Archive | Jan, 2010

Haiti Earthquake Appeal

The latest pictures and stories coming from Haiti are simply awful. Which is what has prompted me to promote the official haiti earthquake donation website http://www.dec.org.uk/haiti-appeal.

I know times are still tough for people out there at the moment, however spare a thought (and a pound) for the victims of such a major tragedy. At the moment they still have very little water, very little food and no homes.

According to reports it will take £343 million to help the people of haiti – so every ounce of effort people can make will make all the difference.

Sorry this post is nothing to do with Google however I couldn’t just sit there, watching television and eating my breakfast.

Google AdWords Tip #5

Okay last Google AdWords Tip for this evening.

When considering a Google AdWords campaign, ask yourself this question -

Is your website good enough to convert visitors?

If you think your website isn’t up to scratch then I can (almost) 100% guarantee that your “new” visitors would think exactly the same thing and leave without making an enquiry.

This is the biggest problem I come across when people ask me to create a new Google AdWords campaign for them. I could just “cut and run” – create their AdWords campaign and then not worry about the conversions they get – however this isn’t how I do business (and it certainly isn’t the reason I get referrals!!).

I am NOT a web designer, however I have a good idea on how usable a website is, whether there is a clear call to action on each page, and whether the website looks 2010 and not 2001!!

Of the points mentioned above, the main one for me is the clear call to action on each page to “get in touch” with you. If people have just read about your product or service, don’t then make them have to search out your contact details to take their enquiry further.

Google AdWords Tip #4

My penultimate Google AdWords tip for today.

What are you wanting to achieve from your Google AdWords campaign?

Do you want to raise your profile and brand, or are you looking for clients?

Knowing the answer to this question would determine whether to do text ads, image ads or other forms of Google AdWords advertising. You might want to have image ads showing on a placement targeted campaign if you are trying to raise brand awareness. You might have products that “sell” on its image alone. You might end up with more value for money having your AdWords showing up on a website about the subject matter being researched using Google Adsense technology.

Google AdWords Tip #3

Since I am on a roll, my third Google AdWords tip for today is this – before you start, find out how competitive your product or service will be to “bid” on.

The competitiveness of your market can make a huge difference to the amount of money you would need to “bid” to appear on the first page? For example if you wanted to “bid” for the phrase Life Insurance quote, this would could cost you as much as £30 per click!! Would this provide value for money? Do you have a ridiculously large budget, or would you have a high conversion rate to make this pay?

Understanding this is crucial to the success of your Google AdWords marketing campaign.

Google AdWords Tips #2

My second tip when considering Google AdWords is – do the keywords you are bidding on provide value for money?

For example, if you were bidding £1 per click, how much would a conversion make you? £10? £100? Knowing this gives you an idea on what return you get on your investment you make into Google – you would know that if you only made £10 on average per enquiry, that to break even you would need a 1 in 10 conversion. Is this possible (or likely)? Are there keywords and phrases that cost less to bid on, but are (almost) the same type of client?

What you must also consider is this – are these enquiries “one offs”, or will these clients come back and purchase your product or service again in the future? If so, it might be that breaking even on your initial Google AdWords is worthwhile.