Launching a new AdWords search campaign is an exhilarating process. Excitement, anxiety, fear, and hope are emotions that come to mind when I’m about to click the Enable button on a new campaign.
If you’re just starting your journey, then fear may be dominating your thoughts, so in this article my goal is to put you at ease. The steps I’m about to go through will ensure you’re depositing more money into your own bank account, rather than just funding Google’s empire.
I’ll never forget my very first Google AdWords campaign back in 2006. I was fresh out of college and my boss handed me the reins to an account he had set up himself but didn’t have time to manage. My task seemed simple enough. Don’t screw up what was working already, and more importantly, create even more profitable campaigns.
Over the next 365 days, I went on to manage half a million dollars in Google AdWords advertising. And two days in particular are forever etched in my memory. I refer to both as my “$10,000 days.”
The first $10,000 day was glorious. It was the most money the company made in a single day from an ad campaign I personally set up and optimized all by myself. Yup, I felt like quite the man that day. The second $10,000 day was inglorious. It was the most money the company lost in a single day and all fingers rightfully were pointed at me and the AdWords campaign I personally screwed up.
The reason I bring up that embarrassing example is because you need to be aware of the power of AdWords. When set up and managed properly, AdWords is one of the best sources for new customers. Several years ago, I helped a business unit in that same company grow from $0 to $4,000,000 on the back of hardworking AdWords campaigns. But as you now know, I also have watched tens of thousands of dollars flush down the AdWords drain due to mismanaged campaigns.
One of the most important things I learned on my journey is that every successful advertiser sets up and manages AdWords campaigns with a cheklist. Think of it like baking a cake from a recipe. You need a list of the key ingredients and a step-by-step process for how you’ll carefully mix those ingredients to create a delicious cake. I’m sure you know what happens if you try to wing it while baking. Well, the same is true with AdWords.
So let’s get down to it. Tie on your AdWords apron, grab a pen to write down the key ingredients, and follow along as I walk you through the process to create a profitable Google AdWords campaign from scratch
