Take 9 steps to your first AdWords ad campaign

Google AdWords provides a detailed tutorial on how to create ads but it is a lengthy document that demands attention and technical knowledge like keywords research. The tutorial is for beginners and it makes a good read.

I’ve summed up the Google tutorial in 9 simple steps for the convenience of beginners that want to understand how AdWords ads are made. I’ve tried to keep things simple and clear and for this reason, I advised missing things like choosing Search Network over Display Network.

Before you go through the steps, I would want to clear one thing that AdWords ad creation is the job of a professional. A beginner can only understand the process but he would need professional help in setting an AdWords account and making ads. You can say that I want to highlight the need for help especially for beginners and for those that are serious about building business through AdWords.

Let’s start the 9 step guide of making AdWords ads

Step 1: Select a campaign type and choose a name

First thing is to select a type for your campaign. In AdWords, you have a choice of Search Network and Display Network and I suggest you go with the Search Network. My reason for choosing Search Network is its vast reach that improves its relevance. But Display Network can be added at a later time. Similarly, you can choose a name that can help in recognizing the campaign. Also, I suggest you tick off “Include Search Partners” for now.

Step 2: Select geographic location you want to target

Here you’ve got the whole world to select but remember that you’ll for every click and it hardly matters where the clicks are coming from. AdWords give a wide range of choice from selecting countries to limit the advertising area to small regions within countries. It would open the globe before you and allow you to mark an area to display your ads. Click on “Let me choose” and mark an area following longitude and latitude on the globe.

Step 3: Make a bidding strategy and set a daily budget

AdWords has default bid for beginners but you can change it manually to get total control on your bids and make a strategy for bidding. Also, Google likes advertisers working on bidding strategies.

Your daily budget would prevent Google from emptying your AdWords budget. It would stop displaying the ads and charging for clicks as soon as the clicks hit the daily budget. Your payment options are manual and automatic. Also, you can choose to pay before or after Google displays ads. The largest search engine also provides credit but this facility is only for a chosen few.

Setting a daily budget would help in controlling cash flow on clicks and once you get hold of the budget, you can increase the daily limit.

Step 4: Skip the Ad Extensions

AdWords would offer extensions to add more value to your ads but it is better to skip this section for now. An extension can extend your reach but there is little need to extend your ads until you have finished the entire process and the ads are ready to be displayed.

Step 5: Write your first ad

AdWords has a structure for PPC ads and you have to follow the structure. It is as follows.

• Final URL
• Headline1: 30 characters
• Headline2: 30 characters
• Headline3: 30 characters
• Description1: 90 characters
• Description2: 90 characters

The headline should include your keyword because people search using keywords and also they are attracted to the search queries. Try writing catchy headlines within 30 characters.

The 90 characters of the description can be used for describing the product/service advertised. Or you can tell about the advantages of your business in the second line.

Step 6: Insert keywords in the ad setting

There could be millions of keywords matching with your business but it isn’t advisable to dump all the keywords in the ad set. You should start with a handful of keywords that you searched using on Google keyword tool. The keywords can be added or deleted according to the performance of your ad.

Step 7: Determine your cost-per-click

Cost-per-click is the cost you will pay for each click and the click would be charged according to the cost of keyword and you should know that each keyword is a different market. AdWords allows its users to select a bid for each keyword so that the users can manage their budget.

For example, if your budget allows spending only $50 on a keyword then you should bid on keywords that cost less than $50 so that your ads are displayed to a larger group of audiences.

Step 8: Review all the steps

Double check all the steps to make sure that everything is set and in order. Special focus should be given to geographic setting and keywords.

Step 9: Enter your billing info

Congrats! You’ve created an ad campaign and now it is ready to hit the Google Search Network. Also, you’ve checked all the steps and you are satisfied that everything is right. You can confirm your payment information to allow Google to start displaying your ads.

Conclusion

These 9 steps look short but they contain comprehensive information regarding AdWords ad creation. Every step has some technicalities involved for which you would need the help of a professional. These steps are for the quick understanding of ad creation on AdWords because you would need professional help for PPC marketing.