If you’re going to spend any money on advertising in order to reach your intended audience, make sure you spend it wisely.
In other words, a location with more than 259 million unique visits and 4.8 billion interactions every day.
Somewhere like Google.
The world’s most popular website, Google.com, was created just two years before Google Ads was introduced. In October 2000, Google Adwords, the company’s advertising platform, was launched. However, in 2018, Google Ads underwent a rebranding process.
You’ve undoubtedly seen (and definitely clicked on) a Google ad due to the company’s extensive reach. and so have the people who might buy your products.
You’ll learn how to get started advertising on Google in this guide. This blog will guide you on how to optimise your ad campaigns using the platform’s specialised capabilities.
We all know that the more effective and targeted your sponsored advertisements are, the more clicks you’ll get and the more likely it is that you’ll get new clients.
Thus, Google Ads has grown in popularity among businesses of all types.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an advertising network that includes the Google search engine, search partners, the Google Display Network, audiences, websites, videos, YouTube channels, and mobile applications, among other components. With Google Ads, businesses may enhance the number of qualified leads and sales they receive by directing relevant visitors to their website.
Google Ads is a great approach to get qualified visitors, or people who are interested in what you have to offer, while they’re looking for such things online. Your website traffic, phone calls, and in-store visits may all be increased with the help of Google Ads.
Using Google Advertising, you can build and distribute well-timed ads to your target audience. When your target clients are searching for items and services like yours using Google Search or Google Maps, your business will appear on the search engine results page (SERP). This strategy ensures that your ad is seen by your target audience at a time when they are most likely to see it.
Please note that advertising campaigns from the platform can also be shown on YouTube, Blogger and the Google Display network.
To assist your business meet all of its sponsored campaign objectives, Google Ads will help you evaluate and optimise your ads over time.
It doesn’t matter how big or little your business is, you can personalise the adverts to fit your budget. Ad expenditure may be paused or stopped at any moment using the Google Ads tool, allowing you to keep under your monthly budget restriction.
Let’s move on to the next crucial issue: Is Google AdWords a worthwhile investment? Let’s take a look at some data to see whether this is the case:
- Nearly 8 percent of those who see Google Ads click on them(source:accuracast).
- Every month, display ads generate 180 million impressions(source:targetriver).
- Google’s sponsored advertising receives 65 percent of the clicks from individuals who are ready to make a purchase(source:valveandmeter).
- 73 percent of buyers make a purchase after seeing an ad for the product on YouTube(source:boostlikes)
Why advertise on Google?
The most popular search engine, Google, receives about 5 billion inquiries every day, according to internetlivestats. Not to mention that Google Ads has been operating for over two decades, giving it considerable experience in sponsored advertising.
People all around the globe rely on Google to get answers to their inquiries, which are provided in the form of both sponsored and unpaid organic results.
For every $1 spent on Google Ads, advertisers get $8 back, according to the search engine giant.
Is there any other justification required? Google Ads are being utilised by your rivals (and they might even be bidding on your branded terms). Even if you’re ranking organically for a search query, your results are being pushed down the page, behind your rivals, because hundreds of thousands of organisations utilise Google Ads to market their company.
In order to sell your product or service using PPC (Pay-Per-Click), Google Ads must be a component of your paid plan — there’s no way around it.
Google Ads Best Practices
Don’t give up on Google advertising if your first few attempts were a failure. There are several reasons why your Google Ads aren’t functioning as well as they should. Let’s take a look at some of the most prevalent Google Ads guidelines.
– Avoid broad keyword terms.
When it comes to keywords, you need to be absolutely perfect, which is why testing and adjusting are essential parts of your plan. For example, if you’re targeting the incorrect audience with your keywords, you’ll get less clicks and spend more money.
Adjust your keywords based on what’s working (i.e. the keywords that are getting the most clicks). Once you’ve tried a few times and tweaked the mix, you’ll likely get it right the next time.
– Don’t run irrelevant ads.
In order to justify your ad expenditure, you need to make sure your ad is relevant to the searcher’s needs. Advertisements must address the pain points of searchers, so make sure your headline and ad wording match the keywords you’re bidding on.
What you’re looking for can be achieved with only a few modifications to the formula. The ability to generate several advertisements for a single campaign is available; take advantage of this capability to do split testing to see which ads perform best. Google’s Responsive Search Ads functionality is much better.
– Improve your Quality Score (QS).
Google uses your Quality Score (QS) to rank your ad. Placements improve as your rank rises. Your ad will be seen by fewer people and have fewer conversion opportunities if your quality score is poor. While Google will provide you with your Quality Score, it is your responsibility to work on it.
