Understanding Google Ads: A Comprehensive Guide
Learn more about Google Ads, what they are, how they work, and whether they suit your business. While the Google Ads platform has several advertising types, this guide will focus on paid search. Paid search is commonly called Google Ads, Google Adwords, PPC (pay-per-click), or SEM.
Paid search is a good tool for generating leads more immediately. You can run paid search campaigns through Google or Microsoft Ads.
While Google is the most popular search engine, mentioning Microsoft Ads is essential. Microsoft is often cheaper to advertise on than Google. However, the audience here skews older, so if your target audience is younger, you will want to stick with Google.
Here’s everything you will learn in this guide:
What are Google Ads?
Google Ads are a form of advertising that allows businesses to bid on keywords to be seen at the top of the SERP (search engine results page) when users conduct relevant inquiries. These ads appear prominently at the top or bottom of the search results, marked with an "Sponsored" label, and are personalized to match users' search queries.
The goal of Google Ads is to get your business seen by customers in real-time at the top of the page when you may not be able to be at the top for the same term organically.
Below are a couple of examples of a paid ad.
How do Google Ads work?
On the most basic level, you bid on keywords so that your business is seen when a potential customer searches for the products or services your business offers.
They use a sophisticated auction-based system. You bid on keywords that are relevant to your business. When a search query is conducted for one of your keywords, Google's algorithm determines which ads to display based on bid amount, ad quality, expected click-through rate (CTR), and relevance.
Ad and landing page quality plays a pivotal role in his process. Both of these factors are considered in the Google Quality Score. When assessing the relevance of your ads and landing pages, Google provides experience scores; these can help show where your campaign needs improvement. In general, you should ensure your ad copy and landing page copy are aligned with your keywords and that your landing pages provide users with helpful information. A higher quality score provides a great user experience and can reduce the amount you pay per click, saving you money on your campaigns.
Capabilities of Google Ads
Targeting options
Ad Extensions
Smart bidding strategies
Unique ad copy
Measurement & attribution models
Targeting Options
Google Ads primarily focuses on geolocation targeting; however, you can layer in other demographic targeting, such as age, gender, and household income.
Additional targeting features like remarketing allow you to re-engage users who have previously interacted with your website. You can also use similar audiences to target users with similar characteristics to your current customer base.
While Google has few robust targeting options, they can still be highly effective at targeting specific geographic locations and users in real time as they search for your products or services.
Ad Extensions
Google ads provide extension options that are customizable for each of your campaigns. They provide additional information that shows alongside your ad copy. (Note: Google decides when extensions show, and they aren't shown 100% of the time). These Google ad extensions, including sitelinks, callouts, structured snippets, and more, provide users with valuable information upfront and occupy more real estate on the search results page, increasing the likelihood of engagement. By strategically implementing and optimizing ad extensions, advertisers can maximize the impact of their ads and drive higher click-through rates (CTR).
Smart Bidding Strategies
Powered by advanced machine learning algorithms, Google Ads' smart bidding strategies enable advertisers to optimize their bids in real-time to achieve their specific campaign goals. Whether aiming to maximize clicks, conversions, or revenue, smart bidding strategies such as Target CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition), Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), and Enhanced CPC (Cost-Per-Click) automatically adjust bids based on factors like user device, location, time of day, and browsing behavior. By leveraging smart bidding, advertisers can improve campaign performance and achieve better ROI while saving time on manual bid management.
It's worth noting that while automated bidding was unreliable in the past, Google has made many improvements to its bid strategies, and we find smart bidding to be more effective than manual bidding in terms of ROI.
Unique Ad Copy
When crafting ad copy, you will want to differentiate your business from your competitors. Use your copy to capture users' attention and drive action. The more specific your ad copy is to the search query and the audience, the more effective it will be. Some copy ideas to keep in mind are highlighting competitive pricing, promoting exclusive offers, and emphasizing unique selling points.
You can input 15 headlines and 4 descriptions into the system with responsive search ads. Google's algorithm will put together the best combination based on the search behavior of the individual who conducted the query. You can test various headlines, descriptions, and calls to action (CTAs).
Measurement & Attribution Models
Effective measurement and attribution are essential for evaluating the success of advertising campaigns and optimizing marketing investments. Google Ads provides robust measurement tools and attribution models to track key performance metrics such as clicks, conversions, and revenue across multiple touchpoints and devices. From last-click attribution to data-driven attribution, advertisers can gain insights into the customer journey and allocate budget accordingly to channels and campaigns that drive the most value. Additionally, integration with Google Analytics allows for deeper analysis and optimization based on user behavior and engagement metrics.
How to advertise on Google
Google has made it easier than ever to sign up and start a Google Ads campaign. Below, we outline the main steps needed to get started.
Sign up for a Google Ads account
Create your first campaign
Create ad groups and ads
Set up conversion tracking
Launch and monitor your campaign(s)
Step 1: Sign Up for Google Ads
Visit Google Ads Website: Navigate to the Google Ads website (ads.google.com) using your web browser.
Create an Account: If you don't already have a Google Ads account, click on the "Start Now" button. You'll be prompted to sign in with your Google account or create a new one.
Enter Basic Information: Follow the on-screen instructions to provide basic information about your business, such as your business name, website URL, and location.
Set Up Billing: Enter your billing information to fund your advertising campaigns. Google Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, so you'll only pay when someone clicks on your ads.
Step 2: Create Your First Campaign
Navigate to Campaigns: Once logged into your Google Ads account, click the "Campaigns" tab to create your first campaign.
Choose Campaign Type: Click on the "+ New Campaign" button and select the type of campaign you want to create.
Set Campaign Goals: Choose your campaign goal, whether it's to drive website traffic, increase sales, generate leads, or promote brand awareness.
