| You probably already know this, but running an | | | | If you want to set ad scheduling for your AdWords |
| AdWords campaign 24 x 7 x 365 is expensive. But, | | | | ads and make big savings on your advertising costs |
| wouldn't it be amazing if you could have your ads | | | | then this is how to do it:) |
| appear only when your prospects are most likely to | | | | 1. Log into your Google AdWords account. |
| buy? AdWords Ad Scheduling allows you to do | | | | 2. Click on the name of the campaign you wish to edit. |
| exactly that! | | | | 3. Select the "Settings" tab. |
| Consider this, if your business is selling to other | | | | 4. Scroll down to the "Schedule: Start date, end date, |
| businesses (B2B), then most of your prospects might | | | | scheduling" option. |
| be searching for you during business hours. Therefore | | | | 5. Click on the "+" symbol to show the options. |
| you might want your ads to show on Google only | | | | 6. Click on the "Edit" link to show the "Ad Scheduling" |
| between 9am and 5pm. | | | | window. |
| Conversely, if your business is selling retail products to | | | | 7. Amend the table as required so your ads show at |
| the general public, your prospects might be most likely | | | | the times you want them too. |
| to search for you in the evenings and at weekends | | | | 8. To adjust bid prices, change to "Bid adjustment" |
| when they have more time. You might therefore want | | | | mode by clicking on the link. |
| your ads to show after 5pm on weekdays, and all day | | | | 9. Once you've input your schedule, click on the save |
| at weekends. These are two simple examples of how | | | | button to save your schedule. |
| you might choose to schedule your ads. Needless to | | | | You probably realise that restricting the times your ads |
| say, things are not always quite so black and white. | | | | show on Google does have a downside. Some people |
| For example, in the instance of the B2B, some | | | | with a genuine intention to purchase will obviously |
| prospects will start work earlier than 9am and many | | | | search for your business outside of the times you |
| will finish later than 5pm. It therefore follows that this | | | | specify. But if the majority of clicks you receive on |
| business would miss out on good leads because their | | | | your ads outside your specified hours are from "time |
| ads are not showing. Also, take the retail business | | | | wasters", then you're wasting your money by letting |
| mentioned earlier. It could be missing out on some very | | | | your ads show on the off chance that one or two |
| good leads in the afternoon, like mothers searching the | | | | opportunities might slip through the net. |
| Internet before picking up a child from school. In these | | | | One final, important point to remember is that when |
| instances, you could use the bid adjustment feature of | | | | using the AdWords ad scheduling tool, you don't want |
| the AdWords ad scheduling tool to have your ads | | | | to guess when your ads should and should not be |
| appear outside of the hours you've set, but at a | | | | showing. You're certain to get it wrong! You'll get a |
| reduced bid price. It could mean that all your ads | | | | much more accurate picture of when to turn your ads |
| appear lower down the page, but at least you won't | | | | on and off from your analytics software. We would |
| be paying top prices for "time wasters" clicking on your | | | | recommend that you use Google Analytics and for a |
| ads. And your ads will still be seen by those prospects | | | | typical website, you should make your decisions based |
| that are serious. | | | | on conversions from at least six months of data. |