Managing Your SEM

Google’s AdWords is a great resource to grow any business, small or large. However, if you’re not careful, your AdWords campaign can soon become out of control. You’ll need a sharp eye to keep watch over all aspects of your campaign.

The Money
Make sure that you’re watching how much you’re spending, or the “Max CPC” category. Even if you have a great landing page, quality score and more, you’ll still be missing out on the first page listings because you’re not bidding enough. Conversely, a certain keyword might not be worth it based on CPC (Cost Per Click). For example, if you’re a small business trying to compete on the keyword “shoes,” you most likely have little-to-no chance of showing up on the first page. You money might be best spent elsewhere

The Keywords
Your keywords, are… well, key. Make sure you know exactly which ones you have tried, all the variations out there and continue to think up new ones to test. Also, employ the quotes and bracket feature, narrowing your keyword’s range. This matching feature allows a keyword to be broad, matched by phrase or matched exactly, among others.

AdGroups
Once you have found keywords that consistently perform well, start a different AdGroup for them. That way you’ll know which AdGroups off to the side are doing well, and which ones you should spend more time on. Also, make the keywords in your AdGroups are consistent and similar. For example, a safety company like this one here should have different kinds of AdGroups—possibly “Safety Implementation,” “ Workplace,” and “Research.” Better organization of your keywords means you can spend less time trying to remember if you have used a keyword already and more time refining your campaign.

Pausing
It’s important to check up on your AdWords campaign everyday, as to avoid keywords “running away” on you. If you have too many ads going, and you feel yourself slipping behind your own campaign, pause some keywords until you can get your campaign under control. Or, if you’re running out of money, change the frequency of your campaigns. You can alter the ads to only run on weekdays, weekends or between certain hours.

Google Adwords are great for getting your business name out there, however you want your campaign to be cost effective. Keep a watchful eye on all your keywords, and you’ll be able to drive the right traffic to your site at the right price.

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