Optimal SEM Campaign Set-Up (Basic)

Often times when a client has been running their own AdWords campaign I hear them tell me that they set-up the campaign in the most optimal manner & have been doing well with it on their own. Sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised to find out this is the case, but often, it’s not.

So what does an optimal campaign set-up look? Below are just a few tips to set a good foundation.

• Create campaigns & ad groups around each specific theme/product of your business. For example:

• Don’t land your ads on your homepage. Instead land them on a page of your website that is specific to that ad group.
• Include ad extensions & site links (you can have up to 10) in your campaign.
• Choose keywords specific to each ad group & that your customers might use to search for your products/services. (I recommend keywords start in broad match modified & you can always use tighter match types when you optimize). You can also use the keyword planner to get keyword ideas.
• Add negative keywords to each of your ad groups to deter unqualified traffic.
• Write at least 2 ads per ad group that are compelling & contain a call to action.
• Use the traffic estimator (under keyword planner) to determine the optimal budget & CPC for your campaign.

These are just a few ideas to help you get started on building a quality foundation for your AdWords campaign. As you probably already know, if the foundation is shaky, it could collapse the whole structure.