How to Advertise With Google Ads

Written by Web Hosting Expert

May 20, 2022
How to Advertise With Google Ads

Google is the perfect meet-up spot for customers and online retailers. It's a gateway that online business owners use to reach as many customers as possible. And seeing as Google handles over 2 trillion searches per year and holds over 90% of the search engine market share, the customer pool for businesses is endless!

Also, customers are four times more likely to click on a Google ad compared to one on any other ad network. So, it's no surprise that Google Ads has become a popular place for businesses to advertise their products and services.

What Is Google Ads and Why Is It Important


Google Ads is a paid online platform that Google offers where users can bid to place short ads to promote their businesses. It is an important tool that helps generate traffic to your site and attracts customers that are already interested in the types of products and services you offer.

Google Ads or Adwords

The original name of the platform used to be Google Adwords, and Google changed the logo and name of the platform to Google Ads in 2018. So, the two terms describe the same thing

What Is Google Ads and Why Is It Important

How Does Google Ads Work


Google Ads has a pay-per-click or PPC model. This means that businesses or individuals who want to have an ad on Google target a particular keyword relevant to their business and bid on that keyword alongside others bidding on that same keyword.

The bid that they place is considered the maximum bid, which reflects the highest price business owners are willing to pay for an ad.

It works like this: if your maximum bid is $2, and Google estimates that your cost-per-click is $1 than the ad placement is yours. However, if your cost-per-click exceeds $2, you do not get the ad placement.

Google also allows you to set a maximum daily budget for your ad placement and gives you three options for your bids:

  • Cost-per-cost CPC – the amount you pay when someone clicks on your ad

  • Cost-per-mille CPM – the amount you pay per 1000 ad impressions

  • Cost-per-engagement CPE – the amount you pay when someone does a certain action related to your ad, like watching a video, signing up, etc.

Types of Google Ads


Search Campaign

Is the most popular ad type on the Google Ads platform. Search campaigns show ads as text in the search results when users search for the keyword you had bid on.

Search campaign

Display Campaign

These ads are displayed on websites that are part of the Google Display Network. The ads can appear in sidebars, header spaces, and other convenient places for users to see. The Google Display Network has over 2 million websites on its roster, including YouTube, Gmail, etc. So, using this type of campaign will expose your business to people that use those websites.

Display Campaign

Shopping Campaign

With this campaign, your ads are placed and pop up on Shopping search results as well as on regular search results. It also allows you to use images with your ads, which can make your product more appealing to the customer and can help it stand out and catch the customer's eye.

Google Ads shopping campaign

Video Campaign

This includes the ads you see before any YouTube video. So, if you get this type of ad, your ad will be placed as a pre-roll to any YouTube video that is appropriate for ad placement. This campaign is excellent for visual ads.

Video Campaign

App campaign

This campaign places your ads on apps and apps only. This can also be achieved with a display campaign too. However, this campaign is specifically for placing ads on apps.

App campaign

Pros and Cons of Google Ads for Ecommerce Businesses


Advantages

Detailed targeting
Google's search traffic
The PPC model
Ability to track performance
Using conquesting ads
Disadvantages

Results take time
Might require expert help
Not enough segmentation

Advantages of using Google Ads

  • Detailed Targeting
    Google Ads offers its users multiple options for targeting, which means that you can use these options to place your ads so that they are displayed directly to your target audience. You can use numerous filters to reach your audience based on different characteristics like location, age, keywords, etc. Also, Google Ads allows its users to choose the period of the day when their ads will be shown to their target audience.

  • Google's Search Traffic
    By using Google Ads, you tap into Google's vast search traffic. Google has over 4.3 billion users as of 2021, so you expose it to this massive pool of potential customers by displaying ads for your business on Google. And by doing this, you get some of Google's traffic for yourself, regardless of whether someone buys your product or service or not.

  • The PPC Model
    You can take advantage of the PPC model, which allows you to pay only when someone actually clicks on your ad, instead of also paying for impressions. Of course, as mentioned above, you have both options available with Google Ads, i.e., you can choose both a CPC and CPM model, but the CPC model enables you to save money and only pay when you get results.
  • Ability to Track Performance
    Google Ads enables you to track the number of users that see and click on your ad, and you can also track the number of people that perform the action you want after they've seen your ad and website.
  • Using Conquesting Ads
    This type of ad is especially beneficial to new businesses looking to enter a market and reach the target audience that their competitors are also targeting. So, these ads can help you reach this audience that is already looking for a similar or related product to yours.

