“I don’t know who needs to add these words but I know I need AdWords!”

DID YOU KNOW the average business owner, whose website acts as their digital calling card to target consumers, does not know what Google AdWords really is; they just know they need it.

Terms like AdWords, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Webmaster Tools confuse the masses to no end but for effective website management, they are essential.

Let’s define them and then explore how and who they can help!

AdWords

Simply put, it is an advertising service, a strategic technique really, that is used by businesses to display their ads on search engines. AdWords is a program that helps you master your online advertising network by managing an advertising budget that is affected only when people actually click on your ad.

Main Process: It’s an online auction!

Main Terms:

Keywords/Queries – Words and/or phrases used in your content that most likely reflect what searchers will type in on search engines (Google, Big, Yahoo, Baidu, etc.)

Cookies (not to be confused with the addiction of a certain loveable blue Muppet)

Quality Score – This rating is a determination of how relevant your page, ad or keywords used are to what searchers are looking for and how likely it is that they will click your ad.

• Your Ad Rank is determined by multiplying your Quality Score by the amount you Bid
• The higher your Q score means the lower the amount you will have to bid and the better your rank

Ad Rank/Ad Position – How high up on the results page your ad will appear. It is all about positioning and as the saying goes “location, location, location!”    *See Quality Score*

CPC (Actual & Average) – Cost per click is the currency amount you the advertiser pays every time a consumer clicks on your ad.

• Actual CPC – What is actually paid once Quality Scores and Ad Ranks of other advertisers in the auction affect the auction.
• Average CPC – The average amount you the advertiser usually spend once someone clicks on your ad.

How it works: You, or whoever you have managing your website or advertising strategy, can bid on the keywords you believe would be the most beneficial in getting your website’s ads seen and pages visited by your targeted searcher.

How it also works: When you bid on a relevant keyword, relevant to the searcher’s entry, also known as a query, your ad has to qualify to appear on the results pages. Then, AdWords selects your most applicable, also having your highest bid, and places it in the auction. Now, like any auction, you wait and hope for the best!

How the math works:

Your query’s Quality Score multiplied by your BID = Ad Rank

QS * Bid = Ad Rank

Current Best Ad Rank divided by your query’s Quality Score (plus one cent) = How much you actually Pay (Actual Cost per Click)

Top Ad Rank / (QS +$.01) = CPC

Just because you bid $25 for your ad placement, it does not mean you will actually be paying Google $25 every time someone clicks on your ad. It is a strategy; a game. Hence, the higher the Quality Score of a keyword or query, the more domination you have of the auction!