Adwords in a very small nutshell

1 February 2010

Many times we get the question, “how do I get my site to come up when when someone searches for X”? It’s a great question. We can built a killer site, but it won’t do you any good unless someone sees it! The issue of SEO is a complex one—we do our best to ensure your site is well indexed by search engines, but more can be done. Google Adwords is a simple way to quickly get you link in front of users at the right time for a relatively low cost.

So, what is Google Adwords?

After you type in a keyword for a Google search, you will get a results page. To the right of your results, you will see a sidebar of links, titled “sponsored links”. These are results from Google Adwords campaigns.

Adwords is Google’s “pay-per-click-advertising” platform. These listings will show up on Google search result pages (in the right sidebar) as well as on partnering site (such as AOL, Blogger, Earthlink…) and other non-partnering sites which is known as “contextual advertising” (that’s for another day).

How does it work?

You bid on keywords for your ad
When your keyword is searched by a user, google will display your ad
You only pay when a user clicks on your ad

Why should I use Adwords?

For newer websites, this is a quick way to get right in front of users. Since the top search results are based on time, popularity and relevance, your new site won’t be a great hit. By placing the right bid on keywords relevant to your content you will be able to be see at the “top” (on the right) with other search results.

Another reason to use Adwords is to for “target marketing”. You can get specific with who you are targeting and what for. Timing is everything and if a user is searching for a keyword (which is relevant to you) and your ad shows up—then they might be inclined to check out your site. And, at that moment, since they were searching for you in the first place, you might get a better return on investment.

Sounds great…but how much does this cost?

With every campaign (this is what adwords refers to each listing you are creating) you will have the ability to set a daily budget. Each keyword you set up will have a pay-per-click price (meaning the cost you pay ONLY if the listing is clicked on). Keywords that are more general will be more expensive—the more specific you can be the better your listing will perform and the less expensive it will be. For instance, “pizza” wouldn’t be a good keyword, but “Portland Maine pizza” might be a much better search term. These can be as low as $.05. The competition for the keyword will drive your placement in that list.

So, if you start today with “Portland Maine pizza”, and your listing is at the top for only $.10 per click, and tomorrow 10 other people decide to bid on that exact phrase, your listing could now be the 5th listing or so. You might have to pay more per click in order to regain that 1st position.

It might be a good idea to get some help

Google Adwords is a relatively low cost way to “advertise” online—relative to buying online banner ads. However, in order to have an effective campaign, it might require quite a bit of time and attention to monitor and maintain. There is also quite a steep learning curve to Adwords. It might be worthwhile to have someone help you set up your campaign and monitor it for 3 months or so. This is especially helpful if you are having a product launch or something that needs to be timely.

Again, this is adwords in a nutshell…and a very small one at that. In addition to cost per click there is also the ability to target demographics and regions.

We welcome any beginners tips or comments that could help out the newbie Adwords campaigner!

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