parts. Each part, which is made up of several other smaller parts, has its own primary function. However, all parts of the engine work together in order to achieve an ultimate goal. In this regard, Google AdWords is rather similar. The account contains one or several campaigns. Each campaign is made up of one or several advert groups. Also, each ad group contains one or several keywords together with one or more ads.
A Google AdWords account has the settings that have to do with user access, billing, notification settings and preferences. Targeting, budgeting as well as other functions are controlled campaign level. Every campaign is assigned a daily budget, which is the amount that the account holder is willing to spend every day. Each day, the AdWords system will work to spend no more than that point at which the campaign is active. The account holder will also determine location targeting, device targeting, language targeting as well as several other settings at the campaign level.
The primary function of ad groups involves organizing keywords and related ad copies into tiny, tight-knit groups. Doing this will help in ensuring that the account holder’s keywords are as relevant to the ads they trigger as possible. At the ad group level, he or she will set a CPC bid that applies to all keywords contained in the ad group. Adverts are triggered by keywords residing in the same ad group. They are made up of a headline, a display URL, two description lines and a destination URL. When an account holder is developing copy, he or she must adhere to stringent advertising policies of Google AdWords. Ads form the face of one’s product or service. An ad copy should be enticing to consumers, keyword-rich, and accurately representing what potential customers will find after clicking through to the site’s landing page. It is on this landing page that the account holder will drive a goal completion.
A keyword is a phrase or word chosen by an advertiser to bid upon. It should be relevant to the advertiser’s product or service. When keywords are searched by users, they will trigger the ads that are housed in the same ad group. Five different match types are recognized by Google AdWords that, when put to use, can either restrict or broaden potential ad reach. Every match type is denoted by the use of a variety of symbols.
An exact match keyword has the narrowest reach. Such keywords are triggered when they exactly match the search phrase being bid on in the exact order of words. Other words cannot appear within the user’s search query. An exact match keyword is denoted through surrounding the keyword phrase with square brackets. A modified broad match keyword is triggered when the search query of a user has the words used in a keyword phrase in any order. Other phrases and words can appear before, within or after the phrase. Such a keyword is denoted by the use of plus signs before each keyword phrase word.
A broad match keyword has the broadest reach. It will be triggered in case the system detects the keyword is similar to a user’s search query. A search query does not have to contain any of the phrases or words that were contained in the keyword. These keywords are denoted with the use of no symbols. A negative keyword is used to exclude an ad from serving when a certain phrase or word is included in the search query of a user. Should a keyword contain one of the account owner’s negative keywords, the ad will not serve. This keyword is denoted by the use of a minus sign before the phrase’s first word.
In our second part of this blog, Google AdWords – Part Two, we will look at how to start your Google AdWords campaign.
