Insider's Guide to Google AdWords
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This document provides an overview of Google AdWords, including: 1. It explains the basic structure of an AdWords account including accounts, campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. 2. It describes how to navigate an AdWords account using the tabs for campaign management, reports, analytics, and billing. 3. It provides tips for organizing an AdWords account effectively including sticking to one goal per campaign and grouping similar keywords together in ad groups.
![Section 3 | Keywords Keywords | Section 3
Broad match is the default setting for all keywords. This term means Scrub
that all searches using that word (in any order or combination) will After creating, expanding, and targeting your keyword list, it’s time to
display your ad. For example, coffee beans will show your ad for all refine (‘scrub’) it. Start by cutting all the keywords that aren’t relevant to
searches with the words coffee and beans. This could, but won’t your business from your list. Two- to three-word phrases are usually best.
necessarily, include searches for coffee made from green beans and Remember to avoid generic keywords, which can result in less-relevant ads.
beans for espresso coffee.
Group
Phrase match narrows your reach by requiring the words to appear in As we mentioned before, you should organize keywords into similar
that exact order. So “coffee beans” (entered with quotation marks) themes, products, or types so you can write ads targeted to each group.
shows your ad for searches with coffee and beans in that order, as in Remember to structure your account in a way that makes sense and is easy
chocolate-covered coffee beans. Your ad won’t appear, however, for to track. For example, place keywords relating to whole-bean coffee in one
searches with any words between coffee and beans. Ad Group. Group keywords relating to ground coffee in another Ad Group.
Exact match further narrows your reach by showing your ad when the
exact phrase is used in the search – without any other words before, Test and Refine
between, or after. So [coffee beans] (with brackets) shows your ad for Search advertising is dynamic – advertisers are constantly revising their
searches with just the words coffee beans, not coffee green beans or ad campaigns and searchers are constantly searching for different things.
shade-grown coffee beans. To keep up with this ever-changing environment, you should continue to
test and refine your keywords. Build on keywords that work, and delete
Negative match eliminates searched phrases you don’t want your ad to others that don’t. Track your results using your performance stats in your
appear on, such as cheap or free. To choose the negative match option, account (such as clickthrough rate and our conversion tracking tools -
you enter the negative keywords with a minus sign, such as -free. This see section 5). Flip to the next section to learn how to write targeted ads.
option prevents your ad from showing to people searching for free coffee
(something we’d all love to find).](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/insidersguidetoadwords-100930013957-phpapp02/85/Insider-s-Guide-to-Google-AdWords-10-320.jpg)
Insider's Guide to Google AdWords
- 1. Insider’s Guide to AdWords
- 2. What’s Inside Section 1 Using this guide Section 2 AdWords basics • How it works • Account structure • Account navigation • How to organize your account Section 3 Keywords • Creating effective keywords Section 4 Ads • Writing relevant ads • Targeting ads • Getting ads closer to the top Section 5 Tracking results • Online results • Offline results Section 6 Troubleshooting • Making sense of your bills • Reasons for ad unseen Section 7 Additional help • Getting online help • Glossary
- 3. Using this guide | Section 1 Have you ever read one of those books that let you pick different ways to get to the ending? Well, think of this “Insider’s Guide to AdWords” the same way. You can take the traditional route and read it straight through. Or you can skip between sections, using the section headings, the table of contents, and the glossary as your guide. Section 1 Whichever way you choose, you can’t go wrong. Both paths lead to How do I use this guide? the same objective – a stronger command of AdWords and targeted customers for your business. One thing to remember: This is a constant learning process, especial- ly in the beginning. We suggest you log in to your AdWords account while perusing this guide. Turn some of the examples you read into practical applications of your own. Everything takes practice, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Ready to get started? Flip to section 2.
