Regardless of the size of your business, the time comes when you consider using your marketing budget on targeted advertising to reach your key customer base. While several good sites can help, if you are looking for the most effective, you should consider Google Ads. Google has over 4.8 billion interactions and 259 million unique visitors daily. And it is still growing. That is an impressive potential audience, one you don’t want to miss.

In this post, you will learn how the Google Ads platform works, the different types of campaigns available, and the benefits of running Google Ads for your business in 2021 and beyond.

   

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads, originally called Google Adwords from 2000-2018, is a highly effective paid search platform. It is a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) which means that you (the business owner) pay Google every time there is a click or impression on your ad. Essentially, you are paying for results achieved after placing your ad on Google’s search results page. The place where potential customers are looking for products or services you offer. Because Google allows you to set parameters, you can control how much of your marketing budget you spend. And you are still in a fantastic position to reach customers and make conversions.  

How Does Google Ads Work?

One of the best features of Google Ads is that you have a lot of control over your spending. This is because you do not pay for what you think you might get. (For example, prepaying for a set number of clicks.) You pay based on what occurs on the results page. A feature called bidding or keyword bidding confuses many business owners when they first begin to work with Google Ads. The concept is easiest to understand if you think about keywords like an auction. In the world of Google Ads, your bid is the amount of money that you are willing to spend for a single click on a specific keyword. The amount you bid determines if your ad will appear on the search results page. Essentially, you are bidding against your competitors for your ad to land a prime spot on the SERPs. Each time there is a search on Google, the search engine will use its algorithm to determine the quality score for the keyword. Google will also rank based on how much businesses will pay for that term. The highest bidder with the best quality for the keyword will get the best ad positioning on the results page. If you do not bid high enough to capture a position for your ad, then you do not have to pay. This makes the system cost-effective, as you are not spending money if you do not get results.  

Best Practices

Not every attempt at Google Ads will give you unimaginably huge conversion rates. There is a manageable learning curve if you stick with the best practices for your paid search campaign.

• Organise your projects with a PPC template
• Consistently test and adjust keywords until you get the results you want.
• Avoid broad keywords
• Make sure your ads are relevant; otherwise, you are wasting your time and money
• Maintain a high-quality score so that Google will deem your ad worthy of a top ad spot
• Have your landing page optimised and impressive so a searcher will be glad they chose your site.

 

Types of Google Ads Campaigns

Google offers businesses a choice between five types of ads. Here is a breakdown so you can gauge what is your best option.  

1. Search Ad Campaigns

You are probably familiar with the Google search ad. Searchers see these ads when they enter a search term. The beauty of these ads is they land in front of someone who wants the product. The design is the same as all other search results on the page, except Google places the word “Ad” in front of the listing.  

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• Responsive Search Ads – These are a subset of search ads that bring a different dynamic to the table. Rather than always showing the same ad with the same heading, responsive search ads allow you to enter up to 15 versions of headlines and four different selections of ad copy. Google will determine which are best for a particular search.

 

2. Video Ad Campaigns

These are the ads that play before, occasionally during, or after YouTube videos. Because YouTube is a search engine, your ads stand a great chance of landing in the perfect spot for a searcher to find you.  

 

3. Display Ad Campaigns

A powerful force in Google Ads is the Google Display Network; a network is a group of numerous websites that opt to join. If you run a display ad campaign, Google puts your ad on web pages that align with your products or services. These are usually image ads meant to catch a viewer’s eye and result in a click to see more.      

4. Shopping Ad Campaigns

Google’s shopping ad campaigns are unique because they show a specific product or line of products related to a shopping search. The ads are on the search engine results page (SERP) and show searchers what you offer that fits in the same category as their search term. You run these campaigns via the Google Merchant Center.      

5. App Ad Campaigns

These ads pop onto mobile devices based on user activity. The goal of app ads is to get the user to install your company’s app or complete an action if they have your app on their device.      

Need Help to Get Started?

Google Ads is one of the top choices for promoting your business and gathering new leads. If you need a bit of help, contact Digital Hitmen. Our expert staff can get your business moving on Google Ads, as well as the many other digital marketing methods.   *Be Sure to Sign Up and Get Our Free Tips on Using Google Ads to Optimise Your Campaign Performance*

• Set your location. This is crucial if you are advertising a brick-and-mortar location. Grabbing a searcher’s attention is great, but if they are on the other side of the country, it won’t amount to much.
• Identify the match types. This will determine how close a match has to be for your ad to appear.
• Create compelling headlines. You will want your headlines to align with your keywords. Also, be sure to match your searchers and their intent. Casual ads peppered with slang are great for your trendy clothing line. However, if you are selling briefcases, you will need a different tone.
• Choose keywords carefully. The most impactful keywords align with the searcher’s intent and will put your ad in relevant searches.
• Set up campaign tracking with UTM codes. These will keep up with specific links and the activity surrounding them.
• Link your Google Ads to Google Analytics. Not only will this will track and analyse your campaigns, but it also tracks your website traffic, conversions, and goals.

  About the author: Based in Perth, Digital Hitmen is a leading Australian digital marketing agency whose mission is to provide brands with impeccable digital execution and guaranteed results. Our team of experts will expand your brand’s digital footprint, increase traffic, and convert that traffic into sales. We work tirelessly to remain the most innovative and results driven digital marketing agency in Australia.