Google AdWords: Learning Centre

Learning Centre

2. Getting Started with AdWords

2a. Account Types, Setup and Structure

Objective: Understand the difference between a Starter Edition and a Standard Edition account and which account is better for you. Learn how to sign up for an account, how to run the most basic version and how to graduate to Standard Edition.

Google AdWords offers two types of accounts: Starter Edition and Standard Edition.

Starter Edition is a highly simplified version of AdWords that lets new users advertise a single product or service, using a one-page sign-up form. A Starter Edition account has no ad groups, rich ad formats, placement targeting or other advanced features.

Standard Edition is the more typical account, which includes multiple ad campaigns and ad formats, plus advanced features like ad scheduling, Google Analytics and more.

Most new users choose to create a Standard Edition account. Those who choose the Starter Edition account can later "graduate" to a Standard Edition account at any time, for no additional fee.

Which account is better for you? Starter Edition is usually useful for advertisers who want to advertise a single product or service through a single campaign. Standard Edition is better for advertisers who want to run multiple ad campaigns and who want greater flexibility.

To help you decide, take a moment to compare the features in the table below.

	Starter Edition	Standard Edition
Simplified sign-up process Sign up with a minimised one-page form.	X
One product or service Advertise a single product or service with one set of keywords and one or more ads.	X
Many products or services Create campaigns for multiple products or services, each with many sets of keywords and ads.		X
Multiple ad formats Create text ads, image ads and other rich ad formats.		X
Basic reporting See a one-page overview of the impressions, clicks and costs for your ads.	X
Advanced reporting See a complete library of reports for all aspects of your account. Create custom reports to analyse your costs and return on investment.		X
Basic targeting Target customers in one specific region (like a single country or city).	X
Advanced targeting Target customers in many regions at once.		X
Advanced cost control Choose from many bidding options: keyword-specific bidding, content bidding, ad position preference and more.		X
Advanced planning tools Boost your campaign performance with advanced features such as conversion tracking, the AdWords traffic estimator as well as helpful variations and statistics from the Keyword Tool.		X
Placement targeting Place your ads on the specific websites that appeal to your customers.		X

To sign up for either a Starter Edition or a Standard Edition account:

Visit the AdWords homepage and click the button to get started.

Select Starter Edition or Standard Edition, and click Continue.

The sign-up wizard will walk you through the process. If you select Starter Edition, you'll start by creating your ad campaign. You'll be asked to target an audience, create an ad, choose keywords that trigger the ad to be displayed and select a budget.

If you select Standard Edition, you'll begin by entering your email address and password and creating your AdWords account. Then you'll be invited to create your first campaign.

Here are some things to keep in mind during the sign-up process:

If you already have a Google Account, we suggest that you use it as your login address and password for AdWords as well. But you can also choose a different email address (one that you use often) and a secure password (at least seven characters that include both letters and numbers). This information is what you'll use to log in to your account in the future.

It's OK to experiment. With AdWords you can always change your ad campaigns and other information as you go. The only exceptions to this are the billing currency and time zone information for your account; you'll select these when you first submit your billing information and they can't be changed later. But those small points aside, AdWords is built for change.

The first campaign that you create in Starter Edition will be a keyword-targeted campaign. If you set up a Standard Edition account, you will have more flexibility with your first campaign; you'll be able to start creating your campaign with either keyword targeting or placement targeting (but you can use both together if you prefer). See the Step-by-Step Guide for more information on the sign-up process. Or, read through the Learning Centre to get a better idea of AdWords features before sign-up.

Activating Your Account

After you sign up for an account, Google will send you an email asking you to verify your account. Your account won't be activated - and your ads won't run - until you verify your email address and set up your billing information.
The process is slightly different for Starter Edition and Standard Edition campaigns. In Starter Edition you will have created your first ad campaign already, so you'll be asked to submit your billing information as your next step. The process will go like this:
If you created a Standard Edition account, you won't yet have created your first campaign. So the process will go like this:
- Tick the 'in' box of the email account that you submitted when signing up for AdWords. You should find a verification email from AdWords. Open the email and click the link to visit the AdWords login page.
- Sign in to your AdWords account using the same email and password.
- Decide whether you'd like to create an ad campaign or submit your billing information first. You can do these in either order, but you must do both things before your ads can begin running on AdWords.
- To create a campaign, click the button Create your first campaign. Follow the instructions to target your audience, create an ad and select a budget. When your campaign is finished, you'll be returned to the main page of your account.
- To enter your billing information, click the My Account tab. Then click the Billing Preferences link and enter your billing information, including the time zone for your account. Then click Save and activate.
In both cases, your available payment options will depend on your billing currency and location. Review our payment options page for more information. If you choose to pay by direct debit or credit card (which we recommend), your ads will run soon after you submit your billing information. If you opt for bank transfer, your ads will run after we receive your first payment (typically 10 working days after you initiate the transfer).
With both Starter and Standard Editions, you'll be asked to choose a time zone for your account. This time zone determines the official "working day" for all billing, reporting and statistics in your account. Choose your time zone carefully; once selected, it can't be reset.
If you chose to create a Starter Edition account, continue reading the rest of this lesson. If you chose Standard Edition, skip to AdWords Account Structure.
Running a Starter Edition Account

