How To Use Site-Targeted Google AdWords

First things first, what are site-targeted AdWords campaigns? According to Google:

Site targeting lets AdWords advertisers choose individual sites in the Google content network where they’d like their ads to appear. You handpick your audience, big or small. The AdWords matching system does the rest, analyzing your input and creating a list of available content network sites for you to choose from.

You have probably seen some of those ads around the blogosphere. Some time ago John Chow was using them on Problogger, they looked like this:

The site-targeting feature of Google AdWords can be a very efficient way to promote your blog. First of all because it allows you to select specific sites to display your ads. Secondly because you can customize the ads and make them appealing or “intriguing” for that particular audience.

The main difference between keywords-targeted and site-targed AdWords campaigns is that the former has a cost-per-click (CPC) pricing structure, while the latter has a cost per 1000 impressions (CPM) pricing structure. Below you will find a step by step guide to create a site-targeted campaign.

Creating a Site-Targeted Campaign

In order to create a site-targeted campaign you obviously need to be a Google AdWords advertiser (if you are not you will need to register up, the setup fee is $5 and you need a credit card to finance the campaigns).

Log into your account and go to “Campaign Summary”, under the “Campaign Management” tab. On the right side of the screen you will have the option to create new campaigns, both keywords-targeted and site-targeted. Click on the latter.

1. Target Customers

Google will now guide you through the process of setting up your campaign. The first step is to name your campaign and specify what customers you want to target. If you are aiming for a specific geographical location just select “All Countries and Territories”.

2. Create the Ad

The second step is to create the actual ad that will be displayed on the targeted sites. It is a good idea to target one site at a time (creating one campaign for each site) so that you can customize the ad unit.

You can get as creative as you want on this phase. Try using the name of the author or the name of the site. Ask a question to that audience. Make a funny statement.

3. Select the Sites

The third step is to select the sites that you want to target. You have four options here: browsing around categories of sites, using keywords to find related sites, manually inserting the URL of the sites or selecting demographics.

Ideally, as we mentioned before, you already know what site you want to target, so choose the third option and enter the URL manually.

4. Setting the Price

The fourth step is to set the price. The minimum cost per 1000 impressions is $0.25. I would recommend that you start with that minimum bid and check whether your ad will be displayed or not. If is not being displayed raise the bid by $0.05, wait some time and check again. Repeat this process until your ads start showing on the targeted site.

5. Reviewing and Saving the Campaign

Finally you will be presented with a summary of the campaign you created. Review the details, and if they are correct save it. This will activate the campaign.

Consider that the cost per visitor with a site-targeted campaign will be somewhat higher than with the keywords-targeted method. Depending on the click-through rate that your ad will receive, each visitor will cost from $0.1 up to $1 or more. Keywords-targeted campaigns, on the other hand, can bring visitors for as low as $0.01 if tweaked correctly.

Do not get discouraged by this price difference, though. A well structured site-targeted campaign will bring to your site visitors that are looking exactly for the content you have to offer, meaning that they are much more likely to become loyal readers.