SEO & Digital Marketing

• Defining an advertising Campaign on Google
• Ad Structure
• Ad Placement
• Advertising Enhancement Tools
• Conclusion

The Google search engine offers advertisers the option to advertise in Google for a pay per click fee via the Google AdWords service. With this kind of advertising, the advertiser pays only for visitors that actually clicked the ad, and not for the number of times the ad was displayed. The ads suggested by Google are short text messages (very short would be a more appropriate term.)

Google AdWords ads appear in three types of locations:

Google Search Results

These ads appear on the regular search results page frame. The ads are displayed separately, under the title "Sponsored Links"

Google's Search Network

Google's search engine provides search results to other websites, on which you can also display AdWords.

Google's Content Network - Adsense

Google enables site owners that wish to display AdWords on their site to join its content network, plant a JavaScript code and display Google ads on various pages of the site. This service is called Google AdSense. Currently this service does not officially support Hebrew.

In all of the abovementioned locations, the ads appear with respect to the content of the webpage that displays them, meaning that the ads match the keywords (in case of search results) or the webpage content (in case of a site that belongs to the content network).

Google AdWords Homepage: Google AdWords

Defining an advertising Campaign on Google

When running a campaign, the advertiser should make a decision concerning several parameters for his campaign:

Maximum cost per Click

The advertiser determines the maximum cost that he is prepared to pay for a click on his ad. The suggested price must be greater than 25 agoras per click.

Maximum Payment per Day

The advertiser defines the maximum payment he is prepared to pay per day.

Keywords

The advertiser defines for which keywords his ad will be displayed

Target Audience

You can set target countries for your advertising and the desired target audience language.

Ad Content

The advertiser sets the message content and the target URL for clicks on his ad.

The time it takes between the decision to begin advertising in Google and the actual display of your ad on Google is very short, and so is for campaign alterations that are executed almost in real time.

The service is provided for a one-time payment of 25 NIS. Besides the actual advertising cost, no additional minimum or permanent monthly payment is required.

Ad Structure

Google AdWords structure is homogenous:

Ad Title

Appears in bold at the top of the ad - maximum length: 25 characters

Ad Text

Two regular text lines - maximum length: 35 characters

Visible Link

The URL that the visitor will be transferred to if he clicks the link

Actual Link

The target address that the visitor will reach if he clicks the ad (e.g.: a specific page inside the website)

Ad Placement

Your advertisement placement in relation to other ads for the same related keywords will be defined according to three main factors:

Maximum Cost per Click

For higher maximum cost per click you get a higher placement for your ad

Ad Quality Score

A score that expresses Google's prognosis regarding the level of response to your ad. Most of the score is determined by a percentage of the clicks on your ad in relation to the number of its exposures. There are several factors that set this score, that haven't been revealed by Google yet

Maximum Cost per Day

When an advertiser reaches his maximum pay per day, the ad will no longer appear

Advertising Enhancement Tools

In order to improve your advertising Return On Investment (ROI), Google offers several powerful tools for campaign enhancement:

Conversion Tracking

Google allows the advertiser to define the pages on his site that will determine that a conversion from a visitor to a customer was performed, as of a click on a Google ad. This tool enables you to determine which keywords create the highest conversion rate and thus contribute to understanding your site's clients better.

Advertising Messages Comparison

You can define a number of advertising messages in order to check which message works best. Google will display the message that received higher results more often. This way you can actually perform market research that compares different advertising messages.

Keywords Tool

Google offers a tool that allows you to type in keywords and to get additional related keywords in return. This way you can expand the variety of relevant keywords for your site.

Detailed Reports

Google AdWords provides detailed reports that allow the advertiser to see how many times his ad was displayed for each keyword, how many clicks each ad received, and how many conversions took place. In addition to the dry facts, these reports allow you to check the popularity level of your keywords, and how many times do search users search for each keyword - valuable information for a site owner.

Conclusion

Google AdWords' effectiveness goes beyond the immediate effect of bringing visitors to your site. It is the ability to use a service as a kind of a test lab to check your advertising messages, keywords, and your site's conversion rate that makes this service essential. On the other hand, in order to make the most of this service, you should have a good understanding of how it works, which sometimes requires professional assistance in building a successful campaign.

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