Ten tips for advertising online with Microsoft adCenter

This post first appeared on HP's Business Innovation blog - check it out for more business tips and advice.

Microsoft adCenter is a great way to advertise your business and its products online. Check out our article How to advertise and sell online for more tips.

1. Match your ad to your business. Make sure that your ad is in keeping with your business and include the top benefits your customers are looking for. Direct your ad to unique landing URLs, so that searchers can easily find your offer.

2. Choosing keyword and phrases. Select words and phrases that describe your product, service, brand and location – including plurals, abbreviations, and common misspellings.

3. Keep reviewing and updating your keyword list. If your business or product evolves then your keywords need to change….but…

4. Make sure your ad is up to date. As you change your keywords, remember to ensure that your ad stays relevant and still attracts your target customer. Consider using dynamic text in your ad to make the ad more relevant to the searcher's query.

5. Monitor and prioritise your keywords. Set your traffic reports to run frequently and prioritise the keywords that bring you the most visitors and are most relevant to your business.

6. Test multiple ads. Microsoft adCenter allows you to create up to 20 ads per order and automatically display the best performing ads more frequently.

7. Word limits. Make sure titles are between six and 25 characters, descriptions are between six and 70, and the display URL is no more than 35 characters.

8. Use adCenter’s suggested bids – but remember that they are estimates. When you start your bidding, use adCenter’s suggested bids as a guide. Review and adjust your results accordingly after one week.

9. Bid on individual keywords rather than entering one bid for your whole list. Focus your budget on specific phrases and keywords.

10. Use incremental bidding to help target your core customers. Incremental bids add an additional amount beyond your original keyword bid to target customers by location, time and date, age or gender. AdCenter’s reports can determine the demographic profile of your visitors; you can then set your bid accordingly.

Get your first £30's worth of advertising free when you advertise on Bing with Microsoft adCenter