Ad groups are used to separate similar keywords into different groups. Within each campaign, you can create one or more ad groups. While a campaign may represent a broad product class, the ad groups within that campaign can be more focused on the specific service you want to advertise. Ads are the key element of Ad groups, and represent one of the major keys to success with an overall account. Ads are meant to be a filter, attracting all of the people that are looking for your services without attracting any of the users who are not.

In the quest for attracting quality users to click on your ad it is important to understand first that the search engines each have their own rules regarding the ad copy of the ads. Each ad group has its specific set of ads that should describe or pertain to all of the keywords within that group. Ads vary slightly depending on the search engine, but each search engine has their own specific set of guidelines when it comes to ads they will and will not display.

Ads play such an important role in how effective the keywords are. Even if you have good keywords that attract a lot of impressions your ad can be over looked very easily by not having an eye catching title or not standing out among other ads. Consistent checking and research needs to be done to make sure that all ads are performing well, and are not attracting the wrong kind of clicks. The goal of the ad copy should be to attract only those users who are going to convert into leads for the client. That is the highest and best use of PPC ads. However, the keywords have their own role in the success of a PPC campaign. If the keywords are not specific enough then the ads will have a much harder time attracting clicks and conversions.

Pay-Per-Click accounts are broken down into two levels. These levels provide the structure and organization within an overall client account. The first level within the account is a campaign/s. Within each campaign are one or more ad groups. Each of these levels has their own set of controls and uses.

Basic Structure

Campaigns – Campaigns are used to give structure to the services you want to advertise. Campaigns share the same daily budget, language and location targeting. An account can have multiple campaigns each with different settings, or one single campaign.

Ad groups – An ad group contains one or more ads, which target one set of keywords. You can set a bid, or price for all the keywords in that ad group. You may also set prices for individual keywords within the ad group.

Keywords – The keywords you create for a given ad group are used to target your ads to potential customers. By creating a highly relevant keyword list, you can show your ads to only the most interested users.