Executed well, AdWords (and other similar "pay per click," or PPC, campaigns) can effectively drive qualified traffic to your website–-which in turn can generate new leads and sales for your business. The best-run campaigns have a clear strategic directive, established benchmark metrics, and analytics in place to measure everything. But the key phrase there is "executed well." What my company often sees instead, when we're called in to audit or take over these DIY campaigns, is a whole lot of aimless setup, general mismanagement, and under-utilization of features that could otherwise help overall performance. If you're managing your own PPC campaign in-house, make sure you understand these essential rules.

By Hollis Thomases as seen in Inc.com