On a recent podcast Internet Guru, Michael Smith detailed 5 mistakes that he has seen repeatedly on online advertising campaigns when started on the popular platform Google Adwords and how to correct them.

Sydney, NSW -- (SBWire) -- 05/04/2010 -- Internet Marketer Michael Smith has optimized over 100 online advertising campaigns saving businesses as much as 40% per click. In the last few years he continues to see problems and confusion that advertisers have with the default campaign settings and startup procedures. In a recent podcast he outlined some of these and why they can cause problems.

Google Adwords is the biggest online advertising platform in the world. In its first 6 years it has gone from a new division of Google to its main income bringing in $23 billion in revenue in the year 2009.

In the United States Google has 72% of the search engine traffic market. In Australia and New Zealand markets Google is by far the main choice for a search engine website with over 90% of the market in both countries.

Getting acceptable results when marketing on such a pervasive internet portal can be the difference between success and failure for businesses when advertising online.

Often the Google system and the advertiser are doing at least some of these 5 mistakes:

1. Too Broad of Keywords – Don’t use vague words like “real estate” or “house” and expect great results.

2. Geotargetting has not been properly setup on the campaign. On Google you can show your ads only to people that are located in areas likely to want your product or service. This can be done by country, state, city, or even by a distance from a point on the map.

3. Turn off the Content Network – Google Adwords is not just searchers at google.com, it is also sites that want to show Google advertisements to raise income. By default this is turned on and confuses most advertisers as to where the traffic is coming from. Michael Smith suggests turning off the content network until the campaign is fully understood.

4. Negative Keywords – You can add special words to campaigns that make it so the advertisers ads don’t show. For example if someone types “cheap (keyword)” and the advertiser does not want to pay for this traffic they could add the word “cheap” as a negative keyword.

5. Turning the keyword targeting from Broad Match to a more particular matching type. By default Google sets keywords to “Broad Match” which will show the ad the often, and to the most diverse type of searches. Being more focused will get the advertiser better web visitors.

"It’s a little bit different than (natural traffic) you don’t want to want to be showing your ad to people that are not likely to buy, you have a budget and want to use it only on the best most likely to click and likely to buy traffic " said Mike Smith, founder of PPC Sydney . “Showing your ad less and having it likely to be clicked on actually makes Google consider it a higher quality site and offer”.

For additional information on some of the mistakes that Small to Medium sized businesses might be making with Google Adwords (or to listen to the podcast, get an outline, or for republishing rights), contact Michael Smith or visit http://www.ppcsydney.com.au. He is available in person in Sydney for talks or interviews and by Skype to shows around the world.

About PPC Sydney:
A marketing and public relations firm that focuses on the online web environment. Skill sets include Google Adwords campaign management, website traffic analysis, sales conversion improvement, and making websites more social and interactive. Michael Smith is the Founder and Managing Director with over 5 years of Search Engine Marketing, Website Analytics, and Traffic Improvement Experience. Currently they are focused on small to medium size firms that are looking to improve their online advertising spend.