- 4. AdWords Basics | Section 2 How do these little ads actually work? When a user enters a search query on Google.com, Google scans keywords on each webpage in its index to see if that page matches the user’s query. Google then displays the webpages that most relate to the word or phrase entered in the query. Google also displays ads in response to search queries. But with ads, Google scans the keywords that you’ve chosen to represent your busi- Section 2 ness. When a user searches for keywords you’ve selected for your ads, AdWords Basics your ads can appear next to the search results. Ads on Google search results pages are available on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. This means that you’re charged only when somebody clicks on your ad and visits your website. Google also offers pricing on a cost-per-1000 impressions (CPM) basis for site-targeted cam- paigns. Learn more about other pricing options here: http://www.google.com/adwords/pricing.
- 5. Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2 How is my account structured? Account At the account level, you set your email address (such as yourname@ While it might seem a little daunting at first, your AdWords account is gmail.com), password (make it tough to guess), billing information, organized so that you can run one ad on a few keywords, or hundreds and user preferences. These settings remain the same for everything of ads on thousands of keywords for tons of products1. in your AdWords account. Campaigns Under the account level, you have one or more different campaigns. Accounts For each campaign, you set your daily budget, language and geographic targeting, the types of sites you want to advertise on, and start and end dates. You can organize your campaigns in any way you wish. Some of the more effective ways include by geography (New York, Chicago, and London), language (English, Spanish, German), and distribution prefer- Campaign Campaign ence (search engines only, content sites only, or both search and content). Don’t worry – we’ll explain all these options later in the section. Ad Groups In each campaign, you can have a number of Ad Groups. At the Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group level, you write your ads, pick your keywords (coffee beans, fair-trade coffee, coffee drinks), and determine the cost per click you want to pay. 1 Keep reading, and we’ll start explaining all of this in more detail. Well, to be exact, you can have up to 2,000 keywords per Ad Group, up to 2,000 Ad Groups per campaign, and up to 25 campaigns per account.
- 6. Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2 How do I navigate my account? My Account tab Use this tab to control all your personal information, such as your Your AdWords account is organized into different compartments login information and user preferences. You’ll also find all your billing called ‘tabs.’ information here. Campaign Management tab Billing Summary page This tab is where you control all your costs, as well as your account, The Billing Summary page will show only the high-level items, such campaign, Ad Group, and keyword activity. The top level shows your as charges, credits, and end-of-month balances. For each month, you performance data for different campaigns. Clicking on a campaign can see how frequently you were charged, and for how much. To see shows Ad Group performance information, while clicking on an Ad your overall charges in more detail – such as itemized charges - click on Group shows keyword performance information. the link for Advertising costs for a complete invoice (see section 6). Reports tab This tab allows you to create customized and detailed reports by keyword, ad text, account, and other variables. Experiment by running different reports. We’ll store up to five reports at once in your Download Center. Or you can have them automatically emailed to you. Analytics tab This tab provides you with advanced tools to track your campaign results and other data. We’ll cover this more later (see section 5). For more information about your how to navigate your account, visit https://adwords.google.com/select/navigation.html.
- 7. Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2 What’s the best way to organize my account? Step 2: Make Ad Groups out of your keywords. Google gives you a basic structure to work within. From here, it’s Just like your campaigns, your Ad Groups should be organized by essentially up to you to organize your own campaigns, Ad Groups, common theme or product. Think about which keywords you want and keywords in a way that makes the most sense. With a logical to use. Then group similar keywords together. You should be able to organization, you can determine what works and what doesn’t. come up with at least three groups per campaign. Finally, make a Organization is a key component to starting off strong. distinct Ad Group for each group of keywords. Step 1: Stick to one goal per campaign. For example, if your goal for one campaign is to sell coffee beans, keyword groupings for each Ad Group might be: Every account starts with a single campaign. (If you haven’t set up a campaign yet, visit https://adwords.google.com/select/steps.html to Gourmet Shade-grown and French roast learn how.) Structure each campaign based on a simple, overarching coffee beans organic coffee beans goal. Ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve with this campaign?” Keywords: Keywords: Keywords: Your answer might be to sell more coffee beans or gift baskets, for • Specialty coffee • Organic • Decaf French example. • Full-flavored coffee beans roast coffee coffee beans • Shade-grown coffee • French coffee beans We suggest you separate campaigns by theme or product line (such • Gourmet coffee • Shade-grown • French coffee as coffee beans, coffee gifts, teas). Or use the same structure for • Gourmet coffee coffee beans • Decaf French coffee your campaigns as you do for your website. If your website is already beans • Organic coffee • French roast grouped into categories, your job is almost done. Map your structure • Natural coffee on paper first. This step produces an easy-to-use template.
