To set up your Adwords Starter Edition account if you don’t already have a Web site, follow these steps!

Google will help you create a basic “Yellow Pages” Web page for your business. You won’t be able to make online sales on this Web page, but you can provide enough information on the page for your visitors to call you, send you an e-mail, or visit your actual business location.

If you run a local business and conduct all transactions in person, this simple Web site may be all you need for a little while. When you get to the Web page where you enter your business information, you can click the See a Sample Page link to check out the Mario Loves Pasta, Inc. page, which gives you an idea of what your one-page Web site can look like. Note the live e-mail link, hours of operation, phone numbers, address, and payment accepted. The ziti look great, don’t they? Sadly, the phone numbers aren’t real. I wonder if Mario will respond to e-mail? To set up your Starter Edition account if you don’t already have a Web site, follow these steps: 

1. Point your browser to http://adwords.google.com and click the Click to Start button. (The button could also be labeled Begin or Start Now. I’ve gotten all three Google appears to be testing which button text works best.)

2. Select the Starter Edition radio button. 

3. Select the I Don’t Have a Webpage. Help Me Create One radio button, and then scroll down and click the Continue button. Google takes you to a page where you enter the information you want on your business’s Adwords Web page. 

4. In the Provide Basic Business Information area, enter your business’s name, address, phone, and e-mail address in the appropriate text boxes. Enter your business name and address in the text boxes. Click the Test Address link to see if it maps properly. The page refreshes to include a close-up map of your location. You can choose further down the page to include this map or not. Enter the e-mail address and phone number you want Web visitors to use. If you check the box next to Help Me Count the Calls I Receive FREE, Google does a very neat thing for you. They assign a phone number to your Web page that forwards to your actual business line, and they give you statistics on how many calls your Web site generates. You can choose a local or toll-free number. Imagine if the Yellow Pages did that for you! You could stop paying for ads in the directories that don’t lead to calls, and buy bigger ads in the books that generate business. 

5. Select the check boxes of all the payment methods your business accepts in the What Forms of Payment Does Your Business Accept? area. You get a baker’s dozen of choices, including a check box for you to add other methods Google didn’t include, like Discover, local credit cards, and “will work for back massages.”

6. Select whether you want the page to show your business’s operating hours in the What Are Your Operating Hours at This Location? area. When you select the I’d Like to Specify Operating Hours radio button, the page immediately updates to enable you to enter the business hours for each day of the week. You can input different hours for each day of the week, close or open your shop with a check in the Closed check box, and even use military time if you think there’s a danger of some confused soul showing up at 3:00 am wondering why she can’t buy a leopard-skin lion tamer’s costume. If you want to take a lunch break, put a check in the check box that says Enter Two Sets of Hours for a Single Day, just below the days. Your page will refresh with double start and end times. 

7. Write a few paragraphs about your business in the Describe Your Business section. As you write the description, think about three things:  

a. What do your prospects need to know to help them make a decision? 

b. What differentiates your business from their other choices? 

c. What action do you want your Web visitor to take after viewing this page? 

Include details that support your claims, and communicate in a style that represents how your establishment actually feels to customers. If you want prospects to physically visit you, give a clear description of your location, and where to park. Think about how you decide whom to call or where to shop. You’re probably looking for the first ad that answers your burning questions and ends your confusion. Provide that information to your Web visitors. 

8. Include a clear Call to Action in your business description, such as 

• E-mail me for today’s specials 

• Mention coupon code “405” for a 10% discount on your first order 

• Call to find out which water filter is right for you 

9. Select a radio button to determine the layout of your Web page in the Choose a Layout area. 

You can choose to include a map, a picture, both, or text only. If you include a picture, you can upload one from your computer. Click the Browse button to bring up your computer’s files, and find the picture you want. It must be in .jpg or .gif format, and can’t be larger than 500k. If you’re not sure what any of this means, find a graphics person to help you get the best picture into an appropriate file format.

10. Select a radio button in the Choose a Background Color area. Your choices include gray, rose, blue, or yellow. You can go back and change this at any time. Click the Preview My Webpage link to preview the page you created (note that you’ll need to disable any pop-up blockers). 

11. Click the Continue button. Now you’ll continue creating your ad and the rest of your account, as described in the earlier section, “If you have a Web site.” The only difference is, the URL of your ad will begin with http://biz.googlepages. com and will end with a suffix of your choosing, up to 15 characters.