While other search engines (Bing, primarily) have their own versions of PPC ad campaigns, Google is far and away the most popular, and it will most likely be the one you use. The following, then, are three things about the website analytics and PPC platform Google AdWords to keep in mind as you initiate your campaign. Google AdWords Rewards Relevance When you set your keywords for keyword bidding, Google AdWords will assign you a “quality score.” This score is largely dependent on how relevant Google determines your website is to your keyword set. The higher your quality score, the greater your chances of “winning” a set of keywords for a lower bid. This means that in most instances, you will not direct your ad to your home page. Instead, you will point it to the most relevant landing page on your site, be it a service page or a custom page designed specifically for the ad. Bid High, and Set Your Budget Higher than Google Recommends After your campaign has been running for awhile, Google will determine your AdWords placement by both bid and clickthrough rate (CTR). This means in the early stages, you’ll want to bid high so that you can maximize your CTR. After your campaign has been running for a while, Google will determine your AdWords placement by both bid and clickthrough rate (CTR). This means in the early stages, you’ll want to bid high so that you can maximize your CTR. Once your CTR is excellent, you may lower your bid. On a similar note, your ad will only be shown intermittently if you set your budget too low. By setting your budget higher than Google recommends, you will give yourself much better chances – keep in mind that you may not hit your daily budget. Google AdWords’ Reporting Tools are Not Enough Google AdWord’s free reporting tools are an excellent place to start, but they’re not comprehensive. To truly measure the success of your campaign, you’ll need a way to track which keywords your broad matches are triggering. Third-party software is usually better for this. Additionally, A/B or multivariate testing is crucial. This means you should be creating multiple ads for the same ad group and testing which one gives you the highest return. Find out more about Clarity Ventures See our Enterprise Web Portfolio