AdWords is a complex platform to navigate, especially for the business owner new to pay-per-click advertising. With campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, reports, testing, and the list goes on, understanding Google AdWords is no small feat. As a business owner with unlimited responsibilities on your plate, you don’t have the time to immerse yourself in Google’s resource library, and understand all the tools’ features. No worries. We’ve put together this two-part series with some tips to ensure that you see the best return on your AdWords investment. Here are our first 3 strategies to maximize your AdWords ROI:
1. Start with a solid foundation.
The first step toward a profitable AdWords account is to build a structure that makes sense to both your business and the search engine user (aka searcher). A great way to structure your account is to model your campaigns after the navigation tabs on your website. For example, let’s say you own a golf pro shop and your website navigation tabs include clubs, shoes, balls, bags and training. These 5 categories make excellent AdWords campaigns because they align with your business offerings and match queries a searcher looking for golf equipment would enter into a search engine.
This works best when your website navigational tabs are set-up in an organized and logical fashion. If this isn’t the case, another way to structure your AdWords account is to create campaigns for each product or service that your business offers. This way, you can create unique ads for each product or service that would make sense to someone interested in what your business has to offer.
2. Get the most out the AdWords Keyword Planner tool.
Google’s Keyword Planner Tool is an AdWords feature that helps you find ideas for new ad groups and keywords, combine keyword lists for long-tail keyword ideas, discover the optimal cost-per-click bids for each new keyword, and get an idea of the traffic volume to expect for each.
For a business owner new to AdWords or the seasoned advertiser looking for ways to maximize keyword profitability, the Keyword Planner tool is invaluable. Here are a few tips we suggest to use the Keyword Planner tool effectively:
- Don’t be afraid to experiment with keywords. You may think you know what your customers are searching for, but be sure to test your assumptions. A keyword that you deem less valuable than others could actually perform better than you think.
- Embrace long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords are those that have more than the standard 1-2 words, and better identify what the searcher is looking for. While these keywords have a lower search-volume, they provide an idea of a searcher’s place in the buying cycle and signal those customers most likely to convert.
- Leverage the data. The Keyword Planner tool has plenty of data to offer the business owner. Your business goals will dictate which data is most important to you. Use the data to inform your decisions about which keywords to add and what bid to assign each.
3. Follow a broad-to-narrow approach when selecting a match type.
It’s challenging to select a match type for your keywords in a brand new AdWords account. You don’t have access to performance history for similar keywords using different match types. This is where best practices come in handy. Google recommends that you start out with broad match keywords to capture all potential traffic. Then, once you’ve accumulated some data from your campaigns and search terms report, refine your match types to avoid irrelevant traffic and achieve your desired results.
Armed with these three strategies, you’re off to an excellent start to maximize your business’s investment in AdWords. Keep an eye out for part two of the series, where we’ll share a few more key strategies to make the most of your AdWords budget.