Google Adwords has morphed into an unforgiving beast for its users over the years. It is not simple; it once was when Google started its Adwords system. Google has made Adwords so complicated that there is a practical entry barrier for beginners to this game. But it doesnt mean you cannot beat Google at its own game.
Click Through Rate (CTR) is very vital for the success of your campaigns. CTR is the number of clicks in 100 impressions your ad will receive. In order to get a excellent CTR, you need to learn how to write enticing ads for the people to click. It is a delicate balance. High CTR may not result in excellent conversions. Aim for a CTR above 2%.
Quality Score is something that is very vital for you to know. Google has never told anyone how it really calculates Quality Score. Only help Google has provided to the Adwords users is that now it tells whether Quality Score is Fantastic, OK or Poor. High Quality Score means Google likes your website and is willing to advertise it for a very low minimum bid like $0.02-0.04.
Quality Score primarily depends on your website. Google likes to see a website that is relevant to the keyword that it is being advertised. If Google thinks that your website is relevant, it will assign your website a fantastic quality score.
If Google thinks that your website is not relevant, it will give poor quality score to your site. This way Google is telling you to make your website relevant for that particular keyword.
You need to optimize each page of your website for one particular keyword. Make a separate page for each keyword. In your campaign use only that page for that keyword. Google likes to quality content. Place excellent content on your site. Google despises one page websites. It provides poor user experience. Google cares about its users.
What position your ad will be shown? It depends on Ad Rank. Ad Rank= (CTR) (Your Bid) (Quality Score). Get a fantastic quality score, initially bid high to get top 3 ranking to build up a excellent CTR for your campaign. Once, you have CTR higher than 2%, lower the bid to see if it works and do not affect the CTR.
Google also maintains a quality score of your general account. Your overall CTR in the account should never ever fall below 1% in my opinion. If your account gets assigned a poor quality score, it will affect your new campaign as well and if your account has a fantastic quality score, Google will reward you more by assigning very low minimum bids for new campaigns as well. Be careful!
But even if you do every thing right, doesnt mean that you are on safer ground. Your can get Google Slap anytime. No one knows the exact reasons for a Google Slap. Google Slap is the way Google uses to tell you to buzz off and dont use Google anymore. Learn to beat Google at its own game with Google Ambush!