Getting started with Google Adwords & PPC Advertising in 1 day

PC advertising is unlike any other form of online marketing, which is why there is a steep learning curve associated with this traffic generation method. If you plan on running PPC campaigns either for your own business or as a part of your job responsibility, you would be required to know concepts of Advertising in general along with marketing metrics and its implication on the performance of your ads.

Our Google certified Trainers have compiled a list of the common terminologies which are used often for PPC advertising on Google Adwords, Linkedin Ads and Facebook Ads.

Hope this helps you in understanding the various metrics and the language of PPC.

AdWords

AdWords is the name of Google’s advertising platform. There is no such thing as an “AdWord.”

AdWords Editor

A free, separate Google application that allows advertisers to manage AdWords accounts offline. It offers significant advantages, including the ability to save backups, collaborate with a group, make bulk edits efficiently, and easily identify duplicate keywords. Download the Editor at Google.com/intl/en/adwordseditor/.

Ad Group

An ad group is part of the AdWords account structure. Each ad group defines a set of keywords or placements (or both), the default bid (or individual bids for keywords and placements), and the associated ad creative. Campaigns may include up to 20,000 ad groups. Successful AdWords accounts typically have many ad groups focused on specific themes. The relevancy of the keywords to the ad text in each ad group is an important factor in the AdWords Quality Score calculation.

Ad Rank

Ad rank represents your “place” in the Ad- Words auction. The highest-ranking ad wins first place, and therefore the first ad position on the page.

The formula for determining Ad Rank is: Ad Rank = f(Quality Score, Max CPC bid).

AdSense

AdSense allows website publishers to display AdWords ads. AdSense members are part of the Google Display Network. Publishers earn revenue when visitors view or click on the ads. When displaying ads with AdSense for content, publishers receive 68 percent of the amount Google collects from advertisers. When using AdSense for search, publishers receive 51 percent of the amount collected from advertisers. See http://www.google.com/adsense.

AdWords Application Programming Interface (API)

Allows developers to build applications that interact directly with AdWords. These applications enable efficient  management of complex AdWords accounts. The API canautomate keyword generation, dynamic ad text and destination URLs, integrate Ad-Words data with inventory systems, and developcustom tools to manage accounts. The AdWords API SOAP interface is supported by many programming languages, including Java, PHP, Python, .NET, Perl, Ruby, and JavaScript. Visit the API microsite at http://goo.gl/ebWjC to learn more.

AdWords Certified Partner

Non-Google employees certified by Google to manage AdWords accounts. To become qualified, partners must demonstrate an indepth understanding of AdWords by passing exams, and manage at least $10,000 USD in advertiser spend through a My Client Center within 90 days. Partner must have at least one individually qualified employee and agree to Google’s terms and conditions. Certified partners can be located via Google’s Partner Search

(http://goo.gl/pmr7u). To learn more about the program, visit the Google Certification Program microsite (http://goo.gl/K5QvI).

Automatic Placements

A placement is a place on the Google Display Network where AdWords ads can appear. A placement is typically a website or a page on a website. Automatic placements are those identified by Google, based on keywords in an ad group. AdWords uses contextual targeting to identify appropriate placements to display ads. See also Google Display Network (GDN), Managed Placements.

Average Cost-Per-Click (Avg. CPC)

The average amount paid each time someone clicks an ad. Average CPC is determined by totaling the cost of all clicks and dividing it by the number of clicks received.

Average Position (Avg. Pos.)

A statistic attributed to each keyword that indicates the average position of an ad on a search result page when triggered by that keyword. Position 1 is the highest position on the first page of search results, relative to

other advertisers. There is no bottom position. Keywords with an average position of 1–8 generally display ads on the first page of search results. Keywords with an average position of 9–16 generally display ads on the second page and beyond. An average position of 1.6 means the ad usually appears in position 1 or 2. Average positions are not fixed; they vary depending on various performance factors, including the keyword that triggers the ad.

Bid Simulator

An AdWords feature that recalculates auctions from the last seven days to show how a keyword might have performed with different Max CPC bids. Bid Simulator uses internal auction data, including Quality Score,

to estimate where ads would have appeared and how frequently they would have been clicked with different bids. The simulator estimates click, cost, and impression data for Google Search and the Search Partners, not the Google Display Network. See also Maximum Cost-Per-Click (Max CPC).

