Activity Centres occupy a competitive market, and here at gogroupbooking.com, we know how vital it is to stand out from your competitors. Google Adwords is a free tool (free to create an account and research keywords, but not free to advertise, so remember to freeze your first ad campaign before it starts unless you plan to begin putting out advertisements immediately) and it’s easy not to realise just how much it offers. So we decided to put together a few tips to make sure you get the most out of your particular ad campaigns. 

Those yellow  icons with ‘ad’ written on them at the top and on the right hand side are advertisements that companies paid to have at the top of the results page. Which paid ads show on the page is decided by which keywords are typed into search engines. Keywords vary in price depending on how popular they are, so it’s important to pick yours carefully. Specific terms work best most of the time to distinguish you from your competition, and better target the market that suits you best -you can find more information on deciding on good keywords here. But once your keywords are chosen, there are a few more things you can do to make the most of your account.

1. Use Negative Keywords

Activity Centres come with a diverse range of programmes, but no one provider can offer everything. Keywords should be chosen with that in mind. If someone searches for activity centres featuring water sports or paintball, and you have no such facilities, there is not much point in competing for customers that you have no ability to satisfy. Negative keywords are important in preventing spending time and money on keywords that won’t lead to results.

Negative keywords ensure that those searching for particular terms not relevant to your customer will not be presented with your ads, as they would be unlikely to click on them or use your services if they did. They can be especially useful to avoid spending money on demographics you don’t cater to, such as ‘kids’ as a negative keyword for activities that are not suitable for minors.  A keyword planner is built in to Google Adwords, but if you want to find another source, try moz.com categories

Negative keywords must be chosen carefully to ensure potential customers are not accidentally excluded, but they can be extremely useful if used correctly.  Not competing for those who are not likely to be interested frees up time and money for those who are, allowing you to get the most out of your advertising budget. 

2. Monitor Results

Related to the above, an early campaign might require a degree of experimentation to start. Decide early on what  constitutes a conversion (what you want the people that see your ad to do as a result) for your particular needs and how much you are willing to spend to achieve it, as this could be the foundation of the rest of your campaign.

Monitor the conversion rate to determine the level of interest, so you can alter the level of funding or which keywords you use based on the performance. Information from Google Analytics (another free tool available to anyone with a gmail account and a website) can help you realise what keywords are used to actually find your website at the moment. If you can find out where your site traffic is coming from and why, this can be invaluable information when deciding what keywords would work best in your ads.

3. Understand the Basic Settings

Google Adwords offers a wide range of targeting options. The extent of the service may not be clear at first glance, but fully implementing the available options can be of significant benefit to an activity centre that targets particular groups. Here, the average monthly searches for ‘activity centre’ is 2,400, and competition is high but this will drop as targeting narrows.

It’s possible to narrow the focus of advertising by geographical location, age, gender, and language. Campaigns may target particular demographics if the particular function is turned on, and although some site visitors may opt out of volunteering certain details, it can also provide valuable information as to demographics available and whether they show particular interest in what you have to offer, which may inform further marketing in the future.

4. Think Long Term

A campaign may easily start small and later grow, and it is important to take this into account from the beginning. You may start from a very specific market and area, but you may need to think about whether the existing campaign leaves room to expand if it proves to be a success -If targeting a specific activity is a success, what next? Does your Adwords account setup allow for expansion?

5. Construct Ads Carefully

This is another feature that may seem obvious, but is nonetheless important. There is very little space in the basic Google Adwords ad, but that small box has a lot of work to do. It will vary depending on the nature of the activities offered, but including a call to action (what you want the customer to do, and why they should do it) is a compact way to get the most out of the limited area. Google itself has some basic tips here.

As you can see, the text of the ad has very limited space, and this must be assigned carefully.

Something short and simple, such as ‘Improve fitness and develop new skills. Book now!’, could yield results, but as before, the nature of the message would depend on the services you offer. Include contact details and some of your keywords if possible, but don’t overdo it, as overuse of keywords in your ad may be penalised.

6.Find your USP

Stand out from the crowd with your unique selling point.

If you have a unique selling point, a service or feature that is not widely offered or is particularly appealing in your activity centre, make sure you highlight that in your advertising and keywords. This could be anything from a nice view to a particular kind of astroturf or a highly qualified member of staff. It could be the scenically breathtaking Delphi Valley,for instance.

If it is something your activity centre offers particularly well, make sure that anyone searching for it sees your ad and knows how and where to find you.

7. Pay Attention to Quality Score

The most expensive ads with the highest position may not bring the best results. It does not matter how many customers see your advertisements if none of them act on it. That is why targeting ads is important, and it’s also why you do not necessarily need to outspend your competitors in Adwords campaigns. A high Quality Score for a keyword highlights a word that is relatively effective at a lower cost, allowing your budget to spread further overall. 

            That was our seven basic ways to help activity centres to get the most out of Adwords. Hopefully you found this of use in learning some of the basics of Adwords advertising. There is a lot more that could be said if we had the time or space, but for now, hopefully that is enough to get you started. Good luck!