Step 1: Identifying Effective Keywords

Your first step is to identify keywords that are related to your product or ad campaign. Once you have identified these, you will need to narrow them down to keywords that you believe will be effective. Then research these keywords even further to identify the keywords that do not have a lot of competition, or ones that you can afford to compete in.

• Title 25 maximum characters

• Line 1 35 maximum characters

• Line 2 35 maximum characters

• Display URL 35 maximum characters

Because of these character limitations it is extremely difficult to develop ad copy that is eye catching and effective. In fact developing copy for Adwords is often referred to as Google Haiku.

When creating your copy make sure that you remain focused on the goal of the campaign. If the goal of your campaign is to sell blue widgets, make sure that the copy targets the audience you want. You will be paying for each click, so ideally you want to attract people who are willing to buy blue widgets. Let’s look at the following example:

Widgets Galore

Our widgets are the best

You want it we got it

www.widgets.com

This ad does not specifically state blue widgets. Therefore you may get a lot of clicks for people who are looking for red widgets (which you may not carry). In addition there is not a clear call to action.

Blue Widgets Galore

Huge Sale on Blue

Widgets This Week

www.widgets.com

While not the best ad in the world, this provides a good example of improved ad copy. The focus is clearly on blue widgets. Someone looking for red widgets will most likely not click on this ad. In addition, this ad creates a call to action and a sense of urgency by stating that there is a sale this week. Someone clicking on this ad is more likely to be in the market for Blue Widgets than someone clicking on the first ad.

Step 3: Testing Your Adwords Copy

You should constantly test your Adwords copy to find out which ad is most effective.  If you are running a campaign that is not getting any clicks, or is getting a low number of clicks, change you ad! And then track it! Understanding which ads create the most orders is the key to success. Changing one word can make a difference. A recent Marketing Sherpa (http://www.marketingsherpa.com)  study of Monster.com’s ad campaigns revealed that the word “download” was more effective than the word “try”. The only way to determine what works for you, is to constantly test your ads.

Step 4: Appropriate Landing Page

The page you send your visitors to does not have to be the same as the one displayed in the ad. Use this to your advantage and send your visitors to an appropriate landing page. For our Blue Widget example, send them to a landing page that displays information about the Blue Widget sale, do not just send them to your home page.

This article is just an introduction to the steps necessary in designing your pay per click campaign. If you are interested in learning more about how to design effective campaigns for Adwords I suggest you read: “Winning Results With Google Adwords ” by Andrew Goodman available at Amazon.com