Google AdWords Campaigns
- 12th Jun 2007
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DaveN has asked me to look into Google AdWords and use a campaign for one of our customers. The customer has a site ready built with products in a highly competitive market.
Google Ad words Professional
Firstly, I must point out I’m NOT Google adwords accredited. Boo hiss lol (Google tells me I would be a highly skilled professional if I took the exam etc etc)
Unfortunately then folks I can’t use the nice little logo that Google provides as a mark of recognition for this accolade or give you any vouchers, also im now worried that I will have nothing to talk about at those select dinner events I’m frequently invited to.
Seriously, I’ve never been one for taking exams and would always prefer hands on experience of any topic, but would love to know your thoughts on Google accreditation?
Google Ad words Editor
There’s quite a lot to wade through and it feels like wading in concrete boots through a bog of Google mud. It might just be me but the Google adwords interface is a tad confusing for the beginner, for me there are simply too many separate tags to view what’s going on. So I decided to use the Ad Words Editor which I downloaded, this presented things in a more comprehensive format and enabled me to proceed with greater ease.
Let loose on a campaign with a daily budget is quite a daunting task and I want to get it right.
SEO Experience counts…..
Speaking to a well experienced SEO is always a bonus in these matters and Rich (UKgimp) tells me it’s no more than being “systematic” in your approach.
Somewhat vague I thought at first, but if you think about it long and hard enough it actually makes sense.
First thing I realise is its much easier to split up the campaign into relevant Ad Groups not try to bundle them all into one, separation of groups makes it easier to see what’s going on. There doesn’t seem to be any hard fast rules on how to set this up, but to my mind I would say with adgroups make them so you can find your products/services easily.
Use multiple Ad Groups with few keywords
I set up the campaign firstly naming it as the company name, then by setting up Ad Groups for each product category sold on the site; it’s worth noting that all Ad Groups within a campaign will be supported by the budget of that Campaign. But if you run into problems with this you can always set up another campaign.
Budget
Due to budget constraints (Although DaveN hasn’t set any) I’m trying to keep the CPC down to a minimum, So much so in fact that my initial ad words campaign would have had less visibility than a mole in a black hole.
Fortunately, I had the UKGimp look over the campaign who did say “don’t worry Dan test it out see how it goes but up your daily budget.”
Keywords:
I try and target my keywords looking at the most generic ones first and then sort of go backwards to reach more specific ones; with products it became more specific on the actual product numbers.
For this Ad words campaign I used the obvious generic ones located on the website and sniffed around the web for what people maybe searching for related to those products.
I also used the Google Keyword Tool to give me more ideas and then looked at misspellings, keywords with spaces etc and was consistent in adding these to each Ad Group.
UKGimp gave me a very useful spreadsheet which utilises concatenation of keywords this certainly helped a great deal and gave reassurance that I hadn’t missed any out.
Calls to action
No point having an ad really unless it relays the correct message.
The other thing I’m thinking is that not every call to action has to make a sale; it could be a newsletter subscription, entry to competition or simply get them to click to your specific target page.
So what is a call to action, well with all products they vary don’t they…?
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The Adverts
I have decided to use ad variation to see which adverts perform best, for e.g.:
Apparently Google automatically rotates these ads so you can see which one performs better, in the testing I’m only going to change one thing at a time so I can keep a hold of what’s going on.
I’m now going keep my eyes open on the Google Ads to see what the Clicks, Impressions and more importantly CTR.
To be continued…
-Dan Horton
12 Comments | Leave a comment »
Hi Dan, good luck with the PPC campaign. It’s fun, but also kind of daunting setting up your first campaign using somebody else’s money!
I’d also be interested to hear what people think about the Google accreditation. I went for an agency job last week and one of the first things they asked was about GAP certification. I’ve not got it. Not even sure if I want it, but I guess it can’t hurt. It’s only $50 to take the exam. I doubt if it would hold much sway outside of the agency arena though. Doubt if many business owners/execs will have even heard of it. Maybe Google should publicise it more?
By the way, where can I get tips on keeping my mother-in-law happy?
I think Adwords Editor is great once you get used to it. Besides no one else has a tool like this.
Anyway, I am pissed off with Adwords since they flaged my main domain.
