Let me first say that Google AdWords (Google pay per click), when done correctly, will give you the best return on your money compared to other online advertising options. At the same time, if you don't know how Google evaluates your campaign, it could cost you a fortune.

Let’s first examine how Google is different from other search vehicles. Most search engines base the placement of your ad on how much you pay per click, i.e., the one who pays the most for a specific keyword will be positioned in the #1 spot.
Not so with Google. In an attempt to deliver more relevant content to its readers, Google uses several parameters to determine the order in which it serves up its ads. Not knowing or ignoring these parameters can cost you big! And unless your enterprise has very deep pockets, it can even mean the difference between success and failure.

When doing a pay per click campaign on Google, your ad position will be based on keyword selection, ad relevance to keywords, bid price, average click rate, how long visitors stay on your site, and even the match of your landing page to your ad and keyword. Essentially, you could be paying the most per click and be listed in the 5 position! Or vise versa, you could be paying less than the top 5 bidders and be in the #1 spot!

Purchase Information

When setting up your Google AdWords (pay per click) campaign, all these elements will affect your position in the ranking, so make sure that:

• Your keywords are not too broad
• Your ad relates to your keywords (keyword grouping is important)
• Your bid price is at least competitive
• Your click rate is good (above 1-3% is great, below 0.5% is a killer)
• Keywords you choose match the content on your landing page
• You use text instead of Flash. This is very important…using
Flash landing pages without text will affect your ad position in a negative way (Google perceives pages with no information the same as pages with non relevant information).

The more you adhere to these parameters, the lower your cost per click and the better your conversions will be. I appreciate Google's well thought out ranking policies. When searching online for info, I hate nothing more than clicking on an ad that sends me to a page that has little or nothing to do with what I am researching. If I don't see relevant information within a few seconds, I'm gone, and irritated about the waste of time!

Look for our next article, where we’ll cover “The biggest mistake when doing Google Adwords”. Sign up for our “Marketing Insight” ezine and be the first to view it.