If you can answer 8/10 of the following questions correctly, you're likely prepared. If you can't, you're probably going to be eaten for lunch by the more knowledgeable AdWords PPC sharks this year.



Answers are at the bottom of the page. No peeking, OK?

1. Google AdWords allows the following phrases in ad text;

a. 'Click Here'

b. 'Start Here'

c. 'Look Here'

2. True or False? Google allows you to have a popup ad on your landing page.

a. True

b. False

c. It depends

3. You should optimize your Google PPC ads for;

a. CTR (Click Through Rate)

b. ROI (Return On Investment)

c. Both CTR and ROI

d. Entertainment value

4. Mentioning the price of your product or service in your ad text is;

a. Recommended by Google

b. Not recommended by Google

c. Mandatory in certain categories

5. Using your site's Home page as a landing page for your Google ads is a;

a. Good idea

b. Bad idea

c. Very, very bad idea

6. What's a proven effective way of ensuring your ad is displayed, when someone searches for your competitor's products?

a. Bid on keywords that are your competitor's brand name or products

b. Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion

c. There is no legal way to do this

7. Which of these should you consider the major weaknesses in the majority of today's Google ad campaigns?

a. Overbidding

b. Insufficient grouping of keywords to specific Google PPC ads

c. Weak headlines

8. The #1 position in Google PPC results can often be a poor place to aim for because;

a. It generates high traffic, but lousy results when the prospect hits your landing page

b. It's often an impossible position to achieve, as big advertisers have established a strangle-hold on that position

c. It removes the beneficial 'pre-qualification' function performed by higher position competitors' ads

d. All of the above

9. Which of the following words has research proven to be the most effective at increasing a typical Google ad's CTR?

a. 'More'

b. 'Why'

c. 'Killer'

d. 'How'

10. Having a search keyword in your ad's display URL is proven to;

a. Increase your Google ad's Quality Score

b. Decrease your Google ad's Quality Score

c. Have no effect on your Google ad's Quality Score

ANSWERS

1. B. 'Start here' is allowed (the other two aren't).

2. B. False. According to Google, 'We do not allow links to landing pages that generate pop-ups when users enter or leave your landing page. We consider a pop-up to be any window, regardless of content, that opens in addition to the original window.' (Yes, I do realize there are ways around this - but we're not going to talk about 'black-hat' stuff here).

3. C. Optimize for both CTR and ROI. Why? Achieving a high CTR with lots of low-quality traffic that doesn't convert, is pointless. But also isn't having a high ROI and only one click a day a waste of time too? Solution; optimize for the right mix of both.

4. A. Recommended by Google

5. C. Don't even think about it. Chances are your Home page does not have the tailored content necessary to convert well as a landing page for your Google ads. Create a tailored page for each ad group instead. Don't have one? Switch your ads off...and get one!

6. A. Bid on keywords that are your competitor's brand name or products

7. B. If your ad copy matches the keywords exactly, prepare for a significant boost in your Click-Through-Rate (CTR)! Keywords should always be included in your ad. If the exact keywords show up in your ads, they get highlighted in bold. In particular, try including the exact keyword(s) in the ad's headline.

8. D. All of the above.

9. C. Believe it or not, the word, 'killer' is proven to be a real attention-getter in Google ads. Why? Who knows - but it works.

10. A. Having the search keyword in your ad's display URL is proven to give your ad a healthy position boost - for free!

Did you pass? If you did, well done! For the rest of us, here's the bottom line:

If you want to avoid becoming Google's 2007 Least Likely to Succeed, perhaps it's time for us to brush up on our Google AdWords skills. What are you waiting for?