9 Tips for Startups Using Google Adwords

Google Adwords is one of the most prominent cost per click tools for customer acquisition on the Internet.  Because of its dominance in the marketplace, many startups use the tool to help gain exposure for their products.  The problem for startups new to Adwords is the sheer complexity of the platform.

Here are some helpful tips for creating successful Adwords campaigns and making the most of your budget.

1. Do thorough keyword research

There are a number of keyword research tools that are provided by Google including the Adwords keyword tool, Google insights and the Google traffic estimator.  Use these tools to understand the number of queries for a specific term, the competition for those terms and the cost of a campaign targeting those terms.

The general principle with keyword targeting and Adwords campaigns is the more specific and targeted your keyword is, the better the conversion rate.  Look at what customers want and what your startup provides, then think about the keywords to link the two.

2. Use multiple keyword match types and negative keywords

In Adwords you can set a type of keyword match to target (Broad, Phrase and Exact). Tailor the keyword match types with care and think about how your prospective customers will be looking for your product. If there are keyword combinations that don’t match the intention of your startup, remove them by using negative keywords. Also utilize category targeting and topic targeting to further target your advertisements. By being very specific you can stretch out a small Adwords budget.

3. Consider bidding on your business name

If your search engine optimization is not up to scratch, it is possible that customers searching for your startup by its name may not see it on the first page.  If this is the case, bid on the name of your business to help people find it easily.

4. Build ad groups around a theme

If you have a product that has multiple functions, create ad groups tailored to each function.  For example, if you were selling an iPhone video application that can change the format of videos, upload to Youtube, share via iPhone and add creative effects — create an ad group for each of those capabilities.  The “upload to Youtube” ad group would target people who are searching the Internet for a way to upload edited videos directly from their iPhone to Youtube.

5. Write great copy and use a call to action

If you aren’t the best at copywriting, hire someone to do it for you.  Adwords can be expensive and if you aren’t making the most of the short sentences in the advertisement, you could be wasting money.  Also include a call to action in all advertisements to help obtain a better click through rate.

6. Create multiple advertisements and test them

By split testing advertisements you can ascertain which ones have the highest click through rate and conversion rate.  Continue to refine your advertisements even after finding combinations that work.

7. Check ads for quality score

The Adwords quality score refers to how relevant your keywords, ads and landing page are to people who see the advertisement.  A high click through rate (CTR) indicates that people seeing the ad find it highly relevant to what their needs are.  It is important to maintain a high quality score for a number of reasons, but chiefly the fact that it leads to lower cost per click, lower first page bid estimates, lower top of page bid estimates and better ad auction eligibility.

8. Make great landing pages relevant to keywords

At the end of the day, your Adwords campaign is about making sales and gaining customers.  You should spend a great deal of time crafting and testing landing pages that are highly relevant to your target keywords.  It is a good idea to create multiple landing pages for different ad groups, so you can split test these pages.  Again, copywriting is extremely important and this last step of the conversion process requires a flawless marketing pitch that meets customer expectations.

A great landing page will also have a lower bounce rate, which is tracked by Google and helps maintain a high quality score.

You should pay close attention to functionality as well.  If you have a shopping cart on the website make sure it is extremely fast and easy to use, make sure the text is easy to read, make sure the landing page has a sense of legitimacy and security about it.  Mobile traffic is also increasingly important, so make sure your website looks great on everything from laptops to tablets and smart phones.

9. Use conversion tracking and Google Analytics

It is critical that you understand which parts of your Adwords campaign are successful and which parts are not.  You should use Google Analytics and track successful conversions to understand what is working within your campaigns.  If your product doesn’t have a checkout process, look at bounce rates to determine if the visitors are a good match for your startup.

Setting Expectations

It’s important to remember that Google Adwords should only be one part of your promotional campaign for your startup.  When you are starting out, expect to spend money simply determining what works and what doesn’t.  The key is to start small, test often, and work your way up to having a highly targeted and successful Adwords campaign.