How to Build your High Quality List at the Lowest Cost Per Click Using Google Adwords

One important part of your Internet marketing strategy may involve building a list of prospects using a pay-per-click Google AdWords campaign. The advantage of using Google AdWords is that it can produce a high quality list because it’s highly targeted and relevant. This is because it is based on the keywords that you have chosen, the advert you’ve constructed, and the ‘squeeze’ page you’ve designed.

So what are the steps to building a list using Google AdWords?

Step 1 – Conduct Keyword Research and Design Your Google Account Structure.

This stage is of major importance to your success because it helps to keep things targeted from the beginning.

Draw a circle on a piece of paper with branches coming out containing what you believe to be the most relevant main key phrases.

Use the Google Keyword Selector Tool to select a number of relevant and popular key phrases, and search for synonyms and related terms.

Use other keyword selection sites e.g. nichebot.com, wordtracker.com, and keyworddiscovery.com.

Use the Google Traffic Estimator.

Set up an ad group for each of these main key phrases and use all the variations of it your have found within each group – single, plural, hyphenated versions etc.

N.B. With Yahoo marketing, one phrase covers the single and plural variations but this is NOT the case with Google.

Step 2 – Create Your Adverts

There are only 95 characters for a Google AdWords advert, 25 for the title and 35 each for the two description lines underneath.

DO NOT USE THE CHARACTERS TO SELL. The goal is ONLY to get people to click on your advert.

In each ad, put the key phrase in the ad title so it’s in bold as research shows that click through rates are higher if the key phrase is in the advert title.

Design a kind of template advert.

Produce 3 different adverts for each variation (using the template advert), changing the order and arrangement of key phrases within it.

Track the effectiveness of each to see which one works best – TEST, MEASURE AND COMPARE.

Step 3 – Create The ‘Squeeze’ Pages

The squeeze page is the page that people are directed to when they click on your Google AdWords Advertisement. This page should be built using the same key phrases for building blocks as the Google AdWords advert that is pointing to it. Each variation within each ad group should go to a squeeze page that has been changed accordingly with regards to the key phrases – maximum relevance and targeting should be what you are looking for.

Keep the squeeze page simple and make sure that every element in the page has a reason for being there i.e. it’s helping to convert.

Prepare some kind of value-adding download or service that is FREE.

Give the page a large, attention-grabbing headline and include the word FREE.

Google could penalise you for saying something is free when it’s not, so make sure it is.

Use a sub-headline with the word FREE in it to encourage people to read further.

Add a ‘call to action’ line below this e.g. Receive your FREE gifts now by entering your name and e-mail address below.

Google may regard a simple ‘sales letter’ style page to be a scam, so include navigational links on the page e.g. links to a page which opens in a separate window, showing pictures of and giving some information about the free gifts they will receive if the follow the call to action.

Links help your ‘quality score’ with Google (which lowers your cost per click), and they have been shown to increase the chances of conversion.

Include an opt-in box (small form) asking for a name and e-mail address.

Include a ‘call to action button’ e.g. Receive my FREE gifts now.

Research has shown that the conversion rate is increased if the text on the button states exactly the action you want users to take (and the benefit of doing so) rather than just saying ‘submit’.

Add a link to a detailed privacy policy page that opens in a separate window.

Include another couple of lines below this designed to increase curiosity e.g. stating possible benefits of following the calls to action.

End with a sense of urgency i.e. make the offer time sensitive to encourage immediate conversion.

Use professional looking graphics and consider using a columnar layout because this is what Google is used to i.e. try not to make it look too much like a sales letter page.

Change and test different aspects of the page to keep increasing the page’s conversion rate.

N.B. The best possible squeeze page would be exactly customised to your key phrases, which should ensure relevancy and a better chance of conversion.

So, a high quality list can be built, and return on investment can be maximised by building Google AdWords campaigns form the keywords up. make sure relevance and targeting is high, and Google optimisation rules are adhered to in your compelling squeeze page so that the quality score will be high, and so the cost per click will be kept as low as possible.

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