6 Common Newbie Mistakes

What NOT To Do!

After many years observing novices who set up their own Google AdWords campaigns, I have noticed the same mistakes being made over and over. Here are the top 6 things newbie AdWords advertisers should be aware of:

1. Writing Boring Ads/Using Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI)

Before you write your first ad, check out the other ads that come up for the top keywords you're bidding on. Will your ad blend in with all the rest? What can you say to get your customers' attention? Put yourself in their shoes. Don't blindly follow conventional PPC-ad-writing wisdom by putting the main keywords in the headline (or worse, using DKI to insert the user's query). Instead, stand out by using a phrase that resonates with the potential customer; it doesn't have to contain keywords to be evocative.

Challenge yourself to write not 1 but 2 ads for each ad group so you can test which gets more clickthroughs. (Be sure to set it to rotate 50/50 in your campaign settings, otherwise Google will skew results.)

2. Bidding on Only Broad-match Keywords

Unless you have unlimited funds, broad match should be used with extreme caution! Don't know what that is? An explanation is here. If you're not using quote marks or brackets around your keywords, that's broad match. Quotes and brackets are the only way to ensure Google is showing your ads when YOU want it to, not whenever it thinks your ad MIGHT be a match for the query. Google calls this license to pick your pocket "expanded broad match." Sometimes only ONE of the keywords in your phrase can trigger your ad. Or a synonym you might not agree is a match. (Always remember that Google AdWords is really just a machine — don't trust it too much!)

If it's absolutely necessary to bid on broad match, you can find out what queries Google showed your ads for ONLY when it results in your ad being clicked. You will need to either 1) set up a separate ad group or 2) put the dynamic tracking code {keyword} (note the curly brackets) in your destination URL.

3. Not Using Tracking Parameters in the Destination URL

Many advertisers confuse the display URL with the destination URL. The display URL is what gets shown with your ad, so it's good for branding or sneaking in an extra keyword for emphasis. The the destination URL is hidden from view, which means users won't know they're being routed to a special landing page rather than the home page (more on that below). But what it's really useful for is labeling to keep track of your PPC visitors. 

It's very easy to create tracking parameters where Google asks for your Destination URL. Just type in your site address  followed by a question mark. Then you add words separated by ampersands (&).

A set of basic parameters will capture all kinds of data you can use later to make sense of how your campaigns are doing. At a minimum you want to track by campaign, ad group, which ad if there are several, and which keyword triggered the ad. Here's an example of a tracking URL:

http://site.com?source=google&campaign=1&adgroup=1&ad=1&
adid={creative}&keyword={keyword}

This string of code tracks the first ad of the first ad group under Campaign #1. By using the {creative} and {keyword} parameters you'll be able to capture the Ad ID and the keyword or keyphrase that triggered the ad.

Feel free to use the name of your ad group or campaign instead of a number; Google allows an ample 255 characters. You can have as many parameters as you want and name them as you like (e.g. I abbreviate "source" as "s"). Just avoid spaces and be sure to put the ampersand & between each item you want to track.

4. Not Setting Up a Dedicated Landing Page

The most popular page advertisers designate as the landing page is the website's home page. Often, the home page is designed to greet visitors and give them a brief overview of what the site offers. However, it's not always a great match for the ads that are bringing new visitors. Very often the ad sets up an expectation that the home page can't deliver on.

It's easier to judge conversion performance and ROI if you use a dedicated landing page that has absolutely NO incoming links outside of your PPC campaigns. (Be sure to keep it from getting indexed by search engines by use of the robots.txt file.)

Even if you think you have a stellar home page, and in my 10 years online I can tell you that most aren't, make a copy of the page to use as your landing page. Then you can tweak it to deliver on the promises your PPC ads are making. You can even test 2 different pages. Instead of writing 2 ads for each ad group, write the same ad twice — with different destination URLs!

5. Bidding Only on Short 1- or 2-word Phrases

Not only is it expensive to bid on overly broad words and short phrases, but they rarely seem to lead to conversions. People usually refine their queries when they see the vast array of search engine results that come up for a short phrase. Longer, more specific phrases not only bring you more serious visitors who are ready to buy, but they also typically cost less because there's usually not as much competition.

6. Leaving the Default Network Settings Enabled

Most newbies don't realize what the default campaign settings are, or that they have a choice of where to show ads: on Google only, on Google and its search partner sites, and/or on the content network. In fact, most newbies don't know that the content network means participating in the AdSense program. Anybody can set up a quickie website and sign up to show Google ads to bring in revenue. Google doesn't police those sites at all, and they often consist of content "scraped" from real sites — or worse, gibberish. And the resulting clicks do not always come from the kind of visitors you want.

Of course, there are some legitimate websites in Google's content network. If you want your ads to show up on a wide variety of websites, the trick is to set up a separate campaign so you can track each visit. You'll want to pay close attention to both referring site URLs and bounce rates (how long each visitor stayed on the landing page).

Even better, choose from sites in a list that Google provides when you set up a site-targeted (recently renamed "placement-targeted") campaign.

IMHO, the content network is mainly good for branding or getting the word out about a new product (especially if it's something nobody knows about to search for).

7. Not Analyzing Server Logs

Many website owners don't know whether server logs are available for their website. They do take up a bit of space so many hosts delete them automatically. It's important to let your host know to keep yours until you download them. They can easily compress the data to save space.

Log files are nothing intimidating — they're strictly plain-text data. Open one of yours in Windows Notepad sometime and check it out.

You can run logfiles through one of the analysis programs that translates and correlates the data into an easy-to-read report format. I use ClickTracks Analyzer and Mach5's FastStats.

Never rely solely on Google Analytics or another third-party program (which gives you a script to plant on your pages) to keep track of visitors. Your server logs will give you independent information that might actually be lacking or inaccurate in the third-party program. Conversely, third-party programs will show you data that server logs aren't set up to collect. By using both a server-based AND a script-based system you'll be able to paint a truer picture of what your visitors actually did on your site.

So there you have it — 7 points that will take you all the way from clueless newbie to savvy Google advertiser!

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