The My Ad Campaign page is the first page that you see whenever you sign in to your Starter Edition account. This page gives you information on two topics:
1. The text and settings for your ad
Text and Settings

The text and settings for your ad can be seen on the side of the page, above the keyword table. If you have multiple ads, they can be viewed and edited by clicking the Ad Variations tab.
- Click Edit settings to change the target language and location as well as the budget for your ads.
- Click Pause to stop your ads from running. If you pause your ads, this link will change to read Resume. Once paused, your ads will not appear to users until you click Resume.
Performance Statistics

The lower section of the page shows you the performance of your current keywords. The Keywords tab includes impressions (the number of times that your ads have been displayed for each keyword), user clicks on your ads and the total cost for those clicks. By clicking the Graphs tab, you will see graphs depicting the performance of your keywords.

Add new keywords by clicking Add keywords. Remove any keyword permanently by clicking Delete in the same row.

Near the bottom of your keyword table, the row labelled Content network shows the performance statistics for your ads on content sites. Click the Turn off link in that row to remove your ads from the content network.

In the upper right corner of the page, the health meter shows you how your account is performing. If your keywords and ads are working well, you will see the message Your ads are showing as they should. If an ad is disapproved or if there are other problems with your account, you will be alerted in this space.

At the very top of the page, click the My Account tab to edit the basic settings of your account, including your email address, your billing preferences and other settings.
Graduating to Standard Edition

A Starter Edition user can graduate to Standard Edition at any time. Once you graduate to Standard Edition, you cannot return to Starter Edition. (Users who created a Standard Edition account to begin with also cannot switch to Starter Edition.)

To graduate, click on the Graduate to Standard Edition link at the bottom of the My Ad Campaign page.

Graduation transfers all the account information to a full Standard Edition account. Your existing ads become part of the first ad campaign in the new account and your ads continue running.

The remainder of the Learning Centre lessons focuses primarily on Standard Edition accounts. To learn more about Starter Edition, visit the Starter Edition section in the Help Centre.

Objective: Understand the structure of an AdWords account — from the account level to the ad group level. Then, start thinking about how you can take advantage of AdWords versatility to suit your advertising needs.

An AdWords account is structured like a pyramid, which expands from the top down. It's broken down into three main levels. At the top level is account, followed by campaign and then ad group. Each level has its own components:

Account: unique email address, password, billing information and account preferences

Campaign: start and end dates, daily budget, Google Network preferences, target languages and locations and advanced options

Ad group: ads, keyword and/or placement list and CPC or CPM bids

An AdWords account contains up to 25 campaigns; a campaign can have up to 100 ad groups and ad groups can contain hundreds of keywords and placements, and complementary ads that show when those keywords are searched.

Account
Unique email address and password Billing information Account preferences

Campaign		Campaign
Start & end dates Daily budget Google Network preferences Language and location targeting		Start & end dates Daily budget Google Network preferences Language and location targeting

Ad Group	Ad Group	Ad Group	Ad Group
One set of keywords and/or placements One or more ads CPC or CPM bids	One set of keywords and/or placements One or more ads CPC or CPM bids	One set of keywords and/or placements One or more ads CPC or CPM bids	One set of keywords or placements One or more ads CPC or CPM bids

The basic idea behind AdWords structure is versatility. An advertiser has many options - to run one ad on a few keywords and placements, or hundreds of ads on thousands of keywords and placements. You can organise your campaigns in any way that you wish. Successful advertisers, however, tend to build many small, highly targeted ad groups around individual products or services.

This is explained in much more detail in the Starting Off Right lesson.

2b. Account Navigation

Objective: Learn to navigate through the main sections of your AdWords account.

To access AdWords:

Visit the AdWords home page at https://adwords.google.co.uk.

Enter your email address and password in the login fields and click Sign in. (If you have already signed in to Google or AdWords with this information, Google skips this step and takes you directly to your account.)

If you have trouble accessing your account, click the I cannot access my account link below the login fields.

There are four main tabs, or sections, in all AdWords accounts: Campaign Management, Reports, Analytics and My Account. Each section can have one or more sub-sections, which are listed as links directly underneath the tabs and may vary depending on your account settings.

If you create a My Client Centre account, you will see slightly different tabs. Similarly, if you sign up to be a Google Advertising Professional, you will see an additional Pro Centre tab. To learn more, visit the My Client Centre lesson.

Campaign Management: Get a summary of your account's performance, find useful tools for managing your campaigns and edit your campaigns and ads through this tab. Sub-sections: Campaign Summary (from which you can drill down to view campaign details and ad group details), Tools, Conversion Tracking and Website Optimiser.