- 8. Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2 DO… • Create multiple Ad Groups per campaign Step 3: Review, test, and refine. • Group campaigns and Ad Groups by theme, price, geography, Take a look at one campaign at a time. Are your keywords logically or product line grouped into Ad Groups? Does the campaign help you achieve a goal? • Make it easy to maintain Does your budget match your goals? If you have a low budget, scale • Continue refining your keywords and ad text down the number of keywords. DON’T… Remember to check your progress and continually refine your key- • Create just one Ad Group and one big keyword list words and your ad text in your account. This step is where the rest • Mismatch keywords in the same Ad Group of the book will pay off big time. Keep reading to learn how to create • Run dozens and dozens of keywords for a low budget effective keywords. • Stop checking your stats
- 9. Keywords | Section 3 How to select the most effective keywords Selecting keywords might be one of the most important parts of creating a successful campaign. The trick to picking the best keywords is to use this five-step process: expand, match, scrub, group, and refine. Expand Your first step is to come up with as many relevant keywords as possible. Go to the Keyword Tool (http://www.google.com/adwords/keywordtool) and try entering a few words to see what happens. For example, you could Section 3 enter gourmet coffee, French roast , and coffee beans. Better still, enter Keywords keywords relevant to your own business. You can even generate additional keyword ideas simply by entering the URL of any webpage that reflects your business. Don’t worry about capitalization – our system is not case-sensi- tive. Sort the results so you can work with them. Many advertisers put them into a spreadsheet. Match Now it’s time to choose your keywords match type: broad match, phrase match, exact match, and negative match.
- 10. Section 3 | Keywords Keywords | Section 3 Broad match is the default setting for all keywords. This term means Scrub that all searches using that word (in any order or combination) will After creating, expanding, and targeting your keyword list, it’s time to display your ad. For example, coffee beans will show your ad for all refine (‘scrub’) it. Start by cutting all the keywords that aren’t relevant to searches with the words coffee and beans. This could, but won’t your business from your list. Two- to three-word phrases are usually best. necessarily, include searches for coffee made from green beans and Remember to avoid generic keywords, which can result in less-relevant ads. beans for espresso coffee. Group Phrase match narrows your reach by requiring the words to appear in As we mentioned before, you should organize keywords into similar that exact order. So “coffee beans” (entered with quotation marks) themes, products, or types so you can write ads targeted to each group. shows your ad for searches with coffee and beans in that order, as in Remember to structure your account in a way that makes sense and is easy chocolate-covered coffee beans. Your ad won’t appear, however, for to track. For example, place keywords relating to whole-bean coffee in one searches with any words between coffee and beans. Ad Group. Group keywords relating to ground coffee in another Ad Group. Exact match further narrows your reach by showing your ad when the exact phrase is used in the search – without any other words before, Test and Refine between, or after. So [coffee beans] (with brackets) shows your ad for Search advertising is dynamic – advertisers are constantly revising their searches with just the words coffee beans, not coffee green beans or ad campaigns and searchers are constantly searching for different things. shade-grown coffee beans. To keep up with this ever-changing environment, you should continue to test and refine your keywords. Build on keywords that work, and delete Negative match eliminates searched phrases you don’t want your ad to others that don’t. Track your results using your performance stats in your appear on, such as cheap or free. To choose the negative match option, account (such as clickthrough rate and our conversion tracking tools - you enter the negative keywords with a minus sign, such as -free. This see section 5). Flip to the next section to learn how to write targeted ads. option prevents your ad from showing to people searching for free coffee (something we’d all love to find).
