The immediate goals of our campaign is to
1. Have a high click through rate (CTR)
2. and a low cost per click (CPC)
These two parameters, together, put our ad in a good position (typical 1st to 6th position) on the search results page.
Google adwords is unlike other pay per click search engines where the highest bidder gets the highest position. Google wants to present the most relevant ads, matched with the keywords that generated these ads to searchers. So that a high click through rate means our ad is relevant to searchers even if the CPC is low.
If our ad is presented (impressions) 1000 times and the CTR is less than 0.5% of the number of impressions, our ad gets slowed by Google and could eventually be disabled. If our ad is slowed we can edit it and run it again.
So here is our dilemma. To generate a decent CTR we need a good position. To get a good position we need a popular (competitive) keyword. Using a popular keyword means we will have to bid high. Yet we want a low CPC in the range of $0.20 to $0.40.
What to do? Look for not so popular keywords. Obscure keywords that few people use to search in clients industry. Very few advertisers will be using them too. Identify many of these keywords. Make sure they aer targetted. Add all the obscure keywords together. This will give us a good list that will generate a good amount of impressions, good CTR and low CPC.
1. Have a high click through rate (CTR)
2. and a low cost per click (CPC)
These two parameters, together, put our ad in a good position (typical 1st to 6th position) on the search results page.
Google adwords is unlike other pay per click search engines where the highest bidder gets the highest position. Google wants to present the most relevant ads, matched with the keywords that generated these ads to searchers. So that a high click through rate means our ad is relevant to searchers even if the CPC is low.
If our ad is presented (impressions) 1000 times and the CTR is less than 0.5% of the number of impressions, our ad gets slowed by Google and could eventually be disabled. If our ad is slowed we can edit it and run it again.
So here is our dilemma. To generate a decent CTR we need a good position. To get a good position we need a popular (competitive) keyword. Using a popular keyword means we will have to bid high. Yet we want a low CPC in the range of $0.20 to $0.40.
What to do? Look for not so popular keywords. Obscure keywords that few people use to search in clients industry. Very few advertisers will be using them too. Identify many of these keywords. Make sure they aer targetted. Add all the obscure keywords together. This will give us a good list that will generate a good amount of impressions, good CTR and low CPC.
How to get good and obscure keywords:
Use the keywords tools to check for currently used keywords, related keywords and alternative keywords
1. Overture tool http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
2. Google tool http://adwords.google.com/select/main?and=keywordsandbox
3. Wordtracker http://www.wordtracker.com
4. Espotting http://www.espotting.com/popups/keywordgenbox.asp
There are various ways to discover obscure keywords related to clients industry
1. Use keywords with very low search count at Overture keyword suggestion tool. These are not competitive keywords. They are not often searched on. But remember we are trying to add all obscure keywords to make a great keyword list.
2. Add variations to the keywords generated above. For example market to markets, marketing, marketers marketable.
3. Check clients(if possible) website log and fish out keywords searchers are already using to locate their site or product.
4. Use the thesaurus and dictionary to check for alternative words synonyms. We can use more than on type of dictionary. When checking for meaning of words, we will often see inthe description, alternative words with same meaning as the word we are checking for.
5. Ask friends, family members, what words they will use when searching for our clients product or the theme for clients website.
NOTE: Always keep in mind that, what the keyword tools will give us is a tiny fraction of what millions of people use on the web. The keyword tools at Overture won't give us those keyword count because very few numbers of people use them at a time or period.
Feature provided by Google to achieve our desired CTR:
(1) Excact Match
(2) Phrase Match
(3) Broad Match
(4) Negative Keywords
Exact Match: To designate our keywords for exact match put them in brackets. For example [degree program]. So our ad will only show if "degree program", without the quotes, is searched for. It won't show up for programs degree. This is a highly targeted way of getting visitors to our clients site. Unfortunately, we will get very few impressions using the exact match feature. Though our CTR may be high.
How to use it: Use exact match feature when we are bidding on competitive keywords. Because of the low number of impressions exact match generates, not many advertisers maybe using it. So experiment and at the same time try to lower our CPC.
