Google Adwords is an interesting, complex, time consuming, and data driven way to market Vote Smart. We are able to spend $10,000 per month of on Google Ads (given to us for free by Google for being a non-profit). The 10k budget is distributed into a more exact budget of $329 per day.
We currently (2017) have no advertising or marketing budget other than human will. Taking advantage of the Adwords market could prove very valuable, especially if we could evaluate and determine the actual real dollar value a dollar spent on Adwords means to our fundraising efforts ($1 Adwords = $x Donations).
The Google AdWords account is administered using the pvs59858@gmail.com account. This email forwards directly to the Development Director. Please contact Development for access.
There are a few strategies to explore with Adwords. Each is a strategy to "make the most" out of our 10k budget.
Here are strategies we’ve found useful:
- Find the cheapest clicks, increasing the total number of visits to VoteSmart.org via Adwords ($0.25 = 40,000 clicks).
- Ensure that the landing page (the page which they are sent to) is the exact thing they are looking for (keywords search of "gun issue" takes them to a relevant page on our website).
- Another theory is to experiment with the actual copy language used in the Ad (URL, Title, Description, etc.) can all make an impact on how effective that Ad is, and thus, how many people ultimately see it.
- Style of Ad. This has been less than explored so far, but there are many options for Ads other than the standard, some of which may be advantageous to us.
- Key words. Some words cost bundles of money, others cost no money. The ones that cost no money are also the most difficult to think of. There are a ton of formulas that Google allows that you can use that enable you to hone in on those low cost key word clicks (playing around with it is really the only way to figure this out).
Ultimately, there are potentially infinite amounts of strategies you could implore. We just need to find the most effective and lucrative (donations) strategy for us. Go for it!!!
Organic results v. Google Ads:
- Organic Results: Google determines the most relevant to the search. (SEO) Decided through Google’s algorithm. (Cannot buy these results).
- Google Ad Words is not SEO. They are the top and Side ads that show up with a search.
- Google automatically selects the best performing ads to give you the best deal.
Major Components:
- Clicks - person clicks on the ad (we want this number to be high)
- Impression - each time your ad is shown on a search result page or other site on Google.
- Click through rate - clicks ➗ impressions (we want this number to be high)
Pricing Models:
- (CPM) Cost Per Impression- How often the ad is shown regardless of engagement. Changes every time it is shown. (Good for visibility and brand awareness)
- (CPC) Cost Per Click- Charged every time a user actively clicks on your ad. (Direct Response)
- (CPA) Cost Per Acquisition- Charged for every conversion tracked to your ad. (Lead - use online ads to gather information about your consumers)
Adwords are Keyword Targeted Ads:
Ads triggered based on the keywords users search for and their relevance to the keywords you’re bidding on.Tips:
- Speak your customer’s/ audience’s language.
- Target a very specific group of people you know are interested in what you have to offer vs. the masses.
- Note: Adwords is reacting to what they typed in and were actively looking for.
- Know the language- what terms are being entered into the search engine that relates to Vote Smart.
- Keep in mind frequency/search volume- How often people are typing in a keyword when searching.
- Try to predict trending topics before they begin to trend - aka. politicians and political issues that may become buzzed about and searched for in the next few days.
Negative Keywords
Probably the most important match type of all because they help us filter out irrelevant traffic that you don’t want your ad to show up for. (Also, keeps you from wasting $). By using negative keywords, you can improve your quality score. In order to determine negative keywords, use the keyword planner tool or search terms report.How to properly add negative keywords:
You want to identify root words that are problematic for your business and focus on the root to help avoid any possible variations of that phrase being triggered again. Here is an example:
Example Search Term: "Fake Gold Watches for Sale"
If you don't sell fake gold watches you want to take the word "Fake" and add that as a negative keyword. This will avoid any variations of the same phrase such as "Fake watches for cheap", "fake watch on sale", etc..
By dealing with the root of the problem you save your self hundreds of dollars in potential irrelevant clicks.
To learn more about Search Terms & Negative Keywords please visit: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2472708?hl=en
Monthly to-do's
Every month you want to review your search terms to ensure that everything that is triggering your ads is as relevant as possible. Follow these instructions:
1. Click the "Go To" menu item with the magnifying glass at the top of your AdWords account
2. In the search box that appears, type "Search Terms" and click on it
3. Set the date range at the top right corner to Custom from the last time you performed this task until the day you are doing it again. It is
very important not to redo dates that have been done before as it will waste your time in repeated work. We recommend keeping a log of your activities on AdWords to remember.
4. Review the search terms in the list and if you find anything that you don't like you need to add the irrelevant portion of the phrase as a negative keyword.
5. To add a negative keyword click the checkbox beside it and click "Add as a negative keyword" in the top blue menu
6. In the Negative Keyword Menu that will open, always set the keyword to Campaign level unless there is a strategic reason not to (rare occurrence).
Tips from Eurim:
- Try downloading the click report! You are able to choose your X and Y axis and print.
- Set “max cost per click” automatically instead of manually, keep bid strategy at maximizing clicks.
- If you make a big change, monitor it for the next few days
- The campaign type should be set as “Search Network only” - don’t change this
- “+” = broad matches - the ad only shows up if both words are used. Keep this set.