- 11. Ads | Section 4 How to write ads that will get people clicking Writing ads may well be the hardest part of AdWords to master. On the other hand, with AdWords, you’ll know what works and what doesn’t right away, because your clicks will tell you. The best way to see which ads bring you the best results is to write three or four at one time. Then check your clicks. Ads with the highest clickthrough rate (the number of clicks your ad receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown ) are top performers. Section 4 Ads Here are some tried-and-true tricks from seasoned AdWords veterans: • Include keywords in your ad headline, since that’s what people are looking for. It makes your ad seem more relevant. • Relate your ad to the content on your website users see when they click your ad so they’re more likely to purchase from you. • Get to the point – fast. Include the most relevant information about your business first. Make it concise, and encourage the user to take action.
- 12. Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4 Writing relevant ads The problem with this ad is that it doesn’t tell the reader what you have to offer or why they should care (two criteria all ads should Your ad consists of three parts: meet). Also, there’s no call to action, so people don’t know what to expect when they click through. Not to mention “luv” isn’t really a word, so we won’t approve your ad. A 25-character headline You get 2 lines of 35 characters to describe what you have to offer. Gourmet Coffee Beans www.Your-35-Character-URL.com Order fair-trade, French roast, decaf coffee beans. Free shipping. www.frothing-latte-bean.com Let’s take a look at two ads that might appear for a site called Frothing Latte Bean. This ad, on the other hand, tells people what you offer and why they should order. It also gives them a call to action (‘Order fair trade, French roast, de-caf coffee beans) which tells them what to do when Just What You Want they click through. Frothing Latte Bean has many different types of coffee you luv! Handling headlines www.frothing-latte-bean.com The best headlines are directly related to the keywords being searched. That makes your ad seem especially relevant to the searcher’s interests. And, if a word or a phrase in your ad text is identical to the keyword searched for, it will appear in bold font in your ad.
- 13. Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4 Developing descriptions Targeting your ads The description has to convey both the benefits of your product or service and the call to action. Keep everything as short and simple You’ve just created a really well-written ad. Now it’s time to target it as you can. To start, list your products (coffee beans, gourmet coffee, (by language and location) to reach the people who are most likely decaf coffee) and benefits (shipped overnight, easy to order). Then put to click on it. Targeting your ad helps eliminate unwanted clicks and it all together with a call to action, such as “Order now” or “Join now.” gets your ad to the right audience. Designating Display and Destination URLs When you first set up your AdWords campaign, you chose from vari- The Display URL (web address) that appears in your ad doesn’t have ous targeting options. You can check to see what you chose on the to be the same as your Destination URL. But it should be an actual Edit Campaign Settings page within your AdWords account. URL for your site. Choose a Destination URL that promotes the exact product or service your audience is searching for, rather than your Language targeting usual homepage. Don’t get us wrong – we’re sure your homepage You can reach people in over 40 languages . But you must write is lovely. But it’s usually most effective to direct your searchers to a your ads and keywords in the language of your choice (Google won’t landing page that they’re most interested in, as soon as you can. translate for you). If you’re targeting multiple languages, we strongly suggest setting up a new campaign for each one, although you can choose to run ads in all or any number of these languages. Location targeting You can set each campaign to target searchers at a country/territory, regional, city or customized level. If you chose regional, city, or
- 14. Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4 customized targeting, you might want to add a counterpart country or territory-targeted campaign to your account. Even if you can offer products or services only to people within a very specific geographic area, a broader campaign can help you get more qualified clicks from your prospective customers on Google and our partner sites (which we’ll explain in a couple of paragraphs). Your locally targeted campaign should have general keywords such as coffee beans or shade-grown coffee, while your country-targeted campaign should be full of location- specific keywords such as Seattle coffee or New York coffee basket. The Google advertising network In addition to placing your ads on Google, you get to decide what other kinds of websites your ads will appear on. You have two basic choices: the Google search network and the Google content network. The search network: If you choose to show your ads on the search network, your ads can appear alongside relevant search results on other search engine websites (in addition to Google.com). This list includes: • Google Local • Froogle Example of ads on the Google search network. • Ask Jeeves • AOL
- 15. Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4 The content network: If you opt in to the content network, your ads can appear alongside content (or text) that’s relevant to your keywords on any web page within the Google content network. These partner sites include: • The New York Times • About.com • MarthaStewart.com • Many smaller niche sites covering thousands of topics In many cases, only Google can offer access to the ad inventory of these sites. For example, an ad for the keywords shade-grown coffee could appear alongside an article in The New York Times about the cultivation of coffee beans, or at the top of the www.we-love-coffee.com website. While content targeting is mostly an automated process, we can also provide you with control over where your ads appear and don’t appear across content sites through Site Targeting. Site Targeting provides you with the tools to search easily through the thousands of sites in our network and select the ones on which you would like to place your ads. Example of ads on the Google content network.