Reports: Create detailed reports on your account's performance. Sub-sections: Report Centre and Create Report. To learn more, see the Reports lesson.

Analytics: Set up advanced performance tracking reporting for AdWords and other online advertising channels. Sub-sections: Analytics Settings and View Reports. To learn more, visit the Google Analytics section.

My Account: View and edit your billing and account login information. Sub-sections: Billing Summary, Billing Preferences, Access and Account Preferences. For qualifying advertisers, there may also be a Budget page.

Objective: Learn to navigate on the Campaign Summary page and understand how to edit information at the campaign level.

You can create a new campaign at any time. Each time you create a new campaign, you can start by selecting keywords or by selecting placements to target your ads. (After you create the campaign, you can always add more keywords, placements or both. The choice to start with keywords or placements only determines how you get started with the campaign.) Here's how to create a new campaign:

On the Campaign Summary page, find the link titled New online campaign, just above the table of existing campaigns.

Click the link and then select either Start with keywords or Start with placements from the pull-down menu.

If you decided to start with keywords, you may also be offered the option of using the one-page signup wizard, which allows you to copy and edit settings from an existing campaign. If the one-page wizard is available, use the drop-down menu to select an existing campaign to copy, then click 'Go' and follow the instructions on the next page.

To use the full, multi-page sign-up wizard for a keyword-targeted campaign, ignore the one-page sign-up option and follow the standard instructions to create your campaign. If you decided to start with placements, follow the sign-up wizard instructions to create your campaign.

The Campaign Summary page is usually the first page that you see when you sign in to your account.

From here you can:

Search: use the 'Search my campaigns' box to search for words or phrases across all campaigns, ad groups and ads in your account.

Receive alerts: you may see an alert box tinted yellow, green or red. These alerts provide important information about your account and about new AdWords features - such as a declined payment.

Create a new campaign: use the link above the table to create a new campaign.

Change campaign status and settings: pause, resume or delete campaigns, or edit campaign settings by ticking the box to the left of one or more campaigns and then selecting one of the buttons above the table.

Review the Campaign Summary table: this table displays summary data about all online campaigns in your account.

Use the date range drop-down menus above the table to select the day or date range you'd like to review. You can also view all campaigns, all active campaigns or all but deleted campaigns by clicking the appropriate link above the table.

Below are descriptions of each table column:

Campaign Name: a list of your campaigns. Click the name of any campaign to see the ad groups within that campaign and any other relevant statistics.
Current Status: the status of each campaign. A campaign's status can be Active, Paused, Deleted, Pending or Ended:
- Active: set to run normally
- Paused: temporarily suspended and not currently running
- Deleted: deleted and no longer running
- Pending: not yet started running
- Ended: no longer running as end date has already passed
Current Budget: the current daily budget of each campaign
Clicks: the clicks accrued for the ads in each campaign
Impr. (impressions): the number of times the campaign's ads have been displayed on Google or on sites in the Google Network
CTR (click-through rate): the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions that the ads have received. This is expressed as a percentage: 2 clicks for 100 page views equals a 2% CTR.
Avg. CPC (average cost-per-click): the average cost accrued for clicks on the ads within that campaign.
Avg. CPM (average cost per thousand impressions): the average cost per thousand impressions for ads in a placement-targeted campaign
Cost: the total costs that a campaign has accrued during the time frame you selected
Conv. Rate (conversion rate): how many user clicks turned into actual conversions for the advertiser. Conversion rate equals the number of conversions divided by the number of ad clicks. This applies only to users who have set up conversion tracking.
Cost/Conv.: The total cost divided by the total number of conversions. This tells you how much each conversion costs. This applies only to users who have set up conversion tracking.

To hide or show any of the above columns, click the 'Customise columns' link above the Campaign Summary table.

You can access this page via the Edit Settings button on the Campaign Summary page or via the Edit campaigns settings link on the Campaign Details page. The page contains the following sections:

Basic Settings: edit your campaign name and end date.

Budget Options: change your daily budget or delivery method.

Budget: Daily budget helps determine your ad display. To make sure that your daily budget is high enough to show ads whenever possible, click the 'Recommended Budget' link below the daily budget field.

Delivery Method: choose the 'Standard' option to show your ads periodically throughout the day. Choose 'Accelerated' to show your ads as often as possible until your daily budget has been·met.

Networks and bidding: this section includes these items:

Bidding strategy: select 'Change bidding strategy' to choose different ways to bid for your ads - such as with the Budget Optimiser or preferred CPC bidding.

Networks: adjust where your ads are distributed. When you start a new campaign with keywords, your ads are set by default to run on Google search, search partners and the content network with the setting 'Relevant pages across the entire network'. When you start a new campaign with placements, your ads are set by default to run on the content network with the setting 'Relevant pages only on the placements I target'. To modify these settings, select or deselect the checkboxes and radio buttons. For more information, see the Search and Content Targeting lesson.

