Help Desk Hangouts: Mobilize Your AdWords Campaigns to Connect with More Customers

Editor’s note: Each week on the Google+ Your Business page, we’re putting you in touch with Googlers and users who can help you as a business owner get the most out of our products and features.


In our latest Help Desk Hangout On Air, we discussed mobile advertising using AdWords with Googlers +Dori Storbeck, +Courtney Pannell, +Adam Grunewald and +Jeffrey Cheng. The group shared reasons for advertising on mobile devices, best practices for creating mobile campaigns, and a few tips particular to mobile ads. If you missed it, you can watch the full hour-long Hangout on the Google Business YouTube channel (check out the video description for a minute-by-minute breakdown):

Here are a few of the questions you asked us to answer during the Hangout:

If I have a separate campaigns for targeting mobile vs. desktop, how should I determine what to bid for mobile?
There are significantly fewer ad slots on a mobile search result page than on a regular search result page, so setting competitive bids can be key to getting the visibility that comes with one of the two top positions, which are frequently above the organic results. We generally suggest you bid more aggressively on a mobile-specific campaign to help secure one of the top slots.

Since there are only two top ad slots above the organic results on mobile, aren’t the bids too high for small businesses to compete?
Currently there isn’t as much competition for certain types of businesses on mobile devices since many advertisers may be focused on targeting computers; savvy small business advertisers can take advantage of the fact that the mobile sphere might not be as saturated as the desktop sphere for their product offering or service right now.

If I use call extensions, can I allow users to click-to-call OR go to my website, or can they only click-to-call?
You have the option to choose whether we show links to your website and your phone number or whether we show only the link to your phone number with your ads.

Wait, so you’re telling me I have to create a new mobile-specific campaign and a mobile-friendly version of my website? That’s just way too much work, I don’t have time.
It’s actually really easy to do! You can quickly duplicate an existing campaign using AdWords Editor - a free program which you can download here. Just make sure to change the device targeting options so that your original campaign targets computers only and the copied campaign targets mobile devices only. We also have a great resource which can help determine whether your website is mobile friendly and even help create a mobile version of your site for you.

To learn more about how to get your mobile campaign started, visit our Help Center or check out the AdWords Community forum. And remember to tune in to the live stream of our next Help Desk Hangout on Wednesday, July 11 at 11 a.m. PT — topic to be announced on the Google+ Your Business page!

Posted by Dori Storbeck and Courtney Pannell, Global Online Advertising Associates

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Webmaster Academy: A Primer on Search Engine Optimization

If you have a website, you probably want it to be easy to find. Search engine optimization, or SEO, is “the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines” (Wikipedia). While the most important thing to do is to always focus on providing your users with a great experience, here are some great optimization tips to get you started:

Optimizing Content
If there’s one thing to remember, it’s to make sure your website has high-quality content. Your content should be concise, relevant, and unique. Remember to use words that users would search for, which you can find more data on in Webmaster Tools.

Improving HTML
Make sure that your website contains all the proper HTML tags necessary for search engine crawlers to understand each page. Each web page should have a relevant title (created with the <title> element in HTML) that concisely describes that page’s content. Images should have alternate text (the alt HTML attribute) because Google is much better at understanding text than looking at pictures.

Relevant Publicity
While Google pays attention to everything on your website, it can also learn a lot about your site from other websites. Consider sharing your website with other communities online. Don’t know where to start? See if your local chamber of commerce website lists local businesses. Google uses external signals like these when evaluating your website.

Because doing all of this can be a daunting task, many businesses hire search engine optimizers (also called SEOs). Just like with anyone you hire, before bringing on an SEO make sure to complete your due diligence - here are some tips to make sure you are bringing on a great fit that abides by Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

While search engine optimization can seem overwhelming at first, remember that it’s all about creating the best website for your users. A comprehensive list of SEO best practices can be found in Google’s SEO Starter Guide. For more information about how to build a great website that performs well in search, make sure to visit the Webmaster Academy.

Posted by Garen Checkley, Search Quality Team

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Learn from other AdWords advertisers in the AdWords Community!

Since its launch in mid-February 2012, the (still-new) AdWords Community, has been a place for for all kinds of AdWords users (from small businesses to bigger advertisers) from all over the world to come together and exchange ideas, advice and stories with other AdWords users. It's really inspiring to see people sharing their best practises, pointing each other to resources, and enthusiastically helping those who need it.

I’d like to share with you a few comments from our members on their experiences with the AdWords Community:

NehaGupta: “I am happy to be part of Google AdWords Community. I love to discuss about Google AdWords as much as I can as I believe discussions always bring something knowledgeable. Perfect platform for me. I am really excited spending more and more time here instead of Facebook. Everyday I’m learning new things and also trying to take part in conversation by replying answers asked in the forum.”

PPCBossman: “Hundreds of advertisers flow in and out of this Community on a daily/weekly basis and we all roll on as if it's just another day. ...There are great days where lots of problems get worked out, new advertisers are learning and members are achieving personal goals here within the Community. Just as any real life situations, we also have some down times too. ...I have had the most amazing experience here in the last few months, made some great friends, learned a ton and helped a few people along the way as well. But I keep coming back because I know that this Community, Visitors and Members alike, are here for me and guess what, they're here for YOU too! (for the full post click here)

David-nationalp: “I'm here because I'd like the ability to have some input into the direction that Google AdWords goes, understand what's going on in the PPC world, and be able to learn/share knowledge of Google AdWords.”

But the AdWords Community is more than just user discussions; you can find insightful articles (so called “AdWords Wikis”) written by expert users. You can learn more about the some of the community members, such as the Top Contributors, and what it takes to become one. And you can get some reassurance that the Google AdWords Community team is not just a bunch of robots. But instead of taking our word for it, why don't you go and find out for yourself! If you'd like, go ahead and leave us a comment by clicking on the "new message" button directly on the forum.

We are looking forward to see you in the Community!

Note: Currently, the AdWords Community is also available in the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Italian.

Posted by Zuzana S. Moran, AdWords Community Team

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