A client recently asked me what I knew about running AdWords. As you know, I ran the AdWords campaign for Wellness.com in 2008. We ran a lot of tests, spent a lot of money, and learned a lot about AdWords. One of the first things we learned is that AdWords CAN be a great way to get exposure for your business. We also learned that it can also be a great way to go broke unless you're vigilant and willing to learn.
- Locations: When Google suggests that you target your ad to a specific area, I strongly suggest DO NOT use this tool at all. Google's "geo-locator" is notoriously inaccurate and often shows ads to people in the wrong areas and doesn't show ads to people in the right areas. The reason is that Google's geo-locator is based on where your internet service provider is sending your signal. You could be in San Diego, but your ISP could be sending your signal through Los Angeles. Therefore, Google will think you live in Los Angeles and show you ads for Los Angeles instead of San Diego ads.
Suggestion: Use keyword phrases that include a city name. For example, instead of running "hot yoga" and relying on Google to show it to the right people, use "hot yoga san diego". If someone doesn't live in San Diego, why would they add that city to their search? At Wellness.com we discovered that people looking for local businesses almost always add a city name to their search. - Keywords: Keyword phrases that have 1 or 2 words are generally people that are "researching". People who are researching are rarely ready to buy. Therefore, you're paying for someone to do research.
Suggestion: By including the city name, you're also taking care of this issue. People who include a city name in their searches are usually looking for a local service to buy from. Local people who are ready to buy, just add the city they want to buy in. - Match Type: Google usually encourages people to run they keywords on a "Broad" match, because that makes Google the most money. However, that means that if you want to advertise for the phrase "yoga studio" and a person searches for "yoga studios that are a scam", you come up for that search. Not only is that person NOT buying, but you're actually paying for a negative impression.
Suggestion: Always run "Exact" match, and even use a few negative (words you don't want to come up for). This will ensure you will reach the audience you want to reach. You will never have to guess where your traffic is coming from, and you can make fact-based decisions based on scientific data. - Avg. Pos.: The best place to be is number 1. Reason being, visitors who click on the top spot tend to buy more often than visitors who click on other spots. Strangely enough, the position that visitors tend to click on is usually a direct indication of how ready they are to buy and how much they're willing to spend. Visitors who click on the bottom ad usually don't buy and if they do, they tend to be "cheap". Bidding low often turns out to be a money losing game.
Suggestion: Use the Keyword Tool to find out what it will take to be number 1 for the keyword you've chosen and make that bid. The number you bid is your maximum, and you rarely pay that actual dollar amount. - The Keyword Tool: This is probably the single most important marketing tool ever invented. USE IT! USE IT OFTEN!
Suggestion: Before adding a keyword phrase to a campaign, use the keyword tool to see how if that keyword is worth using. If your keyword has so few searches that there is no data available, drop it. That keyword is only going to clutter up your campaign. It's much easier to track 10 keyword phrases than 100.
AdWords can be a great way to grow your business, just follow it closely and keep an open mind to what works and what doesn't work.
Cheers,
Chris
