AdWords acts like an ecosystem of interconnecting and interacting parts. Some advertisers forget the importance of this ecosystem and how each part interacts with one another, which is why they don’t see their AdWords account perform well or they pay more for each click they happen to receive.
Advertisers that do understand how they interact within the ecosystem, will give them an advantage over their competitors.
The five parts of the AdWords ecosystem:
- The searcher
- Google search
- Keywords
- AdWords ad
- Landing page
The searcher and Google search: Even though you are using AdWords in order to advertise your product and/or services, it’s likely that at one point you searched for an answer to your questions or solution to your problems. As it stands right now, Google Search is the place to go in order to find those answers or solutions. This is where the searcher interacts with the advertiser.
Keywords: The searcher uses one or more keywords in order to find what they are looking for (words or phrases that best describe their questions or problems).
The AdWords ads: At the opposite end, the advertiser tries to pre-identify all those potential keywords / searches so they can craft enticing ads that will attract the searcher to click on them.
The landing page: If the searcher clicks on one of those ads, they will land on a page designated by the advertiser.
How do some advertisers make this work while others get it so wrong?
If the advertiser picks the wrong keywords, creates irrelevant ads or sends the searcher to the wrong landing page, they will fail. The advertiser will either pay more for each click or Google will stop showing their ads.
Just because the advertiser is willing to pay for each click doesn’t guarantee their ads will be displayed. If the searcher doesn’t find what they are looking for, they could potentially stop using Google search altogether. That will hurt Google’s bottom line, which is why Google strives to deliver relevant results to the searcher.
The right keywords and ads: If the advertiser chooses the right keywords and creates the right ads, the searcher will click on them – this is the goal, so to speak. The ads must make a connection with the keywords so if the searcher searches for apples, you can’t give them oranges in an ad. Relevance is the key to yours and Google’s success.
The right landing page: When the advertiser sends clicks from their ads to the right web page, it means the searcher has found what they’re looking for. The advertiser is happy, the searcher is happy and Google are happy.
If the searcher is directed to a website where they struggle to find what they are looking for, they will most likely return to Google and try the next website or they might become frustrated with Google and search elsewhere. Google could interpret this action as though you’re not offering relevant content to the searchers. The advertiser will pay for clicks that don’t produce results.
Getting searchers to click on ads is easy. Just say that you are giving away free HDTVs and masses of people will click on your ads but as it’s unlikely you’re in the business of giving away HDTVs, you need to focus on relevance.
Find the keywords that your potential customers are using. Show them the relevant ads that directly speak to those searches, take them to the relevant landing page so they instantly know their search is now over and they’ve found what they are looking for.
The three Rs: relevant keywords, relevant ads and relevant landing pages.