Disadvantages of using Google Ads

  • Results Take Time
    In order to make any predictions or conclusions for your business, you'll have to wait a while to get the appropriate numbers. And seeing as Google is a massive pool of users, business owners, ads, products, etc., it can take quite a while to get appropriate numbers on which you can base further business or campaign decisions.

  • Might Require Expert Help
    To get all of the elements of your ad campaign just perfect and avoid wasting your money, you might need some help from professionals. Although there is a wealth of information available to assist you, there are virtually no quick and easy solutions that could ease or reduce your workload. You'll have to maintain your campaign in addition to setting it up, which can take up a lot of your time and require you to hire more staff.

  • Not Enough Segmentation
    Although Google Ads offers multiple options for targeting, segmentation can be a bit tricky because the segmentation is quite limited compared to other advertising platforms like Facebook. For example, if you want your ads to target a very specific audience and that audience only, you will have trouble doing this with Google Ads.

How to Set Up Google Ads Account in 8 Steps


1. Sign up for Google Ads

Create a Google account or use your existing one to sign up. You can sign up on the Google Ads website.

sign up on the Google Ads website

After doing this and writing down all the required information, you will be redirected to the campaign page, where you can create your first campaign. On this page, you can also set your budget, target audience, and bids and write your ad.

google campaign

2. Define Your Budget

This is one of the most important steps you need to take when creating your campaign. Here, you put in the amount you wish to spend daily on your ad. This will help you manage your budget and ensure it will not exceed your limit. If you are new to the platform, you can research the average budget that people in your industry set to get started. Later on, you can determine your individual daily budget based on the number of visitors that your landing page converts into customers. Also, here you can choose the currency you wish to use. After doing this, save the changes and go to the next step.

Define your budget

3. Choose Your Target Audience

Here, you can get specific and set the geographical location of your target audience. By setting a geographical location, you tell Google that you want your ad to be shown only to those users who conduct searches for the keywords you will be bid for and are located in the country or region you've chosen. There is also an "Advanced search" option which, if you use it, you access something called "radius targeting." You can target a specific radius inside your zip code with this option. However, what you choose in this step should correlate to your business and its needs and whether you want to sell products and services locally or worldwide.

Choose your target audience

Aside from location, you can also set other parameters, like gender, demographics, etc. If you don't know what parameters to apply, you can click on the "Browse" option to see what you can choose from.

Setting target audience

4. Pick a Network

Here, you have to decide whether you want to use Google's Search Network or Display Network. If you choose Google's Search Network, your ads will be placed on the Google SERPs or Search Engine Result Pages. If you choose the Google Display Network, your ads will be displayed on any website in the network that shows ads. If you're a beginner or have a small business, it's recommended to choose the Google Search Engine because your ads will be shown to users that are searching for the keywords associated with your business. The Display Network is great for branding, retargeting, and other such purposes, but ads are shown on this network have a relatively lower CPC.

Google Network

5. Select your Keywords

Google allows you to select approximately 15 to 20 keywords that may cause your ad to appear on the SERP. Later on, you may always add more keywords. Instead of choosing 20 keywords that may or may not be relevant, choose a few that you are confident will deliver results. However, it would help if you also considered the search volumes of your keywords. While selecting a keyword with a search volume of 600,000 may seem appealing, it may not be the best decision. Additionally, bidding for keywords with high search volumes is usually very expensive.

Selecting Keywords

6. Determine your bid amount

A bid reflects the amount of money you will pay for every user that clicks on your ad. In most cases, you will be competing with someone else for the same keyword, and if your bid amount exceeds theirs, your ad will be shown higher. You can choose from the automatic option to set the bid amount to maximize your return. You can also choose to set your bids manually. The automatic option is recommended for beginners, but the manual option is considered more cost-effective.

Determine your bid amount

7. Come up with your ad

Now comes maybe the most important part of the process – writing the ad. Here, you write the ad's headline and description, and you can see what they look like in the preview box that will pop up on the right of your screen. Also, Google offers tips and examples that can help you get started. However, the most important thing to consider when writing an ad is your audience. Before writing it, get to know who you are advertising to and what they might want to hear. After you've done your research and you get to know your audience, writing the ad will become easier, and the ad will be more effective.

writing the ad

8. Finish your ad

After you've finished creating your ad, click on "Save" to move on to the next phase. Here, Google will inquire about your business and payment information. You will be charged when your budget is empty or 30 days have passed, whichever happens first.

Create Google Ads Successfully

Getting Started With Google Ads for Your Business


Define your google ads campaigns and goals

On the Google Ads page, click on the "Start Now" icon that appears.

