Getting Started with Adwords – Step by Step Guide

If you click on the getting started button, you’ll be able to see what a great tool this is to generate business.

Starter or Standard Edition?
If you don’t have any web presence then Google can actually create a page for you (remember that if this is the case you can always change where you send visitors in the future) so it’s worth getting started with the starter edition.  Also, if you’ve  got very little experience with internet marketing, the starter edition asks you to make far fewer choices and you can familiarise yourself with the concepts before you jump in the deep end.  In any event you can upgrade to the standard edition later – so it’s not a case of now or never.  The most important thing is to get started.
On the other hand, if you are feeling confident – then I’d recommend going for the standard edition.  Although it’s a bit more daunting at the start, you get lots of additional features that give you far more control. 
Instructions for Starter Edition
If you don’t have a website choose the option where they help you create one.  The process is surprisingly easy and then you can continue with this guide when you are done.

If you’ve got a site then select ‘I have a web page option’ and click continue at the bottom of the page.
You’re going to create your whole internet advertising campaign on the next page

1. Select your area – choose the area where you want your advertising to run.  If you are a local business then it’s good to use your zip code to see what areas you can target your advertising in.  Then select one of the options, select the option which targets your prospects within your ideal area.  Then below select the language for your advert.   The vast majority of people will want to target English speakers, but if for example most of your customers speak Spanish you may want to change this.
2. Put in your website address – this is where you will send people who click on your advert.  Next you get to write your advert.  Google have some great tips on how to create powerful ads.  Remember unlike advertising in the yellow pages you can change your advert anytime you want.  A good format is to list your service and area in the headline and then list a feature and then a benefit.  So some examples might be
   Plumbers Santa Monica
   No job too small, No Job too big
   24 Hour Callout Service
   Or
   Plumbers Santa Monica
   Plumbing, Heating & Drainage
   1 Hour Call Out Service
   You are obviously limited on the space you have here, but this should teach you how to get straight to the point.
3. Keywords
   If you imagine your advert as a genie in the lamp – a keyword is what causes triggers the genie. As I’ve mentioned previously keywords are very useful. The box on the left is where you place keywords for your campaign – a list of service you offer. Now if you a general keyword into ‘want more’ box Google will start giving you keyword suggestions. There is no shortage of possible keywords, but you must remember choose keywords that are relevant to your business. At this stage you can also start adding the local keywords I discussed earlier, so you can take a generic word like plumber, plumbers or plumbing and add a local qualifier to it.
4. Currency – Choose the currency you’ll be paying for your advertising in
5. Budget – For new advertisers this is often a tricky question.  I’d certainly recommend a budget of at least $200 a month, but the beauty of this form of advertising is you are in total control of your budget.  Want to spend more, no problem, want to spend less no problem.  Initially pick something that you are comfortable with, safe in the knowledge as your familiarity and understanding improve so too will your ROI (return on investment).  Once you start seeing regular profits from your advertising I’d certainly recommend increasing your spend.  But it’s in your hands at all times.

Go ahead and press continue congratulations you’re nearly there.  So what remains is setting up your login details (email and password) and verifying your email.  The last stage is setting up your payment details after which your advertising can start working for you.

Now in the initial few weeks you’re probably going to want to login periodically and check how you are doing – initially it’s a bit overwhelming and there is probably a lot of terminology you are unfamiliar with, but persevere and you’ll be very pleased with yourself.  If you ever want to login and check on your progress just go to the Google homepage, click on advertising programmes, then Adwords and you can login.

Setting Up Google Adwords - Standard Edition