The 4 Stages of AdWords Advertisers

There's a lot more to AdWords than first meets the eye.  Some advertisers progress and understand it's power.  Others get stuck and never turn a profit.

Let's take a look at the different stages advertisers go through from when they first get started to if they become more advanced:

Stage # 1: Just setting-it and forgetting-it.

When you first hear about AdWords, it sounds like a piece of cake.  You just input your ads, your keywords, and you're good to go.

You pay little attention to your results.  After all, why wouldn't anyone be interested in your ads?

That is, until you're woken-up by tons of clicks with little or nothing to show for it... just a massive bill you weren't expecting.

Unfortunately, many advertisers stop in this stage.  They either continue to spend without any accountability or they give-up for good.

Others, however, progress to...

Stage # 2:  Starting to seek-out expertise.  

This might mean hiring an expert to do it for you or reading free information here and there.

Moving to this stage is great.  However, too often the expertise you find isn't really coming from an expert.

It may be from Google itself who often fails to give specifics or it's from a manager who is more interested in taking your money than getting you results.

As a result, you still fail to get the results you hoped.  Though, you may make substantial improvements over stage one.  At least, you're getting some type of ROI... even if you're still in the red.

Stage # 3:  Investing in quality information or tools.

Finally, you begin to look for true experts.  Profit-draining leaks that once seemed insignificant now cause you alarm.  You see all of the profits you're missing-out on.

You are no longer satisfied by rehashed garbage information or managers who don't know their stuff.  You become focused on becoming a force to be reckoned with in your AdWords market.

From here, you soon enter...

Stage # 4: Putting knowledge into action and testing aggressively.  

In this stage, you don't just look at optimizing AdWords, but all of your marketing.  You're not afraid to fail in order to find-out what works.  You test your landing page, your offer, and everything you can think of to get more from your traffic.

As a result, you quickly rise to the top of market and crush the competition.

New Content Network Competition

Google announced recently here that they are going to allow other approved ad networks to compete for space on their ad network. 

This in turn should bring new competition for AdWords content network advertisers.

This story highlights the opportunity still available for AdWords advertisers.  The amount of competition is limited and there is a lot of ad space you can easily take.

And, even with the new competition, you can still profit by doing it the right way.

Here are a few tips to profit from the content network:

• Separate your search and content campaigns (create two campaigns),
• Consider using placement targeting (where you select the sites your ads appear on),  
• Create image ads (this is where the majority of the opportunity is to get profitable traffic),
• Focus on attracting the person who is most likely to buy (your target customer, not just everybody) with your ads. 
• Work on optimizing your landing pages to convert visitors in loyal followers.  

The content network is different from search in that folks may be in the middle of reading their favorite websites and not actively searching for information.  You've got to work harder in getting them in the door and keeping them there.  The same sales process that works for search may not be the most effective for content.  At the same time, the audience size you can tap into is huge and often you do it at bargain basement rates.

Dealing With The Ups and Downs of AdWords.

We've already talked a lot about the benefits of hiring a third party to manage your accounts.  You can read more starting here.

However, probably one of the biggest reasons to hire a third party has not been discussed yet... and it's simply this:  AdWords is full of ups and downs.

Sometimes everything runs smoothly.  Profits are coming-in and you're just waiting for more data to make simple adjustments to your account.

However, AdWords is also known for surprise changes.

The most well-known is that every so often they tighten their standards of what they deem to be a high-quality advertiser.  The so-called, "Google slap."

When you're affected by this, you get hit overnight.  Google usually doesn't give much warning.  They simply lower your quality scores and jack-up your bid if you want to still get shown.

Then, when you contact them for a straight answer, it's hard to get.  Their support documentation often lacks specific details.

This then can leave you stuck to figure it all out on your own.  You might have to do a lot of testing to figure-out exactly what's going on and why you've been effected.

And, if you don't get excited by dealing with details, then this isn't a lot of fun.

On the other hand, if you had an expert manager, then he or she can guide you.  He or she likely manages many other campaigns and can pin-point exactly what's going on with minimum tweaks.

In addition to the occasional possible "Google slap," a manager helps with the day-to-day challenges of boosting your ROI.

For instance, if you're struggling with getting targeted traffic, converting the content network, boosting your clickthrough-rates, and so on, the guidance of an experienced manager can be very helpful.  

AdWords Optimization Service For Small To Mid-Size Business Owners

In the past, we've talked about what an AdWords manager can do for you here and what seperates a good one from a bad one here.  

Well, recently, the doors to a management service for small to mid-size business owners has opened. It's called, "Total AdWords Domination."

If you've been thinking about hiring a manager or you're ready to take your campaign to the next level, then this service is for you.  You get much more than just a manager, but an online optimization partner to grow your business.

Plus, it's more than affordable if you spend (or plan on spending) around $1,000 a month on your campaigns.  The monthly fee is currently 50% less than the minimum of what's normally charged.

Go-ahead and get the details now at: http://www.TotalAdWordsDomination.com.  

You don't have to pay anything upfront.  You get a free 30 minute consultation to make sure this is right for you and we're a good fit. Go-ahead and secure a spot now.  Space is limited.

