Before you get started on Pay-Per-Click (PPC) you need to sign up to Google adwords. Doing this is free and easy and can be completed on the Google Adwords sign up page. Google will then take up through the process step-by-step to help you get started. And best of all Google have recently launched an expert PPC help service to all advertisers who spend more than £6 per day. You can phone them on 0800 026 1713 and they will even help you set it up. Win Win.
Once you have completed the adwords account set up, you are ready to go with your PPC. Here’s six tips I recommend you do to help you ensure you are getting the most from your Google adwords.
1. Use the free Google credit
Google gives out £75 free Adwords credit when you start up a new account. That’s a nice little sum to help you get started. The only stipulation is that you spend £25. To get your free £75 Adwords credit click here.
2. Do your keyword research
This is where you will need to invest time. You know your business and industry best so take time to ensure you are targeting the correct keywords. Once you are in the adwords dashboard you can go into a tool called Keyword planner. It is very easy to use – put in your industry, location, website url etc and Google will recommend keywords for you to target. Check out this Google video on YouTube which takes you through the steps to using Google’s Keyword Planner on the Adwords dashboard. I suggest you start small and then once you know what is working and driving sales or lead enquiries for you, scale up and hit the ground running.
3. Consider longer search terms
The best way to succeed at PPC is to consider longer search terms. Don’t target keywords where you can see there is high competition but go for long-tail phrases and competitor names. You can read about long-tail keyword targeting here.
4. Join the Google Online classroom
Set aside time to learn. You can never learn enough when it comes to PPC as it is constantly evolving. There’s loads of tutorials online and you can find them here through Google’s Adwords Online classroom. According to Google “Our AdWords Online Classroom provides free online training to help you achieve long-term advertising success with AdWords. Whether you’re new to AdWords and want to learn the basics, or you’ve been with AdWords for a while and want to take your account to the next level, we offer a range of topics to suit your needs”. Get signed up today – it’s FREE!
5. Ensure you have good landing pages
A common mistake made by newbies to PPC is that they set the destination landing page of the PPC adverts to go to the homepage of their website. Don’t do this. There needs to be synergy between your actual advert and the landing page you take the user to. I suggest you create specific landing pages for your different campaigns. This will help your quality score which will help keep the amount you need to bid down.
6. Target effectively
One of the best elements of online advertising is that it enables you for the first time ever to truly market at a 1:1 level. That’s the beauty of PPC too. You can define your target market and decide how you can reach them. Understanding the capabilities of each platform will allow you to spend your budget wisely. Decide where your audience are most likely to be and then decide if you will spend on Google or on Facebook. Google targets on keywords whereas Facebook allows you to target on loads of additional segments like age and marital status to name a few.
So that’s a quick overview to help you get started with your PPC. This is only the start of how you can manage Adwords campaigns but it is plenty for you to get on and do it.
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