Week 6: Set Up Your Paid Search Account

Welcome to paid search with training wheels. This week you’re going to develop good habits and get a firm grasp of how the paid search system works, using a small-budget starter campaign. We can’t tell you what “small” means, but whether you choose to invest less than $100 or more than $10,000 a month, we’ll provide you with tips and pitfall-avoidance techniques that will help you spend your money wisely.

We recommend that you set up your paid search account and monitor it over the course of three months. This should give you enough time to judge cost-effectiveness, learn what you can expect to get for your money, and decide whether you have what it takes—both financially and administratively—to manage an ongoing paid search campaign.