JollyK - 5:27 pm on Mar 3, 2006 (gmt 0)

This has been alluded to, but I think it needs pushing:

Make SURE the landing page SELLS your product/service. The user should get to the landing page and find it immediately obvious why they were sent there. If they have to search around your landing page for a "buy now" or "apply now" or "get this widget now" then you may have wasted your money on that click.

CTR is great, but if the landing page doesn't convert, it's a waste of money.

I'd also reiterate what AWA and others have said: test, test, test, and refine your copy. Use words that capture the imagination, like "luscious lingerie" or "wacky widgets." Try different things, depending on your site and target audience.

KNOW your target audience. What kind of people want your product or service? What are your successful competitors doing? Instead of just people who buy widgets (everyone needs widgets, right?), think of targeting different groups, like early adopters "The latest in widget technology -- Be the first! Get it now!" or techie types "Acme Z48XP - Get High Availability Widgets" or, heck, even stay-at-home moms "It's tough being a mom - you deserve a widget! Get one here!"

Okay, those probably won't fit because I just made them up here, and if I were going to put them into an Adwords ad, I'd have to refine to fit the length limits and add a call to action, and stuff, but the point is, narrow things down, target different words and groups, refine your copy, and don't be afraid to test different things.

Also, it's kind of a pain, but I'm all for having several different landing pages depending on the ad and the targetting. They may all end up buying a "blue widget," but the guy searching for "Acme Z48XP" is probably going to want to see technical specs, while the early adopters may want to know more about why this widget is better than the v1.0 widget.

Go a little bit afield, too.

I've had pretty good luck with an ad where people are searching for a particular service. Lots of places SAY they provide this service, but when you look in the fine print, there are all sorts of restrictions so they really don't provide that service at all. My ad comes up when you search for this, and basically tells those people that what they're looking for doesn't actually exist, so they should try my service instead. :-)

I had another one where I targeted "Green widgets scam" and "green widgets ripoff" and the ads were like "Get a free trial and find out for yourself." :-) That one can backfire, of course, but it worked for this one.

I think it may have been Perry Marshall that once said, "No one who ever bought a drill wanted a drill: they wanted a hole." In other words, people aren't looking to buy X, they are looking for something to provide a solution for them, to fill a need. If you can figure out what the need is, and address the need, (and, of course, show that you just so happen to have a product that fills that need), you're closer to making the sale. I try to think about what it is that people really want when they search for "blue widget prices" and give it to them or promise it to them in the ad copy.

And I make really sure to do negative keywords for "free" and "reviews" and "sucks" (unless I'm targeting "sucks") and anything else that I don't want my ad to show under.

I am by no means an Adwords guru making millions or whatever (not even close, more's the pity), but I have been playing with Adwords for a couple of years, and have made quite a bit more than I've spent. Definitely take what I've said with that in mind.

Oh, and I also agree with the "never pay more than 5 cents a click" but I'd moderate it to "TRY really hard to never pay more than 5 cents a click." It is incredibly difficult in certain fields, but I've managed to find 5 cent keywords in the most surprising areas. See above: how many people deliberately buy ads for "their product: ripoff?" :-) That might not work for you, but then again, something similar might.

JK