Don't Pay More than You Should for Google Adwords Traffic - By: Bishop Chanakira

The highest bidder does not necessarily rank highest in Google Adwords. So how do you make sure that you are not paying too much for your advertising? Let's find out.

One of the more recent developments at Google Adwords is the introduction of the quality score. If you don't understand this concept then you must read the rest of this article, it could save you from paying too much for your advertising.

To explain, let's start with some fundamental Google Adwords concepts. Google Adwords traffic flows through to your web site when people click on your advertisements. The amount you pay is determined by a number of factors. The one factor that most people understand is the bid. Let me explain.

Google Adwords places your advertisements in the sponsored links areas of the search results. When you enter a search word or phrase into the search engine and submit, Google returns two types of results. Organic results and sponsored links. Sponsored links typically occupy the top three positions in search results on the left side of the page and all placements on the right side of the page. Organic results occupy the lower left links on the page. The remainder of this topic is about the sponsored links which are placed by Google Adwords campaigns.

The highest ranked advertisements in search results typically attract the most clicks. Consequently these are positions are highly sought after. However, the cost per click of advertisements is higher. So one of the factors that determine the ranking of your advertisements is the amount you are willing to pay, or bid. The reason it is called a bid is that advertisers compete with each other by raising the amount they are willing to bid to a level higher than other advertisers to occupy the top spot. Having said that though, it is possible that the advert in position 1 attracts a lower cost per click than the advert in position 2, and this is where the quality score comes in.

Google competes with other search engines on the basis of relevance (at least that is one important differentiator). So Google assesses the relevance of your advertisement and your landing page to the search term used. If they deem the advert and landing page to be highly relevant, then your quality score will be higher than if it is deemed less relevant. So the theme of your advert and the theme of the landing page must match the search term used.

Another important factor used in calculating your quality score is the click through rate, or CTR. Your click through rate is the percentage of times your advertisement is clicked divided by the the number of times it is displayed. So if your advert is displayed 100 times and is clicked 5 times, then your CTR is 5%. The higher your CTR the more likely it is that your advertisement is relevant to searchers. This stands to reason because the searcher decides; they are unlikely to click on your ad if they don't think it is relevant.

Finally, quality scores change! And, if your campaign contains numerous poor quality keywords, then this will effect the quality of other keywords. So quality is not only relevant at a keyword level. This means that you must manage your campaign. Check the quality scores regularly and take action to address low quality keywords. You can do this by making appropriate changes to your ad copy and landing pages or removing them from your campaign altogether.

The amount you pay per click for Google Adwords traffic is determined by the amount you bid and by your quality score. The lower your cost per click, the more competitive your advertising. So take the time to learn about the Google quality score and the affect it has on your Google Adwords traffic. If you cannot afford the time to do this or don't have the expertise, hire a specialist to help you. It will pay off!

About the Author

Looking to increase website traffic? Then read Bishop's methods for Adwords management optimisation

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