Phrase Match: To designate our keywords for phrase match include them in quotes. For example "degree program". Our ad will appear when these words are searched for at the search engine. Also when words are added to those. Example, "online degree program" or "degree program online". The main keywords will always appear in the other which we set it. That is degree program and not program degree. Our ads will not appear for "degree easy program". The phrase match generates many impressions. Though not as targeted as the exact match, it more targeted than the broad match option.
How to use it: This is the feature we will most likely be using often. Build a good keyword list. In the degree program example, we will not appear for degree progrer or degree programing so include these and others in our keyword list. One important feature we should use with our phrase match option is the negative keyword. TNegative keywords help to make our keywords more targetted by allowing Google not to add them to our main keywords. When we designate a keyword as negative, Google will not add it when we are using phrase or broad match. If not, negative keywords could make our keywords to have different meaning than what we intended. For example, a word like free. If we are not offering anything for free and free is added to our main keywords, then clicks to our site might be wasted and costing us money. So designating the word free as a negative keyword will make Google not to add it to our keywords.
Broad Match: Broad match is the default setting for Google adwords and our ad is automatically shown for expanded match, plurals and other variations. So be sure to remember to change it when starting a campaign. Choosing the broad match feature allows Google to add other words to our main keywords. This makes this feature to be the least targeted. It produces the most impressions and probably the most CTR. But due to its non-targeted nature, could produce very low conversions or ROI. Using the "degree program" example in broad match, we could have our ads displayed for searches on "locating degree program", "degree program ideas, "free degree" etc.
our keywords will come out in many variations in plurals.
How to use it.
To have an appreciable success in using broad match, we need:
(1) To build three and four keyword phrases. This limits the number of words Google adds to our keywords phrases.
(2) Build a good and extensive negative keyword list.
(3) Use the Google keywords suggestion tool. It will show our words that will appear with keywords. That is expanded matches.
Negative Keywords: This feature is used to eliminate words that could be added to our main keywords. For example, the word free. Just add a minus in front of the word ( free ) to make it negative, this word will not be added to our keywords. Example, if our keywords are "degree". our ads will not show for "free degree". It is extremely important to use this feature so as to eliminate unwanted keywords, unwanted meanings and untargeted keyword phrases.
This is also important when we are dealing with children's products. We will need to eliminate porn words so that our money is not wasted. Imagine a user searching for adult content and clicking to our site. Use of negative keywords is an additional way of making our keywords more targeted when we are using the phrase match or broad match options.
Use the keywords tools to check for currently used keywords, related keywords and alternative keywords
1. Overture tool http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
2. Google tool http://adwords.google.com/select/main?and=keywordsandbox
3. Wordtracker http://www.wordtracker.com
4. Espotting http://www.espotting.com/popups/keywordgenbox.asp
There are various ways to discover obscure keywords related to clients industry
1. Use keywords with very low search count at Overture keyword suggestion tool. These are not competitive keywords. They are not often searched on. But remember we are trying to add all obscure keywords to make a great keyword list.
2. Add variations to the keywords generated above. For example market to markets, marketing, marketers marketable.
3. Check clients(if possible) website log and fish out keywords searchers are already using to locate their site or product.
4. Use the thesaurus and dictionary to check for alternative words synonyms. We can use more than on type of dictionary. When checking for meaning of words, we will often see inthe description, alternative words with same meaning as the word we are checking for.
5. Ask friends, family members, what words they will use when searching for our clients product or the theme for clients website.
NOTE: Always keep in mind that, what the keyword tools will give us is a tiny fraction of what millions of people use on the web. The keyword tools at Overture won't give us those keyword count because very few numbers of people use them at a time or period.
Feature provided by Google to achieve our desired CTR:
(1) Excact Match
(2) Phrase Match
(3) Broad Match
(4) Negative Keywords
Exact Match: To designate our keywords for exact match put them in brackets. For example [degree program]. So our ad will only show if "degree program", without the quotes, is searched for. It won't show up for programs degree. This is a highly targeted way of getting visitors to our clients site. Unfortunately, we will get very few impressions using the exact match feature. Though our CTR may be high.
