Lessons Catalog

Lesson 2a: Creating an Account

These ads would display when 'gourmet chocolate' or the other keywords are searched for. When an ad group has multiple ads (as with the example above), the ads will rotate evenly until one ad's clickthrough rate (CTR) begins to outperform the others. Then the higher-performing ad will be shown more frequently. You can see the CTR for each ad on your Campaign Management screen.

Your text ad contains three lines of text: a headline of up to 25 characters, and two description lines of up to 35 characters (limit is lower with double-byte characters and some special symbols that require more space). Ad groups are limited to a maximum of 50 text or image ads.

It's generally best to avoid putting your company's name in the headline of your ad. Instead, write a headline that is closely tied to the keywords you'll be placing in this ad group and to the users who search for those keywords.

To maximize your Quality Score, and thus improve your ad's position on the page, be as specific as you possibly can in the description lines. Avoid hype; you'll see the best results when you tell users in plain language exactly what you have to offer.

After your three lines of text you'll enter a display URL, which is the main URL of the website you are advertising. This URL must be 35 characters or less. The destination URL is the page on which users will actually land on your website. This URL can be up to 1024 characters (it won't appear on your ad). Many advertisers link their ads to particular destination pages within their website, but use the simpler URL of their homepage as the display URL.

Be sure your ad meets the format and content requirements listed in the AdWords Editorial Guidelines.

After completing your text ad, click Continue.

To learn how to create other kinds of ads, please review the 'Creating Ads' section in Lesson 2: Setting up an Account.

You can also find additional relevant keywords by entering a term into the Keyword Tool box and clicking Get More Keywords. Our system will suggest related keywords which you may find useful.

You'll be able to create additional ad groups or edit existing ad groups later, so you may want to start with just a few keywords here to begin testing what works. If you delay the account set-up process for too long, your session may expire and you'll lose your work. It's best to move purposefully through the set-up process, save your account, and then log in to your completed account to make additional changes.

Once you enter your keywords, click Continue to move on to the pricing page.

Your maximum CPC is a lot like a bid at an auction. It represents the highest amount that you're willing to pay for a click on your ad. The maximum CPC helps determine whether your ad appears above or below other advertisers' ads.

However, Ad Rank is based on more than just the maximum CPC. To ensure that users find useful information on Google and Google's partner sites, ads are also rewarded for being relevant. The higher an ad's Quality Score, the more relevant it is. Your keyword-targeted ad's position on search and content results pages is determined by your maximum CPC multiplied by the matched keyword's Quality Score. The higher your ad on the search results page, the more likely it is to receive clicks.

The most important factor in setting your maximum CPC is understanding how much a visitor to your website is worth. In other words, what is the likelihood someone who clicks on your ad will purchase your product or use your services? You may not need to have your ad in the number one position if you find that you get a better return on your investment with a lower CPC.

During the sign-up process, the AdWords program will suggest a maximum CPC for your keywords. You can accept this value, or adjust it to fit your advertising goals and budget. Your maximum CPC should not be higher than your intended daily budget.

Once you set a maximum CPC for each of your ad groups, you'll also have the option of setting a maximum CPC for individual keywords. If you don't specify a maximum CPC for a given keyword, the ad group maximum CPC will automatically apply to that keyword.

When you view your account reports, you'll see the actual CPC shown as an average. This reflects the dynamic, market-driven nature of pricing in AdWords.

If necessary, you can change the keywords you'd like estimates for, or the maximum CPC bid to see new estimates. In the standalone tool click Revise settings at the top of the page. If you're using the ad group tool, change your estimate information at the bottom of the page, then click the Re-estimate Traffic button to see the new estimates.

Here's a little more information about the column data you'll see:

Keywords/Minimum Bid: Underneath each keyword, you'll see the amount that you must pay in order for your ad to run.

Max CPC/Predicted Status: Based on your maximum bid, this is the state your keyword will be assigned if added to the ad group. Keywords will return one of two states: active or inactive for search. If your keyword is listed as inactive for search, we'll list the minimum bid required to activate it.

Search Volume: Indicates the amount of search traffic received by your keywords. This information can help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword. The green bar shown represents a general low-to-high quantitative guideline.

Estimated Avg. CPC: The average amount you'll pay for each click. The AdWords Discounter automatically adjusts your maximum CPC so you pay only one cent more than the minimum amount required to keep your ad's position. Therefore, the displayed amount may be lower than your 'official' maximum CPC above.

Estimated Ad Positions: The average position in which your ad may show. '1' is the highest position on the first page of search results. There is no 'bottom' position. Values may contain ranges because the Traffic Estimator displays estimates as averages based on dynamic keyword activity among advertisers. Also, average ad positions are not fixed; they may vary depending on bidding activity and your keyword's quality.

Estimated Clicks/Day: The number of clicks your ad may receive each day.

Estimated Cost/Day: The average amount you may spend per day.

Please note that the estimates provided are only predicted values and will vary depending on various conditions such as fluctuations in user behavior and dynamic search and pricing activity. For more information about cost control, overdelivery, and ad ranking, refer to the lesson on Pricing and Ranking.

If you're not satisfied with the estimated volume of clicks, use the Keyword Tool to generate additional keywords that might help increase your traffic. If the estimated cost is more than you want to spend, reduce your maximum cost-per-click or delete some of your less-specific keywords to cut back on traffic.

Keep in mind that the results generated by the Traffic Estimator are only estimates. The actual performance and cost of your keywords may vary.

The next step in creating your campaign is setting your daily budget.