Wednesday 24 July 2013

Common Google AdWords Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Google AdWords
Google AdWords is a great way to target the right audience and drive them to the right sources to generate the most income. Unfortunately, many companies (both large and small) try to use the service with little to no knowledge of how it actually works. Fortunately, here are 5 of the most common mistakes marketers make when using Google AdWords and how to avoid them:


1. Directing the advertisements to your homepage

A major mistake that many companies make is that they direct advertisements back to their homepage. This can be costly since customers will typically leave the site if they do not instantly see what they are looking for. Whenever possible, you need to ensure that the advertisements go to a specific page that is relevant to the customer.

For example, if a customer is looking for "kitchen faucets," you need to ensure that the advertisements direct the customer to a specific page on your website about kitchen faucets. If you direct them to your homepage, it is very likely that the customer will only go straight back to Google to do another search. Unfortunately, such an action means that you will likely lose the customer to your competition.


2. Accepting all of the suggested words

If you accept all of the suggested words supplied by the Google AdWords Keyword Generator, you will run into a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, the list that you receive will have a lot of unrelated and generic terms that will not benefit your business. By accepting all of the keywords, you will not target the right audience that will ensure engagement and sales.

For example, if you are a chef, very generic words such as "cooking" or "chef" may not greatly benefit you. Instead, you should focus on narrower keywords with true buying potential.


3. Not using negative keywords

A good thing about using a Google AdWords campaign is that you are able to choose negative keywords to filter out unwanted clicks. Unfortunately, many people do not use the feature and learn a very expensive lesson the hard way.

For example, if you sell computer equipment or software, you may want to use negative keywords such as "panels" or "treatments" to avoid being confused with the home improvement industry.


4. Not localizing the campaign

If you have a local business, it is crucial that you localize your campaign by setting up specific ads for searchers in a specific area. By providing your zip or area code, you will be able to target people living in your area that will be more likely to visit your business. Unfortunately, a lot of money can be wasted if you do not specify this and instead try to entice people from halfway across the world.


5. Failing to test the advertisements

When you have a campaign in place, it is an absolute must that you test your advertisements to see what works best. You will need to track every aspect of your campaign to determine what is working and what is not. Once you have the information handy, you will be able to tailor your advertisements to generate the most success.

When breaking down your advertisements, just some of the factors you need to consider include:

  • Font sizes, styles, and colors
  • Wording
  • Images
  • Overall advertisement composition
  • Call to actions
  • Offers
  • Placement locations
  • Prices

As you can see, there are many things to take into consideration when you undergo a Google AdWords campaign. By knowing the common mistakes to avoid, you will better situate yourself to achieve success.


About The Author: Lorraine Gray has spent a lot of time using Adwords in her clients advertising campaigns. She likes to blog about her experiences on various marketing websites.

Did you find this article helpful? Please let me know by leaving me your valued comments in the comments section below.


If you found this or any of my other posts helpful, don't forget to share the posts to your favourite networks using the toolbar below or by using the "+1" and "Share" buttons located at the bottom of each post.

As ever, if you want to stay up to date with the latest blog posts, don't forget to follow via Google Friend Connect (button on sidebar), on NetworkedBlogs, via Email (maximum of one email per day), on Facebook and Google+ or by subscribing to our blog feed at:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/DereksHomeAndBusinessBlog

You can also follow me on Twitter @djones1509, Google+ and on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/djones1509
https://plus.google.com/104849975941505117776

Until my next post on Monday on Google AdWords Enhanced Site Link Extensions, enjoy the rest of the week and have a fabulous weekend! See you back here on Monday.



© 2013. This article is DMCA protected. Republication is prohibited.

1 comment:

  1. I would like to say this is an excellent site that I have ever come across. Very informative. Please write more so that we can get more details. I have found your site to be quite useful. Keep updating your site with in valuable information.

    ReplyDelete

Please note: To combat comment spam, non-constructive comments and comments containing links will be rejected. All submitted comments are subject to moderation before they are published on the blog.


I have received reports that some people have been experiencing problems when commenting on the blog. If you experience any problems when posting your comment, please send me an email with your comment plus the post title using the Contact tab above and I will manually include it for you. You can also send your comment via private message on Facebook.

Your blog comments are always appreciated and thank you for your patience while we try to resolve this issue.