How to Use Google Ad Words To Boost Sales

You know those text ads you often see at the top of your pages while surfing or searching the Internet? Those are Google Ads, and creative entrepreneurs can use them to advertise their work and websites.

Placing ads on Google is a powerful tool vendors can use to build their email list, make direct sales, or even test the popularity of a title of a piece of work.

But for the first-time user, Google Adwords may seem overwhelming. Today's post will go over the basics of getting started, and tomorrow's will offer tips and tricks to make your campaign more successful.

Here is a 5-step guide to setting up your first Google Adwords campaign.

1. Set up your Google Adwords Account

If you haven't already, go to adwords.google.com and set up your account. You'll be asked if you have an existing user name and password. If you use a Gmail address for your business, log in using that information.

You will be asked to provide additional advertising account information, including billing preferences and geographic location. Once you have completed setup, you're ready to start your first campaign.

2. Adjust Your Ad Settings

Go to the "Campaigns" tab and click on "Create Your First Campaign." You will be prompted to select your campaign settings and set your budget.

For most first-time advertisers, the default campaign settings will not need to be changed, with the exception of two options: the budget (you will need to set one, and we'll get into that more tomorrow) and under "Networks," you will want to deselect the "Display Network" setting. The Display Network (previously known as the Content Network) will show your ads across sites that show Google advertising. While this opens up the opportunity for a lot more traffic in the long run, it can eat up a budget very quickly if you haven't yet tested your ads on a smaller scale.

Unchecking the Display Network option will allow you to test ads just on search engine results pages (like when you enter a search term on Google.com) and help control costs while you are getting comfortable with budgets, ad copy, and results.

3. Write Your Ad Copy

Successful Google text ads use the same basic principles as any direct marketing ad. Make sure your ad copy describes what you are offering in a clear and compelling way and if you want the user to do something on your site, make sure you include a "call to action" (sign up now, buy now, etc.)

4. Choose Keywords

Use a keyword tool to develop a list of keywords to bid on. The key to choosing the right keywords is making sure they are relevant to your site. Broad industry keywords will tend to be more expensive because they are the words most people bid on. You will need to run your ads for a few days and look at your Google reports and conversion results to see which terms are worth the cost for you.

Use Google's free keyword tool to generate keywords based on your site's content.

5. Wait for Approval and Track Results

Once you have set up your first ad, you may need to wait for it to "go live." Some keywords, ads, or sites may trigger a manual approval from Google. Your first ads may take a day or so to get approved, sometimes a little longer. Don't worry - this is normal.

Reports will be available (in the Reports tab) to help you optimize after your ad has been live for a few days.

Tune in on Thursday for a list of tips and tricks for making your Google Adwords campaigns more successful!

Molly Fisher has more than 10 years experience building brands and social networks for leading companies such as Schooldude.com and Burt's Bees as well as several other clients. She currently runs Craft Ideas Weekly Facebook Community, the Craft Ideas Weekly Blog, and works as an eCommerce and Social Marketing Consultant in Chapel Hill, NC.

Main image courtesy of janetgalore.

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