Setting Up a Google AdWords Account

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Getting going with PPC advertising can be confusing and difficult, particularly if you are completely new to the concept and have zero prior experience.

One of the first hurdles you will need to overcome is creating your Google AdWords account and getting the ball rolling with your first PPC advertisement. Luckily, it’s a relatively simple undertaking.

Knowing when you are ready to set up your Google AdWords account and start a PPC campaign isn’t quite so clear-cut, though. There are a few things you will need to consider first in-order to find success on Google AdWords.

Google AdWords is one of the most powerful methods of search engine marketing out there and it is used by millions of businesses worldwide.

When you have created your account and gotten some momentum behind you, you can get your AdWords campaign running in a matter of hours, if not sooner. This means that if done properly, you could start seeing results coming in on day one.

Google AdWords is one of the most powerful methods of search engine marketing out there and it is used by millions of businesses worldwide.

On this page, I am going to cover the process of creating a Google AdWords account, when is the best time to do it, and give you some tips and best practices to help maximise your ROI.

Who Am I?

I am an experienced digital marketing consultant who, for around a decade, has spent time working with hundreds of clients spread across any and all industries. My work delivers massive ROI through measurable results and it is this, alongside my vast digital marketing knowledge and strong work ethic, that has made me very successful.

Working on projects ranging from those that are small and simple such as keyword research to those that are big and long-term such as website development and the deployment of entire digital marketing strategies. Between all of us, my team and I have decades’ worth of experience in website development, digital marketing, and a range of other areas.

It doesn’t matter whether you are an individual, new start-up, or established player in your industry, my services can easily be tailored to fit your unique requirements, goals, and budget.

How I Can Help

If you think that my services could be right for you, my team and I will work closely with you to get your PPC campaign up and running. From account creation to planning and execution, we can handle everything for you so that you can concentrate on running your business.

Want to find out more about my services or ask a question about anything you have read on my website? Feel free to send me an email and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Before sending me an email, I encourage you to learn about the basics of PPC and run your own campaign if you have the time to do this. Doing this will help you develop vital skills that could make a huge difference to your company’s long-term success.

If you go forward with my services, my team and I will work closely with you throughout the entire process, from start to finish, to deliver the best possible results. With each client, we assess your unique situation and apply a methodical process that has been proven to drive growth and deliver a strong ROI.

Ready to take the next steps? Get in touch today!

3 Rules for Google AdWords Beginners

Although AdWords is a relatively simple tool that is easy to get going with, there are three key rules that you should adhere to as a beginner. Many AdWords newbies have found themselves burned by not following them—don’t make the same mistakes!

1. Set a fixed budget

There are several horror stories of people ploughing thousands and thousands of pounds or dollars in AdWords expecting it to work and return a profit. Don’t do this! Set a fixed budget and make sure you stick to it. This can be as little as £20 to £50 when you are just getting started.

2. Don’t overcomplicate the process

In the beginning, you simply want to kick off a simple PPC campaign. Google AdWords is a very powerful tool, however, that is complex and has lots of features. It is easy to get lost in this interface by playing around with settings and creating lots of ad variations. Again, don’t do this—start with one simple and straightforward ad whilst you are new.

3. Don’t expect instant results

You will not see results instantly. Even though AdWords is the quickest form of search engine marketing so far as seeing results is concerned, they can still take some time. Most of the people who end up losing money through AdWords are those who are inpatient and quit early on in the process because they don’t see results, or start putting more money in expecting to see faster results.

Knowing When You're Ready for PPC Marketing

Thinking you are ready to start a PPC campaign with AdWords is one thing, knowing you are ready is another. PPC marketing is a powerful method that you can use to direct engaged and relevant traffic to your website. Because of this, you should only start doing it when you and your site are ready.

Here are 3 questions you should ask yourself first—

1. Is my website well-built, filled with relevant content, and easy to navigate?

AdWords is great for bringing relevant traffic to your website. Once these people have made it to your site by clicking on your ad, your site should be in a state that encourages them to stick around and convert into paying customers or clients.

