Google Adwords is a complicated beast, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as you know how to navigate the Google Ads interface and how to identify what are good keywords for your business, you’re halfway there. The rest of the battle is being able to set up an account that will get you clicks at a low cost per click (CPC) while not wasting money on ads that fail to convert visitors into customers or leads.
First Fail
Right. There you have it. Simply stop taking the AdWords basic certification and fail it right away. This will give you a clear picture of what you’re being evaluated on. Google’s basic certification covers how to set up an account, how to use ad extensions and how to identify keywords. So you’ve already done all of these things! Congratulations on passing the first round!
Now Take The Test Again
Take the test again using a different email address or anything that will clearly show that it isn’t your original attempt. If you do fail this time around then congratulations because not only have you identified what is being evaluated but also how much information is required in order for one to pass the exam. That would be 50% right there (unless they upped their game). Now go back through everything else again until you can pass with flying colors like our very own student here was able to achieve.
Metrics & Acronyms
Any stager worth his salt knows what type of performance he’s aiming for. The best way to do this is through the use of metrics and how you can measure them. Starting with how we determine how well a keyword does:
ROI (Return On Investment) = [(Avg Cost Per Click – Avg Conversion Value)] / Avg Cost Per Click
So if I paid $100 for clicks and my conversions were worth $300 then my ROI would be 200%. Not bad! And that’s just one metric, there are plenty more like CPA (Cost Per Acquisition), CTR (Click Through Rate), CPC (Cost per click). The list goes on but these should get your creative mind working. Oh yeah…and don’t forget about acronyms either because they will help you sound smart in front of everyone else too.
What Are The Significance Of A Good Score And How Does It Impact My Access Levels?
One of the holy grails of paid search advertising is the Google AdWords quality score, which has long been sought after. I used to be really intimidated by it, but I’m here to tell you that once you understand how they work and how important they are for your account performance…it’s just not that hard!
First of all the quality score is a range between one and ten with ten being the highest. A lot of people will say this number determines whether or not your ad will show up in the search results at all, which isn’t true. What is true though is that high-quality scores can help get your ads on more relevant searches allowing them to appear higher than other lower-performing advertisers (like competitors). As a result, low-quality advertising may never get to the top of Google, making it simpler to nab those sought-after top ranks.
Conversion Tracking & Adwords
There are two types of conversion tracking… destination URL and virtual page view conversions. If you’ve recently installed a WordPress plugin like Yoast or All in One SEO, then it comes with some built-in features to track how well your ads perform (conversions) for both Google Adwords & Bing Ads. These plugins will also help out by giving you the ability to add callouts at the bottom of each ad which can include things like phone numbers or physical business addresses that when clicked on take users directly there!
It’s worth mentioning though if you’re running more than one account in either network; these settings won’t transfer over automatically so make sure everything is set up properly before getting started.