Google AdWords can seem complicated, especially for first time users, but when your AdWords account is set up properly paid search advertising can be one of your most successful and cost-effective marketing strategies.
There are a handful of steps that go into setting up AdWords, and they all need to be completed to accomplish these four main tasks:
- Choosing the right campaign settings
With your marketing goals in mind, you should create an AdWords campaign for each goal or product category. You’ll choose a campaign type, select the geographic locations you want your ads to show in, set your bid and budget, chose a bid strategy, and set a daily budget.
- Creating ads
To create ads, you will need to first create ad groups where you write the text for your ads and choose keywords. You’ll want to ensure you organize your campaigns and ad groups to more easily target the people you are looking for before you write your ads. Use ad extensions to include more information in your ads such as phone number and clickable links. Then you will choose which one of your landing pages best matches your ad.
- Picking effective keywords
Pick keywords and phrases people use when using search engines to look for products and services like yours. When their search terms match your keywords and ad text, your ad could show on their search results page. You’ll also want to identify keywords you do not want to trigger your ad. AdWords provides a keyword planner to get ideas and search engine traffic forecasts.
- Ensuring ads are showing
Part of setting up your AdWords account is billing setup, and most advertisers are charged after they accrue advertising costs. Google will charge you 30 days after last automatic charge or when new charges reach a preset amount (billing threshold). With that set, you can preview your ad with the Ad Preview and Diagnosis tool.