Beginners guide to Google Ads
By Michele Lithgow, Jun 25 2020
How was your trip to work this morning? Did you drive, cycle, or catch the bus? Do you remember the ads you consumed along the way – from radio to billboards to bus stops? If your answer is no – we’re not surprised!
Now imagine something a bit different. It’s lunchtime and you’re hungry. As you head off in search of a place to eat, you see a billboard for the best new restaurant in town. The billboard tells you the restaurant is currently open, it tells you exactly where it is, and it shows you a five-star review. Reckon you’ll take notice of this billboard? We think so!
Welcome to Google Ads – the only advertising platform which enables you to deliver the right message, to the right people, at exactly the right moment. If you’ve got money in your marketing budget earmarked for ‘advertising’, you need to spend it in the right place – somewhere like Google Ads.
In this blog we look at what Google Ads is and why you need it.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform which enables you to create targeted ad campaigns. The beauty of Google Ads is the stronger your campaigns, the more clicks you generate – increasing your chances of getting new customers.
Google Ads drives qualified traffic (people who want what you have!) to your website as they actively search for products or services like yours!
Unlike traditional advertising, Google Ads delivers your ad to your target audience when they’re looking for what you offer.
This magic combination of getting the right message to the right people at exactly the right moment can boost your website traffic, leads, phone-calls, sales and in-store visits.
Why advertise on Google?
Google gets nearly 3.5 billion search queries a day. It’s the most used search engine and, according to Google, advertisers on average make $8 for every $1 they spend, with an 8% clickthrough rate.
The beauty of Google Ads is every cent, sight and click of your ad is measurable. Do you know what percentage of people who see your newspaper ad take action?
The bottom line may be that your competitors are advertising on Google Ads. That means if you’re not at the party, you’re losing valuable search traffic.
Keywords
Keyword research is one of the most important parts of your Google Ad campaigns. Google matches your ads with search queries (the words someone types into Google) based on the keywords you’ve selected.
Keywords work on a supply/demand basis. High-traffic keywords will have more competition and you’ll pay more for them.
Google favours quality and relevancy. In fact, the more relevant your ads and landing pages are to the keywords you’ve selected, the better-quality score you’ll get from Google. And a higher quality score means a better ad rank, better click-through-rate, and better cost per click.
Search Ads
Search is the most popular Google Ad format. Search ads are displayed on Google results pages, above the organic search results. They look like normal search results, with just a small ‘Ad’ icon signalling they are paid ads.
When was the last time you needed a plumber? Chances are you jumped on Google and searched ‘Plumber near me’ or ‘emergency plumber’ or ‘best Waikato plumbers’. More than likely, you clicked on one or more of the top results and gave them a call. You may not have even given the organic results a second look.
Even if you have a solid SEO strategy in place, if your competitors are advertising on search, you need to be doing it too.
Display Ads
A network of websites across a huge array of industries opt into the Google Display Network, which allows Google to place ads on their sites.
The Google Display Network enables you to deliver visual ads in front of people that align with your buyer personas.
With a higher volume of impressions than search ads, and a lower cost per impression, display ads are a great tool for increasing brand awareness and brand familiarity.
Video Ads
Did you know YouTube is also a search engine, and it’s owned by Google? Video ads are displayed before, after, and sometimes during YouTube videos. The right keywords will place your video in front of your target audience, enabling you to grab their attention and drive them to your website.
What are you waiting for?
There’s so much more we could tell you about the exciting world of Google Ads, but we’re a bit hungry and we just saw a billboard for a new dumpling restaurant just down the road with a fantastic menu and loads of great reviews…
So in the meantime, if you want to know more about adding Google Ads to your paid advertising strategy, get in touch. We’ll guide you through the entire process and create effective campaigns that get you the results you’re looking for.