How to use it: Use exact match feature when we are bidding on competitive keywords. Because of the low number of impressions exact match generates, not many advertisers maybe using it. So experiment and at the same time try to lower our CPC.
Phrase Match: To designate our keywords for phrase match include them in quotes. For example "degree program". Our ad will appear when these words are searched for at the search engine. Also when words are added to those. Example, "online degree program" or "degree program online". The main keywords will always appear in the other which we set it. That is degree program and not program degree. Our ads will not appear for "degree easy program". The phrase match generates many impressions. Though not as targeted as the exact match, it more targeted than the broad match option.
How to use it: This is the feature we will most likely be using often. Build a good keyword list. In the degree program example, we will not appear for degree progrer or degree programing so include these and others in our keyword list. One important feature we should use with our phrase match option is the negative keyword. TNegative keywords help to make our keywords more targetted by allowing Google not to add them to our main keywords. When we designate a keyword as negative, Google will not add it when we are using phrase or broad match. If not, negative keywords could make our keywords to have different meaning than what we intended. For example, a word like free. If we are not offering anything for free and free is added to our main keywords, then clicks to our site might be wasted and costing us money. So designating the word free as a negative keyword will make Google not to add it to our keywords.
Broad Match: Broad match is the default setting for Google adwords and our ad is automatically shown for expanded match, plurals and other variations. So be sure to remember to change it when starting a campaign. Choosing the broad match feature allows Google to add other words to our main keywords. This makes this feature to be the least targeted. It produces the most impressions and probably the most CTR. But due to its non-targeted nature, could produce very low conversions or ROI. Using the "degree program" example in broad match, we could have our ads displayed for searches on "locating degree program", "degree program ideas, "free degree" etc.
our keywords will come out in many variations in plurals.
How to use it.
To have an appreciable success in using broad match, we need:
(1) To build three and four keyword phrases. This limits the number of words Google adds to our keywords phrases.
(2) Build a good and extensive negative keyword list.
(3) Use the Google keywords suggestion tool. It will show our words that will appear with keywords. That is expanded matches.
Negative Keywords: This feature is used to eliminate words that could be added to our main keywords. For example, the word free. Just add a minus in front of the word ( free ) to make it negative, this word will not be added to our keywords. Example, if our keywords are "degree". our ads will not show for "free degree". It is extremely important to use this feature so as to eliminate unwanted keywords, unwanted meanings and untargeted keyword phrases.
This is also important when we are dealing with children's products. We will need to eliminate porn words so that our money is not wasted. Imagine a user searching for adult content and clicking to our site. Use of negative keywords is an additional way of making our keywords more targeted when we are using the phrase match or broad match options.
How to build a good campaign structure:
Google adwords gives the flexibility to test our ads as much as we want. We can delete ads that are not giving us the right CPC,CTR or ROI. Create more ads to take the place of the deleted ads. Test as many ads as we like until we attain our desired CTR or CPC. But we can only do this if our campaign is properly structured and set out well from the start. we need to know what ads and in what adgroup(s), associated with what keywords, are giving us the required results. And those that are not. So that we can quickly delete the unwanted ads. On this basis we can set out our campaign structure as indicated above. For example, explaining campaign 1.
Start testing our large keyword list by distributing them among the different adgroups. Group keywords
that are:
1. closely related in one adgroup.
2. group keywords that are highly competitive in another adgroup.
3. group keywords that are not competitive.
4. group keywords that are in plural
5. group keywords with misspelled words etc.
If we have different kinds of products with different keywords, create one adgroup for each product. This allows us to create ads specific to keywords for each product . So, we don't have general ads which apply to all our keywords.
The general idea is to group our keywords as we like them so that can easily identify which ones are producing the required results. For each adgroup we can now create different ads. For easy management , 2 or 3 ads per adgroup is okay. I use two ads per adgroup. We can use the same set of keywords we have allocated per adgroup for ads 1, 2, 3. the only difference in the ads will be the title and description. At the ads level we can change any ad that is performing below expectation. delete and write new ads. If it is the keywords that are performing badly, delete that adgroup and create another. However, do not get into the habit of creating and deleting adgoups. If we test and track our results properly at the ads level we will not need to replace any adgroup after deleting it. Our result would have show that the keywords for that adgroup are not profitable and need not be used again. We then research new obscure keywords that we can use.