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visits to a website. Broad Match Keyword Describes the default AdWords keyword match type. A broad match keyword can trigger ads when a searcher’s query matches the keyword, includes the keyword, or is a variation of it. Keyword variations include synonyms, singulars and plurals, and variants.

Campaign

A campaign is part of the AdWords account structure. Each account can contain up to 10,000 campaigns (including enabled and paused campaigns). Campaigns control administrative settings, including the geographic areas where ads can display, the default language, ad distribution preferences and devices, and the daily budget. See also Ad Group.

Click

A click is counted when someone clicks on an AdWords ad after a search or when coming across an ad on a website in the Google Display Network. A phone call initiated from an ad on a mobile device also counts AdWords as an AdWords click. With the pay-per-click model, advertisers pay when people click on their ads.

Clickthrough Rate (CTR)

Clickthrough rate is the number of clicks an ad receives divided by the number of times it is displayed (impressions). CTR is the most important factor in the AdWords Quality Score calculation. See also Quality Score.

Conversion

When a click on an ad results in a desirable behavior by the visitor. Conversions are the true measure of success for advertisers. Example conversions include an online sale, a signup, a form submission, or a download. Advertisers can track conversions using Conversion Tracking, found in the “Tools and Analysis” tab, or by setting up goals in Google Analytics. See also Google Analytics (GA).

Conversion Optimizer

An AdWords bidding option that uses conversion tracking data to dynamically manage bids toward a CPA goal. Advertisers still pay for clicks, but do not adjust bids manually; Conversion Optimizer automatically finds the optimal equivalent cost-per-click bid by calculating a predicted conversion rate for each auction. See also CPA Bidding.

Conversion Rate

Conversions divided by total clicks. If conversion tracking is set up, AdWords shows one-per-click and many-per-click conversion rates. Many-per-click can credit a keyword with more than one conversion per click, resulting in a conversion rate that exceeds 100 percent.

Cost-Per-Click (CPC)

A pricing model where advertisers pay for clicks on ads, usually at a price they specify. CPC is also called pay-per-click (PPC). See also Pay-Per-Click (PPC).

Cost-Per-Conversion

The total cost divided by conversions. This metric can report costs for 1-per-click and many-per-click conversions.

CPA Bidding Stands for cost-per-acquisition (CPA). This bidding model is available for advertisers using Conversion Optimizer, which allows maximum or target CPA bids for each ad group. A maximum CPA bid specifies the upper limit advertisers are willing to pay for conversions. Target CPA specifies the average amount advertisers are willing to pay for conversions. See also Conversion Optimizer.

CPM Bidding

Stands for cost-per-thousand impressions. This pricing model is available for placement-targeted campaigns on the Google Display Network only. Advertisers specify the maximum amount they’re willing to pay for every 1,000 ad impressions. See also Placement Targeted Campaign.

Customer ID (CID)

A 10-digit number used to identify each Ad-Words account. The CID is found at the top right corner of an AdWords account, formatted like this: xxx-xxx-xxxx. When viewing an account via a My Client Center account (MCC), the CID (labeled Client ID) appears in the left corner, and the MCC’s Manager ID is listed in the right corner. See also My Client Center (MCC).

Delivery Method

A campaign setting that determines how quickly ads are shown each day. The default, standard delivery, distributes ads as evenly as possible within the budget, over a 24-hour period. Accelerated delivery displays ads as quickly as possible until the daily budget is spent. With accelerated delivery, ads stop serving until the next day.

Destination URL

The web page that people actually end upon after clicking on an ad. Destination URL

Dimension

In AdWords, a way to look at data beyond total numbers in a single campaign or ad group. A dimension provides insight into what happens across the entire account on particular days of the week, times of the day, parts of the world, etc. These reports are accessible from the Dimensions roll-up tab.

Display Ad Builder

A tool in an AdWords account that provides templates for creating image and video ads. Advertisers select templates and customize the content with text, images, and links.

Display URL

The website address that’s displayed with an ad. Distribution Preference A campaign setting that determines which AdWords networks can display ads. The networks include Google Search, the Search Partners, and the Google Display Network. See also Search Network or Search Partners, Google Display Network (GDN).

