A n explanation of what PPC is with a useful guide on setting yourself up on Google AdWords

1. Getting Started with Google
What is PPC?
Pay-per-click advertising, also known as PPC, is a form of online advertising whereby internet users are directed to
an advertiser's we9bsite after clicking on an advertisement. The advertiser pays for each visitor to their website on
a per-click basis. These advertisements most commonly appear on search engine results pages such as Google, but
also appear on hundreds of thousands of websites, news pages and blogs.
This document will outline the initial steps for getting yourself appearing on the PPC listings of Google. If you want
more information on PPC in general, take a look at our article on „The Basics of PPC Marketing‟.
How do I get started?
Adwords (Google‟s PPC system) works in 3 tiers; account level, campaign level and adgroup level. Before you get
started it‟s worth noting at this point that it will be beneficial to read this entire article before you make a start to
ensure you set up your account in the most logical and effective fashion.
Tier 1 – Setting up your Google account
As with all things Google, setting up a Google account is a simple process. Simply visit the Adwords homepage at
https://adwords.google.com, request to open an AdWords account and follow the online instructions.
You may need to set up a new Google email account if you don‟t have one already which is a single email address
and password which runs over all of Google‟s services.
Entering your billing information is optional at this stage as you‟ll still be able to set up your campaign but your ads
won‟t start running until you do.
Tiers 2 and 3 - Setting up your campaign and adgroup
Once you‟ve set up your account, the next step is setting up your campaign. Tier 2, the campaign level, is where
high level decisions are made that your adgroups underneath (tier 3) will abide to. Follow the guide below to
create your first campaign and adgroup.
 Within your account click the button that says create your first campaign/new online campaign (select start
with keywords if given the option of keywords or placements)
 Name your campaign something logical – e.g. soft furnishings
 Name your adgroup something logical – e.g. cushions
 Select your campaigns language and location - these settings determine the languages and geographical
locations of the people who see your ads.
 Create your first ad text – this is what the searcher will see on the Google search results page. See the
section below on Adtext Hints and Tips.
 Enter your keywords – the words/phrases a potential customer might use to search for your service or
product on Google. See the section below on Choosing Keywords Hints and Tips.
 Enter your daily budget – this is the amount you are willing to spend on this ad campaign each day. Your
budget will help determine how many times your ad can be shown each day.
 Enter your CPC (cost per click) bid – the maximum amount you're willing to pay each time a user clicks
your ad. Your bid will determine how often your ad will appear and in what position on the page.
Your first adgroup is now ready to start driving you traffic.
Please note: you can add/edit adgroups, keywords and adtext after you‟ve created your campaign so you don‟t
need to think of everything straight away.
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2. Hints and Tips
Creating Adtext
Adtext is what lures a searcher to your website. Successful ads are clear, well-written, compelling and to the point.
Internet users will typically only scan the first couple words of an advert so it needs to be concise.
Adtext is made up of the following:
 Headline (25 characters long) – should directly relate to the keywords being searched to make your ad
seem most relevant to the searcher. Any keywords in both the searchers search term and your adtext will
appear in bold in both the headline and description reinforcing your ads relevancy to the searcher.
 Description (2 lines of 35 characters each) - should relate directly to what is offered on the landing page
(where your destination URL links to). Use a call to action such as „buy now‟ – this has been proven to
increase the amount of people that click through to your website.
 Display URL - a fake URL that describes your landing page and what the user is searching for. It must have
the same domain as your website.
 Destination URL - the web address your ad will actually link to.
When creating adtext it is important to think about how you can differentiate yourself from your competition, carry
out some relevant searches on Google and see what adtext others are using to get ideas.
Choosing Keywords
An effective keywords list is essential to an effective Adwords strategy. Ensure your adgroups are highly targeted
to one distinct keyword grouping, product or service in order to keep the relevancy to the searcher high, keep your
quality score high and enable you to create a highly targeted adtext - all of which will help to improve your ROI.
Use highly relevant phrases that will prequalify searchers visiting your site, using 2-3 word phrases will produce
better results than a single word. If you sell Samsung televisions use the primary keyword "Samsung
television" instead of "television" alone. This can then be expanded to additional targeted phrases such as
“Samsung colour television”, “Samsung widescreen television” etc.
If you wish to expand your keyword list further you can use the keyword tool in Google Adwords. Simply click the
keyword tool on an adgroup‟s keyword page and follow the online instructions. Google will come up with a list of
related terms with average searches on that term and an index of how popular that term is among competitors.
Your Bidding Strategy
Adwords makes managing your budget as easy as possible by allowing you to put a daily maximum spend on your
account and specify how the money is allocated throughout the day. When your limit is reached, your ads stop
running.
When first starting a new adgroup, it may be useful to start off by placing your default keyword bid slightly higher
than you may have planned. In many cases this will gain you better standing in the long run with Google and, due
to higher traffic from the increased bid, should provide some quick results data to allow you to start optimising.
Analyse
The single most important thing to do when using Adwords is to analyse the results that your campaign brings in
on a regular basis. Google offers many different reports to do this and gives you the opportunity to optimise your
account accordingly to achieve your objectives – whether they be brand exposure, X% ROI or £X sales achieved.
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