Note: If we use the same keywords for more than one adgroup only one adgroup will be shown at any point in time. Also Google optimizes ads on an adgroup basis not on keywords basis. Better performing ads gets shown more often. For example,
Keyword : "high heel shoes"
Ad #1 15% CTR
AD #2 5% CTR
When high heel shoes is searched on ad #1 shows more often than ad #2.
Keyword: "low heel shoes"
Ad #1 10% CTR
Ad #2 20% CTR
When low heel shoes is searched on ad #2 shows more often than ad #1.
However, we can choose to remove the optimization feature so that we can test all our ads equally. Achieving our goals.
(1) Producing our best impressions. we need to present our ads to the right searcher ( visitor ).
This is important so our ads are not displayed to the wrong searchers, thereby generating wasteful clicks. For best impressions-
(i) good keyword research
(ii) good negative keywords
(iii) use phrase match
(2) Producing best CTR. The click through Rate (CTR) is the number of times our ad is clicked on compared to the number of times it is viewed, in percentage. So if out of 100 impressions (views) our ad gets clicked once, our CTR is 1%. To produce our best CTR put our main keywords in the title and description of our ads.
(3) Achieving our best return on investment (ROI). To produce our best ROI we must apply the keyword title description approach described above. This gets the searcher to our landing page. The landing page is the page our visitor will first see after clicking on our ad. This page must be specific to the product we are selling or the action we want the searcher to take. Do not send the searcher to our home page unless the action we want the searcher to take is there. So it is keyword title description landing page. We don't want the searcher looking all over our website for what has been described in our ad. Also do not frustrate the searcher by a slow loading page.
(4) Achieving our best cost per click (CPC). The ultimate aim of every advertiser is to have minimum CPC while maintaining a good ad position. Typically position 1 to 6. Even though writing good and enticing ads is the key to a good CTR, having a good keyword list is the key to many targeted impressions. A combination of these two will produce best CPC.
Tips and Tricks
(1) Keyword variation. Here are some easy ways to generate variations in our keywords.
(i) Make keywords plural. Example, niche market to niche markets.
(ii) Adding the ing to verb words. Example, market to marketing.
(iii) Adding er. Example, market to marketer.
(iv) Adding or. Example, invest to investor.
(v) Adding ment. Example, invest to investment
(vi) Adding -. Example ebusiness to e-business.
(vii) Combining and separating words . Example, Web site to Website.
(viii) Common misspellings . Example, successful to successfull
(ix) Interchange words . Example, niche marketing to marketing niche.
(x) Replace words . Example, marketing niche to marketing segment.
(xi) Use American and English spellings. Example, vigor and vigour.
Use these anywhere it is possible in our keywords or keyword phrase.
(2) Tweaking our ad copy: Here are some ways we can use to generate ideas for greater CTR ads.
(i) Study the ads of our competitors. Study the way title and descriptions are written.
(ii) look at the regular result pages when we type in our keywords at Google search engine. Study the description and the title of the sites that come up.
(iii) Use very specific words like download, free, trial etc if it is relevant to our campaign.
(iv) Include the price of our product if we know that it has a comparative advantage.
(v) Emphasize benefits to users in our ads.
(vi) Write out our ad in the best possible way. Do not, at first, limit ourself to the number of words allowed. When we are satisfied then try to reduce it to number of words allowed per line.
(3) Tracking: Tracking the results of our campaign is about the most important aspect of our adwords campaign after building a great keyword list. Tracking helps to indicate where our campaign is heading, good or bad. We need to carefully follow our impressions, CPC, position, etc. All these are present in the report panel of the adwords interface.