- 16. Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4 For example, luxury car makers could place their ad on all of the wine How to get your ad closer to the top sites in our network because they believe that drinkers of fine wine also like to drive fine cars. Learn more about Site Targeting at The best way to get your ad closer to the top of the search results is http://adwords.google.com/select/AFC/sites.html. to be more relevant than everybody else. Relevance works like this: The more relevant your ad is to searchers on Google, the more likely The Google Network is one of the largest online advertising networks users will click it. (For example, caffeine addicts searching for coffee available, reaching more than 80 percent of Internet users2. To take will click on ads for coffee more often than ads for SUVs.) full advantage of that reach, make sure your campaigns are opted in to both the search and content networks. How we assess keyword relevance We use something called a Quality Score to assess the relevance Want more info? Try these lessons: of your keyword. The Quality Score is determined by the keyword’s clickthrough rate (CTR), relevance of your ad text, historical keyword performance, landing page quality, and other factors specific to your • Ad Distribution: account. Then, based on this Quality Score, we assign your ad a http://www.google.com/adwords/network minimum bid. This bid is the minimum amount you must pay per • Writing Targeted Ad Text: click in order to keep your ad running for the matched keyword. If http://www.google.com/adwords/adtext your keyword is not running, you can either (1) increase your key- word’s maximum cost-per-click (CPC) above the minimum bid, or (2) • Language and Location Targeting: optimize your keywords and ad text to be more relevant. http://www.google.com/adwords/targeting For more information about keyword performance, visit 2 https://adwords.google.com/select/performance.html. Unduplicated reach of Google and Partner sites, according to Google analysis of comScore Media Metrix, May 2005
- 17. Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4 Here’s a summary of different ways (which we’ve covered in previous sec-tions) to increase your ad’s relevance and improve your ad’s position: • Use two- to three-keyword phrases. • Create both locally-targeted campaigns (with general keywords, such as coffee beans) and nationally targeted campaigns (with How to improve your ad position geo-specific keywords, such as Seattle coffee beans). Technically, your ad position is determined by multiplying the • Use keyword matching options. matched keyword’s Quality Score by its maximum cost-per-click (we • Make sure your keywords relate to your product. call this formula Ad Rank). We’ll reward more relevant keywords and • Use keyword variations (such as synonyms or alternate spellings). ads by lowering the minimum cost-per-click you need to bid. The best • Use Ad Groups to organize similar keywords. way to improve your ad position without raising your cost is to have • Write clear, compelling ad text. the most relevant ad text and keywords possible. • Include keywords in your ad text and title. • Include a call to action in your ad text. • Take users to the best landing page. • Test multiple ads per Ad Group. For more information, see sections 3 and 4 on creating keywords and writing ad text. Or visit our Optimization Tips page at https://adwords.google.com/select/tips.html.
