How to use Google Adwords to increase your sales

Google Adwords can be intimidating for beginners.

But, fear not, I have been through thousands of Google Adwords accounts and I am about to show you the four basic concepts that will improve your results regardless of your budget, where you’re located, or what industry you’re involved in.

Throughout this tutorial I will create examples using a fictitious dentist office from Olympia, WA called “Dr. Drillbits, DDS.” Apply these lessons to your business to increase your sales with Google Adwords.

A basic understanding of Google Adwords

Let’s start with a very basic understanding of just how the platform works.

Step 1) People type searches into Google to find answers, products, and services.

Step 2) Companies advertise on Google search results to send people to their website.

The basic premise being: Google is the middleman connecting consumer and provider.

The opportunity: Put your business in front of consumers who are searching for your product or service.

The problem: Paying for searchers who are not high-quality potential customers and do not turn into paying clients.

The solution: Be very specific and intentional about which searches your ads show up for.

1. Eliminate the match type madness

   For the sake of brevity, I am going to give you this tip as a standalone: Use phrase match.

   Start with phrase match for your keyword match type setting and once you become more experienced you can go back and learn more about the other match types if you wish.

2. Keyword size matters

   The term “keyword” is misleading.

   Your keyword(s) should be more than just 1 word. Or even 2. A quality “keyword” shouldn’t be less than 3 words long.

   Big Mistake: Using short (not specific) keywords

   My dentist office, Dr. Drillbits, chose the 1-word-long keyword “Dentist” in our Google Adwords account. We want to show up every time someone searches for dentist, right? Wrong.

   What searches the keyword “Dentist” could trigger:

   • Dentist Jobs in Olympia
   • How to Become a Dentist
   • Dentist Halloween Costumes

   None of those look like very good prospects. And certainly nothing that I would want to pay for. But this happens all too often when people are using short keywords.

   Solution: Make your keywords longer and more specific

   I still want to advertise Dr. Drillbits dentist office on Google Adwords, I just need to make my keywords longer, and more specific, to avoid paying for unwanted searches.

   What happens when we change “Dentist” to “Family Dentist in Olympia?”

   • Dentist Jobs in Olympia
   • How to Become a Dentist
   • Dentist Halloween Costumes

   None of those previous searches trigger our ads to show now. Success!

3. Be positive about negative keywords

   A common misconception that many beginners have when it comes to Google Adwords is that they want to show up for EVERYTHING. Anything closely related to their business they go in and try to add it as a keyword. Please don’t do that.

   Instead, look at Google Adwords like it’s a BlackJack table and each search is like the dealer dealing you in. The difference is, unlike at a BlackJack table, Google Adwords will let you choose which hands you want to bet on! That would be like telling the dealer that you only want to play if you get dealt a pair of Queens. Your keywords tell the search engine to only show your ads when these certain words or phrases appear. Now, say you don’t want to bet on those Queens if the dealer is showing an Ace. No problem. You can use negative keywords to control when you do not want to bet on a search.

   Dr. Drillbits, DDS really wants to focus on growing our child patients in 2018. We want more long-term patients coming in for regular check-ups, Monday through Friday, and are going to use Google Adwords to build that client base. We use negative keywords to stop our ads from showing on unwanted searches.

   We added these negative keywords:

   • Braces
   • Emergency
   • Open Weekends

   We also know that there are some bad searches that have been wasting our budget, so we’re going to use negative keywords to get rid of those as well.

   We added these negative keywords:

   • Free
   • Jobs
   • How to Become

   Now we have long, specific keywords triggering our ads, and negative keywords blocking any searches that we don’t want to show up for. It is beginning to look like a better bet now.

4. Add more ads

   The final step that everyone ignores: The Ads.

   Too often, beginners spend so much time putting in new keywords that they completely neglect the ads. Sadly, it is not uncommon to see an account with 2,000 keywords and only 2 ads.

   Big Mistake: Not making ads specific & relevant to searches

   Dr. Drillbits specializes mostly in annual check-ups, children’s dentistry, and crowns. Naturally, we’ve selected keywords for each of these services. But we only took the time to make 1 ad.

   Our ad says:

   Contact Dr. Drillbits, DDS
   Best Dentist in Olympia, WA
   Call Us Today to Schedule!

   Not bad right? Wrong.

   That’s the ad that is going to show up regardless of whether the search is for an annual check-up, new child patient, or someone who needs a crown. It doesn’t tell the searcher that we do any of those things. More-so, it doesn’t tell them why we are a better choice than the dentist that will be listed above or below us in the search results.

   Solution: Make more ads

   Use your ads as a final screening tool. Be very specific, and very honest, about the services you provide. Try including prices. If the user knows exactly what you do, how much it’s going to cost, and they click your ad, the odds of you getting a new client just increased substantially.

   Try to aim for 1 ad per every 4 keywords in your account.