GOOGLE ADWORDS SCENERIOS
There are different situations we will find ourself as we try to achieve and maintain a profitable adwords campaign. Sometimes, we will find that adjusting certain parameters might improve or get worsen our the campaign. The trick is to test. Don't be afraid to test . It is only by testing that we can really get to understand how adwords works and then master it.
Let's look at some situations we might find ourselves in while running our adwords campaign.
1. LOW IMPRESIONS AND LOW CTR.
(a) This can happen when we are just starting our adwords campaign. We have probably not read enough about the Google adwords program before drawing up our campaign.
(b) Also it can be that we have not done our keyword research very well . We might be using keywords that people hardly search for.
(c) It could also be that our daily budget is so low that Google would not want to exceed our budget. So our ad is presented very few times.
SOLUTION
i. Set our daily budget high. Do not worry. Google will not exhaust our daily budget. If our daily budget is set to $100 for example. We will be spending about $10 daily. Or if we set it at $20 we could be spending $5 to $7 daily. Setting the daily budget high enough gives we plenty of data to analyze our campaign. Our impressions will be high. CTR will be high too if our ad is well written.
ii. Brainstorm and research good keywords. Use the available keywords research tools to know which keywords searchers use to find our site .
iii. Write good ads that follow the keyword-title-description-landing page formula. This will increase our CTR and conversion.
2. HIGH IMPRESSION BUT LOW CTR
This is the situation new advertisers to Google adwords find themselves. Here we will be trying to convert most of our impressions to clicks. We can do this in two ways.
I. Increase our cost per click (CPC). Increasing our CPC places our ad in a high position which in turn generates high impressions. This will increase the cost of our campaign considerably. If our conversion is not good enough we might be running a loosing campaign.
II. Write better ads using the keyword-title-description-landing page formula. Searchers will be more likely to follow through from search results to clicking on our ad. This increases our CTR.
NOTE: If we have a keyword that is generating high impressions but low CTR , it is advisable to delete it. But if the keyword is important and related to our services or product we can create an adgroup for that keyword and also create ads for it. Then test and see which ad is producing the desired CTR. Further more, deleting poor performing keywords is like deleting our past poor performance. So that, the new adgroup will not be hindered. Also, it not good to leave keywords that are not generating impressions. Delete them. Low impressions generating keywords will hinder keywords that are performing well. This is the case, because the Google adwords system budgets for all keywords and if our daily budget is low, our keywords, including the performing ones, will be shown less often. The system will not exceed our daily budget.
Bottom line; use fewer keywords for a low daily budget.
3. HIGH IMPRESSION,HIGH CTR GENERATED BY HIGH CPC.
Every advertiser wants high CTR with low CPC. Typically in the range of $0.20 to $0.40 per click. But in industries where there are heavy players with costly keywords, high CPC could be the order of the day. How will a small business compete in a situation like that ?
1. Again the answer is in keyword research. Extensive, in depth research will provide the obscure keywords that few people have discovered.
2. Another way to compete is to know how much a visitor is worth to us. We have to have a good conversion rate at our website. If for example,
A click is $1 and we are converting at our site at 5% conversion rate. This means, for every $100 spent 5 visitors buy our product. For us to break even (that is, no profit no loss) our product must have a margin (profit) of $100/5 clicks=$20. So if each product has a profit of $20 on top of the cost price, then for each $100 spent we will recoup $100. Anything less than $20 margin will mean a loss for us. And anything higher than $20 means a gain in our campaign. However, due to fluctuations in ad position, CTR, conversion rate, competitive bidding by other advertisers, it is advisable to ensure that our visitors worth or click worth is such
that the profit on each product is high enough to allow for these fluctuations. For the example, $35 to $40 margin would be good .
HIGH IMPRESSION AND HIGH CTR WITH LOW CPC.
Achieving this takes a lot of hard work and testing. Google adwords is unique in that our ads go online immediately. This allows us to test our ads as much as we want. When we are not satisfied, write new ads. We can also set CPC for campaign as well as for individual keywords.
One trick we can use to achieve this, is to initially set our daily budget high, CPC high, and write good ads. This will position our ad well, 1st to 6th position. Once we have achieved a good CTR (4% to 7%) gradually lower our CPC while retaining a high daily budget. Always remember that a high impression and CTR will get a high position even if our CPC is low compared to our competitors.