Position preferences: enable this feature to set a specific rank range within·which·you'd like your text ads to appear on Google search and the search network.

Set a separate bid for content network impressions: when you enable the content network, you can also tick this optional box to set an additional default bid for when your ad appears on content network placements.

Demographics: click the 'View and edit options' link here to make an extra bid to be applied·when your ad is shown to members of certain demographic groups.

Scheduling and serving: this section includes these items:

Ad Scheduling: set up specific days and times when you want your ads to appear.

Ad Serving: choose how you'd like different ads in an ad group to compete. Either select 'Optimise' to show ads that perform better more often or select 'Rotate' to display each ad for an approximately equal number of times.

Target Audience: specify the languages and geographic areas you'd that like your ads to be shown·for by adjusting your language and location preferences. To learn more, see the Language and Location Targeting lesson.

Once you've changed any of these settings, click the Save Changes button. Click Cancel to return to the original settings instead of saving the new ones.

When you click a campaign name in the Campaign Summary table, you go to the Campaign Details page. From here, you can review and edit your selected campaign and the ad groups in that campaign.

Here are a few actions that you can take:

Campaign Level

Edit selected campaign: pause, resume, delete and undelete the selected campaign. If you delete a campaign, you'll see an 'Undelete Campaign' button. You can also access the Edit Campaign Settings page.
Edit/add campaign negatives: for more information on campaign negative keywords, see the Keyword Targeting lesson.
Edit site or category exclusions: this link takes you to the Site and Category Exclusion tool, where you can select websites or categories of content where you don't want your ad to appear.

Ad Group Level

Change ad group and names and statuses: rename, pause, resume or delete one or more ad groups in the table. Tick the box next to one or more ad groups that you want to edit and click the relevant button.
View different ad groups: use the drop-down menu above the table to show all ad groups, only active ad groups or all but deleted ad groups.
Create new ad groups: use the 'New ad group' link below the basic campaign data to create a new ad group within the current campaign. Click the link, then choose 'Start with keywords' or 'Start with placements'.
Review summary statistics for your ad groups: this table is similar to the other tables in your account, such as the Campaign Summary table covered previously, but with two additional columns:
- Current Bids: this column shows your current bid settings, including the default maximum or preferred bid and optional content and placement bids, for each ad group within a campaign.
- Avg. Pos. (Average Position): this shows the overall average placement for ads within each ad group. (When running placement-targeted campaigns, the Avg. Pos. column doesn't appear.)

To look at any ad group in greater detail, click its name to see the Ad Group Details page. Click 'View all Ad Groups' to see the details for all ad groups on one page.

Objective: Learn to locate and interpret data at the ad group level. Understand how to edit ad groups, keywords and placements from the Ad Group Details page.

When you click an ad group name in the Campaign Details table, you go to the Ad Group Details page.

The Ad Group Details page divides information into four tabs: Summary, Keywords, Placements and Ad Variations.

Summary: the summary view is the overview of the ad group. It gives you overall statistics for State, Current Bid, Clicks, Impressions (Impr.), Click-through Rate (CTR), Average CPC or CPM, Cost and Average Position. Conversion rate columns are added for those using conversion tracking. You can also pause or delete an ad group here.

Some of the functionality and column headers on this page mirror those that we've seen in previous topics.
- State: the current campaign settings for this campaign. Each network option is either on or off. If your campaign settings call for either placements or keywords and this ad group does not include placements or keywords, then you'll see the message None selected.
- Current Bid: the amount you're bidding per click (CPC) or per 1000 impressions (CPM)
- Clicks: the clicks accrued for the ads in the ad group
- Impressions: the number of times the ad is displayed on Google and on the Google Network
- CTR (click-through Rate): the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions that the ads in the ad group have received
- Average CPC or CPM: either CPC or CPM will be shown here, depending on which type of bidding you've chosen in your campaign settings. The average CPC is the average cost for all variations of your keywords. The average CPM is the average price you're that paying per 1000 impressions of your ads in the ad group.
- Cost: the actual cost accrued for clicks or impressions that the ad receives in the ad group.
- Average Position: the average position where your ad appears relative to other ads. This is only for ads with CPC bidding. (The message N/A will appear otherwise.) Your ads may appear for variations of your keyword. Your position varies according to your CPC bid and your keywords.
Keywords: shows the keywords that you have chosen for this ad group and how they are performing.

You can add new keywords, edit existing ones, edit bids and view their current status. Many of the statistics are similar to the 'Summary' tab above - but specific to keywords. Here are some additional functions:

Magnifying glass icon: point your mouse over the icon next to the keyword to see whether a keyword is showing ads. If the ad isn't showing, you'll see a quick summary of the issue.

Add new keywords: add keywords by clicking the 'Quick add' or 'Keyword tool' links at the top of the table. Click 'Keyword tool' if you want help finding new keywords for your ad group.

