How to open a Google AdWords Account

First, visit http://adwords.google.com and click the “Start Now” button. You will likely want to start a “Standard” account. If you have not created a Google account, please do so at this time, providing all the pertinent information. If you do have a Google account, then you only need to link it to your current one before continuing. Simply follow the instructions to set up the link.

Setting your time zone and your currency is the next step. The currency setting is for how you will be paying Google for your advertisements, not how you will be receiving payment. The time zone setting will allow you to organize your billing and reporting on your account, which will include statistics as well as payments. This is a permanent setting. Please make sure you make the right choices, as you will not be able to change this later.

Once you input your email address and password, you will be sent a confirmation email from Google. After you have verified your account via the email sent from Google, you may log in and access your “Campaign Management” page if you’d like.

Google will also need to know your billing information before you can continue to set up your account’s campaigns. Click on the “Billing” section, and then the “Billing Preferences” link. There you can set your billing location and address. Choose a payment mode next: prepaid or postpaid. If you choose to pay via “Demand Draft” or check, you are allowing yourself to deal with a 10-15 business day timeframe before your payment is credited to your account. If not timed correctly, your campaigns may be stopped until the payment clears.

After payment mode is selected, agree to the terms and conditions. A $5 nonrefundable fee will be charged. After that is done, you are ready to start using Google AdWords!

Then, you will be asked to set up your first campaign. You will not be charged at this point, so feel free to test out different keyword combinations and bids. But first, select the countries and languages that you wish to advertise in – where your customers are located. If you do not serve overseas customers, target your advertisement locally. Otherwise, you will be paying for clicks that you cannot convert into sales, which is a waste of money.

Next, create a headline of up to 25 characters and two lines of up to 35 characters in length. The “Display URL” is the address of your website which will show up in the advertisement itself. The “Destination URL” may be different: this could be a special landing page that you’ve set up for those who click on the ad. When done, click “Create Ad and Continue”.

Choose your keywords and your budget. As stated before, you will not be charged yet, so feel free to try different maximum costs per click and different keywords. You will get projections and estimates from Google as you do this. Continue testing until you have found a campaign that you are happy with.