Start Now icon in Google Ads page

You'll probably be sent to your dashboard, where you should click on the " + New Campaign" button. Then, a menu with advertising goals will appear, and you should select the one that suits your business best. The goal you choose also tells Google the type of audience you want to go after and how they will obtain your bid. For this step, you'll need to know what you want for your business and choose the goal that can deliver that to you. Choosing the right goal also helps you create the right ad campaign.

Google Ads New Campaign

Choose your business name and keyword themes

After choosing your goal, Google will ask you to type in your business name. Google uses the business name to show the ad to the users that search for you by using that name instead of the keywords you bid for.

Choosing business name and keyword themes

After clicking next, you will see a text box where you can paste your website's URL to know where to redirect users after they click your ad.

Add website URL

After you click on "Next," you'll be redirected to a page where you can choose the theme for your keywords and match it with your brand and ad.

Add Keywords in Google ads

Set your Billing

For this section, you need to enter your billing information and if you have any promotional codes for a discount. After you're done, click "Submit," and that's it.

Setting up billing

Work on your keywords

You can use Google's Keyword Planner to better your keywords and overall Google Ads position. This tool will suggest keywords that suit your and your business's needs. It will also give you recommendations on how much you should bid on your keywords, which can help you improve your ad budget.

Working on keywords

Also, to maximize the influence of your ads, Google Ads has different options for keywords matches you can choose from:

  • Broad Match – Which ensures your ad has a broad reach and is the default setting for Google Ads campaigns.

  • Broad Match Modifier – This setting enables you to be more specific with your broad match.

  • Phrase Match – Enables your ad to appear in searches where the relevant keywords are used as part of a broader phrase.

  • Exact Match – Means that your ads will pop up only in searches that include the exact relevant keywords.

  • Negative Match – This setting allows you to specify words or locations that, when searched, you don't want your ad to appear in those searches.

Decide on your ad placement

You can choose where you want your ads to be placed and on what devices you want to advertise. You can choose to advertise on desktop browsers only, mobile browsers, certain websites, etc.

Decide on your ad placement

Ad Draft

Get creative and make multiple ad drafts before choosing the right one. People are more inclined to click on an effective ad, which helps your company establish a good first impression. A call to action should be included in your ad to encourage potential customers to click through. A Quality Score Score is more likely to be achieved if your ad is relevant and well-written.

Ad draft

Add Google Analytics

The Google Analytics tool is a service that will enable you to get insights and track your ad performance more efficiently. Of course, Google Ads can tell you how many people clicked on your ads, but Analytics can help you figure out what to do next and what actions people do after visiting your site.

Add Google Analytics

Review and publish your campaign

After you've put in all the required information and completed all the steps mentioned, you can review your campaign and double-check everything to ensure you got everything right. After you've done this, click on the "Publish" icon, and you're done! You have created your ad campaign on Google Ads!

Review and publish campaign

Final Tips to Run a Successful Google Ad Campaign


  • Landing page optimization – The landing page is the first contact potential customers have with your business after clicking your ad, so make sure it is optimized so that customers have a great experience and everything is clearly and aesthetically placed
  • Avoid misleading headings – The headings of your website are located on your landing page and are used as guides so that customers can get the information, product, or service they are looking for easily. So, keep them short, to the point, and understandable
  • CTAs – A landing page is not a landing page without a CTA or Call to Action. Make sure to include a creative and fun CTA to get your customers to perform the desired action. However, make sure that the CTA is not too pushy and overwhelming to the customer. For example, you can write something like: "Subscribe to our newsletter and get all the discounts first!"
  • Mobile-friendliness – Most Internet and Google users browse and search for products and services on their mobile devices. So, make sure your ad campaign and landing page are optimized for mobiles and are highly responsive on mobile browsers

Frequently Asked Questions

How will I know how many people visited my site?

A number of different third-party resources allow you to see how many people visited your site.

How do I get more visitors on my forum?

To get more visitors on your forum, create posts for popular topics, mentioned the forum on all of the pages you have, allow guests to view the forums, enable guest posting, increase the popularity of your site, participate in your forum, and participate in related forums.

How web hosting can affect SEO?

If you choose a web hosting company that isn’t that good, your site will load more slowly for visitors. Besides providing a bad user experience for your visitors, search engines also penalize slow sites, which makes your rankings in results go down.

How do I promote my business?

Many find success with targeted Google and Facebook ads. Try and focus on a niche or local market to start off with.

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