Are you using Google Ads for the first time? Unsure on the what’s and why’s? No worries! We understand that using a new program can seem a bit daunting at first. This is why we have created a straightforward guide to Google ads best practices so you can make a stress-free start.
Determining Your Google Ads Goals
Before clicking about, it is important to identify your Google ad goals so you can dive into it ready to achieve them! What do you want to get out of Google Ads? There are goals such as:
- Increasing brand visibility
- Driving sales
- Increasing website traffic
Your goals will likely fall under one or more of these reasons. Having these in mind will likely inform the decisions and actions you take when using Google Ads. It will also underpin the actions you take to constantly improve your website and focus on certain aspects more than others.
What are the basics of Google Ads
Let’s get started! First, you need to create a Google Ads account and set up a campaign. When creating a campaign, you need to choose your campaign goal such as the ones listed above. You also need to set a budget and choose the keywords that you want your ads to show up for. Your number of keywords should aim for no more than 20-25 maximum.
Once you have created your campaign, you need to create your ads. Google Ads offers a variety of ad formats, from text to image and video. When creating your ads, it is important to use your keywords and write compelling copy with a call to action.
Once your ads are created, your campaign can be launched!
Here are some further details into the decisions to make during the creation process:
- Campaign types: Google Ads offers a variety of campaign types such as:
- Responsive-Display Ads – Selected by Google depending on what visitors have already viewed on a website; can be text or images.
- Text Ads – Include a website title, description, and extensions to encourage clicks. These are most likely found on search sites.
- Image Ads – These can be dynamic or static likely found on the sides of third party websites.
- Video Ads – Either standalone or among other streaming video content
- Product Shopping Ads – Display product and price information and appear under Google’s Images and Shopping sections.
- Call-Only Ads – Allow people to call a business by clicking on a phone number within the ad.
- Keywords: Keywords are the words and phrases that people are likely to use when searching for similar products or services to yours. While doing keyword research for Google Ads, it is important to think about what your target audience is likely to search for.
- Bids: When you create a Google Ads campaign, you need to set a bid for each keyword used. Your bid is the maximum amount that you are willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad for that keyword.
- Budget: You need to set a budget for each Google Ads campaign, particularly for the amount you want to pay for bids. Your budget is the maximum amount that you want to spend on that campaign per day.
- Ad extensions: Ad extensions are additional information that can be added to your ads, such as your phone number, address, or website links. Ad extensions can make your ads more informative, helpful and help to increase your click-through rate.
Available Google Ad Placements
Placing your ads in relevant search networks is important to meet your marketing and achieve the best for your brand. Because the Google search network contains so many websites, there are numerous places where you can display your adverts such as:
- Google Search Sites: These are a network of Google sites and affiliated search engines that includes Google Search, My Business, and maps. If your goal is to drive sales, this may be the placement for you.
- Google Search Partners: Third-parties that enable Google Ads, such as Amazon and The New York Times, or even competing search engines. Like above, this will be good for driving sales and increasing brand visibility.
- Google Display Network: Third-party sites can opt to display advertising directly on Google’s display network. This means your ad will be placed on the sides of a website as a graphic feature. You will likely want to use this placement to increase brand visibility and traffic such as an online blog.
Tracking your Ads
Once your ad is out in the online sphere, it is not to be forgotten about! Google Ads provide metrics such as:
- Impressions : Number of times an ad appears on a Search Engine Result Page (SERP).
- Cost: Amount of money you have spent on a campaign.
- Clicks: Number of times your advertisement has been clicked on.
- Average CPC: This is measured by the total cost divided by the number of clicks received.
- Conversions: When a user clicks an ad and performs a specific action the ad affords.
- Cost Per Conversion: Total cost divided by the number of conversions for each advertisement.
- Clickthrough Rate (CTR): Total number of clicks divided by the total number of impressions.
- Quality Score: Refers to the quality, relevance, and performance of your ads. The rating looks at factors such as the overall relevance of the keywords used, the landing page and user experience. Each ad is measured by this criteria on a scale of 1-10.
These are the Google Ads performance metrics. They will ensure you are able to analyse and understand how well your ads are doing and how they can be improved. However if you want an even more comprehensive look into how your ads are faring, you may want to use Google Analytics.
Get Started with Google Ads Today
Google Ads is a key player in online paid marketing today. These are just some of the most basic display advertising fundamentals you will want to know before diving into Google Ads for the first time. Online marketing is endlessly competitive and familiarising yourself with Google Ads best practices is a great way to get your foot in the door.