HIGH IMPRESSION,HIGH CTR,LOW CPC BUT LOW CONVERSION.
In a situation like this, low conversion is due to several factors
1. Bad or wrong landing page. Our landing page must be directly related to our ad. Do not allow the visitor to search for the information which brought him to our site. Use the keyword-title-description-landing page formula.
2. Keywords that produce high impressions, high CTR but are not exactly related to the landing page. There are some keywords that are closely related but have different meanings. For example, the keyword phrase "web pages". Our title and description could be for a software that builds web pages. But the searcher is looking for how to write web pages that sell. This results in many clicks to our site with very few conversion. So we should make our title and description as explicit and direct as possible. This leaves the searcher in no doubt as to what is on the landing page.
GOOD AD POSITION.
A good ad position is from 1st to 6th position. A good ad position is obtained by having a high impressions and high ctr.
AVERAGE AD POSITION
This is typically between 7th to 10th position. A higher position is achieved by either increasing our bid or writing better ads for higher CTR
Summary:
-------------
1. Keyword research . Very important.
2. Good campaign structure as set out above.
3. Write good title, description with relevant keywords in them.
4. Follow the keywords-title-description-landing page formula
5. And test, test and test. Track our results efficiently.
Google adwords gives the flexibility to test our ads as much as we want. We can delete ads that are not giving us the right CPC,CTR or ROI. Create more ads to take the place of the deleted ads. Test as many ads as we like until we attain our desired CTR or CPC. But we can only do this if our campaign is properly structured and set out well from the start. we need to know what ads and in what adgroup(s), associated with what keywords, are giving us the required results. And those that are not. So that we can quickly delete the unwanted ads. On this basis we can set out our campaign structure as indicated above. For example, explaining campaign 1.
Start testing our large keyword list by distributing them among the different adgroups. Group keywords
that are:
1. closely related in one adgroup.
2. group keywords that are highly competitive in another adgroup.
3. group keywords that are not competitive.
4. group keywords that are in plural
5. group keywords with misspelled words etc.
If we have different kinds of products with different keywords, create one adgroup for each product. This allows us to create ads specific to keywords for each product . So, we don't have general ads which apply to all our keywords.
The general idea is to group our keywords as we like them so that can easily identify which ones are producing the required results. For each adgroup we can now create different ads. For easy management , 2 or 3 ads per adgroup is okay. I use two ads per adgroup. We can use the same set of keywords we have allocated per adgroup for ads 1, 2, 3. the only difference in the ads will be the title and description. At the ads level we can change any ad that is performing below expectation. delete and write new ads. If it is the keywords that are performing badly, delete that adgroup and create another. However, do not get into the habit of creating and deleting adgoups. If we test and track our results properly at the ads level we will not need to replace any adgroup after deleting it. Our result would have show that the keywords for that adgroup are not profitable and need not be used again. We then research new obscure keywords that we can use.
Note: If we use the same keywords for more than one adgroup only one adgroup will be shown at any point in time. Also Google optimizes ads on an adgroup basis not on keywords basis. Better performing ads gets shown more often. For example,
Keyword : "high heel shoes"
Ad #1 15% CTR
AD #2 5% CTR
When high heel shoes is searched on ad #1 shows more often than ad #2.
Keyword: "low heel shoes"
Ad #1 10% CTR
Ad #2 20% CTR
When low heel shoes is searched on ad #2 shows more often than ad #1.
However, we can choose to remove the optimization feature so that we can test all our ads equally. Achieving our goals.
(1) Producing our best impressions. we need to present our ads to the right searcher ( visitor ).
This is important so our ads are not displayed to the wrong searchers, thereby generating wasteful clicks. For best impressions-
(i) good keyword research
(ii) good negative keywords
(iii) use phrase match
(2) Producing best CTR. The click through Rate (CTR) is the number of times our ad is clicked on compared to the number of times it is viewed, in percentage. So if out of 100 impressions (views) our ad gets clicked once, our CTR is 1%. To produce our best CTR put our main keywords in the title and description of our ads.
