Fatal Mistakes that can Kill your Adword Campaigns

There are a few online mistakes that you want to avoid when getting started with pay-per-click advertising and online business. These are common slips that can make a huge difference in your campaigns. Each time you start a new campaign or make a business move, check to make sure you aren’t making one of the following mistakes.

The first mistake a lot of newbies make is lumping all of the keywords for a given campaign into a single group. Let’s say you found 100 keywords you think will work for your campaign. This group can be broken down into subgroups that are more closely related together. For example, if you have a group of keywords related to tennis, the large group can be broken down into related keywords on tennis equipment, tennis clothes, tennis strokes etc. Breaking down the list into subgroups helps you reach a more targeted audience. Those customers looking for tennis equipment will respond to your ad targeted to that group of keywords. You can build a separate landing page for each subgroup, which will help more prospects respond to your offers.

Another big mistake is not using square brackets around keywords and phrases when entering them into Google Adwords. Using brackets (for example [tennis racquets]) will show your ad if and only if the keyword phrase tennis racquets is searched for. This technique further targets your marketing.

Keep in kind that Google Adwords is not a “set it and forget it” system. You need to track your results so you know which keywords are profitable. Tracking can help you shift your budget to put more emphasis on the most profitable keywords.

It is vital to have a website that is neat and clean. If your website is sloppy, you look unprofessional and your customer will be less likely to return. A clean website, free of spelling and grammatical errors, instills a level of trust in you and your company. Make sure all of your links work and remember to keep your pages simple. Anytime you ask a reader to hear an audio, click a list of testimonials or any other activity that requires them to click away, you are creating an opportunity for them to leave the site before getting to the end of your message. A streamlined site with less “bells and whistles” will be much more profitable.

Always use the “review” technique to sell something. Outright sales pitches turn people off. Instead, provide a review of the product you are trying to sell. If the reader perceives you as a reviewer you appear more objective, less biased and more truthful. Writing reviews of affiliate products or services that you want to promote will help boost your sales.

Another common mistake is receiving traffic from untargeted sources, such as pop-unders, safelists and free for all links. The whole point is to bring targeted traffic to your site that wants and needs the product or service you are offering. Accepting untargeted traffic is a waste of your time, and the reader’s time.

It is very important to plan your online business, whether you are using a Google Adwords or a minisite. Don’t just slap up the advertising or website and wait for a response. In order to succeed, you must have a plan. For example, couple your efforts with an auto responder series to send to your customers after they purchase from you. You can also set up an FAQ page where you can direct readers who have questions. Look for opportunities to upsell existing customers. Set up your marketing messages in advance so the process is automatic. Plan out your campaigns first before you begin and you will reap the benefits from that planning in the form of sales.

However, keep in mind that too much planning is a bad thing. Does this sound familiar? You just finished reading an ebook about writing sales letters. The book seems really complete and it walks you through the process. Instead of writing a practice letter though, you spend the next sixth months (or even a year!) looking for products and gathering information about writing sales letters. A lot of the process of becoming successful online is trying things out (and sometimes failing). Once you’ve done your initial research there is no product or ebook or website that will ensure success. Fear is the only thing that holds you back and sometimes you’ve just got to press on and try if you want to succeed with your business.

Another key to success, that many newbies forget, is to focus your online business efforts. Once you’ve got a system down well enough to get profits coming in, don’t get yourself distracted with promising business opportunities that are unrelated to your current business plan. Stay focused on what is working for you and put all of the new ideas aside. Long-lasting Internet success relies on focusing and learning to do one thing at a time. Then take what you learn and apply it, but only after your first project in on autopilot.

It is essential to remain organized. Your filing system doesn’t have to be fancy or complex. You can use something as simple as a cardboard box with manila folders if you want. The important thing is to have a system in place. It is very essential to keep subjects related to your topic in separate and labeled folders for easy reference. This will save you time later on when you need to find information.

Finally, it is imperative that you persevere in your business. So many newcomers give up too soon without realizing that success requires patience. As long as you are moving in the right direction by building your business you should keep going. Things are always slow at first, that’s a natural part of business building. But you have to crawl before you can walk. Sometimes, it may be best to keep your business goals and dreams to yourself. There’s never a shortage of negative people in life who can throw you off track and hold you down. Refuse to let that happen by keeping your goals to yourself and ignoring negative people.

By remaining focused and actively building your online business, you can avoid many of these common mistakes.