Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Google Adwords – 5 Things You Should Know

Generating traffic may seem like a hit or miss game when you first start your Google Adwords program, but you don’t have to settle for many misses with the right approach. Learning from other people’s strategies is can be one of the best ways to launch an effective internet marketing program, but most people overlook the basics and end up burning through hundreds of dollars just to keep up with the competition.
Internet marketing pioneers such as Perry Marshall have developed several Google Adwords strategies, the key processes that can help generate traffic from the get-go. Instead of settling losing the bidding wars and missing out on high quality traffic, Marshall and other online marketing gurus have outlined the fundamentals for success with Google Adwords; here are five important elements for capturing the target market and driving quality traffic to your site:

#1: Playing Mindreader
 Understanding a customer’s needs and wants is an essential part of every marketing campaign, but when you only have two or three lines to capture a prospect’s attention, you need a formula that works. Perry Marshall encourages advertisers to write copy that ‘enters the conversation going on in the customer’s head.’ Essentially, this means learning enough about the prospect to determine the exact words and phrases they might use to explain their problem – and their ideal solution. Capturing this key phrase or sentence and wrapping it into the lines of the Google Adwords ad is one of the best ways to generate traffic.
#2: Choosing the Right Display URL
Making sure the URL linked within the text ad is a valuable way to create a sense of relevancy for your customer. The URL you display should link directly to the landing page, free download or other offer you are advertising within the ad. This also helps with SEO, and is a proven method of attracting more attention than using only the URL to your website.
#3: Doing Double Duty
Creating two different ad campaigns using similar keywords and phrases is a valuable way to test the market and compare results. Launching two campaigns simultaneously, and then deleting the poor-performing add can also help you build up a strong and consistent CTR with very little effort.
#4: Taking the Long Road
When competitors are already buying highly competitive keywords, it’s time to you’re your keywords and keyphrases to the next level; all you need to do is bid on longer phrases that turn out to be complete sentences or variations of the phrase. This can help you capture a larger market, without missing out on those valuable keywords; it can also help you brainstorm synonyms and alternatives for your keywords.
#5: Benefits First
Listing benefits then features is a tested and proven method that can help you attract high quality traffic almost immediately. Since you only have a couple of lines to work with, positioning keywords and phrases in just the right format is essential; make sure your benefits are listed first to grab the reader’s attention, and then you can list a few features to close the deal – and get that click.
Internet marketers have already cracked the code for success with Google Adwords, so you don’t have to pay for the most common ‘beginner’s mistakes’. Whether you’re on a tight budget or just want to maximize your online marketing efforts, starting your Google Adwords campaign with these five strategies can make every ad a traffic generating opportunity.