Edit keywords: click 'Edit keywords' to make changes to existing keywords. Then add, edit or delete keywords. You can also enter a new bid.

Search this list: search the ad group for keywords by clicking the 'Search this list' function. Select the text or stats that you are interested in, then click 'Search'. You'll see a list of only those keywords that fit your parameters. Click 'Return to Full List' when you are ready to go back to the normal ad group view.
Placements: shows the placements that you have chosen for this ad group and how they are performing.

You can add new placements, edit existing ones, edit bids and view their current status. Many of the statistics are similar to the 'Summary' tab above - but specific to placements. Here are some additional functions:

Add placements: add placements by clicking the 'Add placements' link at the top of the table. That will take you to the Placement Tool, which will help you find and select new URLs.

Edit placements and bids: click 'Edit placements and bids' to add or remove placements or change bids.

Search this list: search the ad group for placements by clicking the 'Search this list' function. Select the placements or stats you are interested in, then click 'Search'. You'll see a list of only those placements that fit your parameters. Click 'Return to Full List' when you are ready to go back to the normal ad group view.
Ad Variations: this tab displays all the different ads that you've created for the ad group. (Each ad is called a 'variation'.) You can create new ads or edit existing ones. The ad-by-ad stats should help you determine which messages are reaching your users in the most powerful way.

We encourage AdWords advertisers to create multiple ads within each ad group and to discover which ad messages work best with potential customers.

Create ads: click the type of ad that you want to create at the top of the table - either 'Text ad' or other ad types. Depending on availability, other ad types may include image ads, video ads, mobile text ads or local business ads. Follow the instructions to create your ad.

Edit ads: click the 'Edit' link next to any ad (under the 'Actions' column) to make changes.

Pause, unpause or delete ads: Tick the box next to the ad that you want to pause, unpause or delete, and click the appropriate button at the top of the table. To perform the same action across all the ads in an ad group, tick the box next to 'Variations' and then click the appropriate button.

See data from all tabs: click the 'View all tabs at once' link found in the lower right-hand corner of the page to see the data from all tabs displayed on one page.

Objective: Learn to navigate the My Account tab and to edit your account and billing preferences.

On the Billing Summary page, information on the payments for your account is displayed. You can access more detailed information about each payment by clicking the invoice number link.

To learn more, see the Billing Cycle lesson.

On the Billing Preferences page, you can view your method of billing and form of payment. You can also edit the payment details (such as payment method) and change your billing address or contact phone number. You may also enter any promotional codes that you may have received.

On the Account Preferences page, you can:

Edit your login email address, password and display language

Decide which notifications you would like to receive (such as newsletters) and how you would like to receive them

Edit your primary business type or your PharmacyChecker ID

Edit your Google Analytics auto-linking capability

Review the AdWords Terms and Conditions

Cancel your AdWords account

The Access page lets you view and control other's access levels. It also helps keep your own information secure. This page comes in handy if you share your AdWords account with other users or if a client manager helps manage your account.

On this page, you can invite other users to share the account with you, grant users access and disable a user or client manager's access.

The Budget page lets you view active, past and future account-level budgets. Account-level budgets are issued to qualified advertisers who prefer to be billed on a monthly basis with invoices. The Budget page displays the contract account budget and contract start and end date. It shows what portion has been consumed to date.

To learn more, see the Invoicing lesson.

2c. Starting Off Right_ Organisation, Keywords, Placements and Ad Text

Objective: Learn how to build a strong foundation for success. Find out how to organise your account logically at the campaign and ad group levels.

Google AdWords gives you a basic structure to work within. From here, it's essentially up to you to organise your own campaigns, ad groups, keywords and placements in a way that makes most sense to you. Organisation is a key component to starting off strong and helping you determine what works and what does not.

Note: This lesson is geared toward campaigns that are using only keyword targeting. However, many of the concepts can also be applied to campaigns that use placement targeting in conjunction with keyword targeting. To learn more, please read the lesson about how keywords and placements work together.

Every account starts with a single campaign. Each campaign — whether you have one or multiple — should reflect a single, overarching goal. When building a campaign, ask yourself "What do I want to achieve with this campaign?" Your answer might be to target a certain audience, sell more products, increase signups or bring in more leads.

Some effective ways to organise your campaigns are by:

Theme or product line (coffee products, tea products, gift baskets)
Your website's structure, such as by categories (purchase, learn, signup)
Different brands (X, Y and Z)
Geography (London, Manchester and United kingdom)
Language (English, Spanish, German)
Distribution preference (search engines only, content sites only or both search and content)
Budgets (different budgets per product line)

Map your structure on paper first to provide a template for the real thing.

Just like your campaigns, your ad groups should be organised by common theme, product or goal. Often, picking keywords and placements can lay the groundwork for your ad group strategy. Think hard about your keywords and placements. When choosing keywords, think of what words someone would search for on Google when seeking your product. Try writing down every keyword that comes to mind. You can refine them later. (This is discussed more in the Selecting Keywords topic below.)