Double-Serving

Describes displaying more than one ad for the same company on a single search results page. Google does not permit advertisers and affiliates to double-serve ads across multiple accounts for the same or similar businesses or the same or similar keywords.

Exact Match Keyword

A match type that restricts the delivery of an ad to a search query that matches a keyword exactly, character-for-character (now expanded to singulars, plurals, misspellings, and stemmings, but no additional words). To specify exact match, surround the keyword with square brackets, as in [example exact match keyword]. In this case, only a

search for example exact match keyword is eligible to trigger an ad.

First Page Bid Estimate

An estimate intended to show advertisers what bid is required to display an ad on the first page of Google’s search results. The estimate is based on a search query that matches the keyword exactly. It considers the keyword’s Quality Score and advertiser competition.

Frequency Capping

A campaign setting applicable to the Google Display Network only. Frequency capping limits the number of times ads can be shown to a unique person in a specified period of time. Use frequency capping to limit the number of impressions allowed per day, per week, or per month. The cap can apply to ads, ad groups, or campaigns.

Google Account

A single email and password used to access multiple Google services, including Ad- Words, Gmail, Google Groups, Google Alerts, Google Product Search, and Google Apps. A Gmail account is already a Google account; any email address can be used to create a free Google account. If you are not sure if an email address is already a Google

account, use the password recovery feature to see if Google recognizes the email address. To create a Google account, visit http://goo.gl/dl0NF.

Google Analytics (GA)

A free analytics program that shows how people found a website and what they did there. Google Analytics (GA) integrates with AdWords, showing activity on the site derived from specific campaigns, ad groups, and keywords.

Google Display Network (GDN)

An advertising network that allows Ad- Words advertisers to show ads on websites, called placements. The GDN accepts text, image, video, and rich media ad formats. Advertisers can target ads based on keyword themes, topics, and specific web pages. See also Automatic Placements, Managed Placements.

Impression

The number of times an ad is displayed, whether it is clicked or not.

Impression Share

A metric that represents the percentage of times ads were shown out of the total available impressions for which ads were eligible to appear. Eligibility is based on the ads’ targeting settings, approval statuses, and bids.

Keyword

A keyword is a word or phrase that can trigger an ad. Keywords are limited to 10 words and 80 characters, including spaces. Each ad group can contain 5,000 keywords, including negative keywords.

Keyword Insertion

A technique used to dynamically update ad text with keywords from an ad group. The technique is also called dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) and wildcard. To use DKI, place a tag in the ad text where the keyword should appear when it triggers an ad. Ads are still subject to AdWords advertising policies.

Landing Page

The web page searchers see after clicking an AdWords ad. The landing page is specified in the Destination URL field when writing an ad.

Managed Placements

Specific sites or pages in the Google Display Network where ads can appear. A campaign can include both automatic and managed placements or be restricted to managed placements only. This campaign setting is specified in the Networks section of the campaign settings. Placements can be found via the Placement Tool in the “Tools and Analysis” tab.

Many-Per-Click Conversions

A metric that records a conversion for every ad click resulting in a conversion within 30 days. It can count multiple conversions per click.  See also One-Per-Click Conversions.

Match Type

Determines how closely the search query must match the keyword to be eligible to trigger an ad.See also Broad Match Keyword, Phrase Match Keyword,

Maximum Cost-Per-Click (Max CPC)

A bid in the AdWords auction, specifying the highest amount an advertiser is willing to pay for a click on an ad.

Maximum Cost-Per-Phone Call (Max CPP)

Available for advertisers using Call Metrics, Max CPP specifies the bid, the highest price an advertiser is willing to pay each time a visitor manually dials the Google forwarding number shown with ads on desktop and tablet devices.

Metric

As applied to an AdWords account, any measurement used to gauge performance, such as impressions, clickthrough rate, cost-per-conversion, etc.

My Change History

A feature that shows changes made to an AdWords account, back to January 1, 2006. View changes by time or types of changes. If multiple users with separate logins have access to the account, the feature shows who made the changes.

My Client Center (MCC)

A free umbrella account used to manage multiple AdWords accounts. An MCC allows a single login to access all managed accounts, view selected statistics across accounts, and run reports across multiple managed accounts. MCC owners can create new accounts and link existing AdWords accounts. MCC accounts can link to five additional MCCs. An MCC is a requirement for becoming an AdWords Certified Partner. Sign up at http://goo.gl/CzHr7.

