How to Advertise on Google
We will not be exaggerating if we say advertising on Google is the best decision for your business. Being the world’s largest and most popular online advertising platform, Google Ads can help you reach millions of potential customers. 3.5 billion search queries are processed every day on Google, so its popularity as a search engine is not controversial. Before we explain the steps to advertise on Google, let us look at how it works.
Google Ads uses a “pay-per-click” model, which means advertisers select specific keywords and make their bids on them. Also, they need to state how much they are willing to pay each time their ad is clicked on. Google Ads function like an auction, but, on the contrary to a regular one, the winner is not always the highest bidder. The ad auction takes many other criteria into account, not just your bid.
How to Improve Your Google Advertising Campaign
Here are the things you need to consider if you want to improve your Google campaigns.
Total Time: 1 hour
The Quality of your Ad
No matter how high you bid, you cannot get featured if Google finds your ad irrelevant to a user’s search.
Keywords
In a Google ad auction, the keyword is the key component. Every single search for the keywords you bid on is another opportunity for you to reach your potential buyers.
Convenience
Google cares about customer satisfaction a lot. A practical way to understand Google Ads’ ranking process is to put yourself in your clients’ shoes.
User Experience
As well as evaluating the content and format of the ad, Google also checks out the site it leads to.
If you understand how Google determines which ads to take place on its search engine result page (SERP), you can effectively advertise on Google.
The Quality of Your Ad
A high-quality ad with a lower bid can override one with a higher budget. This means Google Ads is not only for advertisers with the deepest pockets but for everyone, including small businesses.
Keywords
In a Google ad auction, the keyword is the key component. Every single search for the keywords you bid on is another opportunity for you to reach your potential buyers. Google generates ads based on the match between the keywords users type and the words you have paid money for. The prospects will be searching for what you sell, and you will be showing up just at the right time. Therefore, Google increases the chance of your ad being displayed if you come up with relevant keywords.
Convenience
Think about the formats and extensions you can outfit your ad with. If they are remarkable and helpful to the users at the moment of their research, your chance increases again. Just like Google, you, too, need to pay a great deal of attention to your customer’s needs.
User Experience
If Google’s bots spot that users bounce back to the results page right after they reach your site, it is bad news! In that case, Google will assume your site is inadequate to answer the queries or your site is not appealing. Either way, your ad’s chance to be at the top is quite low.
The Steps to Advertise on Google
You must have seen a lot of Google Ads by now, yet you might not have advertised before. We will explain how to advertise on Google in a ten-step process.
Open an Account
Opening a Google Ads account is free of charge. All you need is your Google e-mail credentials and your website’s address. Once you open your account, it is time to grow your business!
Set Your Budget
Due to the pay-per-click model Google uses, advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad. You can start paying in small amounts and increase your limit as you explore what works for you best.
Mark Your Location
If you mark your location, it will be easier for you to reach out to realistic potential customers. You do not want to waste your money by appearing on the screens of people who live far away. You can set your geographic parameters under “Advanced Research.”
Choose Your Network
Google provides you with two options of where you want your ads to appear. We suggest you select “Search Network.” It refers to the standard presentation of Google ads at the top and bottom of the results pages. The second option is the “Display Network.” The former gives you more opportunities for differentiation and particularization through the keyword selection process.
Decide on Your Keywords
While selecting your keywords, you can benefit from free SEO tools or Google Ads’ Keyword Planner. Your keyword can be a three to the five-word-long phrase. It should be something that users are likely to type when looking for a business like yours. If you find more descriptive phrases, you will have a better click-through rate in the eyes of Google. Another way is to use Google Ad’s keyword matching options.
Enter Your Bid
You have two options as to how to enter your bid: automatic or manual. If you go with the automatic bidding option, the system does the work for you. It finds and bids on the highest volume keywords that do not exceed your budget. If you go with the latter, you will have more control over bidding on keywords that fit your business. Therefore, it is more advantageous to choose the manual option.
Write the Content of Your Ad
The first thing users will notice is your headline. It is important that you make sure it includes words people may have typed in the Google search box. The text ad consists of three headlines separated by a vertical pipe, each with up to 30 characters. The display URL shows your webpage address. It comprises the domain from your final URL and the text in the optional “Path” fields. Your path text and the language of your display URL do not have to match. In the description field, you can give details about your service or product. While doing so, try to include a clear call-to-action, which is the action you want the user to take. Using imperative verbs and time-sensitive verbs like now or today will help you a lot with this. You will be offered two description fields, each of which has a maximum of 90-character length.
Structure Your Campaign
When you advertise on Google, starting a new campaign for each service or sale you offer is a great idea. A new campaign creates the need for new keyword research. Depending on your target audience, you will be producing slightly different ad content. This will help you to have a better understanding of what is working and what is not for your business.
Adjust for Mobile
Basically, you will be repeating the first eight steps to adjust your ad for mobile. However, you might want to customize it in accordance with the needs of people who may be on the go. For instance, adding a call extension to your ad becomes a must in such a case. You can minimize the risk of losing potential customers by eliminating the need to search the site’s contact tab. If your text is short and to the point, you will save them time. Most importantly, make sure that the site you are directing them is fully optimized for mobile screens.
Analyze Your Performance
If you want to evaluate your ad’s performance, you can make use of Google Ads Dashboard. Through this tool, you can see the number of people who have seen your ad, your click-through rate, and how much you have spent on the campaign. A significant drop in between the numbers of people clicking on your ad and interacting with your website is worth-considering. If you have noticed something like this, you might want to add new features to your site. You might play with the keywords or make small increases or decreases in your budget to see the effects.
Remember to boost your marketing campaigns by paying attention to SEO for Organic Traffic!
FAQs on How to Advertise on Google
What type of campaigns can we lead to advertising on Google?
There are five different types of campaigns: search, display, shopping, video, and app. Search campaign ads are text ads on the results page for the keyword. Shopping campaign ads appear as images. A display campaign allows your ad to appear on different websites. Video campaign ads appear on YouTube videos in the form of pre-rolls. Just like video ads, app ads take place in the Display Network and can be used for target campaigns.
How much does Google advertising cost on average?
The average cost-per-click in the US is generally between 1 or 2 dollars. However, the cost of your ad depends on many factors like your budget and your website’s quality. There is no minimum spending requirement on Google.
What are the terms of the contract with Google?
There are neither contract terms nor a period of contract. You can quit advertising on Google any time you want.
What are other bidding options for advertisers?
There are two other ways to make a bid except for the cost-per-click option: cost-per-mille and cost-per-engagement. Cost-per-mille is how much you pay per one thousand ad impressions. Cost-per-engagement is how much you pay when a user performs a specific action on your ad, such as signing up for a list or watching a video.
Does Google charge extra money if I use Google Keyword Planner?
No, using Google Keyword Planner is for free.
Advertising on Google
In this article, we have explained all the necessary steps to advertise on Google. We have talked about the types of ad campaigns, the terms of the contract, and the bidding options for advertisers. We have also shared the tips for designing a successful Google advertising campaign. Google takes ad quality, your keywords, convenience, and user experience into account. If you want to advertise on Google, you need to pay attention to these key components.
If you want your ad to be at the top of the results page, you need to fully understand the rationale behind Google Ads. We hope you find this article useful and have a good time reading it! If you are interested, go ahead and read our article on organic traffic.