- 18. Tracking Results | Section 5 Tracking online results Measuring online results is the best way to know whether you’re spending your money wisely. If you measure your results well, you’ll be able to tell which keywords and ads bring you the most customers, which ads bring in the most business, and ultimately how much re- turn you’re getting on your AdWords investment. Then you can adjust your campaign settings based on those results. Conversion tracking Section 5 You spend money on AdWords in order to get people to do something Tracking Results – buy your product, sign up for your mailing list, join your club, or whatever. Every time someone comes from an AdWords ad to your site, and then does whatever you want them to do, it’s called a “conversion.” If you can track your conversions, you’ll have information about which campaigns, Ad Groups, and keywords work best. How AdWords conversion tracking works Whenever anyone clicks your AdWords ads, we give them a “cookie” (not a chocolate chip cookie, but a delicious electronic one), so you can see if they actually go to one of your conversion pages. Think of this cookie as an “I clicked on your ad!” sign that your website visitor
- 19. Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5 wears for 30 days after clicking on your ad. (Note that we can’t accurately track conversions from visitors who erase their cookies.) When you set up AdWords conversion tracking, we give you a little snippet of code to post on your website wherever any conversion happens. For example, you might post the code on the “Thank you” page that visitors see after placing an order on your website, or on the “Contact us” page that will drive visitors to call you up on the phone. Then, every time a visitor with your cookie visits your conversion page, your tally of conversions in your AdWords account increases by one. More info: • Visit the Conversion Tracking section of your Campaign Management page for everything you’ll need to know about AdWords conversion tracking. • See a comprehensive section in our Learning Center about AdWords conversion tracking tool analyzing your account: http://www.google.com/adwords/accounts.
- 20. Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5 Your conversion tracking options We recommend two ways to measure online results. The simplest way is through the free AdWords conversion tracking tool that we just discussed. It should take you or your webmaster just a few minutes to set up. Once it’s live, you’ll be able to tell how many of the clicks from your AdWords ads produced conversions. A more sophisticated way to measure online results is through Google Analytics, another free Google service. While Google Analytics helps you track conversions to your website, it also provides you with tools to better understand where your users come from and what they do on your site. The information you receive helps you improve your web design content, optimize your AdWords campaigns, identify visitor preferences, and track referral sources. Visit https://www.google.com/analytics for more information. Google Analytics
- 21. Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5 If you don’t ask, you’ll never know. Sometimes the most obvious solution is the best one. Simply ask your customers how they found you. There’s the traditional, direct way Tracking offline results – over the phone or in person (“So how’d you find us?”). And there are the not-so-traditional, indirect ways – through a web survey or a Even though many purchases or signups happen offline (such as by form (the question still applies). phone or at your place of business), it might have been your website and AdWords ad that drove the result. The best way to measure your When posting a survey or a form on your site, make it simple and offline results is by tracking customers to a conversion, such as with a concise. In general, you don’t want to ask more than four questions. coupon or an order form. Add a sweet incentive to get a customer to fill it out, such as “Get a free, 5 oz. coffee fix by filling this out!” Finally, the golden rule for everything online is to kill the pop-ups, pop-unders, pop-anythings. Everyone abhors a popup, unless it’s an edible one.
- 22. Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5 Quick tips for converting even more clicks to sales: • Make your ads sell: Make sure that your ads tell people what you expect them to do when they click through. If you want them to buy, encourage them to do that. Give a little back with coupons. • Take users to the best landing page: Point people to the page Posting a coupon on your website is a great way to track your results that relates to your ad. Don’t leave them guessing. – not to mention bring in business. Make sure the coupon is different from others you use elsewhere, such as in a flyer or a newspaper. It’s • Keep signups simple: Ask for only the bare minimum of what a good idea to make the coupon good for both online and offline usage. you need to complete a signup. Make sure that you give them Include an expiration date. Perform a Google search on coupons to something of equal or greater value for the information they see some examples. give you. • Deliver on your promises: Stick to the price or promise you specify in your ad. The number one source of dissatisfaction with purchases comes from expectations that are not met. • Be creative: Find fun and entertaining ways to make your offer. A creative offer will attract and hold your visitors’ attention.
- 23. Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 How do I make sense of my bills? The first thing to understand about your Billing Summary (in your My Account tab) is that you’re billed based on your credit history with Google as well as your activity. That means we automatically bill your credit card every month, or when you reach your credit limit – whichever comes first. Section 6 Troubleshooting your Account Credit limits The initial credit limit of US$50 is incrementally raised each time an account hits its credit limit before 30 days have ended. The credit limit is first raised to US$200, then to US$350, and then to US$500. The amount invoiced and/or billed might be slightly in excess of the credit limit if an account accrues clicks very quickly. But don’t worry, you’re charged only for clicks to your ads that we’ve registered.
