Google AdWords

What’s the Difference Between AdWords & AdWords Express? #FAQuesday

With a name like “AdWords Express”, it’s easy to assume that it must be a quick and effective way to get your business involved with AdWords. This is true, but the differences between a regular and Express campaign are far greater than most may realize. The Web Guys team is going to clear things up to help decide what’s best for your business. Learn more about AdWords in a previous blog. Overview AdWords Express AdWords Pay only for clicks Yes Yes Automated Management Yes No Ads on Google Search & Maps Yes Yes Ads on other related websites Limited Yes Mobile ads Yes Yes Advanced ad formats (videos, graphics, etc.) No Yes Geographic targeting ability Anywhere Anywhere Ability to use without website Yes No Pros & Cons Breakdown AdWords Express Pros: Having a website isn’t necessary. Many features are automated, so ongoing management is minimal. Only pay when someone clicks … Continued

Google Search Results Page Update is Game Changer

Google has made a game-changing update to its search results that could negatively impact your website traffic. This latest change includes removing right-hand side ads from the search results page. In the past, there were typically three ad positions above organic search results and seven positions on the side. Now you’ll see up to four results at the top of the page and zero ads on the side. There are also ad positions on the bottom of the page below organic results. What’s the Impact? This update makes a BIG difference whether you have an AdWords campaign or not. Let’s assume you do have an AdWords campaign currently running. This means that if your average ad position is lower than 4 (meaning positions 5-10), your ad may get pushed to the bottom of the search results page, below organic results. The effectiveness of your campaign could drastically drop. In order … Continued

How Will I Know if my AdWords Campaign is Working?

A very common concern for new AdWords users is figuring out if it’s money well spent or money wasted. It’s an understandable concern that can be avoided if you plan ahead. There are a few things that business owners would need to think about when deciding if the campaign is working. What action do I want to drive with these ads? By this we mean, do you want these ads to produce more phone calls? Do you want more leads through the website? Do you want a video on your landing page to be watched? It’s important to know what you want to be measured before setting up the processes to measure that action. Google offers excellent tools and integration with Analytics to be able to measure phone call data as well as submissions through your website or users watching a video. Where can I locate this information in the … Continued

Draw High-Quality Website Traffic with AdWords

Now that you’ve learned about the various digital marketing tactics needed to establish a thriving online presence for your business, it’s time to dive into the purpose and complexities of paid search, commonly referred to as PPC (pay-per-click). We’ll focus today on Google AdWords, the most-recognized type of PPC advertising. You’ve likely seen these ads, which are identified with a small yellow box that says “Ad,” in Google search results.  Whenever one of these links is clicked, the ad owner pays for that visit to its website. The price is set through Google’s auction process. Factors affecting the price of ads include: the industry, competitors’ bids, quality of your ad, and quality of the landing page searchers will be taken to. In order to get high-quality clicks to your website at low prices, you need to be armed with a plan before jumping into the PPC world. We at The Web Guys are happy to … Continued

Why Mobile Ads Are Part of a Smart PPC Strategy

When it comes to PPC strategy, you can’t afford to turn your back on mobile devices. You’re missing out by assuming your customers are only searching from desktops. It’s important to take the time to understand why and how to properly optimize your pay-per-click ads to maximize results from mobile traffic.Why? Google recently reported that more than half of Internet searches worldwide are conducted through a mobile device. That alone should make it clear that businesses need to have a mobile presence, especially for an AdWords campaign. And since only the top two or three ad positions appear on mobile devices, it’s critical that yours be set up for success (which we’ll cover later in this post). How? If you know how to create ads within the AdWords dashboard, optimizing them for mobile searches is fairly simple. As shown below, you’ll see a box that you can check next to “Mobile.” This tells Google … Continued

Should I Use Click-to-Call AdWords Campaigns? #FAQuesday

Google is constantly introducing new features and ad types to keep up with the ever-evolving forms of technology we use on a daily basis. One of the most recent additions to Google AdWords was click-to-call ads, and they’ve created a lot of buzz about who should be using them and why. Let’s cover the ins and outs of this new option to help you make the best decision about setting up your next advertising campaign. What does Click-to-Call Mean? Click-to-call (CTC) is a type of ad within Google AdWords. These ads will show on mobile devices when users search Google for relevant keywords. Clicking on a company’s CTC ad will connect searchers to the business by phone, rather than sending them to its website. These ads cannot be shown on desktop computers, since most aren’t set up to make phone calls. What are the Pros? These ads don’t require your website to have a landing page … Continued

Viewing Your Google Ads in the Wild

When you begin an AdWords campaign, it’s so tempting to immediately start performing searches from your browser to see where the ads are showing up and what they look like. Without realizing it, you will pay for it … either directly or indirectly. Direct Effects If you search for your Google ads and happen to click on one of them, you will be charged for that click as you would when anyone else clicks on your ads. You certainly don’t want to be draining your budget to visit your own website. Indirect Effects Even if you know that you shouldn’t click on your ads, you’re still creating ad impressions just by searching for them. Impressions are the number of times your ad is fetched to be shown to a searcher. Google looks at the number of clicks and impressions your ads have to determine the click-through rate. The click-through rate has … Continued

What’s New With The Web Guys?

One of the themes that ties The Web Guys together is that we’re always working to push ourselves to the next level — both in our personal and professional lives. As the summer draws to a close, we thought we’d offer a snapshot of what’s going on in the lives of your favorite digital marketing team. Here’s a brief look at some recent highlights:

Does it Matter if my AdWords Manager is Google Certified? #FAQuesday

One question we hear a lot is whether it’s important to have someone who is Google Certified managing an AdWords account. Our answer is simple: Yes, it matters. Although it is possible to have a successful campaign without a certified pay-per-click manager, why risk failure?When you look for service providers in others industries — plumbing or auto repair, for example — you likely ensure that the candidates have training, knowledge, and certifications showing they are experts in their field. The stakes are just as high when it comes to PPC advertising. Digital marketing agencies earn Google AdWords certification by having at least one employee pass a series of tests demonstrating proficiency in creating, managing, and optimizing PPC campaigns. The first is a fundamentals exam to show overall knowledge, and the second is specific to a particular type of campaign: display, search, video, shopping, and mobile. The individual can choose which second exam to take, or it’s possible to become … Continued

Low Bids Kill AdWords Campaigns – Here’s Why

Oftentimes clients are willing to “try” AdWords to see how successful it is for their business, but the problem with that scenario is that if you don’t jump in head first, you’re never going to see the full potential of an AdWords campaign. The goal of a campaign is to attract potential customers who are actively searching for your services. If you aren’t spending enough money to let your ads show up at the top for those searches, they may not ever click through to visit your website.It can be difficult to understand why you can’t just put $100 towards ad spend and evaluate the results, but we’re here to explain the spiral of events that occurs from setting low bids with a low budget at the beginning of a campaign. Low Bids = Low Position Let’s say, for example, that you aren’t willing to spend more than $2 per click, so … Continued