Part Three of Our Demystifying Google Series
Google’s advertising platform, Google Adwords, is the magic behind Google’s targeted advertising. Adwords is Google’s advertising service. It allows you to advertise on Google and its affiliates using the Pay Per Click system, meaning that you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. PPC allows you to control who you target your ads to as well as how much you spend on ads.
Google Adwords – Where do they appear?
Google Adwords ads can appear in a few different places on the search results page. You can see ads in the “Sponsored Links” section to the right of the general search results. Ads can also appear above the search results. These ads, not surprisingly, have a higher click rate than those in the Sponsored Links section.
Adwords Keyword Tool – How do I choose the keywords I want to target?
Adwords is so effective because of the Adwords Keyword Tool, which analyzes keywords to discover what Google users search for most. The Keyword Tool allows you to figure out what search terms are most relevant to your business. It tells you how many times per month people search for terms and the term’s competitiveness. Competitiveness is based on monthly searches and on the number of people trying to optimize for that term. The higher the competitiveness, the less likely you will be able to rank using that term.
The Keyword Tool is accessible to anyone, but can also be used once you have an ad campaign set up with Google. This set-up allows you to monitor the keywords you use and edit them if necessary.
Google Placement Tool – How can you further target your ads?
Adwords also allows you to target your ads using the Placement Tool. The Placement Tool allows advertisers to target their ads to searchers based on a searcher’s characteristics. Advertisers can choose up to three categories to target their ads to including: age, gender, income, and location. By allowing control over what demographic groups you can target, the Placement Tool helps you to make sure the right people see your ad. If the ad is relevant to the user, they are much more likely to click on it. By utilizing the Placement Tool, you reduce your per click expense while increasing the chances that your ideal customer finds you.
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