Google Adwords

While there are hundreds of Google how-to guides online, written both by savvy bloggers and Google itself, the advertising giant has a few skeletons in its closet that are rarely talked about. After all, Google AdWords is the ever popular advertising platform – or is it?

How does Google AdWords work?

Advertisers bid on keywords in order to serve an ad which, when clicked upon, leads the searcher to a website landing page where a conversion goal, such as a lead generation or purchase, can be completed.

Advertisers compete against one another in the Google AdWords auction for select ad slots on the Google Search results page.  Advertisements will appear primarily above or to the right-handside of organic listings.

There are three questions you’re going to ask to determine whether or not to advertise on a particular keyword:

  1. Is the keyword searched in Google? If there is no search volume, then that tells you no one is typing that phrase into Google. There is no point in advertising on keywords no one is searching.
  2. Is the person searching this keyword likely to buy my product or service? Or is the person more likely just doing research with no intention of making a purchase? In other words, what is the intent of the keyword? When starting out, you’ll want to advertise on what I call “buying intent” keywords where the person is clearly looking to buy.
  3. Can I afford to advertise on the keyword? This question is important, but it requires a bit of math to calculate. So let’s take a look at that now.

 

Before you can finalize your keyword list, you must first make sure some basic “4th grade math” makes sense. This will prevent you from going after keywords where there’s no chance of being profitable. It’s better to run these numbers now before you’ve sunk time and money into a campaign destined to fail.

At this point, you now have a list of “buying intent” keywords that you’re confident you can afford. The next step is to reduce your risk by leveraging competitor intelligence. In most industries, you’ll find competitors who already have tested and optimized their AdWords campaigns. That means they have figured out which keywords, ads, and landing pages work and do not work in your market.

Your USP, or unique selling proposition, is what differentiates your business from your competitors and gives your prospects a compelling reason to choose you. In other words, your USP answers the question “Why should I, your prospect, choose to do business with you, versus any and every other option, including doing nothing?” You can thank direct response marketing expert, Dan Kennedy, for giving us that valuable question.

When it comes to AdWords, there are 3 important reasons to create a powerful USP:

  1. First, a strong USP will generate more traffic from qualified prospects (encourage clicks on your ads) and repel unwanted leads (prevent clicks on your ads).
  2. Second, a strong USP will skyrocket your sales conversion rates. So, not only will you generate more traffic because you’ll get more clicks on your ads, you’ll also convert more of your traffic into paying customers.
  3. And third, a strong USP can eliminate price comparison shopping. This can be a game changer for your business because you’re no longer seen as a commodity. If you give your prospects a compelling reason to do business with you versus your competition, then price becomes a secondary issue, and you’ll be able to demand higher prices than your competition without hurting your sales.

 

Third, analyze your competitors, and look for an opening. The most important word in unique selling proposition is unique.