To help your ad succeed, pay close attention to four key elements: your ad text, your keywords, your target language and location, and your budget. Here are the basics to help you get on your way:

Seeing Your Ad

One of the first questions new AdWords users have is: "How do I see my ad?" The short answer is: you probably won't see your ad every time you search for your own keywords. The AdWords system spreads your ad impressions throughout each day based on your budget, your keywords, and the language and region you've targeted for your ad. If you choose very popular keywords (such as flowers or cars), there are millions of possible searches each day where your ad could show. Your own search may or may not come at the right moment to see your ad.

Also, make sure you check the second page of search results. Not every ad appears on the first page, and the AdWords system may place your ad on a later page to keep your costs low while still finding clicks for your ad.

The best way to make sure your ad is running is to sign in to your account and check the My Ad Campaign page. The Ad Health Meter will tell you if your ad is running properly. The statistics table will show you the number of times your ad has appeared, the number of clicks it has received, and the total cost to you.

• For more help finding your ad, see: Why can't I see my Starter Edition ad?

Your Ad Text

It's important that you start by identifying your advertising goals and your audience. What do you want to achieve? Who is your ideal customer? Then write a simple, direct ad that entices the customer to click with a strong call to action.

• To read more about writing great ads, see: How do I write effective Starter Edition ads?
• To learn about what is allowed in your ad text, see the AdWords advertising policies.

Your Keywords

Keywords match your ad to potential customers. Your ad is eligible to appear whenever a user searches Google or its partner sites for the keywords you select. These keywords also are used to target your ad to content sites, where potential customers are reading about topics related to your product or service.

When choosing keywords, think like a customer. What terms would your customers use to describe your products or services? What terms would they search for if they wanted to find what you have to offer? The more specific your keywords, the better your ad will perform: If you're a florist, use detailed keywords like buy red roses instead of general keywords like flowers.

• For help creating the best keywords for your ad, please see: How do I choose new keywords for my Starter Edition ad?

Your Budget

How much you spend on advertising is entirely up to you. You can spend as little or as much as you like. The larger your budget, the more exposure your ad will get and the more clicks you're likely to receive.

You pay a small portion of your budget each time a user clicks on your ad. This amount is called the cost-per-click, or CPC. Since your ad competes with other ads for position on each page, the AdWords system will adjust your CPC bid for each keyword to seek out the most exposure and the most clicks possible for your ad within the budget you set. The system will also spread out your spending over the course of each month.

You can, if you like, set a top limit on the CPC that AdWords will spend on any click. This gives you more control over your cost-per-click, but it also may restrict the number of clicks your ad receives. If you set a very low click price limit, your ad may show rarely or not at all.

• For help with your budget, see: How do I choose a budget for my Starter Edition account?
• For help with your CPC, see: How can I set a click price limit for my Starter account?

Whatever choices you make, it's important that you experiment with different advertising messages and keywords to find the ones that work best for you. If you find that users aren't responding to a particular call-to-action in your ad text, delete that ad and try something else.

To learn even more about AdWords Starter Edition, see our complete Starter Edition Help Center.