Pex
Dan,
Just keep practicing and watch those percentages. I always do a&b then I can see what ad is performing and dump the loser ad and create a new one. Constantly improving those ads will really help. I am often surprised that dorky ads do well and ones I though I was brilliant, no one clicks.
Good luck!
Jeff
Thanks Dave, Pex and Jeff..
Please keep your thoughts coming in on accreditation!
Im getting the feeling this adwords is all about trial and error, I’m watching the percentages and still using the editor.
Keep mother in law happy?,,,hmm,, first tip is always agree, second you know when your in trouble if your not addressed directly,,;0)
Hi Dan,
You know I love talking about my Google accreditation (especially at all those dinner parties) but my opinion of it in reality is that it doesn’t really say much to those in the know; it isn’t really hard to get one with a bit of work and for those without integrity you can get someone to sit the exam for you (I’m sure that goes on at some agencies).
Having said that, I don’t think it really matters what those in the know think in many respects. What matters is what a potential client thinks and bearing mind the vast majority of decision makers in business will never know (or have the time to find out ) how easy or hard it is to obtain, you might as well have it. In my experience, business owners just see the Google logo and immediatley know the sort of thing you can do for them (”get me to the top right?”). Yea you need to explain the difference between SEO and PPC but, the logo has already saved you 10 minutes effort…
It won’t seal any deals on its own, but it won’t hurt. £50 of free advertising doesn’t hurt either…
Of course the ultimate decider will be whether those who are accredited can actually deliver the results for their clients; any bad eggs will of course undermine the whole scheme and it that respect, the ease of passing (or faking a pass) could prove to be a serious weakness of the scheme.
To Dave O. I would just do it. It looks good on the business card and preparing for the exam will probably help you answer any trickier questions you might get asked in an interview.
Finally Dan, good luck with the first Adwords campaign and experience of Adwords Editor. :-) Your friends at Big Mouth and Econsultancy will be proud.
Google Adwords Professional is just Google following the time warn tracks of the Microsoft Certified Professional scheme - just another indicator that the big corporate mentality is taking hold at the plex.
Exams such as those allow average people to feel good about themselves, if you are any good your results will speak for themselves. Those who need the letters and logos by there names are intrinsically insecure. And companies only use the logo on their sites to con people with less knowledge than themselves.
“Those who need the letters and logos by there names are intrinsically insecure. And companies only use the logo on their sites to con people with less knowledge than themselves.”
what so everyone who is accredited is a con-artist and can’t do the job? rubbish!
Did I say that? - I think its more that you interpreted it that way.
If companies didn’t think that getting accreditation would allow them to make more money they wouldn’t do it.
What I said about individuals is that it tends to be average performers who will use letters and logos a lot to allow them to impress other people, because they need to (and do) use every opportunity to improve their status. I didn’t say they couldn’t do the job.
The microsoft certification program certainly rings true of monetary gains, I remember doing the MCSE networking essentials only to be told about a week later the exam was no longer needed for the certification. That was about 3k for the training years ago.
When XP was released I attended the Microsoft conference in Edinburgh a question asked to Microsoft was “why do we always need to upgrade our hardware with each OS?”
The answer: ” Because that’s the market trend”
Is it?
Who sets the market trend,,,,
“Did I say that?”
Perhaps it wasn’t your intention, you’ve expanded the point better now and I think I see what you mean.
My point really is only that there is nothing inheriently wrong with using whatever you can to promote your skills. Being accredited is just that. Perhaps if you’re well established then you just don’t need to do that.
…and how do you become “well established”? By using accreditation and letters by your name in order to win business!
It’s just a necessary stage of the game. If you’re a young company then you’re up against dozens of ‘accredited’ companies and individuals. All they have to do to win some business is point to their logo and say: “my competitor (i.e. you) isn’t even accredited”. Bingo - they’ve got the job, you don’t.
So I think it’s just something you have to do if you want to compete in certain markets. We all know that it might not amount to a hill of beans, but it’s hardly new stuff. CORGI registration… ISO 9000… Investors in People…
Good to hear from you Paul! Like the two Ronnies thing going on here.
You never mentioned my cub scout domestic science badge did you !