Google AdWords™ For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Picking a Network Based on Your Goals

We began this chapter by recommending a particular group of settings for your first campaign. These settings assume that your goal is to test a bunch of keywords to see if you can write ads and deploy web pages that can profitably turn those visitors into customers. We refer to this kind of campaign as the “Opposite of New York, New York.” You know that line from the song, “If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere”? This campaign is the inverse of that concept: If you can't make money selling to prospects who are actively searching for what you sell, and are using the exact keywords you specify, then you're definitely not going to succeed under less-ideal conditions.

However, your goals may require a different strategy and a different group of settings. Here are some variations that may fit your needs better.

Variation 1: Your site generates leads, not sales

If your website generates leads — not sales — and does so by means of an opt-in form where visitors leave some contact details in exchange for a report, white paper, or some other valuable information, then using the Display network will probably be more profitable than the Search network.

We still recommend starting with the Search campaign as we describe earlier, though. Because people are searching, you want to test different keywords and discover the profitable and unprofitable ones before spending a lot of money or muscle on search engine optimization (SEO). The Search network ...