Russell comes up with some excellent actions and I totally agree that tracking results is the secret to success.
However, Google's system is a bit like an onion and often you need to peel it back to see what is really going on.
Let me explain.
There are 4 types of keywords you can have in Google Adwords :
1. Broad match - your ad is shown if the words you are bidding on show anywhere in your list.
2. Phrase match - your ad is shown if the phrase you are bidding on is shown within the context of the search made
3. Exact match - your ad is shown if the phrase you are bidding on is shown EXACTLY as the search made.
4. Negative match - your ad is NOT shown if one of the stop words you choose is used.
You could add in extended broad match, where similes will also generate traffic, but it gets a bit complicated at that point.
Now you know the matches, let's look at the strengths/weaknesses of each type.
1. Broad match -
Strength - allows you to be a lot less accurate with keyword selection. Find one phrase and get all the variations, e.g. your keyword is bank loan, your ad will also show for, cheap bank loan, bad credit bank loan, loan from the bank etc.. so lots of traffic for one phrase.
Weakness - you end up with a lot of visitors that are not what you want and the actual results make you believe you are doing OK, the CTR seems OK and you are making sales, but all those wasted clicks erode your potential results.
2. Phrase match -
Strength - allows you to refine what you are looking for more acurately. Avoids the jumbling effect, only searches with bank loan in that order would be shown. Avoids you receiving extended broad matches.
Weakness - Can significantly reduce traffic levels and if you have insufficient phrase matches you will get a significant drop in traffic levels.
3. Exact match -
Strength - allows you to appear higher in the listings as generally gives a better CTR as less "chaff".
Weakness - can eliminate clicks where the intention is obviously what you are selling/offering, due to extra characters in the search term.
4. Negative match -
Strength - allows you to omit obvious instances of irrelevance, e.g. you don't do anything for free, so you use -free as a negative keyword.
Weakness - We've seen plenty of people buy where they used free in their search, so what they really meant was "cheap/inexpensive/discount"
We use a tracking tool that enables us to track each click and where a referral string is presented we can pick that up and marry it back to the visitor and the actual word that was used.
So it may be we were bidding on the keyword "chamonix ski" and we were getting a lot of visitors where they actually typed chamonix ski chalet, my phrase match would pick it up, but I'd get much better results keeping the "chamonix ski" keyword but making [chamonix ski chalet] and exact match because it would get much better results and higher CTR and thereby a lower CPC.
The order for search is :
exact
phrase
broad
negative
So Google look for an exact match in your list (better relevance), if it finds one it shows it, if it doesn't it goes to the next level, (relevant but not quite so), if it finds one it shows it, if it doesn't it goes broad (less relevant but still slightly), and then the sanity check is to look if there is anything you don't want to be shown for (as that makes it less relevant to your offer).
Track the visitors and you'll be able to get great results, and don't assume that your campaign is working at optimum level just because Google's system says you are getting a 5% CTR.
Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, Sam , 25 Nov 11:38 Calling all Google Adword experts:
I'm about to do some advertising on Google for the first time. Who can give me some tips on how to get the best, most targeted results for the ...
RE: Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, Ashley , 26 Nov 10:45 Hi Sam
I'm not a search engine expert but we have done a fair bit of this ourselves (both 'organic' / 'algorhythmic' / 'editorial' / 'free' listing and pay-per-click) and my few ...
RE: Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, Webby, 26 Nov 12:03 Ashley makes some good suggestions. especially using the trial versio nor forking out a few bucks for a more detailed analysis at wordtracker.com. Do be sure to cross reference the ...
RE: Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, teddie, 27 Nov 10:29 Adwords are really interesting.
The success is quite closely linked to the editorial. If you get it right you can really reduce the CPC.
A simple free trick to manage your a ...
RE: Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, Russell , 27 Nov 19:22 > 'Chamonix' and 'chalet' will be most in demand and hence expensive.
I agree. They'll also have a poor click-through & conversion rate compared to highly targeted terms (& ther ...
Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, warrencowan, 26 Nov 11:20 Hi Sam,
before you roll your sleeves up, I'd sit down and have a long hard think about what you mean by 'get the best results'. Do you 'get the most traffic' for least outlay, ' ...
Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, Russell , 27 Nov 19:32 Dr Potter's top tips for AdWords success:
1. Track your results
Yes, this really is number one! If you're not tracking results, save yourself some money & don't do pay per cl ...
Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, webdiversity, 28 Nov 10:04 Russell comes up with some excellent actions and I totally agree that tracking results is the secret to success.
However, Google's system is a bit like an onion and often you ne ...
Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, leedle, 28 Nov 17:49 Everything I've read so far makes perfect sense, but take care not to underestimate the true value of negative keywords.
Good negative keywords can turn around even the broade ...
Got any top tips re Google Adwords?, Sam 
, 25 Nov 11:38
