Advertising on Google

Ever wondered how Google makes money? The answer to this question is a product called Google AdWords, which is Google's advertising program. This article discusses some of the more important AdWords features. If you are not yet familiar with online advertising programs, please read my article on Online Advertising first.

Content vs. Search

Google basically offers two ways of online advertising: on search engines and on partner websites. On these partner websites advertisements are triggered by the content that's being offered. For instance, if you are advertising soccer shoes you may appear on websites that offer information about soccer, sports and soccer shoes. Advertisements on the search engine appear when someone enters your keywords in the search engine. Although many people prefer advertising on search engines, it may be smart to still consider the content network. Especially if your business operates in a very competitive environment. Most of your competitors may be advertising on the search engine (pushing up the advertising prices), which leaves some chances for you on the content network.

AdWords Structure

All AdWords accounts are structured like pyramids. The main 3 levels are:

• Account: Unique email address, password, billing information, and account preferences
• Campaign: Start and end dates, daily budget, Google Network preferences, target languages and locations, and advanced options
• Ad group: Ads, keyword and / or placement (content network) list, and CPC or CPM bids

An account contains one or multiple campaigns, for instance a campaign for new cars and a campaign for used cars. You can also create multiple campaigns for your target languages or locations. These campaigns contain your keywords and ads. It is adviceable to keep your ad groups small (max 150 keywords). That way, your ad groups remain manageable.

Freelance AdWords Advice

Need help setting up your Google AdWords campaigns? Request a quote now.