Google Adwords are a great replacement for traditional marketing venues, such as newspapers and radio advertising, if used correctly. Too often I come across business owners seduced by Google Adwords' offer of $100 in free credits to try the service. Too often the account is set up with little or no understanding of exactly how the program works. Setting up your account incorrectly will not only result in poor results, but also could result in a very expensive lesson on your credit card. Over and over I see the same five mistakes when business owners use Google Adwords.
5 Common Google Adwords Mistakes
- The most common mistake that companies big and small make is directing your Google advertisement back to the home page of your website. When I am searching for "bathroom renovations," send me directly to the bathroom renovations page on your website. Sending me to your home page says that you think I have the time and patience to search your website for the information I want. To be honest, I don't. And I am not alone. If I don't see the relevant information right away I am gone - back to Google to see where else I can find the information (most likely your competition).
- It's a mistake to accept all the suggested words that the Google Adwords Keyword Generator spits out. You want to avoid just taking the whole list, which will have a lot of generic and irrelevant terms. If you are an accountant, paying for generic terms such as "accounting" might generate traffic but often it might attract people looking for accounting software or an accounting course in night school. You don't want those people clicking on your site. Irrelevant, generic Adwords traffic is an expensive marketing lesson.
- It is a mistake to not use negative keywords in your Adwords campaign. Google Adwords allows you to set negative keywords to avoid unwanted impressions and clicks. If I am a window manufacturer I might want to use "software," "XP" or "operating system" as negative keywords. This filters them out because I don't want people looking for windows software to see my Adwords.
- It is a mistake not to localize your Google Adwords campaign. Don't be like the kids dentist in Vancouver whose ad showed up when I searched for a kids dentist in my local market. Google Adwords allows you to set up specific ads to only show to searchers within a specified area around your zip or postal code. Google Adwords uses the searcher's IP address to determine where the search is. This works best for more generic terms.
- It is a mistake to fail to test your adwords. Unlike traditional marketing venues like newspapers, magazines and radio, Google Adwords allows you to track and monitor your Google Adwords campaigns. I can A/B test different ads to ultimately get the Google Adwords advertisement that best converts traffic. Google Adwords allows me to track every aspect of my campaign so over time to constantly make small adjustments to fine tune my campaigns.
Google Adwords can be a very effective marketing tool for your business but it does take time and attention to set it up correctly.