Search Advertising 101 - Your Guide to Google AdWords

feature

You’ve signed up for Shopify, built your store, and now you want to generate traffic and increase sales. One of the best ways to attract qualified visitors to your website is by using Google AdWords.  AdWords allows your online store to show up on Google when people search for your products.  

Shopify has partnered with Google to provide all new shops with $100 in Google Adwords credits. This means you can test out AdWords risk-free to see if it works for your business.  

How to Sign Up

  1. Sign in to Shopify and find your AdWords coupon code under the Promotions tab. Copy the coupon code.
  2. Click the AdWords link to sign up and verify your email address.  
  3. After your email address is verified, create your first campaign. Here are some tips:

Where to Start

It's easy to get overwhelmed before you learn all the nuances of search advertising. Here are a few suggestions on how to start your first campaign. 
  • Start with a small budget like $10-$20 per day.
  • Focus on one or two products or collections in your store.
  • Don't use advanced options just yet.
Once you have created your campaign, it will ask you to setup your first 'ad group'. Here's what works best:
  • Create a text ad. They are the easiest to create and test.
  • Use action words in your description. Words that you think potential customers would click on, like "Save 50% off retail. Buy today!"
  • Make sure the "Destination URL" brings you to the product or collection you are advertising, not just your store homepage.
  • Enter lots of keywords that potential customers would search for.  If you sell widgets, enter "Widget", "Blue Widget", "Buy Widget", "Cheap Widgets", and so on.
  • Finally enter your billing information. Remember to enter the Promotion Code that Shopify provided so that you get $100 in credit and can test out AdWords risk free.
After an hour or so, your ads show up on Google. Check to see how many clicks your getting and see if these clicks have resulted in any sales.  Over the next few days you should start advertising more products, test different advertising messages, and start using more of Google AdWords' more advanced settings.  Learn from what competitors and others in your industry are doing as well.  In our experience, testing and learning is the best approach to learning and mastering Google AdWords.
Sound too complex? Remember you can always ask for an an expert's help using Shopify's Experts.
Topics:
Archive Digital Marketing