Configure Campaign Settings: Enter details such as campaign name, budget, bidding strategy, and target audience settings. You'll also specify your ads' geographic location, language, and device preferences.
Step 3: Create Ad Groups and Ads
Create Ad Groups: Create ad groups based on specific themes or product categories within your campaign. For example, if you're a clothing retailer, you might create ad groups for "Men's Apparel," "Women's Apparel," and "Accessories."
Add Keywords: Identify relevant keywords that users might use when searching for your products or services on Google. Use Google's Keyword Planner tool to research and generate keyword ideas.
Write Ad Copy: Craft compelling ad copy highlighting your unique selling points, features, and offers. Include keywords in your ad headlines and descriptions to improve ad relevance and performance.
Choose Ad Extensions: Enhance your ads with extensions like site links, callouts, structured snippets, and location extensions to provide additional information and improve ad visibility.
Step 4: Set Up Conversion Tracking
Install Conversion Tracking Code: Track the actions that users take after clicking on your ads, such as completing a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for a newsletter. Install your website's Google Ads conversion tracking code to measure these conversions accurately.
Set Conversion Actions: Define the specific conversion actions you want to track, such as purchases, leads, or website registrations. Assign a value to each conversion action to measure your advertising campaigns' return on investment (ROI).
Step 5: Launch and Monitor Your Campaigns
Review and Launch: Before launching your campaigns, review all settings, ad copy, targeting options, and budgets to ensure everything is set up correctly. Once satisfied, click the "Launch" button to activate your campaigns.
Monitor Performance: Regularly monitor the performance of your campaigns using the Google Ads dashboard. Track key metrics such as impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS).
Optimize Campaigns: Continuously optimize your campaigns based on performance data. Experiment with ad copy, targeting, bidding strategies, ad extensions, and landing page changes to improve campaign performance.
Adjust Bids and Budgets: Adjust your bids and budgets based on performance insights. Allocate more budget to top-performing campaigns and keywords while pausing or adjusting underperforming ones to maximize ROI.
A/B Testing: Conduct A/B tests to compare ad variations, landing pages, and targeting strategies. Test elements such as headlines, ad copy, visuals, and calls to action to identify the most effective combinations.
How much does it cost to advertise on Google?
You probably predicted this answer, but it depends.
The cost of advertising on Google Ads varies depending on several factors, including your industry, target audience, chosen keywords, competition, and campaign objectives. Google Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ads.
Things you should consider when determining your budget:
How competitive the keywords you want to advertise for are. Some have higher costs than others because many companies are bidding on those terms. The more competitive your industry, the higher your cost-per-click (CPC) will be.
As previously mentioned, your quality score will influence the overall cost you pay for your keywords, so ensure your ad copy and landing pages are highly relevant to them.
The geographic area you are looking to target. Typically, the larger your target area, the more you can expect to spend. However, if you are targeting highly competitive areas, even if small, it can still be more expensive.
When thinking about your budget, you should also consider how many leads or sales you need to achieve to break even on your marketing budget for this campaign. You want to ensure that the campaign's expected results are desirable. If you want more stats on expected results by industry, check out Wordstream's Google Ads benchmarks by industry.1
From our experience with costs on Google, we recommend a starting budget of $1,000/month.
Are Google Ads Still Effective?
Google Ads are still an effective way to advertise. We have found that they work best for those with shorter sales cycles, such as home services. Most of these users are looking to make a decision and take action in a short period. While Google Ads are also still effective for those with a longer sales cycle, the results won't be as immediate as those with a shorter sales cycle.
What makes Google Effective:
With over 90% of the market share in search engine use globally, Google offers unparalleled reach to potential customers in real time.
You can create immediate visibility through Google Ads, whereas building your organic presence takes a much longer time.
Google Ads are also highly measurable, so you will know if they are an effective channel for your business after three months.
Our success with Google Ads
I have seen great success with Google Ads. Check out some of our case studies below.
National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
We managed numerous paid media campaigns for NASM. After four months, we achieved a record-high return on ad spend (ROAS) of 803% through paid search.
We achieved these results by completing an account restructure. The restructure led to a 47% decrease in cost per acquisition (CPA), which allowed for a larger budget to increase sales. The campaign restructure also resulted in a 432% YoY increase.
For Black Friday, we also changed their strategy from the previous year. Using data and learnings from the previous year, we achieved 1000% YoY revenue growth and an 832% increase in ROAS through the paid search channel.
Large Telecom Company
When conducting an audit of their paid search campaigns, we noted that there were thousands of duplicate keywords. We restructured and improved the overall account structure and updated the bid strategy. These changes decreased the CPA for paid search from $1,026 to $515 and increased the number of new accounts from 311 to 864 in one month.
Detroit Medical Center (DMC)
DMC was already working with another digital marketing agency and wasn't seeing desirable results, so they decided to partner with us.
We focused on driving phone calls and form inquiries and encouraged searches to find a doctor.
In a few months, we doubled the number of leads and phone calls coming into the hospital through Google ads. Their campaigns quickly became the top performers across the country in the Tenet Healthcare system.
Conclusion: Use Google to Grow Your Business
Google Ads represent a cornerstone of modern digital marketing, offering businesses unparalleled reach, precision targeting, and measurable results. Understanding how Google Ads can assist your business will enhance your overall marketing strategy and drive more sales.
Whether you're embarking on a DIY Google Ads campaign or seeking the expertise of digital marketing professionals, the potential for success in reaching your target audience and driving business growth through Google Ads remains substantial.
Whether you need guidance or are looking for ongoing management, Reddito Digital Marketing will be a great partner. Schedule your free consultation.
Sources:
Google Ads Benchmarks for YOUR Industry [Updated!] | Feb 26, 2024. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords-industry-benchmarks
