Google Adwords - The Basics

Google AdWords ads connect you with new customers at the precise moment when they're looking for your products or services.

With Google AdWords you create your own ads, choose keywords to help us match your ads to your audience and pay only when someone clicks on them.

Your ads show up on Google almost instantly.
Once you have an account open, which takes up to three working days, your ads can show within 24 hours.

You choose the keywords that determine when your ads will appear.
Select terms that describe what you offer and your ads will be displayed to a highly targeted audience on Google and our partner sites. Partner sites like Lycos etc and also some private sites that are related to your key words. For example if your key word is "Barnard Castle" your advert may appear on a partner site that talks about Barnard Castle.

Online reporting tells you what's working. Changes are free for all BizSub customers.
You have total control over every aspect of your campaign. Simply contact your us and we can order reports of your campaign. For example we can show you "impressions" the amount of times your Advert has been shown and "Clicks" the amount of actual clicks that linked the potential client to the exact page on your site.

Google AdWords Advertising Tips

Ways to boost your keyword inventory.

One technique that reaps rewards with Google AdWords is to have a large keyword inventory. The more relevant keywords you identify, the better chance you have of finding minimum bid, highly targeted phrases that bring down your average cost per click and increase your ROI (Return On Investment).

The most obvious keywords aren’t always the best. Obvious keywords attract a lot of bidders and the cost per click is pushed upwards. Do a little more work than your competitors and you will find many keywords at low or minimum bid price. Many of these keywords are low volume, but highly relevant and therefore more likely to convert.

For example, the keyword 'shoes' will get you lots of clicks but the keyword 'converse all-star canvas shoes' is much better targeted and more likely to convert.

Your keywords should reflect what people actually type when they search Google, not what you want them to type. Try:

·          Alternative phrases - People purchase and procure as well as buy. Sometimes they want a supplier or just to find you.

·          Plurals - websites as well as web site

·          Spelling mistakes - There are common misspellings that huge numbers of people make every day. Try by as well as buy.

·          Typing errors - Type your keywords quickly and look at the mistakes you make. Feed these mistakes back into your keyword inventory and wait for other people to do the same thing

·          Use a service such as www.wordtracker.com to find keywords that real people type into search engines every day. Wordtracker also shows the world’s top 50 searched words in real-time.

Pay Per Click Tips - Page 1, Number 1

Paid Search Advertising (also Pay-Per-Click, PPC) has gained a significant influence in the search engine industry over past couple of years. Whilst a traditional search engine optimisation still remains the online marketing strategy number one, more and more businesses discovering the potential of online advertising campaigns. Properly designed and managed, PPC campaign can deliver highly qualified visitors to any website.  We, through Britnett, offer the management of an Adword campaign FREE to all BizSub clients.

Quick Overview

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engines are built on the similar principle as auctions. The difference is that you bid on keywords -- terms people use when they search for stuff on the internet.

The concept of PPC bidding is rather simple: you buy (= bid on) keywords that relate to your product. The highest bidder gets placed at the top of the search results, the second highest bidder gets the next listing and so on. Every time someone clicks through to your website, you pay the amount you bid on that particular search term.

Advertising with PPC search engines basically gives you three key advantages:

»  Cheap and Highly Targeted Traffic

With bidding on keywords that relates to your product or service, you actually pre-qualify the type of visitors you wish to attract. You determine how much you are willing to pay (bid) for the click and you only pay when someone clicks on your ad and. This implies that PPC search engines can cheaply direct qualified visitors to your website.  Your banner advert will appear many times but you only pay when someone actually clicks it.

»  Fast Exposure, Immediate Profits

Traditional search engines usually take few weeks (sometimes even months) to list your website. If you are having problems to get your website indexed by search engines or if you would like to get a quick results from the search engines then PPC is the best alternative. Most of PPC search engines will set your website live within a couple of hours (maximum few days) and the impact on your site traffic and sales is practically immediate.

»  Guaranteed Top Position

Search engine optimisation is the classic method of getting your website on the top of search results - this is what BizSub traditionally does.  Simply said, the process of optimisation involves choosing keywords that are directly related to your website and placing them meaningfully within your pages. However, as easy as this sounds, for an average client this is usually a quite daunting task without any guarantee on the success that’s why BizSub is a very popular product.  This again brings us to PPC as the best solution to gain high rankings on the search result list. Often, by spending just few pence per click, your website can get to the top three positions within 24 hours!  Remember we will manage a Google AdWord campaign for any BizSub customer.

