As a savvy entrepreneur, you may find Google Ads both enticing and intimidating. When used intelligently, AdWords can propel your company’s growth.
However, it’s crucial to note that if mishandled, the hundreds of millions invested in advertising could vanish without yielding any returns, only adding to your troubles. Despite the risks, we can’t deny the pivotal role Google Ads plays in driving business growth. So how can you make Google Ads work in your favor? In this article, bluefocus will guide you through mastering the basics of this tool. Understanding its intricacies and operations will firmly place success within your grasp!
Google Ads Concept
Google Ads is Google’s advertising system where advertisers bid on certain keywords to have their ads appear in Google search results or display ads.
Google ads typically operate on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where advertisers pay each time someone clicks on their ad. This is also how Google generates revenue through search channels.
What makes Google Ads attractive?
In today’s digital and social media-driven era, having numerous effective advertising platforms to choose from is essential. Major advertising channels include Facebook and Instagram Ads, Twitter Ads, Pinterest Promoted Pins, and more. Even Google isn’t the only search advertising platform available, with Bing Ads, Yahoo Ads, and Microsoft Ads also in the mix.
However, Google Ads remains compelling despite the presence of other platforms. Businesses consistently regard this advertising channel as the prime avenue to reach customers.
With its extensive history, Google’s platform has become the most popular search tool, with an enormous number of consumers searching for products on Google.
Therefore, if you want your product to reach potential customers quickly, investing in Google Ads is a worthwhile endeavor!
Types of Google Ads
Unlike other platforms like Facebook or Instagram, AdWords offers various types of advertisements: Google Search Network, Google Display Network, YouTube Ads, Google Shopping Ads, and Gmail Ads.
With each type catering to different products and target audiences, you can choose the appropriate ad format. Two commonly used types are:
- Google Search Network (GSN): Utilizes Google’s search engine to display ads. When using GSN, ads appear on search result pages when users search for relevant keywords you’ve selected for your ad campaign. For example, if you sell “phones,” you bid to have your ad displayed each time a user searches for keywords like “iPhone.”
- Google Display Network (GDN): Utilizes Google’s display network to showcase ads across various websites and apps. Although GDN and GSN have different approaches, both utilize a PPC bidding system. You bid to display ads to relevant audiences.
For GSN, ads will be displayed on the search results page when your customers search for relevant keywords. Understanding the definition of Impressions in Google Ads will help you enhance the effectiveness of your advertising campaign.
For example, if you sell “phones,” you bid to have your ad displayed each time a user searches for keywords like “iPhone.”
For example, if you sell “phones,” you bid to have your ad displayed each time a user searches for keywords like “iPhone.”
When conducting a Google search, the results typically display 1-5 ads at the top of the page. These ads are marked with “Ad” next to the URL to differentiate them from organic results. This form of Google advertising is highly effective for targeting potential customers in the early stages of exploration.
In addition, sometimes the search results also include Google Shopping Ads displayed prominently at the top.
Most people are familiar with search engine ads, but what about Google Display Network (GDN)?
Let me show you how GDN differs from GSN. Instead of displaying ads on search result pages, Google places your ads on websites that your potential customers may visit.
Examples of Display Network Ads
What happens when you use display ads? You aim to target customers who aren’t actively searching for keywords related to your business.
Understanding human psychology — “we often don’t know what we want until we see it” — leveraging display ads on the websites they visit serves as a reminder that they need your product in their lives. This prompts them to make a purchase, ultimately generating profit for your company.
Running ads through GDN is also an excellent choice for remarketing. You can target customers who have previously visited your website, reminding them of your products and encouraging them to make a purchase.
Which Type of Google Ads Yields the Best Results?
As mentioned earlier, there are two main types of ads: those through the Google Search Network (GSN) and those through the Google Display Network (GDN).
In terms of cost, running ads through GSN tends to be more budget-friendly compared to GDN. A GDN campaign usually requires a higher budget because you’re pushing to reach more websites, and accidental clicks can occur, resulting in wasted budget.
If you want to save budget, you can combine ads with GSN and retargeting customers through GDN.
If you have ample budget, I recommend investing heavily in GDN for broad brand coverage. Concurrently, you can run other ads to ensure you don’t miss out on any potential customers.
How Much Does Google AdWords Advertising Cost?
Using Google AdWords advertising can be costly. The answer is yes.
When not executed well, the thousands of dollars invested in advertising can vanish without any returns, especially if your business operates in a highly competitive field.
However, when utilized effectively, the results will justify the effort and money spent.
