Google Adwords is the most popular and sophisticated pay-per-click programme for advertising on the internet. Unlike regular search engine listings, which are free listings according to "relevance", as defined by the particular search engine involved, Adwords are small text ads which usually appear to the right of the unpaid listings. Advertisers bid on specific "keywords", which determines where the ad is displayed. However, unlike other search engines, where placement is completely determined by the amount of the bid, Google uses a complex calculation which also takes into the account the popularity of the ad. Thus, an ad which gets clicked on a lot can end up in a better position than one with a higher bid. That's how Google rewards the ad for relevancy, so it pays to create an ad that will invite clicks.

Advertising with Adwords has many advantages. First, the ad is displayed immediately, as opposed to waiting for sites to show up in regular listings, which can take months. This is because Google chooses on which site to advertise and not the advertiser. Second, these ads can be highly targeted, meaning you can make sure you're only paying for clicks by customers who are sincerely interested. Third, Adwords allows you to run several ad campaigns simultaneously, so you can test the results and experiment on the fly to constantly improve the quality of the ads. You can even track the "conversion rate," or the actual number of sales generated by a given ad. This is highly important for PPC marketing.

The primary step is to come up with the most effective list of keywords. This is extremely important, because if you bid on the same ones everyone else is bidding on, you will end up with very expensive clicks. You can use any of the many keyword search tools available (wordtracker.com has a popular one) to determine which keywords have lots of searches but not too much competition. You could also use AdWords Analyzer software for this purpose. If you bid on enough low-cost keywords, you can do as well or better than if you had placed an expensive bid on a popular term. You can also place a limit on your budget, so that you can control how much your total expenditure is per month. You can also specify certain words you do not want included, so that you don't attract a lot of clicks from people looking for something related that you don't offer.

If you are starting out with Google Adwords, I will teach you a fairly simple technique that will save you from spending a lot initially on clicks. Under Networks where your ads should be shown, you need to disable Content Network and activate only Search Network. Normally, you get more targeted visitors with Search Network compared with Content Network. When you are dealing with more targeted visitors, then your click through rate (CTR) will increase and wasteful clicks can be avoided.

The Google Ad itself consists of four lines: a title of no more than 25 characters, a description with two lines of up to 35 characters each, and a line for your URL, also limited to 35 characters. The title is what really attracts attention. It should include the keyword you're targeting, and should be as striking as possible so as to stand out from the crowd. If it's truly attention-getting, it will get more clicks than other, duller ads higher up on the page. Some suggest that it should be in all caps but Google TOS does not allow it, and include a price if possible.

The description should include the USP - Unique Selling Proposition for your product, and also include enough information to discourage clicks by unqualified customers. Make sure they know what you're selling and what to expect, as well as what sets you apart from the competition.

Finally, make sure the URL listed in the Google Ad takes the visitor to the most relevant page in your site for what they're looking for. Make sure the link is up to date and functioning correctly.

That's it in a nutshell, although the nuances are quite a bit more complex than we can deal with here. Many resources are available on the net which go into greater detail. But now that you understand the basics, you should be armed with the information you need to explore one of the most potentially lucrative marketing tools on the internet.

The great news about using Google Adwords is that a website is not a must. Anybody with a little ingenuity and some imagination can succeed in making money using Google Adwords. But, let me also add here that having a website is, definitely, a distinct advantage even though it is not a necessity because of another extremely popular concept known as squeeze pages. Through squeeze pages, your revenue potential through PPC marketing increases exponentially.