– Optimise your ad landing page.
After a consumer clicks on your ad, it’s just as crucial to make sure they have a positive experience.
Once they click on your ad, what does the user see? The inclusion of the same keywords on your landing page is a sign that it is optimised for conversions. Are you able to alleviate the user’s problem or answer their inquiry using this page? The converting process should be smooth for your user.
Google Ads important terms
- Keywords
- AdRank
- Conversion Rate
- Campaign Type
- Ad Extensions
- Click-Through Rate
- Display Network
- Bidding
- PPC
- Quality Score
You may use these phrases to set up, manage, and optimise your Google Ads. PPC in general and Google Ads in particular have a lot in common. If you want to execute a successful ad campaign, you’ll need to know these things.
1. AdRank
Your ad’s position on the search results page is determined by its AdRank score. As the value of your ad increases, so do your rankings, the number of people who see your ad, and the likelihood that they will click it. In order to get your AdRank, multiply your maximum bid by the Quality Score of the ad you’re running.
2. Bidding
You, the advertiser, decide the maximum amount you’re ready to spend for a click on your ad using the Google Ads bidding system. As your offer rises, so does your position on the auction block. There are three ways to place a bid: CPC, CPM, or CPE.
- For each click on your ad, you pay a fee known as CPC, or cost-per-click (CPC).
- When you pay CPM (cost per mille), you pay for one thousand ad impressions, which means your ad will be seen by 1,000 people.
- If someone clicks on your ad and does a certain action, you pay a fee known as CPE, or cost per engagement.
3. Campaign Type
Search, display, or video are the three types of campaigns that you may run on Google Ads before you launch a sponsored campaign.
- When you do a Google search and get back the results, you’ll see what’s known as a “search ad.”
- A display ad is an image-based advertisement that appears on a website that is part of the Google Display Network.
- YouTube’s video adverts last anywhere from six to fifteen seconds.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Your ad’s CTR (click-through rate) is the percentage of views your ad receives that result in a click. A greater click-through rate (CTR) signifies that the ad is relevant to the user’s search and includes relevant keywords.
5. Conversion Rate (CVR)
CVR is a metric that measures the number of form submissions as a percentage of total page views. In layman’s terms, a high CVR indicates that your landing page delivers on the promise made in your ad.
6. Display Network
Search results pages and websites in Google’s Display Network (GDN) can both show Google advertisements (GDN). GDN is a network of websites that enable Google Advertisements to be placed on their pages; these ads can be text-based or image-based, and they are displayed alongside material related to your keywords. Google Shopping and app campaigns are the most popular solutions for Display Ads.
7. Extensions
Ad Extensions allow you to add more information to your ad without incurring additional costs. Sitelink, Call, Location, Offer, and App are all examples of ad extensions that fit into one of five categories.
8. Keywords
An extensive set of results is returned when a user submits a query into Google’s search area. When a searcher types in a query, they are looking for keywords or phrases that express exactly what they’re looking for. It’s up to you to decide which search terms show up next to your ad in the results. You’ll see ads for companies that target phrases such as “how to remove gum off shoes” and “clean shoes” if you search for that term.
It is possible to create a list of keywords that you do not want to appear in the search engine results for. If you bid on these terms, Google will remove you from the auction. In most cases, these keywords are connected to your desired search phrases, but they’re outside of the scope of what you’re offering or attempting to rank for.
9. PPC
A sort of advertising known as pay per click (PPC) is when the advertiser pays for each click on an ad. The most frequent sort of sponsored campaign is PPC, which is not particular to Google Ads. To get the most of your first Google Ads campaign, it’s critical that you learn everything there is to know about PPC advertising.
10. Quality Score (QS)
CTR, keyword relevancy, landing page quality, and your historical performance on the SERP are all factors in determining your Quality Score. AdRank takes QS into account.
How does Google Ads work?
Google Ads places your ad in front of people who may be interested in what you have to offer. Depending on the sort of ad campaign chosen, advertisers bid on search terms or keywords and the winners of those bids are displayed at the top of search results pages, YouTube videos, or relevant websites.
There are a number of things that might affect your ability to develop high-performing Google Ads. We’ll go over them in more detail below.
