So, how can Google Adwords Express work for your business?

Let’s assume you own a ‘Gym’ located in the area called ‘Clapham’.  When people search online for your industry and area (e.g. Gym Clapham), a copy of your advert will then show up.  Your ad will for instance appear at the top of Google local search result page, as shown below:

Note: To enlarge the following image, click on it.

Google Adwords Express displays a ‘blue pin’ symbol next to the advert of any participating business. The blue pin will also appear on Google Map as described above. This makes an ad stand out from the competition and much more easily identified by targeted prospective customers.   And you know what else?

Management of your campaign is ‘automatically’ done for you once it’s been set up.  This absolutely saves you time to perhaps focus more on other aspects of your business.

You simply set a maximum budget per month and the system won’t go beyond your spend limit. Putting you in total control. And just like the traditional Adwords for Local PPC, Google Adwords Express is risk-free.  As you pay nothing unless people click on your ads.

However, there is bad news!  Adwords Express is not available in many countries at the time of writing this post.  It’s fairly new on the market as I mentioned earlier.  Currently only available in the  US, UK, France and Germany.  But according to Google it will be introduced in other countries in due course. The fact that the program has not been around for long, a very cautious but steady approach is required.   Providing it’s available where you are……

Here are 5 easy steps to launch your campaign via Google Places.

Step 1  – Set up your Google Places business page (If you don’t have one already).  Assuming you have a business page, go to www.google.com/places and login.

Step 2 – Once you’ve fully logged into your Google Places admin area, click on ‘Create Adwords Express Ad’.

Step 3 – Then enter your ad details for Category, Headline and Description.  (Google will automatically match your chosen ‘Category’ with relevant keywords or search phrases).

Note: As you enter your ad details, it’s being automatically created on the right side of the screen. You’ll see the complete ad copy once you’ve finished filling in the ad form…..

Step 4 – Tick the box where you want to direct visitors who click your ad.  Select either your ‘Website, Place Page or Google+ Page’.  Then choose your budget for your ad.

Note: To maximise ROI (Return On Investment), choose carefully from step 4 above. It’s best to direct prospects to a web page that’s highly relevant to your advert.  This also means linking visitors to a page that converts well. By the way, you can track/monitor the performance of your linking web page, keywords and advertising campaigns using Google Analytics tracking tool.

Step 5 –  Once you’ve selected your budget, click ‘Save and Continue’. Then complete your billing profile and order form.

That’s simply how to quickly launch Google Adwords Express (via Google Places) for potentially a very profitable future.  And providing the ad program is available in your area, then give it a try.  You can cautiously start your campaign on a small scale and then go from there.  Any thoughts or ideas on the topic?  We welcome your valuable comment.

The post 5 Quick Steps To Activate Google Adwords Express appeared first on Market Business Online.

Not Tracking Campaigns: Failure to track results of your local ppc campaign is certainly a costly clanger  to avoid.  PPC is not just about getting started and expecting  things to run smoothly without tweaking.   For you to ensure that your investment is not going to waste, you need to regularly keep an eye on the results you get from your campaigns. Google Analytics is a popular tracking tool to use. This way you can accurately discover what’s working or not and gauge your return on investment (ROI) accordingly.

Tracking your ppc campaigns certainly keeps you in financial control

Not Being Authentic: For your local ppc advertising program, also make your ads unique and original.  Although I’m stating the obvious here. But not being authentic makes your ads less effective because you simply won’t stand out from the crowd.  This is certainly a major slip up by many online marketers. And as more businesses nowadays join the internet marketing bandwagon, making your ads different from others is even more important than ever.  I know it sounds easier said than done. But you can look at the pay per click ads that feature regularly and successfully in your niche, then create a unique version for your own campaign.  You simply need to tell your target audience why they should buy into you rather than your competition.

Not  Researching Keywords: Failure to do proper keyword research is undoubtedly the most common mistake amongst online marketers.  By not using targeted keywords for your local ppc campaign, the right potential customers will hardly find you online.   You could end up spending a fortune targeting people to your website with little or no interest in your offers.  You can easily save yourself unnecessary hardship by thoroughly doing your keyword research before investing your money.

Not Linking To Relevant Landing Page: Being able to generate quality PPC traffic is important. But linking your PPC traffic to a highly relevant landing page on your website is also crucial. Why? Because otherwise you’ll quickly turn off the interest of potential customers and get very low conversion rates. When people click the link inside your advert, they expect to be sent to a relevant landing page. So, give people exactly what they want and your business online will greatly benefit in return.

Not Adding a Phone Number: For local PPC campaign via the search engines (like Google Adwords), put your phone number inside your ad copy. Otherwise you can lose a ton of business. You see, there are people on the move that will find your ad copy on their smartphones. By including your phone number, it will appear with a ‘Click to Call’ feature on a smartphone. This encourages calls to your business and makes it very convenient, quick and easy for mobile users to call you. Alongside your phone number, you should of course always include a link to a high converting landing page to help you capture more paying customers.

By avoiding these common blunders, you can acquire high quality local ppc traffic and customers to boost your business.  Your comment regarding this post would of course be welcomed.

The post Common Local PPC Advertising Blunders To Avoid appeared first on Market Business Online.