Conducting keyword research and optimizing ad campaigns can create confusion to some but you can get results by following these simple steps and suggestions by Perry Marshall in his book The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords.  

When you want to build an effective Google Adwords campaign one that generates a large amount of quality traffic and actually reaches your target market make sure you’re not making any of these five common mistakes:

1. Writing ad copy without keywords. Putting the keyword in the headline and nowhere in the ad is not a good practice and many Adwords campaign managers unknowingly do this. You want to make sure your ad copy is as relevant and keyword-rich as possible, so feel free to use at least 1-2 keywords or keyphrases within the ad for extra benefits.

2. Leading the visitors to go to your page. You’ll generate much more attention and even higher conversion rates when the URL you use within your ad goes directly to a landing page with the offer or incentive, and not just your homepage.

3. Relying on the ‘broad match’ function of the Google Adwords Keyword Selector Tool. A general idea of applicable keywords in your niche can be supplied by the ‘broad match’ feature, still, you have other possible alternatives. In the same way, you can use the tool’s ‘phrase match’ and ‘exact match’ functions for your ads and website copy to get quality and intended list of keywords.

4. Using a set of keywords that do not actually give results. Typically, it takes some time before you gain an exact understanding of your target market’s needs and keep in mind as well that your audience may not be searching for your services or products with similar keywords you use online. Utilizing the ’synonyms’ feature on the Google Adwords Keyword Selector Tool helps you get desired outcome in your campaign and this can be done by getting a list of similar keywords with the use of the ’synonyms’ feature.

5. Presenting your offer only in the body copy. Don’t forget to accentuate in your copy’s headline the ‘ultimate benefit’. Imagine that your reader/viewer is only reading the headlines; will they be compelled to click on the ad or read the remainder of the copy? Viewers scan even the smallest of details even though Google Adwords ads have only 3 to 4 lines, but what is good to note is that they only react when something presented grabs their attention, your opportunity to do this lies right in your headline.