** Continued From: Adwords Advantages! - Part #1
Most people consider Google Adwords as just another way to advertise online. Albeit true, there is a large amount of knowledge to be gained by running even a simple, low budget Adwords campaign. Not to mention the advantages it can have for your organic search engine ranking efforts.
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"By understanding how keyword matching works and putting it into practice on your own site, you can help increase your own organic ranking results" |
In this second part, we will explore the art of selecting keywords and the definitions Google Adwords uses to determine how your ads match and display based on the keywords selected, and how to optimize their performance using the Budget Optimizer. We will also discuss the difference between search and content matches, and further explore how Google Adwords campaigns can directly impact you organic results.
Upon entering Adwords, your first task is to create a campaign. The best way to manage your Adwords goals is to create a campaign for a) each site you wish to promote, or b) each marketing niche or section of the site you wish to promote.
For Example, I have 2 sites, a paysite and a free site. My first task is to create a campaign for Paysite and another for Free site. Starting with Paysite, open the campaign and you will see an option to create Ad Groups for that site. Each campaign you create has an individual daily budget. Each Ad Group you create has an individual set of ads that can be created for that keyword set and a maximum cost per click for each keyword. (Note: The term “keyword” is used to represent a keyword phrase or singular term.) It is known that the better keyword matching you have for each set of targeted keywords, the more the ad is clicked. Here is where Keyword Matching comes into play.
What is Keyword Matching?
Keyword Matching has a group of types and definitions outlined by Google. It is important to understand these as it is a relevant indicator of how Google's organic algorithm indexes and ranks your sites pages in Web Results.
Here are the Keyword Matching definitions defined by Google:
Now let's compare them using adult keyword examples:
| keyword = broad match |
BDSM porn = Anything + BDSM + porn, or BDSM + porn + Anything |
| [keyword] = exact match |
[BDSM porn] = Will only appear when searched as is. |
| "keyword" = phrase match |
“BDSM porn” = Anything + BDSM porn, or BDSM porn + Anything. |
| -keyword = negative match |
- BDSM porn = Useful to eliminate singular keywords such as 'free' |
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A broad match is the best way to blow your budget. Select 'porn' and your ad will appear with any keyword plus the word 'porn'. Not very useful when trying to target traffic. A broad match for a highly targeted keyword such as 'bukkake' may work well, given the amount of traffic for bukkake variations is limited, you could try to hit them all with one targeted campaign ad “Bukkake Porn Megasite – Rare Bukkake Movies from Around the World”.
To summarize: if you enter a broad match term such as 'free xxx' your ad will appear and you will be charged for the impressions on 'free xxx pics', 'illegal free xxx', 'free teen xxx', etc. If you are adhering to a budget, this is not the best way to target traffic. If you are playing a numbers game, make sure your ads contain and emphasize the broad match and hope for the best.
What is the expanded matching feature?
With expanded matching, the Google AdWords system automatically runs your ads on highly relevant keywords, including synonyms, related phrases, and plurals, even if they aren't in your keyword lists. For example, if you're currently running ads on the keyword web hosting, expanded matching may identify the keyword website hosting for you. EXPANDED MATCHING ONLY APPLIES TO YOUR BROAD-MATCHED KEYWORDS. With expanded matching, your keyword selection of 'porn' can show up for 'pornography' and 'porno', or even 'xxx'. 'Free xxx” can show up for 'free sex' or 'porn free'.
An exact match can be your best tool and is best understood when compared to a phrase match. It is also known to be most effective when combined with an ad that contains the keyword match as well as a targeted URL destination relevant to the keywords being targeted.
[xxx videos] - An exact keyword match will appear only for a search for 'xxx videos'. "xxx videos", a phrase match will show up for searches for 'hardcore xxx videos', 'teen xxx videos' or 'free xxx videos' but not 'xxx sex videos'.
Negative keyword matches are self explanatory.
For a better understanding of when and how your ads will appear for different types of keyword matches, Google has recently updated its Keyword Tool. Use the brackets and quotes and turn synonyms off to see examples of other keyword matches your ads will appear for. This tool only represents variations between broad and phrase matches. Exact matches and negative matches are exactly what they are named.
The difference between Search and Content matching for your ad is important. Search matches mean your ad will only appear on keyword searches that take place at
Google.com or other sites that use Google Search on their site. Content matches means that your ads can and will appear on other sites using Adsense or content sites and products in the Google Network such as Gmail ads that match keywords in emails.
If you are just starting out, or running adult ads it is wise to start out using Search matches only until your campaign is highly optimized before trying out the Content match option. In my experience, Content matches are a good branding tool, but the expense of all those impressions does not always payoff in clicks. It strongly depends on what you are promoting.
The Budget Optimizer (located under Edit Campaign Settings) is a great tool for managing how much money you spend per day or in a time period. It weighs out the amount of exposure per day and the cost. If you have a budget of $100/month this tool will manage how your funds are spent per campaign, per Ad Group, and per keyword unless otherwise indicated. What good is spending $100 per month if it all goes in one day?
It takes time to optimize your AdWords results, create ads that draw clicks, and define the best destinations for each keyword so those clicks become conversions on the first visit. By optimizing your budget you can check on your performance daily and rest easily knowing that you are only spending $3.33/day with a max cost per click of $0.15, and it will generate an average CPC just above the norm giving you a higher display rate for every keyword in that campaign.
Now we know how keyword matching works and a few of the tools that Google offers to manage your money and your ads performance. Knowing that the ads you create do better when they contain the primary keywords you are targeting, it is important to understand that if you create multiple ads per Ad Group, they will rotate exposure until one ad shows a higher Click Through Rate than another.
Google wants to help you get more clicks; it's how they make money. However, by understanding how keyword matching works and putting it into practice on your own site, you can help increase your own organic ranking results. Even by matching keyword sets in Ad Groups with a specific URL that is also optimized for the keywords being matched and targeted, you can show Google that your site is relevant enough to be successful in Google Adwords.
The trickle down effect to the organic results is undeniable. With this powerful information, how well have you carved your competitive edge? Learning to understand the Adwords Advantages, at even just $1.00 per day, it's a cheap lesson in better understanding both PPC Marketing as well as Organic SEO.
Until next time, Happy Promoting!
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