If your landing page isn’t responsive, is cluttered full of ads and irrelevant information, and has very little to do with your business, you are going to be throwing away all the money you’ve spent on PPC. Relevant searchers who you are targeting with your AdWords PPC campaign are not going to stick around and convert if your site is irrelevant, unresponsive, and difficult to navigate.

2. Do I have the time to commit to managing a PPC campaign?

You are unlikely to start seeing immediate significant results from your PPC marketing efforts. Just like most other areas of digital marketing, PPC is something that takes time to manifest and deliver measurable results.

It takes time for you to not only learn about AdWords and get a viable ad out there, but it also takes time to identify keywords to target, learn from mistakes, and find out which ads work best for your business.

If you don’t have the time to fully commit yourself to AdWords and learn about PPC properly, you will be better off outsourcing it. Without commitment, you will never get the results you deserve.

3. Do I know enough to successfully run a PPC campaign?

Although you can dive into PPC without knowing anything, it is a far better idea to spend a significant amount of time learning about it beforehand. It can take a few weeks, but it is well worth it, you are far more likely to run a successful campaign by doing your research and avoiding common mistakes.

Once you have the basics down you will be in a far better position to create your AdWords account and run a (hopefully!) successful PPC campaign.

Although it’s a lot of work when you just get started, properly learning about and properly running a PPC marketing campaign will be well worth your time in the long run.

Setting Up a Google AdWords Account

To use Google AdWords, you need to have an actual Google account. This is something you probably have already—if not you can register one here—and if so, you can head straight over to adwords.google.com and sign in with your Google account credentials.

We recommend using a different email address to your work or professional one so that your inbox isn’t bombarded with AdWords-related emails.

When you have signed in with your Google account for the first time, there are a few things you will need to do, and AdWords will guide you through the process. Some of these things are—

  • Setting your preferences such as time zone and currency
  • Adding billing information (automatic or manual)
  • Waiting for bank verification

Depending on which billing method you choose—e.g. credit card or bank transfer—you may need to wait to be verified. Whilst credit card payments are instant and don’t require verification, direct bank transfer payment options do.

Also, be careful about choosing automatic payments over manual ones. Automatic payments will debit your card or account when you reach your billing threshold. This is fine if you have set a pre-defined amount (e.g. £50) but if you don’t then you can end up being taken by surprise with a large bill.

Manual payments are, in my opinion, the better option—you top-up your AdWords account with a custom amount and AdWords will deduct PPC charges from this. Once this balance is gone, your ads will be paused until you add more funds.

Fleshing Everything Out

You shouldn’t simply create an account and then dive into creating advertisements… there’s quite a lot you can do prior to publishing your first PPC ad to improve your chances of it being successful (and prevent you wasting your money!) Spend time to learn about the AdWords interface and try some of the following tips out.

1. Decide where you want your ads to be shown

AdWords lets you target very specific areas and it’s a good idea to make full use of this. You can choose entire countries, cities, suburbs, and custom geographical areas by inputting coordinates and lat-long information, or by setting a radius in kilometres around a specific location.

2. Change up your “bid strategy” and set your budget

To exercise more control, it’s a good idea to modify your “Bid strategy” from the default setting to “I’ll manually set my bids for clicks.” By doing this, you will be able to get used to AdWords without blowing a whole lot of money unintentionally. You can always change this later.

Next, define your daily budget. This is the maximum amount of money that Google will charge your AdWords account each day. At first whilst you are still learning, I recommend setting a low daily budget and opt for manual instead of automatic payments.

3. Decide on your keywords

If you don’t know what keywords to target (or what keywords are!) then I recommend carrying out some keyword research. PPC keywords help you target the people who are relevant to you and are likely to be interested in your site.

When you are first starting out with AdWords, I recommend only targeting a small handful of keywords that are most important and relevant to you. Over time, you can build this number up by targeting different keywords with different ads.

Whatever you do, don’t instantly dump AdWords full of keywords. Instead, use the interface to explore different keywords and keyword variations to find the ones that will work best for you at the current point in time.