Next, group similar keywords together - such as by a common theme. Each grouping reflects an ad group. For example, if your campaign goal is to sell more coffee beans, logical ad groups might include:

Gourmet coffee beans	Organic coffee beans	French roast beans
Keywords: Speciality coffee Gourmet coffee Gourmet coffee beans	Keywords: Organic coffee beans Decaf organic coffee Natural coffee	Keywords: Decaf French roast coffee French roast coffee beans French coffee beans

Similarly, when choosing placements, consider where your typical customer might be browsing and target those types of sites for ad placement. Although this lesson is geared towards campaigns that are using keyword targeting only, many of the concepts can also be applied to campaigns that use placement targeting in conjunction with keyword targeting. To learn more, please read the lesson about how keywords and placements work together.

If you find that the keywords or placements in one ad group become unwieldy, split the ad group into two to make them easier to manage.

Finally, give your campaigns and ad groups descriptive names. This helps you manage your account at a high level without memorising the content of each of your ad groups.

Your AdWords account needs constant checkups. You can continue to reorganise your account as you learn more. The key is to check your progress and continue to refine your account. As you add more products, keywords or placements, you may need to reorganise your account. This is explained in more detail throughout this lesson and in the Optimising Your Account lesson.

Objective: Understand how to build an effective keyword list for your campaigns through a simple five-step process. Delve into some simple but very important concepts about starting off right.

Keywords trigger ads. Ads influence clicks. And clicks bring you business. Or that's the general idea. Since keywords start this advertising food chain, it is important that you choose keywords relevant to your business from the start.

Keyword creation involves a five-step process: expand, group, match, scrub and test and refine.

Your first step is to come up with as many relevant keywords as possible. List any keywords that you think users might search for to find your product or service.

Use the Keyword Tool for help. Available through the Tools page on the 'Campaign Management' tab (or via the 'Keyword' tab in your Ad Group Details page), the Keyword Tool offers additional keyword ideas - including synonyms and spelling variations - to yours. It allows you to build extensive, relevant keyword lists, review traffic estimations and add your keywords directly into your ad groups from the same page.

To learn more, visit the Keyword Tool lesson.

Keywords lay the groundwork for the ad groups and ads that you create. As mentioned in the previous Organising Your Account topic, group your keyword list into similar items, such as by product line. Each group makes up an ad group. You can write multiple ads for each ad group, so keyword groupings should match a single theme.

For example, organise keywords pertaining to organic coffee in one ad group and keywords relating to gourmet coffee in another.

Finally, remember to keep your keyword lists small and manageable.

Now it's time to target your keywords using Google's keyword matching options: broad match, phrase match, exact match and negative match. These match types help you pinpoint ad delivery so your ads reach people precisely when they're searching for what you have to offer.

Broad match is the default setting for all keywords. All searches made using your keyword (in any order or combination) might display your ad.

Phrase match narrows your reach by requiring the words to appear in that exact order.

Exact match further narrows your reach by showing your ad when the exact phrase is used in the search - without any other words before, between or after.

Negative match eliminates searched phrases on which you do not want your ad to appear, such as cheap or free.

For a more in-depth understanding of keyword matching, visit the Keyword Targeting lesson.

After you have expanded, grouped and provided match types to your keyword list, start refining it. Strive to keep specific keywords that relate most to your product or service. Which keywords are irrelevant or are likely to bring you the least traffic? Delete them.

Two- or three-word phrases generally work best. For example, instead of the keyword coffee, use fair trade coffee or gourmet coffee beans. Consider removing any single-word or general keywords. These are often too broad and can lead to clicks from people who don't know what you're offering.

To keep up with the dynamic nature of online advertising, you should continue to test and refine your keywords. Build on keywords that work and delete others that don't. Also, if you're running ads on the content network, consider using placement targeting to refine your reach to your desired audience. Track your results using your performance stats in your account. To learn more about tracking results, visit the Tracking Ad Performance section.

Objective: Learn how to write clear and compelling ad text — from the headline down to the Destination URL.

Ad text is a crucial distinguishing factor in luring a user to your website. Successful ads are clear, well-written, specific and compelling. Here are some tips for writing ads that will get people clicking:

Include a call to action, such as buy, order and purchase. While find and search may be accurate, these words imply that the user is still in awareness or interest mode and does not easily encourage the user to click through.

Include keywords in your headline, since this is what people are looking for.

Relate your ad to offers that you make on your landing page to help users complete the sales cycle.

Get to the point — fast. Include the most relevant information about your business first.

Write more than one ad per ad group and test the results.

Here are two sample ads promoting the AdWords programme: The first ad is vague, redundant and does not offer any benefits or contain a call to action. The second ad contains clear ad text, a specific benefit to the user and a call to action.

Google
Online advertising.
Google's online advertising programme.
adwords.google.co.uk.

