The New AdWords Interface: A Quick Navigation Guide, Part 1 of 3

Savvy advertisers have been gaining mastery of the new AdWords interface now that it has been around for a little while.  To help you take advantage of the new layout and features, we'd like to offer a brief series on the new interface that has taken account management to a new level, making advertising online a lot easier for you.

To begin with, think of the new interface like an online version of AdWords Editor, the free application that enables you to make multiple account changes while you are offline. The left-side panel has a tree view of your account, branching out into campaigns and ad groups.  You no longer have to load entire pages to view specific ad groups or campaigns, thanks to this new layout.

The tabs have changed too. You now have the ‘Home’ tab that gives you a quick and easily accessible overview of your account—from campaign and keyword performance metrics to a search box for help, alerts and announcements. The ‘Campaigns’ tab (instead of ‘Campaign Management’) has a detailed view of your online campaigns. You can click into any campaign for which you wish to see all metrics, such as keywords and bids.

The next tab, called ‘Opportunities’, is new; it lists areas of opportunity that might help your online campaigns perform better. This may include budget suggestions or new keywords that are relevant to your account but not already included in your list. This tab also shows all the tools that you can use to track performance and tap into more opportunities.

The ‘Reporting’ tab does just that: give you different options to keep track of your account’s performance. This means that it also includes the link to your Google Analytics account, if you have linked one. The Report Center’s various report templates are also listed under this tab, and you'll find the ‘Change History’ tool, Website Optimizer and Conversion Tracking data here too.

The ‘Billing’ tab includes billing preferences and the billing summary page. For our Google Grants advertisers, there is no charge, so this tab will not be as important to you.

And finally, the ‘My Account’ tab includes Account Preferences, Account Access and Notification settings.

The new interface offers a tremendous amount of opportunity with its advanced reporting options, filter applications, graphical representations and in-line editing that renders changes instantaneous. The account navigation is now easier, quicker and more intuitive.

In our next post, we'll provide a more detailed look at the ‘Campaigns’ tab to see how it can make your account management process more efficient.

Posted by Reema Prasanna, AdWords Team in Hyderabad, India