Ideas To Test In Your AdWords Ads

If you want improve your campaigns performance, it's important you split test your ads.  This means running at least two ads at once.

You want to run more than one ad for two reasons:

1.  It takes into account changes in traffic quality.  If you only have one ad running at a time, then you have no idea if another ad did better or worse because of changes in traffic quality.  One reason quality may vary is because a certain keyword drives more of your traffic than before.  There also might be seasonal changes.

2.  It takes time for editors to approve ads and for Google to gain trust in an ad.  If you delete your only ad, then you may wait days for your ads to run on the search or content network.

Of course, you may already be familiar with split testing.  But, you don't do it as much as you should because you're not sure what you should test.

This is why in this post, we'll give you some quick ideas to test in your ads:

• Formatting.  A common formatting test is upper versus lower-case first letters of each word.

• Short versus long ads.  You might use all of the ad space and run it against an ad that only has two to five words in the ad description. 

• Different action verbs.  You might test, "Rocket your results" versus "Explode your results."

• Location information.  You might say, "Covering New York City" or let searchers know specifically in your ad that you serve their area.  

• Shipping information.  You might emphasize that your shipping is fast, free, or low-cost. 

• Pricing information.  You might test including the price of your product in your ad, even in your headline.  Two reasons for testing this might be to qualify searchers.  Those that click on your ad know it's a paid service.  You may help eliminate those who can't afford it.  You also might want to do this because your price is much cheaper than competitors.

• Including keywords in your ads.    You might experiment with the amount of times you include the keyword in your ad.  For instance, you might have it just once or three times.

• Punctuation.   You might test with and without commas or periods.

• Adjectives.  There are times when it's important to describe what you're offering and how it differs from the rest.  Test different ways to describe your product or service.  For instance, you may have a web hosting service and you call it "Cheap web hosting."  You might test that against "Bargain web hosting."  

• Display URLs.   You might test "YourDomain.com versus "www.YourDomain.com" or you might test "YourDomain.com" versus "YourDomain.com/Keword"

• Questions versus statements.  For instance, you might test "Are you fed-up with dieting?" versus "Kiss Diets Good-Bye Forever."

• Features versus benefits.  You might advertise a web hosting service by saying, "50 GB storage, 5 GB bandwidth, only $5 a month," which tells all of the features of your service.  Or, you might advertise it by saying, "Save hundreds a year with everything you need for only $5 a month."  In this example, you emphasize that the consumer saves money, which is a benefit.

A great place to start testing might be with headlines, as this is the largest and top part of your ad.  Another strategy is to see how you can tie-in your ad with your landing page.  For instance, you may offer a free trial on your landing page.  So, your ad would emphasize this fact.  Guide the expectations of searchers at the beginning.

What Ad Position Gives You The Best Conversion Rates?

Google just announced an interesting bit of data here.  According to their Chief Economist, on average, there is little variance in conversion rates between the best and worst performing ad positions.  

The article says, "For example, for pages where 11 ads are shown the conversion rate varies by less than 5% across positions. In other words, an ad that had a 1.0% conversion rate in the best position, would have about a 0.95% conversion rate in the worst position, on average."

This information is valuable to you because it tells you that having a top position to get higher conversion rates may not be worth the extra cost-per-click.  At the same time, it's still worth considering because every market is different.  You might be in a market where it does matter more.

Key Terms For AdWords Beginners

If you're just getting started with AdWords, then there is a lot of industry jargon that can be very confusing.

However, to understand all of the training material there is about AdWords and create a successful account, it's important you know what everything means.  

So, in this post, we're going to be talking about key terms you should know.  

Let's dig-in:

• Search Network -- Google AdWords doesn't just allow you to advertise on Google.com.  But, they also have partnerships with other search engines, such AOL.com and ASK.com.  You can choose to get your ads on partner sites or only on Google.

• Content Network -- Google also has another network that reaches across the Internet.  You can place your ads on thousands of targeted sites that show Google ads.  Google pays these site owners a small cut of revenue from each click generated on their sites.

• Campaign -- You can think of this as the "Top" level of your account.  Inside each account, you may have at least 2 campaigns.  You would have one for your search advertising and one for advertising on the content network.  You also may add new campaigns to promote different websites.

• Ad Group -- Under each campaign are ad groups.  The minimum number of ad groups you can have is one.  More likely, you want an ad group for each of your main keywords.  Why?  Each ad group allows you to create custom ads.  This means you can have new ads customized for each of your keywords.

• Keywords -- Under each Ad Group are your keywords.  These are the search queries you want your ads to show-up for.  Google provides a free tool located here to help you brainstorm keywords.  

• Clickthrough-rate -- This is often referred to as CTR.   It simply tells you how many folks who searched your keywords ended-up clicking on your ad.  So, if 1 out of 100 searched and clicked on your ad, then your CTR is 1%.  Clickthrough-rate is VERY important because the ads with higher-clickthrough-rates will rise to the top of the rankings for less per click than the other ads. 