What you need to do is design your AdWords campaign intelligently, with detailed planning and optimization.
Targeting specific customer demographics and optimizing with an appropriate bidding strategy, you’ll be able to attract responses from potential customers and achieve a positive ROI.
However, if your campaign isn’t performing well, you might end up spending a lot of money on clicks from customers who never purchase your product.
Your advertising budget depends heavily on bidding factors:
- Keyword selection
- Competition from industry peers (using AdWords services)
- Ad bid placement
Let me break this down for you: because you pay per click, if your ads can generate from $4 to $8 or more in revenue per click for your business, congratulations, you’re successful!
Setting Up Google Ads in 8 Steps
PPC advertising is a powerful tool if used wisely.
The first thing to do before diving into AdWords is to define your goals.
While you might initially think of the goal as “selling more,” that’s just a starting point. You’ll need to delve deeper when utilizing online advertising tools.
Very few conversions happen with a user visiting your website and making a purchase immediately. You can learn more about “CTR in Google ads” on bluefocus.
The online sales process relies on building and maintaining a trusted relationship with your customers.
That’s why, if you’re a business looking to use Google Ads, you might consider some example goals:
- Generate revenue
- Encourage users to sign up for an account on the website
- Encourage users to sign up for email
- Build a list of potential customers
- Enhance brand awareness and recover value
While having multiple specific goals is beneficial for running ads, remember to run multiple campaigns to achieve different goals. Don’t put all your eggs in one campaign.
Let’s get started setting up your advertising account once you’ve clearly defined your goals.
Step 1: Sign Up for Google Ads Account
First, you need to have a Gmail account and then sign up for this Google service. So if you don’t have one yet, go ahead and create a Gmail account.
Once you have Gmail, access the Google AdWords website. Enter your email address in the “What is your email address?” section and enter the website you want to advertise in the “What is your website?” section.
Then you need to fill in all the required information and click continue. Next, you’ll be redirected to the page below to create a campaign.
You can also utilize Bluefocus’s Google Ads account rental service. We offer policies regarding Google Ads accounts to help you achieve effectiveness in your business operations.
You can also utilize Bluefocus’s Google Ads account rental service. We offer policies regarding Google Ads accounts to help you achieve effectiveness in your business operations.
Step 2: Set Your Budget
Determining your budget is the most important step in the list of things to do. You should set a daily limit to ensure that you don’t overspend on advertising.
To calculate your daily budget, you’ll need to determine the number of landing page visitors. From there, landing page visits can convert to customers. If you’re just starting out, you can choose an average number.
Generally, the average conversion rate across industries is about 2.35%. This means that on average, only 2.35% of users are likely to become your customers.
You can look up the average conversion rates for your industry to find out how much you’re willing to spend per visitor. You can read more about Google Ads conversion rates for a deeper insight into this issue.
Once you’ve set the currency type and desired budget, click save and proceed to the next step.
Step 3: Choose Your Target Audience
In this step, you can select the geographical location for your target audience.
This feature ensures that your ads are only displayed to users (in the specified geographic location) searching for the keywords you’ve bid on.
When using advanced options, you’ll have access to the “Target radius” feature.
Depending on the nature of your business, you can adjust this radius. It can be the entire country or within the downtown area of a city.
You can also adjust the bid based on each target within a specific radius.
For example: Bid higher for targets within a 10m radius, bid lower for targets within a 30m radius,…
Step 4: Choose Your Network
As I analyzed above, Google has two main networks: the Google Search Network and the Google Display Network.
You’ll need to base your business needs and campaign goals to make the appropriate choice.
When starting out and for small businesses, I advise you to choose GSN (Google Search Network). Because it displays your ads to users actively searching for specific keywords related to your business.
GDN (Google Display Network) advertising is a good choice for brand building. It can be retargeted and often has much lower PPC (Pay-Per-Click). However, its customer reach is lower unless more investment is made.
Step 5: Choose Keywords
Google allows you to choose around 16 to 22 keywords to trigger your ads to appear on the search results page.
If you feel 22 is too few? Don’t worry, you can still add more keywords later on.
Along with entering keywords, there will be a “Search popularity” bar next to it to show its popularity level. From there, you can choose suitable keywords.
Here’s a small tip for you: choose quality keywords over quantity. Selecting a few keywords that you feel will yield good results is much better than choosing 20 related keywords.
You must always pay attention to the target audience when selecting keywords!
Step 6: Set Your Bids for Google Ads
As I discussed above, AdWords uses a bidding model.
