We were really busy leading up to Christmas 2010 which is not something any of us expected, in some ways we were looking forward to a relaxing wind down of a turbulent year for some of our clients and us to a lesser degree. Being honest we are in the right type of business because even though we have faced and are facing tough economic times the online World is buzzing more than ever.The topic I would like to talk about today is Google AdWords and Facebook ads, both very different but together can boost profits. The trick as always is in your preparation of the advertising and the whole campaign from impression, click to order to email.Google:Google is very much about finding the search terms that pay, if you advertise on too a generic term like say “printer” as you sell printers then you will get click from those searching for inks, parts, servicing, reviews and others who are not interested in what you offer. This will cost you a lot of money and more than likely lead to a wasteful unsuccessful campaign. You need to use longer search terms that will reduce volumes of people searching but those that do use the search term are more likely to be interested in what you do. It is much better to have quality over quantity in Google.For example if you sell HP printers then effective search terms could be “HP printer best prices” or “HP colour printer prices”. For our clients we use the Google keyword Tool and others to work out where the most cost effective traffic will be for our client, the Holy Grail is finding relatively low competition search terms but well targeted leading to low click costs but good conversion results!Your advert needs to have a call to action; it needs to make the potential customer click. We always set up a good few adverts to see which adverts perform the best. Anyone with a little experience will think this is obvious but we have seen many trying to take short cuts or thinking they somehow know the best thing to say!PLEASE BE AWARE:Many of our clients have been contacted by Companies on the phone saying they can guarantee getting them on the first page of Google. They make a big thing about and say they can do it for only 60 – 120 pounds a month. I have to explain to my clients that it is not good and here is the reason why:”They are talking about Google AdWords because Organic results can not be guaranteed, what they do is quite simple, get you near the top for the first few weeks which will cost them at least some of the money you give them. Then they drop you down to position 6-8 on the right hand side, still on page 1 of Google like they said they would. Only now the month advertising is costing them less than half of what they charge you. What a great money earner. You will be lucky to recoup your money back.”This was confirmed when I went and gained a new client who had a 100 a month fee paid monthly for 5 search terms, we both checked over several days and his listing didn’t even come up! A waste of money – DONT DO IT!Get in touch with a Company who knows what they are doing, someone who can meet you.Facebook:Facebook is different as you do not target specific search terms from people searching, you are targeting geo-location, age, gender and other options you find in Facebook. This means you are advertising to people like an electronic bill board on one of the most popular social networking sites in the World.The way you advertise is different from Google and should be treated as such for example lets say you offer training for a new career. In Google you would find good search terms and base your adverts text around those search terms. In Facebook you can promote “start a new career” or “Want a new career?” – You also have an image you can upload in Facebook which should be designed professionally. Visual impact counts.You can also use Facebook advertising to promote your Facebook page, increase your social media presence, although we recommend you start by gaining business first.Using both Facebook and Google ads together can be a powerful online advertising & marketing medium. You have researched both and constructed variations of Ads, both provide a good click volume with users spending at least some time on your website. Is this Job done?NoYour landing page must try to capture the person who has clicked (thanks Michael), showing them exactly what they want. For example if you get a click from someone looking to buy a HP printer (everything about your ad has lead to a high probability of this) then the page they come to must show them the HP printer they were looking for or the type of printers they will be interested in, for example if they searched colour your landing page should only show colour printer options. Do not kid yourself people will spend lots of time trying to find what they want from your home page!So here is a little crib sheet you should always think about when using Google or Facebook advertising:• What is your advertising aim (sell, promote get emails?)
• What cost is acceptable to gain 1 x your focus (e.g. you would pay more per conversion for higher valued sales)
• What is your initial budget for a campaign (normally per day)
• Google – list and research search terms to find search terms that get results
• Facebook – write down your target audience (using Facebook profile info as a guideline)
• Setup both campaigns using your researched information (check other ads)
• Create a minimum of 4 ad variations – 10 is better!
• Facebook get a professional creative ad designed
• Create or get your web designers to create a landing page specifically for your adverts (one for Google & one for Facebook)
• Have an incentive, discount code so you know if from Google or Facebook
• Make sure your landing pages are focused on your aim (at the beginning)
• Get a few people to check out the process before going live to proof to make sure you are happy you have done all you can
• Make your campaigns liveIf in doubt always get a professional in, we for example set up the campaigns for our clients, doing the research, ad text, ad images and the landing pages. We then instruct the client on what we do how we do it and provide some training. This then empowers our clients to understand better what is involved and to get involved themselves.Our web page on Google AdWords and Pay per ClickI welcome any comments below especially from any one else who has good experience with Google AdWords and Facebook and would to share some other useful info!Thanks for reading

Facebook advertising provides online businessmen a chance to promote their enterprise and reach out to a lot of people. Advertising on Facebook enables businessmen to target a highly specified group of people to come up with a higher conversion rate and revenue. Advertising on Facebook can be very useful especially for those who are running a small business. Facebook advertising is affordable and easy to maintain. Also, it lets you reach people who are most likely to be interested in buying your product.Although Facebook advertising is simple and easy, some are still finding it hard how to use it effectively. Others are still burdened with the problem of targeting the right people to click through their ads and discover their business. If you are one of those who are finding it difficult to target people on Facebook, read on and learn these solutions to your problem.Keyword TargetingThis type of targeting is one of the most popular and powerful ways to filter the people who see your Facebook ad. For example, if your site is all about selling books about relationships and you want to target the keyword phrase, “relationship tips”, you can identify this keyword in the Targeting section of the Facebook ads. Facebook will then sort through individuals who match this keyword in terms of interests, activities, visited pages, groups, and updates.Facebook can also help you with keyword targeting by suggesting keywords that are highly relevant to your business and products. If you wish, you may also conduct an independent keyword research and apply it to Facebook ad campaigns.Location TargetingUsing Facebook advertisement, you can also target your customers in terms of specific locations. Facebook lets you identify the country, city, or state from which you want to target customers from. This type of targeting is beneficial especially for small businesses whose clientele is limited as of the moment. Location targeting is also being used by national companies but still, small businesses can benefit largely from it.Advertisers can now choose from over 25 countries including multiple cities and states. Facebook also offers Radius Targeting which allows the user to target people from within a certain radius distance in a city. With Radius Targeting, it is easier for small and local businesses to reach people who are near them or are based on locations within a small distance from their own city.Age TargetingAnother way of targeting people through Facebook is by age targeting. This helps you target people from within a specified age range. This can be helpful especially if you are selling products that will appeal to a certain age type ie. Toys, adult novels, bags for business women, teenage apparel, etc.Age targeting is fairly easy to do but Facebook experts recommend using this with another targeting tool such as Keyword or Location Targeting.Connection TargetingConnection TargetingThis type of targeting is relatively new but is highly effective according to those who have tried using it. Connection targeting enables you to target those who are fans of your pages, members of your groups, attendees of any of your events, or users of an application that you have developed. Small businesses can take advantage of this targeting scheme since you are sure that your ads will reach people who are interested in your business or product. Since they are already connected to you in a way or another, chances are, they will be enticed to buy something from a store that they have heard before.Relationship TargetingLast but not the least; small businesses can also use relationship targeting. This type of targeting specifies people based on the relationship status that they posted on their Facebook accounts. This is a marketing feature which focuses on stage of life and current social role. Relationship targeting works best when paired with Gender targeting. These two can give out highly specified results which can do wonders even for small businesses.Targeting the customers that will boost your revenue is made easier when you use Facebook advertising. Even if your business is small, you too can take advantage of this great social marketing tool. Just remember that everything should be done with passion, creativity, and determination. Good luck.