AdRank and Quality Score
An ad’s placement is based on its AdRank and Quality Score is one of the two elements that influence your AdRank. For example, your Quality Score is based on your ad’s CTR (click-through rate), which is how many people see it when it appears in their search results. Your ad’s CTR is mostly determined by how well it fits the searcher’s purpose, which may be determined in three ways:
- Your keywords’ relevancy
- As long as your ad content and CTA are in sync with the searcher’s expectations, you’re doing a good job
- Your landing page’s user experience
Even before you increase your bid amount, you should spend most of your emphasis on your Quality Score (QS). The lesser your acquisition expenses will be and the better your placement will be if you have a higher Quality Score (QS).
Location
Choosing a specific region in which your Google Ad will be shown is an important initial step in creating your ad. Ideally, your storefront should be within a reasonable driving distance of your business. If you run an ecommerce business and sell actual goods, you should configure your location to the locations from where you send your shipments. The sky’s the limit if you offer a service or product that is available to anybody in the globe.
Placement is affected by your current location. You can’t get your yoga studio in San Francisco to show up in New York, no matter how high your AdRank is. This is because Google’s primary goal is to provide users with the best relevant results, even if you pay for them.
Keywords
The importance of keyword research for both paid and organic search advertisements cannot be overstated. You want your keywords to be as relevant as possible to what people are looking for. That’s because Google uses your keywords to match your ad to relevant search searches.
Google will show your ad based on the keywords you pick for each ad group within your campaign (ideally one to five keywords).
Ad Extensions
Ad Extensions are a no-brainer if you’re running Google Ads because they’re free and provide users with more information and an incentive to interact with your ad. They fit into one of the following categories:
- Sitelink Extensions extend your ad — increasing the number of clicks on your site by making you more visible and adding extra links.
- With Call Extensions in your ad campaign, you’ll have an extra (and quick) option for customers to contact you. Include your phone number if you have a customer care staff ready to interact and convert your audience.
- Location Extensions allow Google to show searchers a map and your phone number in your ad so they can quickly locate you. It’s a terrific choice for brick-and-mortar companies, and it’s perfect for searches like “…near me.”
- If you’re currently running a promotion, then Offer Extensions are a good idea. It can encourage people to click on your ad above others if they find that your selections are cheaper than those of your rivals.
- Mobile users can access an app’s download page via an app extension. This eliminates the need to conduct a fresh search in order to locate and download the software from an AppStore.
Google Ads Retargeting
Users who have previously engaged with your website but have not yet converted can be targeted using retargeting (or remarketing) in Google Ads. Tracking cookies can be used to advertise to specific people while they browse the web. In order for prospects to become customers, they need to see your marketing material a minimum of seven times.
Types of Google Ads Campaigns
- Search
- Display
- Shopping
- Video
- App
On Google Ads, you may choose from one of five campaign kinds. In this section, we’ll go through the most effective applications for both and explain why you would prefer one over the other.
1. Search Ad Campaigns
Text adverts that appear on Google search results pages are known as search ads.
One of the advantages of using search advertisements is that your ad will be displayed where the majority of people begin their search for information: on Google. Users are used to viewing and clicking on results since Google displays your ad in a similar fashion to other results (except that it is labelled as “Ad”).
Responsive Search Ads
You may input up to a total of 15 headlines and ad content variants in responsive search ads, and Google will choose the most effective ones to show to viewers. You may use the same headline and description for all of your conventional advertising.
To acquire the most clicks from your target audience, you may use responsive advertisements, which allow you to create an ad that is dynamically tested until you find the optimum version for your demographic.
2. Display Ad Campaigns
The Google Display Network is a collection of websites across a wide range of businesses and demographics that have agreed to allow Google Ads to be shown on their pages. Paying per click or impression on adverts benefits the website owner. Advertisers profit from the ability to target specific audiences with their content.
3. Video Ad Campaigns
It is common for YouTube videos to be accompanied with video advertisements. Consider YouTube to be an extension of your browser. To get a user’s attention, you need the correct keywords to put them in front of a video.
4. App Ad Campaigns
With Google App Campaigns, you can advertise your mobile application across a variety of Google properties, including the Google Search Network, YouTube, Google Play, and the Google Display Network, to name a few. Using advertising, you may persuade your target audience to either download your app or, if they already have it, to do a certain action inside it.
You don’t create an App ad campaign as you do with other ad kinds. Instead, submit your app’s details and target audience to Google, and then bid on it. For the rest, Google performs the heavy lifting for you.
5. Shopping Ad Campaigns
Shopping campaigns, like other forms of advertising, appear on search engine results pages and feature information about the product, such as the price and images of the goods. Using Google Merchant Centre, you can set up a Shopping campaign and provide Google with particular product information for use in the creation of your shopping advertising.