Negative Keyword

A word or phrase that prevents ads from appearing when included in the searcher’s query. Negative keywords applied at the ad group level count toward the 5,000 keyword limit. Advertisers can apply up to 10,000 negative keywords at the campaign level per campaign.

One-Per-Click Conversions

An account metric that records a conversion for every ad click resulting in a conversion within 30 days. It counts one conversion per unique user, per ad click. If the same user completes more than one conversion after the single ad click, conversions after the first will not count. See also Many-Per-Click Conversions.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

A pricing model where advertisers pay for clicks on ads, usually at a price they specify. PPC is also called cost-per-click (CPC). See also Cost-Per-Click (CPC).

Phrase Match Keyword

A match type that restricts the delivery of an ad to a search query that matches a keyword exactly, character-for-character, but allows additional words before and after the keyword. To specify phrase match, surround the keyword with quotes, as in “example phrase match keyword.” In this scenario, a search for example phrase match keyword is eligible to trigger an ad. A search for another example phrase match keyword here could also trigger an ad, because the keyword phrase is intact. A search for phrase match keyword example cannot trigger an ad.

Placements

Locations on the Google Display Network where ads can appear. Placements include websites, subsets of websites (such as a selection of pages from that site), or individual ad units. See also Automatic Placements, Managed Placements.

Placement Targeted Campaign

A campaign that displays ads on the Google Display Network, using managed placements only. This setting is selected from the Networks section in the campaign settings. Placement targeted campaigns have the option to use CPM bidding. See also CPM Bidding, Automatic Placements,

Quality Score

There are several Quality Scores associated with an AdWords account. The score that matters most in the AdWords auction is at the keyword level. Every keyword in an Ad-Words account has a separate Quality Score. It’s a dynamic variable calculated every time a search query matches the keyword. In an account, it’s represented as a number between 1 and 10. The higher the Quality Score, the better. Scores from 7 to 10 are great; 5 to 6 are OK; and 1 to 4 mean the keyword may have trouble winning the ad auction. Quality Score is an important component of the auction, used to determine ad rank and actual cost per click. See also Ad Rank, Clickthrough Rate (CTR).

Return on Investment (ROI)

The ratio of the cost of advertising to the profit generated from conversions. ROI indicates the value to your business gained in comparison to the advertising costs. To calculate ROI, take revenue from sales, subtract advertising costs, then divide by total advertising costs: (Revenue – Cost) ÷ Cost. To get the best results from AdWords, it’s important to determine the ROI per keyword via conversion tracking, Google Analytics, or both. Once you know the value of each keyword, bid strategically, focusing on your best performers and cutting back on poor performers. These adjustments improve your return on investment.

Search Network or Search Partners

An advertising network available to Ad- Words advertisers made up of a group of websites that use Google’s search technology. The Search Partners are subject to change; as of this writing, partners include AOL.com and Google properties like Google Maps, Google Groups, Google Images, Google News, and others. Ads are keyword targeted and limited to text.

Text Ad

The primary type of AdWords ad, text ads show on Google search, the Search Partners, and the Google Display Network. Ads include 25 characters for the headline, two 35- character description lines, and 35 characters for a Display URL. Each ad includes a destination URL with a 1,024 character limit.

Top-Ranked Ad

Ads that appear above Google’s organic search results, in the center well of the search results page. To qualify, ads must exceed a Quality Score and bid threshold determined by the AdWords algorithm (but not published).

View-Through Conversion

View-through conversions show the number of online conversions that happened within 30 days after a person saw, but did not click, a display ad on the Google Display Network. If a click on a GDN display ad precedes the conversion, the conversion is treated as a click-conversion. View-through conversions are not reported for text ads on the GDN or search campaigns. The account must have conversion tracking enabled, and Google Analytics goals are not compatible. AdWords counts all conversions not associated with a click and attributes them back to the last  impression in the last 30 days. Consequently, a single impression can be associated with multiple view-through conversions. In cases where a conversion follows both a search click and a display impression, both a clickthrough conversion and a viewthrough conversion are counted. Viewthrough reporting uses last click, last impression attribution. So, conversions are credited to the last click on an ad. If there are no clicks in the last 30 days, conversions