Crack the Google Adwords Formula Before You Spend Dime One

As a marketing manager who's working from a limited budget, it's imperative to husband your resources when advertising on the search engines. A poorly designed or inadequately maintained Google AdWords campaign can drain precious dollars, eat up your time and resources, and even injure your online brand.

Here are easy to implement ideas which can radically improve your AdWords ROI:

Test your ads - many times over! The idea that you can pick your "optimal" keywords at random is ridiculous. The mathematics of ad utility are non-linear: that is, you can't predict efficacy beyond a very limited horizon. Beta testing your ads is your way out. You can use what are known as A/B split tests to compare click-through rates for similar ads. You can also employ "affiliate tracking" to measure conversion data with precision.

Even after you've found keywords which yield a good ROI, don't get lazy! The AdWords battlefield is constantly changing, with new competitors moving in and old warhorses getting mowed down: you must stay on top of your numbers and adapt to ensure a thriving campaign.

You can target precise phrases using the square bracket function to narrow your focus. (For example, if you sell Arizona foreclosures, you might bracket the keyphrase [buy AZ foreclosure real estate]. Thus, only when someone types in that exact sequence of words will your ad pop up. This will help you in two ways:

1) it will reduce your "non-action" leads - these cost you money and earn you nothing.

2) it will sidestep toe-to-toe battles against the big dogs in areas where you're non-competitive.

Choose off-kilter and emotionally charged words in your ad copy. You only have a VERY BRIEF moment to make an impression. You MUST bust out by surprising your audience. Take a page from Chip and Dan Heath, authors of "Made to Stick." Aim for simple unexpected ads that provide concrete and credible claims. If you convey emotion and imply a narrative in your ad, so much the better.