Your Search Engine Optimisation Expert – Sheldon Nesdale

I just passed two Google Adwords exams:

1. Google Advertising Fundamentals Exam
2. Search Advertising Advanced Exam

Look at this cute little certificate Google gave me as my reward!

And here is my profile page at Adwords.Google.com offering my services

Now you know who to talk to if:

• You have an Adwords account but you want to get a better return on investment
• You want to try Adwords for the first time

… me!

Cheers,

Sheldon.

Everybody likes to search for their own ads on Google to check they are running correctly.

But sometimes they don’t show up so you get a bit nervous.  These questions may be running through your mind:

• “Why aren’t my ads showing up?”
• “Has my budget run out? What have I done wrong?”
• “How come my competitors ads are showing and not mine?”

This may be due to one of Google’s fraud protection measures which detects your IP address, and if lots of clicks are coming from your computer everyday it might hide the ads from you.

Or even worse, your ads do show up and you are causing unnecessary impressions, and, if you click on your ads yourself, you are causing unnecessary costs too.

There is a better way.

You can check your own Google Ads by using the Google Adwords Ad Preview Tool:

• You can pretend to be in any country
• Views of the ads do not count as impressions (therefore maintaining your Click-Through-Rate)
• You can click on the ads as many times as you like, there are no costs for clicking

If you use Google Adwords you may be aware that you have the ability to specify where in New Zealand your ads will be displayed.

For example, if you had a small Tauranga business and you were only targeting local customers in Tauranga, then you could choose “only Tauranga” from the list.

In fact, you can even draw a circle around a single building or a city block and just get your ads to appear on computers in that area.

Unfortunately it doesn’t work.

It’s a real shame.

It doesn’t work, because New Zealand’s IP address system is all screwed up.

Anybody in New Zealand can have just about any IP address so it can’t be used to accurately determine the geographic location of computer you are using.

It’s easy to test.  Use this IP address lookup.  Does the map pin point to Auckland even though you are not in Auckland?  I thought so. There’s your proof.

It’s a damn shame.  Imagine being able to target your customers that accurately…

Oh well, I know a few tricks to compensate, so call me on (07) 575 8799.

- Sheldon.

Have you wondered how Google decides how high your position is for your ad and how much it will cost you?

This video explains the process in a simple and entertaining way:

Do you need help with your Google Adwords campaign or want to start advertising using Google Adwords?

Call me today (07) 575 8799 or email me.

Russell came to me with a business idea: A service where he comes to peoples homes and builds a raised vege garden, and provides the weed-free soil, and all the plants too, so all the home owner has to do is water it and watch it grow.

He had already built a simple website using free website building software from Google called “Google Sites“, and had started Google Adwords advertising (with a daily budget of $5).

But the urls for Google sites are hideous by default, eg: http://sites.google.com/site/gardensondemand/ which reduced the credibility of the ads (because it doesn’t look like a proper website address).

The 4 Steps It Took To Launch His Business

Step 1: What is the market searching for?

We started with keyword research using Google’s Keyword Tool, to determine the best name for his business.  The keyword phrase used most often in New Zealand (and also very closely related to his business) is “Raised Vege Gardens”, so I asked Russell to buy that domain: www.RaisedVegeGardens.co.nz.

Step 2: How do we look professional so they choose us?

Next, in Google Sites we set up “url cloaking” (a.k.a. “domain name masking”) so the ugly Google Sites url was replaced with the clean looking “www.RaisedVegeGardens.co.nz” (The only hassle was that we had to add a CName record with the Domain Registrar which I can help you with because it can be a little tricky if you’ve never done it before)

Step 3: How do we improve the Google Adwords campaign so they find our ad?

Then, I overhauled his Google Adwords campaign and over the last 2 weeks have achieved the following:

• Geographic targeting so the ads only show in Auckland
• Cost per click of 31c (anything less than $1 is excellent)
• Very high Click-through-rate of 9.5% (anything over 1% is excellent)

Step 4: How do we improve the landing page so they buy from us?

I provided Russell with coaching over the phone and by email over a 2 week period, with suggestions for changes to his website to improve his conversion rate.

How much did it all this cost him?

• For my services, the Adwords overhaul and phone/email coaching only cost him $420+gst (4 hours at $105+gst).
• He has $100 in his Adwords account (which he paid directly to Google), which will buy him about 300 visitors.
• The domain cost $25+gst from 1stdomains.co.nz.

In total, it’s cost him $545 to test the market and see if this is a viable business for him (which is half the revenue from a single sale).

Needless to say, he is very pleased.

Do you have a business idea that I can help you get off the ground?

I believe in testing ideas in a small scale inexpensive way like the free website + Google Adwords combination above.  This enables you to prove that there is a market for what you are selling, and then you can increase the scale of your business.

Give me a call on (07) 575 8799 today, to talk over your options.

- Sheldon.