Move on over, print and TV advertising–online marketing is here to stay. Sure, it’s been all about online marketing for the last decade or so–that’s no secret. But its importance and effectiveness continues to grow rapidly as online marketing services become more accessible to everyone.
At DigitalCoast Marketing, we help businesses in South Carolina manage their web design, online paid marketing and pay-per-click campaigns including Facebook Advertising, banner ads, and more. Out of all the major players in online marketing, Google is arguably the biggest for small-to-medium sized businesses. Google’s package of online marketing tools–which includes Analytics, AdSense, and AdWords–is perhaps one of the most widely used marketing service across the globe.
Whether you manage your online strategy yourself or have a digital marketing company do it for you, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with AdWords, at least on a basic level.
What Is Google AdWords?
Google AdWords is an advertising platform that helps you manage your online marketing strategy. It’s free to sign up, which means you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
AdWords lets you set an advertising budget, track your progress, and adjust your strategy based on data from detailed reports. Its effectiveness is only multiplied when linked to other Google tools like AdSense and Analytics.
Google AdWords is a complicated, sophisticated machine, and it can be a lot to take in at once. While it’s relatively simple to sign up and get started, it’s true that mismanaging your campaigns and failing to check your progress frequently can lose you a good bit of money. This is why we encourage businesses be prepared to commit to checking their AdWords account every single day before signing up.
If that’s not something you’re up for, consider outsourcing this task to someone who’s confident navigating AdWords on a day-to-day basis. When choosing someone to manage your AdWords account, remember that you’ll get the best results with someone who’s experienced in developing ad campaigns specifically for legal firms.
How Google Adwords Works
Before setting up a campaign, you’ll create the ad you’d like people to see using web copy and carefully chosen keywords.
You’ll bid for ad placement after deciding where you’d like your ad to appear–on Google search results pages, on websites in Google’s advertising network, or both. Bids are made at a cost-per-click rate, which is the most you’re willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad.
Once you’re all set up, your campaign runs through an ad auction, which puts your campaign on the market for advertising through Google’s ad network. Google assigns you an ad rank (based on your bid amount and the quality of your web content) to decide when your ad will appear on a webpage.
If the cost-per-click of an ad space on a webpage is less than or equal to your maximum cost-per-click bid, then your ad may appear on that page. When someone sees your ad and clicks on it, you’ll pay for that click and gain one more potential customer.
Tips for Your Next Google AdWords Campaign
- Monitor Religiously. As mentioned above, AdWords is only effective when you check in on your campaigns regularly.
- Use Landing Pages. Using targeted landing pages with simple instructions is much more effective than simply linking to your home page for every campaign you run.
- Use the Split Testing Feature. Perform A/B testing and measure what types of campaigns are producing the best results. Adjust your strategy accordingly.
- Link to Google Analytics. Link to your Google Analytics account so you’ll get the big picture of your online marketing strategy.
- Give It Time & Energy. Lastly, the most important tip we can offer you is to give your AdWords campaigns the time and energy they deserve.
If that’s not something you’re ready to tackle on your own, consider getting someone else to do it for you. You’ll save yourself money, and worrying about your advertising strategy will be a thing of the past.