- 24. Section 6 | Troubleshooting your Account Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 Credit limits (continued) • On Oct. 5, Alan reached his first credit limit of $50, and was charged for the amount accrued in clicks ($51.25). At this time, his credit limit was raised to $200. • On Oct. 21, Alan reached the next credit limit of $200, triggering AdWords to charge him for clicks ($202.75). His credit limit was then raised to $350. • On Nov. 18, Alan accrued more than $350 in charges and was automatically billed. When charged, Alan’s credit limit was then raised to $500. Example of billing activity for Alan for the months of October and November • Alan’s next bill will be processed on Dec. 18 or when he exceeds the final $500 credit limit, whichever comes first.
- 25. Section 6 | Troubleshooting your Account Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 Unexplainable line items From time to time, you might notice adjustments in your Billing Quick tips for controlling your spending: Summary. Adjustments usually reflect any promotions or credits applied to your account. In addition, there’s something called an • Set your limits: Don’t bid more than you can afford. If you find that you’re not getting the results you expected, scale back your cam- Overdelivery credit that might appear in your invoice. paign instead of raising your costs. Figure out which ads and key- words are bringing you results, and delete the others. This will give you Overdelivery is our way to help you receive the most clicks possible. more bang for your buck. Your ad traffic is never constant from day to day – sometimes it’s high and sometimes it’s low. To adjust for low-traffic days, we may • Focus on relevance: Build your campaigns slowly. Spend a lot of time allow more clicks (up to 20 percent each day) than your daily budget hand-picking your keywords and writing your ads (see sections 3 specifies. This overdelivery amount helps you reach your customers and 4). When your keywords and ad text are more relevant, you’re likely to pay less than the amount you bid. So creating highly relevant when they’re searching for you. At the end of your billing period, we’ll campaigns is the most cost-effective way to manage your budget. multiply the number of days in the cycle times your daily budget. If the clicks you received exceed the amount you owe, we’ll credit the • Grow from what works: Once you know what works, you can start difference to your account. You never pay for any additional clicks you to build more campaigns and Ad Groups to attract your potential might receive. customers. Keep regular tabs on your account statistics. Is your clickthrough rate high and your minimum bid low? If so, this usually For example, if you receive US$32 worth of clicks over a 30-day means you’re doing well. Tweak your targeting settings, keyword list, and ad text to test different results. Use tracking methods, such as period at a daily budget of US$1 per day, you’ll be credited US$2. conversion tracking or Google Analytics, to find your top performers (see section 5). For more billing information, such as how to switch credit cards and how to print out your bill, visit http://www.google.com/adwords/billing.
- 26. Section 6 | Troubleshooting your Account Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 Why can’t I see my ad? Ad Rank Your ad might not appear on the first page if your Ad Rank isn’t high This is the number one question we receive from advertisers, so enough to place it in one of the top slots. We don’t show the same you’re not alone. Here are the most common reasons: ads on each page, so your ad might be appearing on one of the next pages. If you’d like your ad to appear on the first page, you can Daily budget increase your CPC and/or refine your ad text and keywords to help If your daily budget is lower than the system’s recommended amount, increase your Quality Score. Google will show your ad when it has the highest demand, depending on traffic patterns. For example, we might show 70 percent of your No ad daily budget in the morning if the demand is higher at this time, Make sure there is an active ad in your Ad Group. If all ads within and 30 percent in the afternoon if demand is lower at this time. your Ad Group are currently paused or deleted, this means there are This way, you’ll have a better chance of reaching advertisers when no ads running for your keywords. they’re searching for you. To make sure your ad shows for all relevant searches, you can increase your daily budget to the recommended Ad disapproved amount. If an ad doesn’t meet our Editorial Guidelines, we’ll stop your ad from running, and you’ll see the word “Disapproved” listed below that ad Maximum CPC exceeds daily budget in your account. Once you’ve made the appropriate edits, simply save If you’re running a keyword-targeted campaign, your ad won’t show if your changes to automatically resubmit your ad for review. your maximum CPC for an Ad Group is higher than your campaign’s daily budget. Because your daily budget could be exceeded in one click, For a complete list of reasons why you can’t see your ad, visit we recommend that you lower your maximum CPC or raise your daily http://www.google.com/adwords/seeing-ads. budget, so that your daily budget is more than your maximum CPC.
