Google AdWords: targeted advertising to help your business
Google AdWords is a powerful advertising tool when used correctly. The theory behind it is great, you only have to pay for the advertising that works, which is every businesses dream, however it is slightly more complicated than that.
Let’s start simple: what is Google AdWords?
AdWords are the paid website links that appear on the top or bottom of Google search results. They look the same as normal results except they have a small green ‘ad’ icon in the top left corner. They appear when you have searched using a keyword or phrase that the business has selected as relevant to themselves.
You can also select image based ads, they work well but the investment required is quite a bit higher than standard text ads
How do I use AdWords?
The basic setup of AdWords is that you create an account and select keywords or phrases that are relevant to your business. Google looks at the quality of the word and the demand already placed on it and charges you accordingly. It uses a Pay-Per-Click system, which makes it a more affordable way of advertising. This means that if your link appears first on the results page but no one clicks on it, you won’t pay any money. You can set daily limits on how much you want to spend and once reached, the sponsored links will not appear again until the following day.
Three reasons we think AdWords are so good
1. Measurable Results
Google is very good at providing data to show how your Google AdWords campaign is running. You can see how many hits and impressions you get for each word, therefore giving you the information to get the most out of using AdWords. You can also measure the results of the campaign almost instantly.
2 Affordability
Although getting good results using AdWords has become more expensive, the results are clear and measurable. You could very easily spend an equivalent amount in print advertising and get little to no results from it. AdWords campaigns are also continually changeable. If you are not liking the results you are getting you can try to improve the campaign to make it more relevant. By adding different key words, tweaking the preview shown for your business, or a variety of other variables it is possible to improve your campaign drastically. Ease of updating a campaign midway through is something that is not possible with traditional forms of advertising.
3 Target Audience
A big benefit of AdWords is the control you have over your target audience. For AdWords to work, people need to be actively searching for keywords you have selected as relating to your product. This gives you a target audience that is looking for the products or services you offer. Therefore bringing them closer to spending money, which really makes AdWords a valuable program.
This highlights what a beneficial medium AdWords can be, however there are a few factors to look out for.
Two things to keep in mind when it comes to Google AdWords
1 Money
It takes money to see results. AdWords fundamentally seems like a good investment, but that does rely on you knowing what you are doing and getting the best use out of the program. If you are not seeing the results you want, it can be tempting to just throw money at the problem. A much better strategy is to look at your campaign and see what can be done to get more relevant results and therefore better success. Just remember Google is here to help you spend money, and you can spend serious money quickly if you don’t know what you’re doing.
2 Knowledge
To get the most out of Google AdWords you will need a good understanding of your industry and your competitors to ensure that you are choosing the best keywords for you. Selecting the wrong key words can becoming costly quite quickly. Google does help with this giving you quality measures, but it is worth talking to a professional to get the most out of your money.
Our final thoughts on Adwords
Ultimately, it comes down to you. AdWords can drive traffic to your website, but if your website isn’t up to standard then you are not going to get the results you want. It’s also important to remember that AdWords will need upkeep. You want to be checking that you are continually getting results and that your keywords remain relevant and up to date.
Finally think about this. Imagine an advertising platform that only allows people who have self filtered to see what you’re offering, and that you only pay when those people act on the ads you’ve provided. If you can imagine that you’re looking at ad words.
Circle Media have been running ad words campaigns for more than 9 years for clients. If you want to talk to someone with lots of AdWords experience and see what we can do for you, give Circle Media a call.