Getting the best from AdWords

With the current economic climent it is even more important to keep the costs of running your business down while still promoting your products and services to increase your business.  How would you like a targeted advertising campaign that you have complete control over, from who you are targeting, what you are promoting to them and how much it costs you?

Well one of the best ways to achieve all this is to use the Pay Per Click advertising campaign system from Google called AdWords.  The AdWords service allows you to create your own ads, choose keywords to help match your ads to your audience, and control the cost of your advertising - you pay only when people click on your ad (a cost per click plan).

When someone searching for a product or service on the Google search engine there are two sets of results that are shown.  There are those in the main body of the screen, and those on the righ and very top of the results screen.  Businesses that have setup an AdWords advertising campaign have their results displayed either on the right column or at the very top of the page.  The position of your add is dependent on the cost per click you’re willing to pay.

Pur your best face online!

When you're running a small business, or a business from home, it is more important to have a website that stands out amoungst the rest then if you were a large business that has been around for many years.

Starting out in business, or taking your small business to the next level can be a challenging task, so the more larger, more professional face you can show to your potential clients the better you'll do.

These days websites are the best way to create a great first impression - and we know that first impressions count!

Two of the most important questions you need to answer when you are planning a web site are:

1. What are the key goals you want your web site to achieve for your business?
2. What applications, functionality or design will you need to achieve them?

Some common business goals and applications that you may want to consider are:

• Capturing leads for your products and/or services
• Building a customer database for marketing purposes
• Selling products/services online
• Capturing bookings for your events
• Building a community around your business
• Servicing your customers or providing Member Only content
• Showcase visually an offering or product

Determining the goals of your website are just as important as planning the design!

If someone Googled you...

If someone Googled you or your business online what would they find? It is a greate exercise to go and have a look for yourself.  You might be surprised to find that what you discover isn't exactly what you'd expect.

If you did find yourself there then you need to think about whether or not you're happy with what you found.  Put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers.  Are you easy to find?  Are your search terms relevant?  Is the information you're providing what it is you really want to say?  These are some questions that we ask our clients to ensure that they are getting the most out of their website.  These are also questions you should be asking yourself!

If you didn't find yourself online why is that?  Do you not have a website for your business, or did it just not come up?  If this happens then you should be thining more seriously about how you can get noticed online and make it easier for customers to find you.

Having a website is a must for all businesses, not just those that want to sell their products online.  Most people these days do a lot of research online before contacting businesses so that they are armed with lots of information before making their enquiries.  Your potential customers will be doing this to, and if they can't find YOU specifically then they will just go somewhere else - just think about how that affects your business!

Whitespace is a good thing

'Whitespace' is what it says - the blank space on your website that is not used for text or images. Liberal use of whitespace makes a page look less cluttered and allows the reader to find information more easily - and in turn allowing you to get your message across more effectively.

White or very light coloured backgrounds are best, sites with dark backgrounds are hard to read for extended periods. The successful web sites with a lot of visitors all use a white background.  Take note when you're surfing around the Internet at the proportion of sites that have a white (or very light) coloured background versus those with a dark background.  Which do you prefer?