Top Google Adwords Tips

Here are the Top Google Adwords tips and guidelines for helping you beat the competition, keep your costs down and avoid the Adwords learning curve.  These are advertising tips that help me personally get more traffic while paying a lot less.

1. Link To Relevant Landing Pages
Unless your home page is a targeted sales page, don't use it as your ad's landing page. Instead link to a specific product or service page.  Do this by creating relevant landing page for the ad that demonstrates relevant and useful information that the customer would be looking for. Typically, a well designed, tightly focused landing page will convert a visitor much better than sending them to your home page which is generally less focused.

2. Optimize Your Campaign Settings
Target the right audience by selecting the language and countries that you want to target. For example, I don't include countries where English is not understood by a large percentage of the population.
If you're just starting out with Google Adwords advertising, I recommend choosing only the 'Google Search' within the 'Networks' option.  When you select 'Search Network' and 'Content Network' you are requesting that your ads show up on additional networks.  This can result is many more clicks that may not result in many sales.  This could lower your 'click through rate" results which Adwords may find undesirable.  As you refine your ads and you begin making more sales you can increase your ads to the search and content network.
3. Test Multiple Ads 
Google Adwords has a feature that allows you to test multiple ads simultaneously.  By doing this you are able to find out which ads bring in a higher click through rates.  Ideally you want to create 3-5 ads that display different attention grabbing headlines and offer different benefits in your description lines. Once you can see which ads perform the best you can work at weeding out the lesser performing ads.
I recommend you look at your ads weekly for helping determine the best ads.

4. Include Targeted Keywords In Your Ad
Your success with Google Adwords starts with good keywords.  This is a must if you're going to be successful and keep your costs down. I use Wordtracker to find my best keywords, keyword phrases and long tail keywords. Once I find my best keywords I include them in the headline and the description of the ad.  This is important because Google will highlight searched keywords in bold in the ad.
Studies have shown that when people scan search results, they look for the keywords they have entered. Searched keywords highlighted in bold will help to catch the user's attention and Google will be the first to tell you that ads with searched keywords usually perform better than ones without the keywords in them.
Also I suggest placing your keywords in brackets "[ ]".  For example, let's say you are selling walking sandals, by placing brackets around the words [walking sandals] your ad will show for that exact keyword phrase.  If someone types in the popular 'sandals hotel' your ad won't display.
This is important for Google's Adwords click through rate (CTR) which Google puts emphasis on.  In order for Google to keep your ad appearing it has to achieve a 0.5 to 1% CTR for each 1000 impressions delivered.  If keywords underperform, they are disabled until they can be revised, so if you're not getting clicks because your ad has impressions for 'sandals hotel' your CTR will be affected.  

5. Promote the Benefits
Determine your best product or service benefits and put it in your ad.  For example, lose weight fast, look younger now, make more money, etc. Remember, viewers are looking for what's in it for them.  If there's a clear benefit that you offer don't leave that valuable information out.

6. Include Attention Grabbing Words In Your Ad
Start your headline with attention grabbing words like “Free, More, New, Sale, Discover, etc."  Keep in mind that the word 'Best' won't be allowed.

7. Use Words that Appeal to the user's emotions
Words that generate emotion or enthusiasm will create more response than anything else.  Most visitors online are looking for a solution to some type of problem.  If you can provide a solution and, at the same time appeal to their emotions, you're more likely to get the click.
For example, here's a few words that almost always work:  save money now, sale, tips, discover, learn, free shipping, tricks, cutting edge, special offer
Follow that with a call-to-action that provokes a response.  Here's an example of such words:

• I invite you to...
• Save 50% and buy now
• Download Your Free Trial Now
• Order now while there's still time
• Sale Ends Tomorrow
• Please join us today

8. Use Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
Use your USP in your ad.  This is the thing that sets you apart from your competition. What makes your product or service better, or different, from the competition? Spell them out in your ad.  For example, expedia.com boasts "the best prices and great rewards", that can be pretty powerful.

9. Remove the Words that don't Matter
Remove wasted words like " the, a, an, to, in, on, it, of, etc." Remove every word that does not absolutely need to be in the ad to make sense.  For example for the phrase 'Learn how to start a business in internet marketing Fast" can be better said this way " learn internet marketing fast".  You can also use symbols like '&' instead of the word 'and'.

10. Avoid the freebie seekers
There are lots of freebie seekers out there looking only for free stuff, so to avoid getting clicks from people who don't intend to buy, include the price of the product or service in the ad, preferable at the end.  You may get fewer click-throughs but you'll experience better conversion because you'll be attracting only paying customers.  You'll also lower your Adwords advertising costs as well.

If you're considering Google Adwords advertising, congratulations, it's a smart move, you can definitely speed past your online competition with more traffic and pay a lot less for it but before you get too involved, let me recommend Perry Marshall's "Definitive Guide to Google Adwords, 2010 Edition ~ Highly recommended.

I also recommend "Beating Adwords".  The Beating Adwords Guide was written by two internet marketers that began as college students. Their college courses and extensive projects turned them into internet marketing and affiliate marketing experts and the Beating Adwords Guide is a product of what they've learned.   I bought it and loved it, here's my personal review of the Beating Adwords guide.

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