Google AdWords Campaign Settings Guide
The first step when launching a new Google AdWords campaign is to decide on the core settings. In this blog post, we take a closer look at each of the individual settings in turn, offering guidance on selections that are right for your particular campaign.
Campaign types
The campaign type that you choose should reflect your marketing goals. If you are looking to target those individuals who are searching for your products or services, then the best option here could be the Google Search Network. When you choose this option, your text ads will show on Google (and some other partner sites) specifically when users search for your products or services (or for associated products and services).
If you’d like a campaign that purely uses the Google Search Network then you should set the campaign type to: Search Network only.
You may have a product to offer that is very visual in terms of its appeal and you may be struggling due to a lack of awareness in the product range. In these circumstances, the Google Display Network could be an option for your business. The Display Network enables your ads to be shown when individuals are browsing websites with content that is related to what you have to offer. You can do this via banner and image ads (which many people tend to think of when considering display advertising), together with text and video ads.
If you’d like a campaign using the Display Network then you should set the campaign type to: Display Network only.
There are circumstances when you may wish to run ads across both the Search and Display Networks. This might occur, for example, if you are intent on getting the greatest possible exposure for what you have to offer. You may accept that some of your budget will be spent on building brand awareness, rather than looking for an immediate sale. If this sounds like the approach that you wish to take then the campaign type should be set to: Search Network with Display Select.
Geographic locations
Geographic targeting is a key part of getting your campaign into shape. Most typically, an advertiser may wish to target an entire country. But there are alternatives to this approach: here in the UK, there is the option to target specific cities, counties and regions. Radius targeting can also be useful and we’re seeing it used with regularity, allowing a specific location to be identified and then to target those within a certain number of miles of that location.
Budget
Within AdWords, you set a daily budget. In effect, the system then spreads out your spend over the course of a month, ensuring that you don’t spend more than 30.4 times the daily budget in any given month. Why 30.4? Apparently, that’s the average number of days in a month.
Bid strategy
In most cases, it will make sense for a new advertiser to opt for: Manual CPC. This is actually the default option and it allows you to set a default bid amount, which is applied at the ad group level. What this means is that all keywords within that ad group will have the same bid level set.
It’s important to note, however, that the amount that you bid is not the same as the amount that you actually pay. You can get estimates from within AdWords, indicating how many clicks might be expected (together with the total cost), depending upon bid amounts.
If you’re not comfortable with Manual CPC bidding (or don’t feel that you will have the time to monitor and alter bids), an alternative is to set your bid strategy to: Maximise Clicks. The Maximise Clicks setting simply seeks to produce the maximum number of clicks within your set budget.
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