Online Advertising
Improve your website ROI. Sign up
for AdWords. Show ads today.
adwords.google.co.uk.

The best headlines directly relate to the keywords being searched. That makes your ad seem especially relevant to the searcher's interests. Therefore, include successful keywords in the headline. Plus, if the keyword in your ad text is identical to the keyword searched for, it will appear in bold font in your ad.

To determine which keywords are successful, review your ad groups and find keywords with the highest number of clicks or impressions. For example, if the keyword online advertising is clearly generating the most clicks and impressions in your account, use this term in the title of your ad.

Commonly, advertisers make the mistake of including the company name or the website domain in their headlines. This does not typically attract more clicks unless you are advertising an established company with a distinguished brand. Consider using more general ad titles that inspire click-throughs, which will eventually fortify your brand.

The description should convey both the benefits of your product or service and include a call-to-action. Keep everything as short and simple as you can. To start, list your products or services (online advertising, website advertising, AdWords) and benefits (high ROI, show ads immediately). Then, put it all together with a call-to-action, such as Order now or Sign up now.

Your Display URL (or web address) does not have to be the same as your Destination URL (where users go when they click your ad). But it should be an actual URL for your site.

Choose a Destination URL that promotes the exact product or service that your audience is searching for, rather than your usual homepage. It is usually most effective to direct users to a landing page in which they are most interested in, as soon as you can.

There is a common theme in this lesson, namely to test and refine. Just like with ad groups and keywords, you should continue to watch, review and rewrite your ads for the best results. AdWords makes this part easy for you. You can create multiple ads per ad group. If your ad serving options are set to optimise (the default setting), Google automatically shows the best performing ad more often.

Check your stats and swap out new ads for low performing ones. To learn more, visit the Optimising Your Account lesson.

2d. Using Different Ad Formats

Objective: Learn about the different ad formats — in addition to text ads — that you can choose to run on. Get details about the expanded text ad.

So far, we have been talking about text ads — Google's most traditional and popular ad format. In addition to creating text ads, you might also have the option to create the following types of ads:

Image (and animated) ads

Video ads

Local business ads

Mobile ads

Some of the above formats are only available in certain locations. If available, they will appear in your Ad Group Details table — via the Ad Variations tab. (Sign in to your account > Click the appropriate campaign name > Click the ad group name > Click the Ad Variations tab).

You can include one or more different ad formats per ad group. Overall, we suggest that each ad group contains at least one text ad. If you have multiple ad formats per ad group, Google displays the most relevant one on a search or content page.

Make sure that your ad closely relates to the product and service offered and describes what you expect a user to do on your page. Visit the Writing Targeted Ad Text topic to find out about common best practices.

Take a quick glance at how ad formats vary in the chart below.

	Content sites	Search sites	Placement-targeted campaigns	Keyword-targeted campaigns	Text-based	Graphics-based
Text Ads	X	X	X	X	X
Image ads	X		X	X		X
Video ads	X		X	X		X
Local business ads		X		X	X
Mobile ads		X		X	X

At times, your text ad might expand to fill an entire ad position (the area on a web page dedicated to ad space). This is called an expanded text ad. Rather than being grouped with other text ads, the expanded text ad fills the entire ad space by itself.

An expanded text ad contains the same number of characters and the same editorial guidelines as a standard text ad, but the font and layout are increased to fill the entire banner, box, skyscraper or position space.

Any text ad can run as an expanded text ad on the Google content network only (not on search results pages). No special arrangements are needed. A text ad is expanded automatically whenever the AdWords system determines that its price, relevance and other competitive conditions make it a good candidate to take the entire space itself.

Objective: Learn about the features, creation process and guidelines for image ads.

AdWords image ads are graphic ads that can be static (motionless) or animated. These ads appear on select content sites (not search sites) in the Google Network which have opted into the image ads programme.

Image ads combine two features — graphics and AdWords targeting technology. This gives advertisers the power of pictures along with the precision of matching ads to related content sites.

Image ads are available for campaigns that use keyword and/or placement targeting. Since image ads only run in the content network, campaigns using keyword targeting only must be·opted in to the content network in order for image ads to run. To learn how, visit the Edit Campaign Settings topic.

When you load your images via your Ad Variations tab, try to provide descriptive image names so that you can manage your account better. Include the following in your image name:

An image description
The campaign or ad group name

Static image ads can be formatted in .gif, .jpg and .png. Animated image ads can be formatted in .gif or Flash. Image ads should clearly and accurately reflect your site and emphasize unique benefits of your product or service.

Both types can be in the following sizes:

250 x 250 Square
200 x 200 Small Square
468 x 60 Banner
728 x 90 Leaderboard
300 x 250 Inline Rectangle
336 x 280 Large Rectangle
120 x 600 Skyscraper
160 x 600 Wide Skyscraper

To learn more about formatting and specific image ads guidelines, visit Editorial Guidelines for Image Ads. For general information, visit the Image Ads section in the Help Centre.