It’s the amount you’re willing to pay for each person who clicks on your ad. The principle here is whoever bids higher, their ad position will be higher.
If you and a competitor both bid on the same keyword, you pay more, your ad will be displayed higher than your competitor’s ad.
Here you have two options.
The first option is to allow Google to automatically bid to maximize profits.
The second option is to manually bid. This method is often more cost-effective than the first option. You can learn more about keywords on Google’s Keyword Planner for more accurate bidding.
If you’re new to Google advertising, I recommend setting automatic bids. You can always switch to manual bidding once you’re confident in your bidding ability.
Step 7: Write Your Ad Copy
This is the most important part of the Google advertising process.
The content for this section needs to be clear and engaging. It must be persuasive enough to entice users to click on your ad. Here are some tips you can refer to:
Compose the Content:
- Concise: Google ads copy don’t display a lot of text, so write the main message you want to convey.
- Title: It’s the first thing users see. Make sure your title is compelling to encourage customers to click on the ad.
- Clear CTA: You need to have a clear Call-to-Action (CTA), provide specific actions you want users to take. It will prompt your customers to take action.
Layout of Google Ads:
- Title: AdWords allows you to set up 2 titles for one ad, each title contains up to 30 characters. Use them wisely, make sure to include the keyword you bid on (at least 1) in the title.
- Description: The description space allows for displaying 80 characters. Include any offers or discounts (if available) in this section. Content needs to be carefully checked, avoiding spelling mistakes or unclear sentences.ảnh.
Step 8: Publish Your Google Ad
After completing the 7 steps above, click on the “save” button and proceed to the final step of the process.
Then, you’ll have to wait. Google will ask for payment information and additional details about your business. You’ll be charged if you use up your set budget or after 30 days of running the ad.
4 Things to Consider When Running Google Ads
Running Multiple Google Ads Simultaneously
To achieve effectiveness, it’s advisable to run multiple ads that align with different objectives.
Create multiple campaigns to identify the best converting ad types for your business.
Each campaign should consist of small ad groups, with each group focusing on similar keywords leading to relevant landing pages.
For example, an electronics store might have one ad group dedicated to TVs and another to refrigerators, both within the same campaign.
The ad groups within the same campaign will share the same budget settings. Sharing positions and targeting settings will save you a lot of costs and effort. Sometimes you may encounter the situation of “Google Ads Don’t Spend the Budget“, which can significantly affect your ad campaign.
When targeting different devices (mobile, desktop) or locations, separate them into distinct campaigns.
Evaluate Your Campaigns
One of the significant advantages of using Google Ads is the ability to track them.
Utilize tracking tools to determine the effectiveness of your Google Ads and make appropriate adjustments.
There are two common types of conversions:
- For websites: When a customer clicks on an ad, visits the landing page, and performs the desired action.
- For phones: When a user calls you by clicking the call-to-action (CTA) button on your website or landing page.
You can explore “advanced conversion tracking features,” which require assistance from Google Analytics. Further articles on how to use this tool can be found here.
Google’s Quality Score
Google also evaluates and rates your ads, determining where they’re displayed. Factors influencing the quality score include:
- Landing page relevance to keywords
- Expected click-through rate
- Ad relevance to keywords
You can check the quality score in the “Qual. score” column in the Keyword table. The scoring scale ranges from 1 to 10. Keep in mind to adjust your ads and website to improve the quality score.
Understanding the Difference Between Google Ads and SEO
Businesses aiming to utilize Google Ads and SEO share a common goal: enhancing brand awareness, attracting customers, and boosting sales.
Both methods leverage search engines to draw in website visitors.
So what sets them apart? Let’s take a look at the table below.
Comparison of Google Ads and SEO
As you know, while there are some differences, each method has its own unique potentials.
You can use both Google Ads and SEO to complement each other. The combined results of both strategies may pleasantly surprise you!
Implementing Product Marketing with Google AdWords
Running Google display ads will help you with remarketing to users who have:
- Visited your website or landing page.
- Added your products to their cart.
- Viewed various videos or articles that you’ve posted.
For example, you visit a clothing store. Immediately after, when you visit another website, an ad for bags appears.
Continuous display of product images will encourage customers to make purchases. Missing out on this remarketing opportunity also means losing a potential customer.
Google Ads offers targeting options that can greatly assist you in converting interested users into customers!
Conclusion
Google Ads requires a significant investment, both in terms of time and money, but it’s certainly a worthwhile investment if you know how to operate it effectively.
We hope that after reading this article from Bluefocus, you’ll be closer to mastering Google Ads. Wishing you all success!
