Google AdWords Learning Center - Google and Google AdWords

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Lessons Catalogue

Lesson 1a: Introduction to AdWords

Google and Google AdWords

Basic AdWords Features

• Basic Definitions

• The Google Network

• Language & Location Targeting

• Placement Targeting

• Quiz

Benefits of AdWords

• AdWords Benefits

• Quiz

Objective: Learn about Google search and Google AdWords, and see how AdWords relates to the concepts of Internet search engines and keyword advertising.

As a search engine, Google gathers and organises a multitude of information from the Internet, then makes this information available to online searchers throughout the world. Users can simply visit Google.com or other Google domains, enter a search query (terms related to information they would like to find) into the search field, and click Google Search. Google will return a variety of search results — including lists of files, articles, documents, and websites — that are all highly relevant to the query. (If a user clicks I'm Feeling Lucky, they will go directly to the first website or document in the Google search results.) Users can also search for results within Google Images, News, and other specialised Google services.

Search results appear on the left side of the page. It is important to note that Google does not accept payment to place websites or documents in search results. However, advertisers can purchase Google AdWords ads, which appear on the right side of the page, and sometimes above the search results.

Google AdWords is Google's advertising program. AdWords lets you create simple, effective ads and display them to people already searching online for information related to your business. So how is it possible to show your ads only to the most relevant audiences? The answer is keyword-based advertising.

When a searcher visits Google and enters a query — say, 'good beginner guitars' — Google will display a variety of relevant search results, such as links to articles containing guitar purchasing advice, or websites dedicated to novice musicians. It will also display AdWords ads that link to online businesses selling guitars, music lessons or other products and services related to the query.

For example, imagine that you own a music store carrying a large selection of guitars. You could sign up for an AdWords account and create ads for the entry-level guitars in your inventory. For each of your ads, you might select keywords (single words or phrases related to your ad's message) such as 'beginner guitars' or 'entry-level guitars.' Once you activate your account, your ads would be eligible to appear. That is, the AdWords system would constantly seek out search queries related to the keywords you have selected, then display your ads to highly targeted audiences. In short, you would be advertising directly to an audience already looking for you.

Google AdWords offers a variety of ad formats. The most common format is text ads, followed by image (and animated) ads. Additional formats available include video ads, local business ads and mobile ads.

A typical AdWords text ad looks like this:

Try Google AdWords
Maximise your ROI. Attract
new customers. Sign up today.
adwords.google.co.uk.

Text ads generally contain the following four lines:

Headline (25 characters, including spaces): The title attracts users who might be interested in your products or services.
Description (two lines of up to 35 characters each, including spaces): These two lines contain your product, service and other details (such as promotions). The content in these lines should be clear enough to communicate your intent and compelling enough to convince the user to click your ad and visit your site.
Display URL (35 characters, including spaces): This line indicates which website the user will visit if he or she clicks your ad.
Destination URL (up to 1024 characters): This is the actual page on which users land when they click your ad. The URL will not appear in your ad. Many advertisers link their ads to particular destination pages within their website, but use the simpler URL of their home page as the display URL.

Certain wide characters and double-byte characters will reduce the number of characters permitted per line.

To learn about other ad formats, review the Using Different Ad Formats lesson.

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