With Shopping Ads, you may focus on a single product or series of items rather than promoting your whole business. As a result, if you conduct a Google search for a certain product, you will see advertisements for several manufacturers appear at the top and/or side of the page.
How to Use and Create Google Ads
Setting up Google ads is a breeze (and quick), thanks to the platform’s step-by-step instructions and handy tips. Starting a Google Ads campaign is as simple as clicking “Start Now” on the Google Ads website. The setup process should take no more than 10 minutes if you already have your ad wording and/or photos ready.
In order to get the most out of your ad campaigns, there are a number of additional steps you must do to ensure they are properly set up and trackable. Let’s take care of this together. Once your advertisements have been submitted for evaluation, follow these procedures.
1. Link Google Analytics.
As a business owner, you probably already have Google Analytics installed on your website so that you can monitor traffic, sales, and other information. Google Ads must be linked to your Analytics account as well. It will be much simpler to keep track of, analyse, and report on these occurrences if you link these accounts so that you can see everything in one location.
2. Add UTM codes.
Tracking activity linked with a link is done by Google using Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) codes. The section of a URL following a question mark (“?”) is one you’ve probably encountered before. The most effective portions of your campaign may be tracked using UTM codes, which show you which offers or advertisements resulted in a conversion. Because you can see exactly what’s working using UTM codes, optimising your Google Ads becomes much simpler.
Instead of doing this for each ad URL individually, you should include your UTM codes when setting up your Google Ads campaign. Google’s UTM builder can be used to manually add them if you choose.
3. Set up conversion tracking.
Your ad campaigns’ conversion monitoring informs you just how many clients or leads you’ve gotten from them. You don’t have to set it up, but if you don’t, you’ll have to make educated guesses about your advertising’ return on investment. An app install or phone call from an ad can be tracked through the use of conversion tracking.
4. Integrate your Google Ads with your CRM.
Having all of your data in one location makes it easier to manage, analyse, and report on. You’re already keeping track of contacts and leads in your CRM. Using Google Ads and your CRM, you can see which ad campaigns are most effective at reaching your target demographic, allowing you to target them with more relevant offers in the future.
Google Ads Bidding Strategies
It’s time to start bidding once you’ve set up your ad campaigns and put tracking in place. Remember that how much you bid in Google Ads affects your position in the search results. Even though your budget and goals will dictate how much you may bid, there are a few things to keep in mind while putting up your sponsored campaign.
Automated vs. Manual Bidding
In order to bid on your keywords, you have two options: — automated and manual. Here’s how they work:
- Google’s Automated Bidding feature allows it to alter your bid in response to the competition. As long as your budget is reasonable, Google will do everything it can to help you outperform your competition.
- Manual Bidding allows you to set your own bids for your ad groups and keywords, allowing you to save money on advertisements that aren’t doing as well as you would like.
Bidding on Branded Search Terms
The terms that include your company or unique product name are referred to as branded terms. There’s a lot of discussion about whether or not you should use your brand phrases in your bids. On the other hand, bidding on phrases that are likely to bring in organic results might be viewed as a waste of money by certain people.
While bidding on these phrases provides your website a higher ranking in search results, it can also assist to convert more advanced customers.
If you don’t bid on your branded terms, your rivals will, and you will lose out on precious real estate that is rightfully yours.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
A CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is a better option if you don’t like the concept of spending money to get people to sign up for your email list. This bidding approach may cost more, but you only pay when you get a paying customer, so it’s worth it. This approach makes it simple to keep track of and defend your advertising expenditures.
Start Your Google Ad Campaign NOW
Google Ads should be a component of your sponsored campaign because of its reach and authority. Use the advice we’ve given you to get started, and don’t forget to keep tweaking and improving as you go.
Only campaigns that require a little more work are considered failures in the world of Google Ads. A successful Google Ad campaign may be created using the approach and information supplied above, so long as you follow the steps outlined.
References
- https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6146252?hl=en
- https://evenbound.com/blog/how-to-use-google-ads-a-complete-guide
- https://ads.google.com/home/resources/how-to-setup-googleads-a-checklist/
- https://surfsideppc.com/google-ads/
- https://neilpatel.com/what-is-google-adwords/
- https://valveandmeter.com/pay-per-click-statistics/
- https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/
- https://www.targetriver.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-google-ads#:~:text=Display%20ads%20yield%20180%20million,seen%20on%20a%20YouTube%20ad.
- https://www.accuracast.com/articles/advertising/adwords-clickthrough/