• Split testing -- This refers to testing your ads to find-out which one is the most effective.  You want to have at least two ads being "Split tested" at a time in each ad group.  Over time, you find-out which ad is the most effective.  You can then delete the less effective ad, keep what works about the winning ad, but add something different you want to test in your new ad.  

• Landing page -- This is the web page each ad goes to.  It's important to work on improving this page over time for optimal results. 

• Conversion rates -- This is simply the amount of people who either fill-out a web form, buy your product, or take some type of action.  If 1 person out of 100 fills-out your web form, then your conversion rate is 1%.  Google automatically calculates this number for each of your keywords if you have installed their conversion tracking code.  You then can determine what keywords make you money and which ones are a waste.

• Relevance -- Google wants you to create ads and landing pages that are relevant to each keyword.  This simply means Google wants searchers to see your ads and landing pages and say, "This is exactly what I have been looking for!"  The simplest way to do this is to include their keywords in your ads and landing pages.

• Geotargeting -- Google allows you to tell them what locations in the world you want to be able to find your ads.  For instance, you may decide you only want searchers in New York City to be able to see your ads.  

Alright, we've now covered the most important terms.  Understanding them is a great start and will help you in your journey to creating effective AdWords campaigns.

AdWords Bidding Strategies

Whenever you start a new campaign, a big question you might wonder is how much you should pay per click.  

If you bid too low, then you don't get enough traffic.  And, if you bid too aggressively, then you might not get a high enough ROI.

The answer to what you should bid is it depends on your product and goals.

Here are some different sample scenarios:

*  You're just doing some testing.  In this case, you may want to test your offer and you're just using AdWords to drive quick traffic.  If this is the case, then you don't care as much about ROI.  But, what you do care about is getting the most targeted traffic.  As a result, you may bid agressively on your top keywords and possibly ignore less targeted ones.

*  The money is in the backend.  If you have a cheap front-end offer, then your goal might be to get as much traffic as possible coming-in the door.  If this is the case, then you may be willing to take a loss on the front-end product or service by bidding aggressively on a wide-range of keywords.

* Your main profit generator is the product being offered.  If this is the case, then you may limit the number of keywords you're bidding on and focus on optimizing them.

To be precise about how much you should bid, then you must know your conversion rates.  What percentage of traffic turns into buyers?  Get a basic idea of this by setting-up Google Analytics and using their "Goals" feature.  This gives you a ball-park of how much you can afford to spend.

As you go along, make sure Google conversion tracking is installed.  Then, adjust your bid prices based on the data that comes-in.  You can afford to bid more and drive more traffic from those keywords that perform the best.

Simply put, it's a numbers game.  The more you bid, the more traffic you get.  However, increased traffic isn't always quality.  Don't be afraid to test which keywords make you money and which ones don't.  You should also consider increasing your content network bids before bids on certain untargeted keywords.

New Developments In The On-Going Search Battle

Google recently announced here a new version of the search engine called, "Caffeine" that they are currently testing and opening for public feedback at: http://www2.sandbox.google.com/.  The new version's main advantage is speed and other "under-the-hood" tweaks.  

This new development is significant because it's being released so soon after the Bing-Yahoo news discussed here.  Google seems to be focusing on increased speed to stay-at-the top and differentiate their service from the rest.

You can read more about these recent developments at:

• Overview of the new changes at Google: http://www.pcworld.com/article/169989/google_caffeinates_its_search_engine.html
• Test results of the differences between Google and their new project:  http://www.betanews.com/article/Googles-next-search-engine-Whats-the-difference/1250012846

How Much Copy Should You Use In Your Landing Page?

A common question about creating a high-converting landing page is in regards to how much copy you should use.  

To answer this question, first consider what your prospects are thinking when they hit your landing page and start from there.  How much do you need to say?  You can then follow the AIDA formula we discussed in-depth over here to guide your prospects. 

You first capture attention, build interest, grow desire, and call for action. 

An example of where you might only need 1-word of copy is if you're looking to buy toothpaste at the grocery store.  It's possible that the desire for a certain brand is already there.  You were pre-sold when you hit the toothpaste aisle.  One word (the product's name) might be enough.

Online, sometimes the prospect will come "Pre-sold" to a landing page and all you need might be an order button.

However, imagine you sell your own brand of toothpaste. You advertise it on the term in Google, "Buy Organic Toothpaste."

Visitors then click on to your website.  Their mindset is a lot different than those shopping in the grocery isle.  They're far from "Pre-sold."  They may have a lot of questions, such as:

• Why do I need your product?
• Why should I wait for it to be shipped rather than buying in a store?
• Why should I pay more for your product? 
• Is it still effective (I don't trust natural products)?
• And so on. 

Even for this very simple product, people already know they need, there's a lot more that can be said to boost conversion rates.  One-word doesn't cut-it.

Now, just imagine if you're selling a complicated product people may not even know they have need for, such as software to get better results on AdWords or an AdWords management service.  A lot more copy is needed.

The customer wonders whether, "It's just another tool?," "Is it worth the investment," "Do I really need it to get results?" and so on.

Simply put, don't be afraid of using long copy... only long-winded copy.  Aim to say what needs to be said to move to the next step and nothing more.  When in doubt, you can test-it with Google website optimizer.