Objective: Learn about the features, creation process and guidelines for video ads.

Video ads are click-to-play or in-stream ads that appear on select content sites (not search sites) in the Google Network and on Google Video.

Click-to-play video ads appear as a static opening image. Users click the 'play' button or the opening image to watch the video in the ad space. If a user clicks the Display URL at the bottom of the ad or clicks the ad while it is playing, the user goes to the webpage that you have specified.

In-stream video ads are streamed during other videos, similar to how commercials are shown on television. Just like click-to-play ads, in-stream ads contain a Display URL that, when clicked, takes the user to the specified webpage.

Video ads let you interact with and engage the user. For example, users can control the volume and replay the video.

Video ads are available for campaigns that use keyword and/or placement targeting. Since video ads only run in the content network, campaigns using keyword targeting only must be opted in to the content network in order for video ads to run. To learn how, visit the Edit Campaign Settings topic.

When paying on a CPC basis, advertisers pay for click-throughs that lead users to the website, not for clicks on the opening image/video or play button. When paying on a CPM basis, advertisers pay for impressions of the opening image (or for in-stream video, when the video runs), rather than for each time that the video plays.

Google hosts and streams video feeds. Streaming technology is optimised for all bandwidths (dial-up, DSL, etc.). The video operates as a Flash element. As a result, users do not have to install anything.

Here are some tips for creating a video ad:

Create a descriptive and eye-catching opening image (the image which users see before playing the video).
Entice users to click 'play' by using rich, sharp colours.
Include a few words to describe the product, service and/or company.
Boost play rate with a call-to-action that tells users that they can play the video to learn more.
Create multiple video ads with different opening image sizes to increase the number of placements where your ad is eligible to appear.
Keep the video engaging and no longer than necessary (play rates drop off significantly after 45 seconds).
Be clear about business offers.
Deliver key messages early in the video, because users may not watch the whole thing.
Provide clear next steps for users to take after finishing the video, such as making a purchase or visiting the website or store.

To learn more about formatting and specific video ads guidelines, visit Editorial Guidelines for Video Ads. For general information, visit the Video Ads section in the Help Centre.

Objective: Learn about the features, creation process and guidelines for local business ads.

Local business ads are AdWords ads associated with a specific geographic location. They can appear when a user searches for specific businesses or services in the advertiser's selected geographic area. This option is a good way to reach local customers and create local customer awareness.

For example, if a user searches on dentists Liverpool, Google displays a list of dentists in or near Liverpool.

Local business ads are eligible to appear in two places:

On Google Maps (maps.google.com)
On Google and other sites in the Google search network

Local business ads are available for campaigns using keyword targeting only. These campaigns must be opted in to the search network (or into Google search only) and target a specific region or city. To learn how, visit the Edit Campaign Settings topic.

Each local business ad should be associated to a business location within the campaign's targeted region. For example, if your campaign targets Manchester, you won't be able to create local business ads for businesses in London.

To enable local business ads to run on Google Maps and search sites in the Google Network:

The format of local business ads appears differently on Google Maps and on the Google search network:

Google Maps: Google Maps includes a map component for each local business ad. When a user clicks the ad title or the map marker, an info window expands on the map to reveal additional information about the business. When users click the URL in the ad or in the info window, they are redirected to the advertiser's website.

Google and the search network: A text-only version of each local business ad is automatically eligible to run on Google and other search sites in the Google Network. The text version has the same ad text and Display URL as the enhanced ad running on Google Maps. In addition, a fifth line of text appears with the city (and county, if applicable) of your business.

When creating local business ads, follow standard text ad Editorial Guidelines. To learn more about local business ads, visit the Local Business Ad section in the Help Centre.

Objective: Learn about the features, creation process and guidelines for mobile ads.

Mobile ads are short, text-based AdWords ads that appear when users search Google from a mobile device. Your mobile ads can send users to your mobile webpage or connect them to your business phone.

Mobile ads only appear on mobile devices and not on search or content sites in the Google Network.

Mobile ads are available for campaigns using keyword targeting only. Advertisers either pay per click (when users click through to the website) or pay per call (when users click the 'Call' link).

Mobile ads work for country-targeted or territory-targeted campaigns only (not for local targeting). Therefore, your campaign should be set to target countries or territories and should include geographically targeted keywords (like Birmingham pizza). This helps users clearly identify where the business or product is located. To learn more, visit the Region and City Targeting topic.

Mobile ads contain two lines of text, with a limit of 12 or 18 characters per line, depending on the language in which you write your ad.

If you choose to connect users to your web page, your Display URL appears on a third line. If you select the option that allows customers to connect to your business phone, a 'Call' link appears next to your Display URL. Your business phone must be domestic to the location targeted by your ads and should not be a toll number.

To learn about mobile ads policies, visit Editorial Guidelines for Mobile Ads. For general information, visit the Mobile Ads section in the Help Centre.