Google AdWords Cheat Sheet

by | Understanding Adwords

The online advertising industry is full of mysterious acronyms and jargon.

This is a quick and simple reference of commonly used PPC advertising terms.

  • Ad position: (or Ad Rank) The location of an ad in the Google search results (also known as SERP or Search Engine Results Page).
    • Determined by many factors, several of which can be favorably influenced
    • Position #1 is at the top of the first page.
    • Recently, a new feature on Google search, called featured snippets, is shown above all other results (including ads!) in the search
  • Call to action: Specific directions in an ad or a web page for the reader to take an immediate action.
  • Conversion: A desirable action by a visitor, such as:
    • joining a mailing list
    • making a purchase
    • calling a phone number
    • reading a certain number of posts/pages
    • downloading a file.
  • CPA (cost per action): Also known as pay per action (PPA), this is the calculated average cost of a conversion (see above).
  • CPC (cost per click): The fee an advertiser is charged for an ad click. Keywords can cost vastly different amounts, depending on competition.
  • CTR (click-through rate): The total clicks an ad receives divided by the number of impressions. The higher the CTR, the more relevant Google considers the ad.
  • Display Network: Websites (not owned by Google) that have Google ads on them. Also known as AdSense ads.
  • Impression: The online display of an ad (anywhere) on the internet.
  • Interruption Marketing: In our case, refers to Display Network ads (not shown on the Search Network), but inserted alongside what might be considered as related online content.
  • Landing page: The web page shown immediately after an ad is clicked. The page should be constructed to appeal to the same desire as the ad. The landing page relevance and effectiveness directly influences conversion rates and AdWords click costs.
  • LTV (life time value): is an estimate of the average net profit attributed to the entire potential future relationship with a customer. This is quite useful when trying to help an advertiser to determine an acceptable CPA.
  • PPC (pay per click): A potentially risky, but often consistency profitable advertising model (when well managed) that charges advertisers only when their specific ads are clicked.
  • Split test: An effective advertising ‘measure to improve’ technique which divides ad spending between two or more versions of the ‘creatives’ (ad copy, landing page content, e-mail subject line, etc) and then measures which version(s) generate a higher conversion percentage.
  • Search Network: Online service people use when searching for a solution to a problem. In this case, Google!
  • SEM (search engine marketing): Internet marketing that increases visibility in search engine results using paid advertising.
  • Traffic: Visitors to the advertiser’s website.