Google AdWords Expert – Exclusive Interview
May 11th, 2007 by Mike Reining Read more about Google AdWordsUndercover Google AdWords Expert Shares Key Insights
Google AdWords Expert Recommendations
Today we have a special guest that I had the chance to talk to and I got his permission to post parts of our conversation on this blog.
What Google AdWords Expert did we talk to?
Our Google AdWords Expert requested that we keep his identity hidden because some of his recommendations might actually hurt his own business (he for example recommends strongly against hiring some Google AdWords Experts).
First Question: How long have you been using Google AdWords?
I have been a Google AdWords user since the first year that Google AdWords was launched. In the old days any fool could get started with Google AdWords and make easy money because the costs-per-click were not competitive.
Second Question: Who should hire a Google AdWords Expert, is it really worth it?
Well, this truly depends. I would say that if you are a small vendor and expecting to make less than $10,000 in sales per month, then you cannot afford to hire a "Google AdWords Expert." There is lots of so called "Google AdWords Experts" but most of them just sell snake oil. These days it has gotten really bad because everyone is trying to win with Google AdWords.
If you are a large site making over $10,000 a month, then it might be worth it to partner up with a Google AdWords Expert. However, I would be very cautious before hiring a Search Engine Marketing Company. It can get very costly and the results can be very uncertain.
Third Question: How do you find a good Google AdWords Expert?
Truth be told, you find them via word-of-mouth and occassionally you can find good people by following the blogging scene. The top Google AdWords bloggers are easy to spot. They give you quality information and free tips and advice. They know their stuff so well that they are not afraid to and have no need to hide it.
"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field" Niels Bohr
Fourth Question: What advice would you give someone that is new to Google AdWords?
If you are a small business trying to make a few bucks on the Internet, then learn the skills of the trade. It is not too hard to figure out Google AdWords and there is lots of Google AdWords Experts that are willing to share their experience. So, just stick to what they tell you.
Two well known products are:
- AdWords System Exposed (by MindValley Labs)
- The Definitive Guide to Google AdWords (by Perry Marshall)
If you do exactly what the Google AdWords Experts tell you, then you should be ok and you can get all of that by spending less than $100 instead of having to hire someone for $5,000 after which you still don't know how Google AdWords really works.
Fifth Question: What's the one thing a new AdWords user has to do to succeed?
Start overbidding! I am serious! You hit the nail on the head when you shared your shocking results that new Google AdWords advertisers are screwed. They have no history, no good quality score, so they have to bid high to get into the door and stand a fighting chance. You have to start out aggressive and then scale back. Otherwise your campaigns will never get off the ground.
Final Question: What about getting help directly from Google?
Are you kidding me? These are the people that want you to spend more money with Google AdWords. I worked for one client who told me before I started working with him that a special team at Google had setup and optimized their Google account. Not surprisingly, they were grossly over spending, over bidding, and their Ad Groups and keywords were very poorly optimized. Truth be told, I was a bit shocked at how bad this was because I would have expected better from Google.
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About the Author
Prior to MindValley Media, Mike was the Head of New Ventures Strategy at eBay where he conceived of the strategies that led to the investment in Craigslist, the launch of Kijiji.com and the acquisition of Skype.
Mike has an MBA from Stanford and previously worked for the Boston Consulting Group. He is also a certified Google AdWords Professional.
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Vishen Lakhiani
The response to the fifth question needs a caveat. True, you need to bid higher in the short term than you plan to for the long term. However, due to broad matches being implemented as expanded broad match these days, the "overbidding" should only be applied to phrase and exact matches. If "overbidding" is done with broad matches, then an extensive negative keyword list should be in place at launch and should be updated on a regular (perhaps daily) basis, reacting to the actual keywords searched for.
I felt it was important to comment as many of your readers will take this advice and will lose their shirts.
Richard,
Thank you for pointing this out. It is a very important component of overbidding. I use negative keyword lists religiously and the Ad Groups I always use or build for our clients are very tight. However, many new users do not, so I am glad you mentioned that overbidding should ideally be done only for exact and phrase matches.
So, thanks for this!