PPC Search Engines are Google AdWords (www.google.com/ads)  Advertising with this industry leader will get your website lots of exposure and traffic. Furthermore, top 3 listings in Google AdWords on an extensive network of sites (including Yahoo!, MSN, AltaVista, Excite, and many others) so you can reach up to 80% of all active Internet users. However, at the same time be prepared that their top listings tend to be rather expensive and you need to pay quite a bit.  But speak with your Britnett Support team and we will show you how to get the best value from your clicks.

Generally, the more popular keyword you choose for bidding the higher is the price. You can start your bid from 4p per click and finish paying £5.00 (or more) for very competitive keywords.  A trick we use often is to change from a popular keyword say like "computer" to the name of the town the client is located say "Barnard Castle".  This way the computer retailers advert shows every time someone searched "Barnard Castle" The Advert reads WE SELL COMPUTERS! This way any searcher who clicks this advert we know want a computer in Barnard Castle.  CPC for Barnard Castle is 4p and Computer is £5.00.

Designing Successful PPC Campaigns

The golden rule of PPC bidding is: "Attract highly qualified buyers and keep your bids as low as possible". Since you are paying for each single visitor landing on your website obviously you wish to maximize the effectiveness of your PPC campaign. Let’s take a look at some basic guidelines to help you optimise your campaign and ensure your ROI.

»  Determine your bid cost

The calculation of the bid cost (also cost per click) requires a rather complicated formula. For the purpose of this article I mention just a baseline that helps determine how much you can afford to bid:

Firstly, you need to know the conversion rate of your web site. That means how many unique visitors you need to close one sale. For example, if you need 50 visitors (= clicks) to close 1 sale then your conversion rate is 2%. If your bid is 10 pence per click than one sale has £5 of bidding cost.

Secondly, you need to know your profit margin. If your profit margin is high enough to justify the cost you can consider increasing the bid and getting a higher position for your ad. This way you may increase the number of clicks through your website and acquire more sales.

Finally, calculate if the extra sales justify the extra cost and adjust the bid accordingly.

»  Focus on highly targeted keywords

As mentioned earlier, PPC Advertising can deliver cheap and highly targeted traffic to your website. To use this advantage to your benefit it is important to choose wisely the keywords you wish to bid on. The key is to be specific. For example, instead of bidding on "skin care" you can consider bid on "anti ageing herbal treatments". More targeted keywords attract more qualified buyers. It is easier to convert them into paying customers because they found exactly what they were looking for. This strategy is also a big money saver -- more specific keywords tend to be less expensive than the general ones everybody is biding on.

»  Customize your advertisements

You will attract more attention from qualified buyers by writing ads specifically for each of keywords you bid on. Speak directly to the type of visitor you want to serve. For example, instead of writing an ad for "pies" you can write "home made meat pies".

When tailoring your ads to a specific audience, be also sure that you direct your visitors to a page on your website where it's easy for them to buy these items.

»  Choose the best position for your advertisement

To be listed first on the search results is not always a smart move. It certainly helps to attract lots of visitors, but may cost you lots of money at the same time. People usually visit first 5 top listings before making a final decision about their purchase. Therefore, it is more profitable to have lower ranking for highly competitive keywords.

Managing PPC Advertising Campaigns

You have designed a killer selling ad copy, chosen highly targeted keywords, calculated the maximum you can afford to bid on each of search terms and determined which spot on the search results you wish to secure. Yet, there is no guarantee that your ad always remains on your desired position.

The key to managing the desired position is to adjust your bids correctly in accordance to the PPC market conditions. It’s like monitoring shares on the share market -- to get the best deal you need to constantly watch prices and react immediately to any change.

The main factor influencing the price of the bids and your position are your competitors. Let’s make few examples of bidding strategies you can consider using in your PPC campaign: assuming, your maximum cost per click is £1.00 and your goal is to secure position #3 at the most effective cost.

(a) Maintain Target Position

Your aim is to target the position #3 however your ad appears on the position #10. Knowing that the current holder of the position #3 pays £0.51 per click you can improve your position and take over his place by bidding £0.52. This strategy sometimes tends to drive up the keyword prices so be aware you don’t cross the limit of spending £1.00 per click.

