Google's
AdWords Select(tm) Groundbreaking Program
by: Lee Traupel
One of the absolute best online marketing processes
available to any business today is Google's AdWords
Select advertising program. It produces immediate
results within minutes after being setup, drives highly
qualified traffic via selected keywords and can be
monitored and modified on a 24/7 basis via Google's
excellent online interface. There are no hidden fees
- it costs a mere $5. USD to setup a campaign and
requires a credit card submission at startup. We highly
recommend this interactive marketing process to all
of our clients and incorporate an AdWords Select component
with all of our marketing campaigns.
Google's Pricing Model
Google charges you on a CPC ("Cost per Click")
basis - you only pay for each clickthrough to your
web site from Google's, no more no less. You don't
pay for "impressions" (number of times someone
views your ad) like many first generation Internet
advertising models - it's truly a results driven marketing
process.
Keywords costs can vary tremendously ranging from
$.05 to $11. USD or more per keyword - Google assigns
a "minimum cost per click" for specific
keywords based on "market value" and "performance
history" via Google's AdWords Select program
history. Be prepared to pay a much higher rate for
very popular keywords and this is a moving target
all of the time - the more popular this program becomes
the more you will be forced to pay for selected popular
keywords.
Creating your Sponsorship Ad
Your Ad's position is based on a combination of the
CPC ("Cost per Click") you selected and
relevancy of your ad - if your ad and keywords are
relevant and drive clickthroughs, then your ad will
rise in position on the sponsored column versus your
competitors. This is an innovative feature and helps
to distinguish Google's program from all other PPC
("Pay per Click") campaigns (Overture and
their primary competitors) - most of these programs
have an "economic bias" built into them;
i.e. whoever pays the highest fees gets the top placement.
Dynamic Ad Placement
Google's unique AdWords Discounter keeps track of
your costs per click versus your competitors. You
select the maximum amount you want to pay for your
keywords and the ranking algorithm keeps track of
your keyword costs, ensuring you only pay one cent
above the CPC ("Cost per Click") cost you
specified when you setup the campaign versus your
competitors.
Setup Process - Sponsored Link Ad and Keywords
AdWords Select is based upon driving highly targeted
traffic to a web site via a set of keywords that are
selected via Google's account management interface.
There are two primary components to the setup process,
creating your "sponsored link" ad and selecting
your keywords. You start by creating a "sponsored
link" ad that is subsequently inserted into Google's
search results on the right hand column - targeted
by keywords that you have selected. It only takes
a few minutes to have your campaign go "live"
after you've completed the setup process.
It's very important to spend quality time creating
your sponsored link as this is the "online ad"
that people will view in the midst of search results
and competing sponsored links (in some cases). You
have the ability to create a short headline coupled
with two lines of text with approximately 35 characters
per line - the headline must be succinct and hard
hitting and the related text should backfill the headline
with supporting words that convey what goods or services
your company provides.
Keyword selection can be the most daunting task for
setting up a new campaign - be prepared to spend some
focused time working through multiple keywords to
find those that you can afford. It typically takes
1-3 hours to find 10-20 keywords that are relatively
low cost - however, if your budget is open-ended and
you have sufficient marketing funds to pay $1-8. USD
per keyword then it can take much less time. Your
market focus is also another important variable that
can impact the keyword selection process - if you're
in a narrow market niche with only a small number
of competitors then it is much easier and faster to
setup a campaign.
Finally, be aware you can find some keywords that
are very inexpensive, but Google will disallow these
if they don't drive a minimum clickthrough amount
of roughly less than 1% - you can start off with them,
but they will be turned off after 7-14 days if they
aren't driving sufficient clickthrough volume.
Wordtracker Keyword Research Tool
You may want to utilize other keyword analysis tools
that will give you a broader selection and help you
to understand what keywords are popular and searched
on, which in turn ensures the keywords you do select
will drive traffic and will not be disallowed by Google.
Wordtracker (www.wordtracker.com) is an industry standard
keyword analysis tool that those of us in the online
advertising world (and many others) have used for
years to help us understand what keywords are popular
- their service is very low cost and easy to utilize
via their web site.
About The Author
Lee Traupel has 20 plus years of marketing experience
- he is the founder of Intelective Communications,
Inc. http://www.intelective.com a marketing services
company which provides strategic and tactical marketing
services exclusively to small to medium sized companies.
Lee@intelective.com Reprinted with permission from
Intelective Communications - this article may be reprinted
freely, provided this attribution box remains intact.
(c) 2001-2002 by Intelective Communications, Inc.
Lee@intelective.com