(3) Achieving our best return on investment (ROI). To produce our best ROI we must apply the keyword title description approach described above. This gets the searcher to our landing page. The landing page is the page our visitor will first see after clicking on our ad. This page must be specific to the product we are selling or the action we want the searcher to take. Do not send the searcher to our home page unless the action we want the searcher to take is there. So it is keyword title description landing page. We don't want the searcher looking all over our website for what has been described in our ad. Also do not frustrate the searcher by a slow loading page.
(4) Achieving our best cost per click (CPC). The ultimate aim of every advertiser is to have minimum CPC while maintaining a good ad position. Typically position 1 to 6. Even though writing good and enticing ads is the key to a good CTR, having a good keyword list is the key to many targeted impressions. A combination of these two will produce best CPC.
Tips and Tricks
(1) Keyword variation. Here are some easy ways to generate variations in our keywords.
(i) Make keywords plural. Example, niche market to niche markets.
(ii) Adding the ing to verb words. Example, market to marketing.
(iii) Adding er. Example, market to marketer.
(iv) Adding or. Example, invest to investor.
(v) Adding ment. Example, invest to investment
(vi) Adding -. Example ebusiness to e-business.
(vii) Combining and separating words . Example, Web site to Website.
(viii) Common misspellings . Example, successful to successfull
(ix) Interchange words . Example, niche marketing to marketing niche.
(x) Replace words . Example, marketing niche to marketing segment.
(xi) Use American and English spellings. Example, vigor and vigour.
Use these anywhere it is possible in our keywords or keyword phrase.
(2) Tweaking our ad copy: Here are some ways we can use to generate ideas for greater CTR ads.
(i) Study the ads of our competitors. Study the way title and descriptions are written.
(ii) look at the regular result pages when we type in our keywords at Google search engine. Study the description and the title of the sites that come up.
(iii) Use very specific words like download, free, trial etc if it is relevant to our campaign.
(iv) Include the price of our product if we know that it has a comparative advantage.
(v) Emphasize benefits to users in our ads.
(vi) Write out our ad in the best possible way. Do not, at first, limit ourself to the number of words allowed. When we are satisfied then try to reduce it to number of words allowed per line.
(3) Tracking: Tracking the results of our campaign is about the most important aspect of our adwords campaign after building a great keyword list. Tracking helps to indicate where our campaign is heading, good or bad. We need to carefully follow our impressions, CPC, position, etc. All these are present in the report panel of the adwords interface.
GOOGLE ADWORDS SCENERIOS
There are different situations we will find ourself as we try to achieve and maintain a profitable adwords campaign. Sometimes, we will find that adjusting certain parameters might improve or get worsen our the campaign. The trick is to test. Don't be afraid to test . It is only by testing that we can really get to understand how adwords works and then master it.
Let's look at some situations we might find ourselves in while running our adwords campaign.
1. LOW IMPRESIONS AND LOW CTR.
(a) This can happen when we are just starting our adwords campaign. We have probably not read enough about the Google adwords program before drawing up our campaign.
(b) Also it can be that we have not done our keyword research very well . We might be using keywords that people hardly search for.
(c) It could also be that our daily budget is so low that Google would not want to exceed our budget. So our ad is presented very few times.
SOLUTION
i. Set our daily budget high. Do not worry. Google will not exhaust our daily budget. If our daily budget is set to $100 for example. We will be spending about $10 daily. Or if we set it at $20 we could be spending $5 to $7 daily. Setting the daily budget high enough gives we plenty of data to analyze our campaign. Our impressions will be high. CTR will be high too if our ad is well written.
ii. Brainstorm and research good keywords. Use the available keywords research tools to know which keywords searchers use to find our site .
iii. Write good ads that follow the keyword-title-description-landing page formula. This will increase our CTR and conversion.
2. HIGH IMPRESSION BUT LOW CTR
This is the situation new advertisers to Google adwords find themselves. Here we will be trying to convert most of our impressions to clicks. We can do this in two ways.