(b) Remove Bid Gaps

Overture defines the bid gap as "the difference between the amount you are currently paying for a click and the minimum you could be paying to still remain above your next highest competitor in the search results."

For example: You pay £0.70 per click and your next highest competitor pays $0.60 per click. You can pay just £0.61 per click and still be placed above your competitor. By closing this bid gap you save £0.09 per click which in 1,000 clicks is saving of £90! All said – the #1 position is not necessary the best.

(c) Control your Maximum Cost per Click

As mentioned earlier in this article, the calculation of your maximum bid cost (cost per click) requires you to collect a list of statistics about your website. Based on our assumption, you are willing to pay maximum of £1.00 per click. Therefore you should not pursue any positions where the bids are over your £1.00 limit. Wait till the price falls under £1.00 to prevent any possible losses. You can call Britnett Support to check pricing.

Paid Search Advertising presents an excellent opportunity to immediately address your offers to the proper online audience. Focus on identifying highly targeted keywords that convert for your website. Calculate your bids so your sales justify the cost. This way you will maximize your return on investment and ensure your website’s success with PPC advertising.

Google AdWord – Invalid Clicks Concern

FROM GOOGLE:

The security of Google AdWords advertisers is a top priority for Google. To make sure that you only pay for legitimate clicks on your ads, we dedicate a number of resources to click protection strategies.

Google strictly prohibits any method used to artificially generate invalid clicks or page impressions and closely monitors clicks on Google AdWords ads to prevent abuse. Invalid clicks may include the following:

·          Clicks by automated tools, robots, or other deceptive software.

·          Manual clicks intended to increase your advertising costs or to increase profits for website owners hosting your ads.

HOW GOOGLE DETECTS INVALID CLICKS

Google's proprietary technology analyses clicks to determine whether they fit a pattern of use intended to artificially drive up an advertiser's clicks or a publisher's earnings. Our system automatically identifies clicks generated by unethical users and automated robots, and filters out these clicks before they ever reach your reports.

Google employs three powerful tools for protecting your clicks:

- Detection and filtering techniques: Each click on an AdWords ad is examined by our system. Google looks at numerous data points for each click, including the IP address, the time of the click, any duplicate clicks, and various other click patterns. Our system then analyses these factors to isolate and filter out any invalid clicks.

- Advanced monitoring techniques: Google uses a number of unique and innovative techniques for managing invalid click activity that surpass the standard methods. We can not disclose details about the software, except to say that our team of pioneering experts is constantly working to expand and improve our technology in order to stay ahead of changing trends in invalid click techniques.

- Human expertise: In addition to our automated click protection techniques, we have a team of human experts who use specialised tools and techniques to examine individual instances of invalid clicks. This team is a key component of our strategy to expose, monitor and track invalid click activity, ensuring the absolute highest level of click quality. When our system detects invalid clicks, a click protection expert examines the affected account to glean important data about the source of the invalid clicks. We provide this next level of service to ensure that you are only paying for legitimate clicks on your ads.

HOW GOOGLE HANDLES INVALID CLICKS

Google actively implements the techniques described above in order to combat invalid click activity. Google automatically filters clicks that we determine invalid from your reports. In addition, we apply the following policies for the protection of AdWords advertisers:

- If our experts find that invalid clicks have escaped automatic detection, you will receive a credit for those clicks. This credit will appear as an 'Adjustment' on the 'Billing Summary' page of the 'My Account' section in your AdWords account. (Other types of credits, such as promotional credits and overdelivery credits, may also be labelled 'Adjustment'.)

- Any advertiser or publisher participating in invalid click activity or any related offence will be prevented from maintaining an account with Google, and is subject to legal prosecution.

OTHER SOURCES OF CLICKS

If you notice click activity that does not fit your usual patterns, please keep in mind the following possible explanations:

- Individual users may legitimately click on your ad more than one time when comparison shopping or returning to your site for more information.

- Multiple clicks from a single source may be due to an Internet provider assigning identical IP addresses to multiple users.

- You may see an increase in traffic if your ads have recently been approved to run on search and content sites and products in the Google Network, if you recently opted in to the Google Network, or if new sites for which your ads are relevant join our content network.

- Click traffic may vary due to seasonal interests or current events. For example, fluctuations due to seasonal promotions or special sales are common, and keywords popular at particular times of the year will also experience a higher click volume regardless of whether you have made proactive seasonal changes to your account content.

These scenarios all represent legitimate users accessing your advertisement in expected ways.