4. Set your maximum cost-per-click (CPC)

CPC, or “default bid”, is the amount of money you will pay each time somebody clicks on your ad. The actual CPC depends on the value of your ad as determined by keywords. If you are targeting popular keywords, then your CPC will be more expensive.

If you don’t have a huge budget when starting out with PPC, it is better to decide on keywords with a lower cost as this will enable you to reach a larger number of people.

5. Create your first ad

Google AdWords has a specific template for ads—

Line 1 (Headline): Up to 25 characters and should include your keyword. 25 characters isn’t a lot, so you may need to abbreviate. More people click ads that have the keyword displayed in its headline.

Line 2 and 3: These lines let you input 35 characters each. This is the meat of your ad. Be succinct and straight to the point—tell the user why they would benefit from using your product or service.

Line 4 (URL): Paste the URL of the page you want anybody who clicks your ad to land on.

6. Always check on your ads and keywords

When you have an ad live, the best thing you can do is constantly monitor it—this helps you figure out whether the keyword(s) you are using are the right ones and are delivering results.

Keep an eye on your budget, too—make sure your funds aren’t being drained straight away (if they are, target different keywords) and that you are getting the positions in Google search results that you want from your budget.

A Note on Ad Extensions

In addition to the PPC ad itself, there are several extensions that can be added on to appear below it. There is a comprehensive list of extensions that can be found on the AdWords site, and these include—

  • Product and service pricing
  • Phone numbers and other contact information
  • Direct links to different areas of your site

Whilst extensions can be very useful, I advise using them straight away. It can be very tempting, but plugins and extensions further complicate AdWords and as a first-time user, you want to get used to the platform itself before you begin adding on extensions.

Ready to Take the Next Steps?

If reading about PPC has you feeling a little overwhelmed, my services may be right for you.

Anybody can do PPC marketing, it’s not that difficult once you have done your research and tested the waters, but it is a time-consuming process. If you don’t have the time to fully dedicate to PPC, you will find that the results you get from a PPC campaign are nowhere near as good as the results you would get from outsourcing it to a dedicated professional such as me.

PPC involves a lot more than creating a Google AdWords account and spending 5 minutes putting an ad together.

Digital marketing itself is always changing and there is a whole lot that you need to do before you make your first PPC ad, and that’s before you have factored in the bigger picture and thought about deploying a complete digital marketing campaign that takes other areas into account.

If you think you have enough time to have a good go of it, then go ahead—learning about digital marketing is something all business owners should do if they have the time for it. After all, it is the biggest growth factor for businesses operating online.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to inquire further about my services. I am always happy to answer any questions and provide information obligation-free. I also recommend reading my blog where I cover PPC, amongst other things, in more depth.

When Should I Consult a Professional?

This is a decision that only you can make.

Do you have the time to spend on carrying out market research and then launching a fully-fledged PPC marketing campaign? If the answer to this is yes, then you have a choice to make:

  • Do it all yourself and learn as you go
  • Consult a professional who can do it for you and drive the best results

If the answer is no, however, you don’t have much of a choice. You could dismiss PPC research and put off your PPC marketing campaign for another time, but what’s the sense in that?

In almost all cases, it makes more sense to outsource your PPC marketing efforts—that includes market research, planning, execution, and ongoing monitoring—to a specialist individual or company that operates in the digital marketing industry.

The nature of digital marketing means that everything is constantly changing and whilst having basic knowledge and understanding helps, it is only a professional knowledge and understanding that can deliver the very best results.

Whilst I personally encourage everybody to have a stab at digital marketing themselves, particularly if they are still in the pre-launch stages of their business (even if you outsource marketing, it is still useful to have a basic knowledge and understanding), it always makes sense to utilize the services of an individual or company that has demonstrable digital marketing experience.

If you would like to learn more about the range of services I offer, feel free to email me. I endeavour to provide a helping hand wherever possible by answering questions and providing some guidance. There is no obligation to utilize my services professionally unless you want to, either.

I also recommend checking out my blog where I cover everything from PPC to content writing to social media marketing. If it matters to your website, you will find it here.

Do you need help with your business?

If you would like to talk about getting your marketing where it should be, get in touch now.