- 27. Additional Help | Section 7 Where do I find helpful answers? So you want a quick, helpful answer to a problem? The first step is to click Help from any page in your AdWords account. Clicking one of the topics listed in the Help Center will open up a series of frequently asked questions and support materials. Here are some additional resources, all available through the AdWords homepage that we’ve created to solve most of the problems you’re likely to encounter: Help Center: Frequently asked questions and help documents. Section 7 https://adwords.google.com/support Additional Help Learning Center: Text or multimedia lessons and quizzes on everything AdWords. http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter Demos and Guides: Step-by-step demos about your account, local targeting, conversion tracking, and more concepts. https://adwords.google.com/select/library Inside AdWords Blog: Frequent updates about AdWords, straight from our product team. http://adwords.blogspot.com
- 28. Section 7 | Additional Help Additional Help | Section 7 Where can I find a glossary of terms? Clickthrough rate (CTR) CTR measures the number of clicks your ad generates in proportion to Some of the terms used in this kind of online advertising can be a the number of times it’s shown for each keyword. For example, your CTR bit confusing. So here’s a quick translation guide, in case you come is 5 percent if 100 people are shown your ad and five across something that doesn’t quite make sense. people click through to your site. CTR is used to help assess your Quality Score. The CTR is also known as the ad impression ratio or yield. Ad Group Content targeting A collection of ads within a campaign that correspond to a group of The ability to run relevant ads on content websites, rather than on search similar keywords. results pages; also known as contextual advertising. Content-targeted advertising is dynamic: The ad system examines words on the page (the Campaign “content”), and delivers up a related ad (the “context”). Ad Groups are organized into campaigns. Campaigns can be created for different product lines, promotions, geographic regions, and so on. Conversion A defined action in response to your ad. A conversion may be a sale, a Click through registration, a download, or a signup, depending on your campaign goals. The action of clicking a link that takes the user to another web page. Conversion rate The number of visitors who respond to your ad divided by the number of clicks on the ad, multiplied by 100, and expressed as a percentage. For ex- ample, your conversion rate is 25% percent if 100 people are shown your ad, four people click through to your site, and one person makes a purchase.
- 29. Section 7 | Additional Help Additional Help | Section 7 Cost-per-click (CPC) Image ad The amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. A typical A graphical AdWords ad that appears on select content sites in the range is 5 cents to US$1 per click. The CPC is the most you’re will- Google Network. ing to pay each time a user clicks on your ad for a particular keyword. Also called pay per click. Impression The single display of an ad on a search or content page. Also known Destination URL as exposure. The webpage to which a user will “land” after clicking on your ad. It’s not necessarily your homepage. Also known as a landing page or a Keyword clickthrough URL. A specific word, or combination of words, entered into a search engine that results in a list of pages related to the keyword. A Display URL keyword is the content of a search engine query. The URL displayed in your ad to identify your site to users. It doesn’t need to be the same as your destination URL. Local targeting The distribution of ads to a particular geographical area. Google Network Places other than Google where your ad can appear. These places Quality Score include both search and content sites. Search sites offer web search How we measure the quality of your keyword and determine your capability. Content sites include online publications, community minimum bid. Your Quality Score is determined by your keyword’s sites, and other information services running AdWords ads on clickthrough rate (CTR), relevance of ad text, historical keyword targeted content pages. performance, and other relevancy factors.
- 30. Section 7 | Additional Help Return on investment (ROI) The benefit gained in return for the cost of your ad campaign. Although exact measurement is nearly impossible, your clickthrough rate and your conversion rate, combined with your advertising costs, can help you assess the ROI of your campaign. Text ad An ad designed for text delivery, with concise, action-oriented copy and a link to your website. Because they are not accompanied by graphics, text links are easy to create and improve page download time. Also known as a sponsored link.