But we say Hogwash!

Yes, there are lots of advanced features and complexities to online advertising, but you don’t have to use them. You can get started in a very simple and quick manner.

Here’s your step-by-step guide for using Google to start getting more business today:

1) Go to Google’s Keyword Tool

a.  Select the “Website Content” option
b.  Enter the URL of your home page
c.  Scroll to the bottom and click the link to export the results to Excel

2) Create a Google AdWords Account (if you don’t have one)

3) Create your first campaign in your AdWords Account

a. Create Ad Groups from your Excel export

i. The common terms column translates into your ad groups – create one ad group for each unique common term

b. Put Keywords into your Ad Groups

i. The keywords column includes the keywords you can target – if you agree they are applicable to your business. Add the applicable keywords to each of the ad groups based on the common term they are associated with. For the terms which aren’t applicable to your business – highlight them in red – we’ll get to those later.

c. Write two Ads for each Ad Group

i. Include the common term / ad group name in your headline
ii. Highlight your unique benefits in the first line, but don’t use superlatives. Fancy adjectives are encouraged.
iii. Include a call to action in the second line — something like: Sign up now. Call today for special pricing.
iv. Include your phone number in your ad copy if you want calls.
v. For your display URL use caps to separate the words and remove the http:// — for example:

www.MyWebSite.com

d. Add in Negative Keywords

i. With the campaign selected on the left-hand side, click the keywords tab and scroll all the way to the bottom – click on the negative keywords link. Now add the words within the red-highlighted keyword phrases that are not relevant to your business to the campaign negatives list. Not the whole phrase here – just the irrelevant part.

e. Set up Geo-Targeting

i. With the campaign still selected, click the “Settings” tab. Under locations click the “Edit” link. Click the “Custom” tab – here you can select a radius around your zip code you’d like to advertise for. Save it when you are done.

f. Opt-out of the Content Network

i. On this same “Settings” page, next to “Networks” click the “Edit” link. Deselect “Content.”

g. Enter your budget

i. On this same “Settings” page, enter your budget. Don’t go too low – certainly don’t try anything less than $5.00 per day, but try for $10.00 per day or more if you can. This is one of those situations – like all other marketing situations — where you have to spend money to make money. The beauty of this is that you can track results. You can also pause your campaign at any time if the monthly spend becomes too much.

And Voila! Now you are off to the races. Be sure to ask your new leads where they found you so you can see which customers are coming from your online advertising.

Give it a try. We’ve gotten many non-technical local business owners online this way – and they are amazed at the results! (For businesses who are looking to save time, manage PPC advertising beyond Google alone, or improve results, check out our Yield Web Marketing Suite — it’s a complete, easy and profitable way to manage and optimize your total search marketing effort.)