Basic Online Marketing With AdWords

Whether you live in Longmont, Colorado or not, online marketing is essential to getting people to your business. And, one of the best platforms for online marketing is AdWords. So, if you’re not too familiar with the AdWords interfaces, then here is a super-quick basic overview.

The AdWords account is structured with campaigns at the top. Under campaigns, you will find ad groups which allow you to group similar keywords in order to show relevant ads. The keywords are the heart and foundation of your search engine marketing strategy. So it goes: campaigns > ad groups > keywords

Keywords

Keywords are the word that you bid on in the online auction. These are the words that trigger the ad to show up when a user types a search query into the browser. The best keywords are ones that will result in receiving your desired action when clicked. If you sell copper pans, a good keyword would be “buy copper pans.”

Ad Groups

Ad groups help you organize similar keywords in groupings so that you can deliver the most relevant ad. You will organize both your keywords and the ads that you want the keywords to trigger in your ad group. For instance, if you sell HVAC heating and air conditioning services, you would want separate ad groups for heating and air conditioning.

Ads

Ads are what your potential customers see when your ad is triggered to show in the online auction. Aside from ad extensions; you have a headline, description, and URL. It is a best practice to be as relevant as possible, showcase your unique selling proposition, (why buy from you over your competitor) and display a proper call to action (the action you want them to take).

Online Auction

Different advertisers will bid on the keywords in the online auction to see what position the ads will show if at all. The positions are based on ad rank. The ad with the highest ad rank receives the top spot. Ad rank is the combination of many factors, the most important of which are: bid amount – quality score – and expected clickthrough rate (how likely AdWords thinks someone will click on your ad).

Quality Score

This is the score that AdWords give your keyword based on how relevant they think your keyword is to the ad and landing page. A high-quality score means you don’t have to pay as much to get a higher ad rank. So if one advertiser has a bid $2 and a quality score of 5 and another has a bid of $1 and a quality score of 7, the second advertiser will win the auction.

Ad Extensions

Ad extensions allow you to add additional helpful information to extend your ad on the page. These are very helpful to the user, but it also increases your expected click-through-rate (which gives you a higher ad rank in the auction). There are many extensions, and it is a best practice to use as many as are applicable to your business.