Last week Google officially launched Adwords Express (formerly known as Google Boost) in the UK and Germany. Adwords express is a simple version of Adwords aimed at small business owners that want to advertise on-line but don't have the budget to employ a pay-per-click manager.

We've put Adwords Express through its paces and here it what we found....

Pros

1. Simple To Use

Obvious but true! You can start you adwords express campaign by adding your company details and selecting two business categories and Google will do the rest!

2. Good for local searches

Adwords puts your business on google places which means your location will show on a map opposite the advert. Google places will help you drive local, relevant traffic.

Cons

1. Keyword selection

What Keywords are best for you? since you are trusting Google with your search terms, you have no control over what phrases your advert is showing for.

2. Conversion tracking

Adwords Express doesn't support conversion tracking. Without conversion tracking you can't see which phrases are converting into sales.

3. Landing pages

If your landing page doesn't closely match your adverts Google will charge you more per click via its ranking algorithm. Without the ability to manage keywords and landing pages you will inevitably end up being over charged to advertise and as a result have problems with quality score and bounce rate. If your quality score is low Google will charge you more to advertise.

Summary

Adwords Express is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately it doesn't have the flexibility and adaptability of a full Adwords account. One of the main benefits of a full Adwords account is the ability to optimize your campaign overtime. Using search query reports and conversion tracking you can methodically weed out phrases that are negative or unprofitable and focus on the phrases that generate income. Adwords express doesn't give you the information or the functionality to do that.

Anything that encourages SMB's to advertise online gets my vote but this is not a viable substitute to an Adwords account and Pay-Per-Click manager.

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