How to successfully set up a Google AdWords PPC campaign (in my humble opinion)

1. Set up a single campaign for each website (you may decide to split your campaigns into two depending on your product or service – one for national or international visitors and one for local visitors)
2. Research the keywords for your campaign and divide them up into closely matched groups. Each group will become an Ad Group
3. Write at least 2 carefully targeted adverts for each Ad Group
4. Enter the keywords for your Ad Group
5. Enter your bid for the Ad Group
6. Carefully identify any negative keywords you wish to include – this is usually best done at the campaign level
7. Install tracking code to each page of your website (PM me or contact me for advice on where to put it and/or what tracking codes to use)
8. Run the advert for a few hours
9. Check your tracking to see if you are attracting the right sort of visitors
10. Add in negative keywords as you discover them
11. Turn the content network off
12. Check your Adgroup continually to check your position – consider increasing or decreasing your bid if necessary depending on your market
13. Over the space of a week keep checking your tracking to see if different times or days attract different types of visitors (you can judge this from the conversion rate, your own market research when clients call in, plus the type of keywords they are typing in)
14. Consider setting up Ad Scheduling (times of day)
15. Continually check which of your 2 adverts for each Ad Group is performing better. Eventually delete the worse performing one and create a new one – keep refining!
16. Check your Click Through Rate repeatedly. Depending on your market it should always be above 0.5%. Keep trying to improve it.
17. Check your conversions and cost per conversion
18. Never leave your campaign to run itself for more than a couple of weeks – always keep checking it! Split test your adverts and continually try to beat your best advert

Feel free to contact me with any questions about this (I can be reached on 0800 019 6882).  This is part of the content from our 1 day Google AdWords training course in successfully setting up an AdWords campaign.  Our course takes you from start to finish in how to run your own campaign.

Computer Training Solutions offer Google AdWords training in Bristol, Solihull and online via seminars.

Date: 25/05/2008
Category: BUSINESS EDITORIAL