Account structure is the fundamental basis of being able to write relevant ads, track, optimize your campaigns, and keep your budget manageable. Poor account structure is one of the most common reasons advertisers fail and can make or break the success of your account.  Before you start adding in keywords you’d like to advertise on, think about the following:

• What products or services would you like to advertise?
• Where are your potential customers? What locations and regions would you like to target?
• Do you have different budgets for your various products and services? Are some of your product lines of greater priority?

Next, consider the AdWords account hierarchy and how you can best organize your offerings within that structure. An AdWords account has the following components:

Here are some general guidelines to keep in mind:

Campaigns: You will want to create separate campaigns for different products or services and to take advantage of other settings that you choose at the campaign level. For example, as a carpet cleaning business, you might want to create separate campaign for the different locations you service.  I also recommend creating separate campaigns for the different networks and advertising on Search and Display separately.

Ad Groups: Within each campaign, you should have multiple tightly themed ad groups. If an Ad Group has several keywords, all with different themes, your ads are less likely to be effectively targeted. As a carpet cleaning business, you might want to have the following ad groups:

Tip: A good test to double check if your themes are tight enough is to ask yourself is each keyword within your ad group is reflected in your ad text. Make sure you find a balance between relevant groupings and being too specific. Creating a separate ad group for each individual keyword is not the best use of your time!