The Deceptive Allure of AdWords

Google makes AdWords look inviting: the signup is easy and you can have ads up and running in almost no time at all. But the apparent simplicity of AdWords can be deceptive. There is a whole host of questions that need to be answered before a successful advertising campaign can be launched.
Consideration of target audience, keyword research, and analytical review need to be addressed before dedicating money to AdWords. Jumping into a new advertising campaign unprepared is a great way to waste precious time and money – like the 12-year-old who accidentally racked up over $100,000 in AdWords costs!

Narrowed Focus
Because Google has such a dominate share of the search engine market, it is easy to think that there is no reason to diversify ad-spending across the various search engines available. And with Google making AdWords so attractive to the amateur advertiser, why not? Google may have the dominate share, but it biggest competitor (Bing) still has a respectable 30%. And there are many benefits to branching out to include Bing (which also powers Yahoo! Search):

  • Less Competition: Because so many advertisers – both professional and amateur – are flocking to Google, there is a great opportunity waiting with Bing. Less competition means reaching more potential customers at a lower cost – because fewer people are bidding on your targeted search terms, the cost per click drops dramatically.
  • More Control: Bing also offers more demographic and keyword control over your ads. When you’re paying per click, getting your ad in front of the right people becomes increasingly important; and Bing has a whole set of powerful tools to target your advertisement to just the right audience.

Google and AdWords are still great tools, but if you’re ignoring other options to focus solely on Google, you could be missing out on a great opportunity to save money and increase clicks.

Keyword Research
Google offers their keyword explorer to users of AdWords, but having access to and excelling at keyword explorer are two totally different things! Understanding how to select keywords, how many to use, and how to configure your keyword settings can make or break a PPC advertising campaign. A PPC professional knows how to target keywords that offer strategic value without suffering from too much competition – harnessing the power of multiple keyword tools and in-depth data analysis. Beyond just selecting keywords, a qualified PPC advertiser knows how many to target with each ad (pro tip: it’s less than 2 but more than 0) and how to properly utilize negative keywords and match-requirements to get the most bang for your buck.

Analytical Review
Throwing money at PPC advertising and hoping for results might work in the short-term, but to craft a sustainable PPC advertising strategy you need detailed analytical information to determine ROI, performance plateaus, and A-B Testing.

  • Return on Investment: PPC advertising can get expensive. Keeping a close eye on performance statistics ensures that you’re not letting that go to waste. Clicks are great, but are they converting to customers? The only way to know for sure is by tracking all the available data.
  • Performance: Maybe you got off to a great start, but what do you do when your ROI plateaus? Or even worse, starts to fall off? Keeping a close eye on the data allows a PPC advertiser to diagnose and fix problems that are hurting performance.
  • A-B Testing: Some ads to better than others; sometimes it’s better copy, sometimes it’s a catchier headline, but whatever the reason it is vital to know which ads are performing and which are falling short. URL tracking and analytics can show just what is working and what isn’t.

PPC Professionals
Google may make AdWords look easy at first glance, but achieving and maintaining a return on your investment means dedicating time to reaching multiple platforms, keyword research, and analytical review. At the end of the day, hiring a professional advertising firm to handle your businesses’ PPC advertising campaign ensures that you’re not wasting time or money on advertising to the wrong people.
Fusion Group USA is equipped to handle any PPC advertising job – no matter what your budget. Contact us today to see how we can help lead a focused and successful campaign for your business.

Leave a Reply