Adwords Basics

Discussion in 'Google AdWords' started by dlm, May 2, 2007.

  1. #1
    This will only be useful if you're quite new to Adwords, but hopefully it will help some of you:


    Google Adwords is far and away the most popular PPC advertising platform on the internet. The reasons for this are simple: a well designed user interface, a large number and variety of publishers to show the ads and, most importantly, a long history of positive ROI rates for advertisers. Adwords can be intimidating to new users, but it really isn't very difficult to learn the skills you need to get started.

    This article is meant to be a basic introduction to Adwords. So if you are already very familiar with it, this might be review. The first problem most people have with Adwords is setting to and sticking with a budget. Most people get frustrated because they haven't bid enough for their clicks, resulting in their ads having a low position. After a couple days of poor results, most new advertisers quickly increase their bids and the results is a pile of expensive traffic that brings back little, if any, return. When you make your Adwords account, set a small budget. Use keyword tools (many of which are available on the links page of this website) to determine which searches are most popular and try to find searches that other advertisers haven't thought of. This is the best way of getting cheap traffic to your website(s), since less competition means lower cost per click.

    However, cheap traffic is not necessarily good traffic. Let me repeat that again, just because you are getting cheap clicks from Adwords does not mean you are using your advertising dollars effectively. Targeted traffic is the key. If your website is selling software tutorials and you bid on phrases such as “free software” or “download photoshop” you might very well get many, many visitors (very inexpensively), but I can guarantee that your conversion rate (sales/visitor) will be horrible. Even key phrases like “free tutorials” will fail to create a positive return. Generally, never use the word “free” in your ads, unless you are actually giving something away for free. Users will click, costing you money, but are almost never interested in shelling out cash for a product.

    Conversely, using key phrases with the words “buy” or “purchase” will decrease the number of clicks you receive, but will certainly increase your conversion rate and ROI. Going back to my previous example, bidding on key phrases such as “buy dreamweaver tutorials”or “professional photoshop tutorials” will give you visitors that are interested in buying the product you are selling and willing to spend money if your product matches their needs. In my next article on Adwords, I will discuss strategies to write high quality ads to help improve your click through and conversion rates.
     
    dlm, May 2, 2007 IP
    webgenesis likes this.
  2. flip

    flip Peon

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    #2
    good overview. thx.
     
    flip, May 2, 2007 IP
  3. rmartish

    rmartish Peon

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    #3
    This is true. Good to remember.
     
    rmartish, May 2, 2007 IP
  4. dlm

    dlm Peon

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    #4
    thanks, I'll be writing some more advanced articles soon :)
     
    dlm, May 4, 2007 IP
  5. TatiAnA

    TatiAnA Active Member

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    #5
    Seems you know well enough about Adwords. I've been using adwords for quite a long time now but the only thing i can't seem to figure is hiding the delted ad groups. If i deleted an ad group, it still shows within the Campaign with the message "Ad Group Deleted". How do i get rid of that. I don't want to see the deleted ad there anymore.Any idea?
     
    TatiAnA, May 4, 2007 IP
  6. rmartish

    rmartish Peon

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    #6
    On the right side it says all but deleted. Click it.
     
    rmartish, May 4, 2007 IP
  7. Linkmeup

    Linkmeup Peon

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    #7
    A good overview thanks for sharing
     
    Linkmeup, May 4, 2007 IP
  8. Acey

    Acey Peon

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    #8
    Can't wait your next article. Thanks
     
    Acey, May 4, 2007 IP
  9. indoushosting

    indoushosting Peon

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    #9
    Hey DLM,

    Thanks for the very good article! As Acey said - we cant wait for your next one!

    Good luck
     
    indoushosting, May 4, 2007 IP
  10. SupaSharp

    SupaSharp Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Great for the newbies, thanks for the article
     
    SupaSharp, May 17, 2007 IP
  11. guaner

    guaner Peon

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    #11
    Thanks for sharing, this was a good read for me.
     
    guaner, May 18, 2007 IP
  12. Truth42

    Truth42 Peon

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    #12
    Thanks from me, too.
     
    Truth42, May 19, 2007 IP