I. Increase our cost per click (CPC). Increasing our CPC places our ad in a high position which in turn generates high impressions. This will increase the cost of our campaign considerably. If our conversion is not good enough we might be running a loosing campaign.
II. Write better ads using the keyword-title-description-landing page formula. Searchers will be more likely to follow through from search results to clicking on our ad. This increases our CTR.
NOTE: If we have a keyword that is generating high impressions but low CTR , it is advisable to delete it. But if the keyword is important and related to our services or product we can create an adgroup for that keyword and also create ads for it. Then test and see which ad is producing the desired CTR. Further more, deleting poor performing keywords is like deleting our past poor performance. So that, the new adgroup will not be hindered. Also, it not good to leave keywords that are not generating impressions. Delete them. Low impressions generating keywords will hinder keywords that are performing well. This is the case, because the Google adwords system budgets for all keywords and if our daily budget is low, our keywords, including the performing ones, will be shown less often. The system will not exceed our daily budget.
Bottom line; use fewer keywords for a low daily budget.
3. HIGH IMPRESSION,HIGH CTR GENERATED BY HIGH CPC.
Every advertiser wants high CTR with low CPC. Typically in the range of $0.20 to $0.40 per click. But in industries where there are heavy players with costly keywords, high CPC could be the order of the day. How will a small business compete in a situation like that ?
1. Again the answer is in keyword research. Extensive, in depth research will provide the obscure keywords that few people have discovered.
2. Another way to compete is to know how much a visitor is worth to us. We have to have a good conversion rate at our website. If for example,
A click is $1 and we are converting at our site at 5% conversion rate. This means, for every $100 spent 5 visitors buy our product. For us to break even (that is, no profit no loss) our product must have a margin (profit) of $100/5 clicks=$20. So if each product has a profit of $20 on top of the cost price, then for each $100 spent we will recoup $100. Anything less than $20 margin will mean a loss for us. And anything higher than $20 means a gain in our campaign. However, due to fluctuations in ad position, CTR, conversion rate, competitive bidding by other advertisers, it is advisable to ensure that our visitors worth or click worth is such
that the profit on each product is high enough to allow for these fluctuations. For the example, $35 to $40 margin would be good .
HIGH IMPRESSION AND HIGH CTR WITH LOW CPC.
Achieving this takes a lot of hard work and testing. Google adwords is unique in that our ads go online immediately. This allows us to test our ads as much as we want. When we are not satisfied, write new ads. We can also set CPC for campaign as well as for individual keywords.
One trick we can use to achieve this, is to initially set our daily budget high, CPC high, and write good ads. This will position our ad well, 1st to 6th position. Once we have achieved a good CTR (4% to 7%) gradually lower our CPC while retaining a high daily budget. Always remember that a high impression and CTR will get a high position even if our CPC is low compared to our competitors.
HIGH IMPRESSION,HIGH CTR,LOW CPC BUT LOW CONVERSION.
In a situation like this, low conversion is due to several factors
1. Bad or wrong landing page. Our landing page must be directly related to our ad. Do not allow the visitor to search for the information which brought him to our site. Use the keyword-title-description-landing page formula.
2. Keywords that produce high impressions, high CTR but are not exactly related to the landing page. There are some keywords that are closely related but have different meanings. For example, the keyword phrase "web pages". Our title and description could be for a software that builds web pages. But the searcher is looking for how to write web pages that sell. This results in many clicks to our site with very few conversion. So we should make our title and description as explicit and direct as possible. This leaves the searcher in no doubt as to what is on the landing page.
GOOD AD POSITION.
A good ad position is from 1st to 6th position. A good ad position is obtained by having a high impressions and high ctr.
AVERAGE AD POSITION
This is typically between 7th to 10th position. A higher position is achieved by either increasing our bid or writing better ads for higher CTR
Summary:
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1. Keyword research . Very important.
2. Good campaign structure as set out above.
3. Write good title, description with relevant keywords in them.
4. Follow the keywords-title-description-landing page formula
5. And test, test and test. Track our results efficiently.
Good post! Thanks for sharing this information I appreciate it. God bless!
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