Google Adwords has been around for a while and it has proven to be one of the most successful channels for directing traffic for many individuals and businesses.

Here is a short list of tips to think about when optimizing or creating your Google Adwords campaign:

Separate Campaigns and Ad Groups:   If you have multiple products or service offerings, make sure that you create separate campaigns and ad groups for each of these offerings.  This will not only make it easier for you to manage, but also help you track which product or service offering is most successful for you and allow you to shift dollars from one product or service campaign to another when needed.

Google Insights and Keyword Research Tools:  Google Insights has been around for quite a while.  It is a great tool for find those hot trending keywords that people are searching for in the Google Search Engine.  Utilize this tool along with the Keyword tool available in Google Adwords for optimal keyword selection. Other third-party keyword research tools are also available to help in your keyword selection.

Custom Landing Page / Content Revision:  Quality Score plays a major role in ad expense in Google Adwords. Understanding how it works and improving it can help greatly reduce your costs.  The main part of the QS is based on the relevance the keyword has to the page that the ad in your ad group is sending the user to.  So, creating a custom landing is very beneficial as the more relevant your landing page is to the keywords in that ad group, the higher your Quality Score will be.  If creating a custom landing page is too much, you can always revise your current web site content to make sure it is more relevant to your ad copy.

Keyword Match Type:  Less use of broad match keyword phrases and more use of phrase and exact match keywords will help ensure more targeted and qualified traffic to your web site.

Test the Message:  In addition to choosing the appropriate keywords for each of your campaigns and ad groups.  It is equally important to create ad copy that people respond to.  As people respond differently, it is advised that multiple ad copy is used for each campaign and ad group to test the message and see which converts the most traffic. In campaign settings, it is advised to turn the Ad Rotation setting to “Rotate: Show ads more evenly”.

Use Dynamic Titles and Ad Text:  The phrase that people use in their search will come up as the title of your ad. This will help save time of not having to create an individual ad for each keyword and means that your ad will be more targeted. In the title field of your ad simply put {keyword:your default title here}. The default title is in case the search phrase is too long for the title field or if Adwords can’t display the search for some other reason.  You can also use this in your description portion of your ad just use the same tag as shown above.

Metrics Reporting:  Make sure you have metrics reporting available to help measure ROI and other success criteria.  The worst thing that can happen is not being able to track your return on investment or other conversion criteria that is important to you.  So make sure that all tracking codes are in place and your metrics reporting system is able to successfully measure and track your data.  You can also utilize the Conversion Metrics tool offered by Google Adwords as well as link your account with Google Analytics.

Improving Click-Thru-Ratio:  In addition to testing the message, increasing your maximum CPC bids for those keywords with low average positioning can help improve click-thru-ratio. The improvement in positioning can lead to the higher likelihood of better conversion.

Geo-Targeting:  One of the best things about Google Adwords is that you can target your ads to be viewed by people from certain geographical locations or regions.  Geo-targeting will ensure that the most targeted and qualified traffic is directed to your web site. This is especially helpful if you are wanting to market to a select geographical interest.

Competition:   Last of all, keep an eye on your competition.  Find their weaknesses and make them your strengths.

Are you in need of specific tips or strategies for optimizing your Google Adwords campaign?  Please let us know by commenting below.

Ankush Agarwal
Senior Search Marketing Analyst
MarketNet, Inc.

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