Google’s Adwords was conceived back in 2000. Adwords is Google’s main advertising product and main source of revenue. Google’s total advertising revenues were $28 billion in 2010.

The Adwords concept is simple. Give customers the ability to display a three line advert when a chosen keyword or key phrase is entered into the Google search bar. An example of this would be for the LBBC to write a short advert to be displayed each time the consumer types in the phrase “business clubs in Leighton buzzard”.  When the advert is displayed and clicked on the consumer is taken to the LBBC website. Only when this has taken place does the account get charged.

Google have made the setting up of an Adwords account very simple and inexpensive. Anyone with basic internet knowledge and a credit card can get started in fifteen minutes and for just £5.

In the early days of Adwords it was very simple to control your advertising costs. This could be done by setting a daily campaign budget and also by setting your maximum cost-per-click (CPC) values at either the keyword group level or individual keyword level. As online advertising has progressed so has Adwords. There are now so many features in Adwords that keeping an eye on your campaign spend has become a full time job.

If your Adwords campaigns are setup and correctly managed, you will benefit from a near immediate increase in traffic to your website. This is good for new websites as it can sometimes take between three and six months to get your website cached and even longer to get your website optimised for top positions in Google.

Adwords can be and should be used in conjunction with Google Analytics. This is a tool to track and measure all traffic to and from your website.  Analytics can give a breakdown on your Adwords costs and show you the bad and good areas of spend immediately.

Here is a warning to anyone wanting to use Google Adwords. If you do not keep a close eye on your Adwords account, or the people handling the account, then you must be prepared for the account to fail and cost you lots of money. Be very wary of companies who offer Adwords services. Do not try and outbid someone and always only bid what you can afford.

If you are in any doubt about your Adwords campaign management then the simplest thing to do is turn it off and get some professional advice.