Google AdWords is a highly effective, affordable way for anyone to advertise online.

The trouble is that people who use it casually very rarely get the results they desire and end up paying for nothing. If you want to get the best results from your Google AdWords campaign, steer clear of the following ten mistakes.

#1: Keyphrases/Keywords

Many people who start using Google Adwords forget to include the Keyphrases in their Ad headline and description. Yes, it’s important to create amazing copy that sells the product or service, but you won’t get any prospects if you don’t connect the customer’s search to your Google Ad through use of keyphrases.

Another keyphrase mistake is to go crazy with your ads and create a huge list of non-specific, poorly targeted keyphrases. You must be aware of the best keyphrases to choose and what that means in terms of cost. Choose the wrong keyphrases and you’ll end up paying the highest PPC (Pay per Click) rates and get virtually nothing for it.

Take care with very popular generic search terms that are likely to be used by lots of other AdWords users, as they will be relatively expensive compared to more specific search terms.

#2: Paying Too Much for your PPC Bid

A frequent mistake that is made by amateur AdWord users is to pay too much for the PPC of their keyphrase/keyword choice. If you set your PPC rate too high, you will end up in a bidding war against companies that most likely have huge advertising budgets. Even if you win the war for position 1-3, you’ll be paying over the odds for your bids.

#3: Poor Destination

When you create a Google Ad, you get the opportunity to put the destination URL into the Ad.

When someone clicks your Ad, where does it send them? A lot of people choose their Home Page, and that seems like a bright idea until you realise that in this quick click culture, people do not want to search your website for what they’re looking for.

If you sell Laptops with custom paint jobs, your Google Ad for Custom Apple Laptops should take the customer directly to the opportunity to learn more and purchase your custom Apple Laptops.

If you have created various Ads that go to various products or services, why would you direct them all to your Home Page? That’s mistakes #3.

#4: Paying Too Little for your PPC Bid

Just as you can pay too much for your PPC bid, you can also pay too little. Whilst paying too much will force you into conflict with bigger companies, paying too little may force your Ad onto Google’s second page. If your Ad ends up on Page Two, you may as well forget it. Most people don’t look past the first page!

#5: Writing a Bad Ad

Let’s face it, you might not be Shakespeare, but with a bit of thought, you could probably come up with an attractive bit of copy to use in your Ad. The problem is that most people don’t take the time and effort to work out what they want to say and the best way of saying it. If you don’t have a way with words, then pay someone else to do it, but writing a Bad Ad will get you nothing.

6#: Selecting the Wrong Geographical Region

If you’re a massive multi-national company like Coca Cola, you could probably afford to use Google AdWords across the entire web. But they still choose to select which Ads run in which geographical region.

One of the dumbest mistakes is to select the wrong region for your Ads to be shown in. That means whilst you’re trying to attract customers in the Andover area of the UK, instead, your Ad is running in the Andover region of Massachusetts, USA and you’re paying through the nose to compete with American companies for the same keyphrases that in your own region could cost next to nothing.

#7: Failing to Learn from the Stats

When you create an Ad Campaign with Google AdWords, you get a wealth of statistics back from Google to help you adjust and optimise your online advertising strategy. Failure to use this information means that you’re not taking advantage of the feedback that will help you to increase your presence and bring people to your website. The statistics that Google provides could directly influence your sales. Fail to learn from them at your peril.

#8: Language Problems

Just like setting the wrong geographical region, you can optimise your Ads for particular languages. Don’t waste your time and money optimising for any language other than the languages you do business in!

#9: Using the Same Ads When They Don’t Work

One of the silliest mistakes that people casually using Google Ads make is to use the same old Ads even when they don’t appear to be working. Instead, you need to change your wording, particularly your keyphrases and constantly evaluate their success. The trouble is that this is trial and error and that can prove to be costly if you’re not already an AdWords expert!

#10: Thinking that once it’s set up, it will run itself

Running a Google Adwords campaign takes time and effort – constantly checking stats, tweaking ads, altering landing pages, making sure you’re not paying too much or too little; in short making sure that you’re getting the best that you can for the budget you can afford. If you don’t have the time to manage something like this, then it’s worth looking into one of the many companies out there that can help.

Using Google AdWords to advertise can appear deceptively simple but these mistakes are all avoidable!

Nikki Pilkington is owner of NikkiPilkington.com, an Internet Marketing Expert and Google Adwords Management company based in the UK and France. You can reach her and her team on 0844 980 0404 or at nikki@nikkipilkington.com