The ABCs of a Successful Google Ad Campaign

 

What is Google Ads?

This paid advertising platform is an effective tool for boosting website traffic as well as increasing in-store visits and phone calls. A type of pay-per-click (PPC) marketing channel, Google Ads campaign allows you to reach the right customers by creating and sharing timely ads to your target audience—both on mobile and desktop.

As the advertiser, you pay for every click or impression (CPM) on your ad. Such an investment is worth it, though, because the likelihood of your ads appearing in front of your potential customers increases through an effective Google Ad campaign

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Why Should You Advertise on Google?

A search engine getting beyond 5 billion search requests each day is a platform that should be within your radar. Your competitors using Google Ads—and likely bidding on your branded keywords—so why shouldn’t you? Also, Google Ads has been helping entrepreneurs across different industries for nearly 20 years.

If you have concerns about your Google Ad campaign budget or Google Ad campaign cost, Google actually claims that advertisers generally get 8x return on ad spend (ROAS). This simply means you get $8 back for every dollar you spend on Google Ads. If you’ve allotted $100 for a specific campaign each day, you’d also likely get $800 return on this spend.

SEO is still a great way to rank organically. However, businesses should still use other methods to maintain relevance in the online digital marketing space. You wouldn’t want your competitors to outrank you, right?

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What Are Some Best Practices When Using Google Ads?

#1 Stay Away from Broad Keyword Terms

You can streamline your efforts by being a bit more specific with your keywords. This keeps you from having ads with fewer clicks and higher ad spend. This will also involve continuous keyword additions, removals, and yes, tweaking.

#2 Avoid Running Irrelevant Ads

Make sure the primary keywords both appear on your headline and copy. Also, the ad content and product highlight should actually match your target audience’s pain points. This can be achieved through split tests and by using Google’s Responsive Search Ads feature.

#3 Improve Your Quality Score

Google search ads have their own Quality Score (QS). This is how Google assesses your ads’ quality, which can either lead to a higher or lower rank. The higher you rank, the better the ad placements will be. A low QS would lead to fewer views and poor chances of converting prospects.

#4 Optimise Your Landing Page

What happens after the click is equally important. When your potential customers are redirected to your business’s website, what will they see? Will the landing page answer their questions or resolve their concerns? Is the content well-structured and relevant to what they need?

#5 Use a PPC Planning Template

With a PPC Planning template, you can say that half the work is done. From character counts to campaign management, you’re able to lay out every crucial detail on the template. A Google Ads campaign manager can help you figure out what to enter in the template and how to maximise the tool.

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What Google Ad Terms Should You Know?

Now that you’ve decided to venture into Google Ads, there are a number of terms that you should know:

Ad Extensions

These add vital information to your ads on the search engine results page (SERP) at no extra cost. The five ad extension categories are: Sitelink, Call, Location, Offer, and App.

AdRank

This determines your ad’s placement. The higher your AdRank is, the better the placement would be. This also means more eyeballs and clicks on your ad, increasing the chances for a successful conversion or sale.

Bidding

Google Ads operate on a bidding system. Advertisers decide on a maximum bid amount for an ad click, the amount you’re willing to pay to get those views and clicks. The higher the bid, the higher your ads’ chances would be at getting placed better.

Campaign Type

There are five different Google ad campaign types: Search Ads, Display campaigns, Video ad campaign, App campaign, and Shopping ads campaign. These will be discussed further later.

Click-Through Rate

This is the proportion of ad clicks to ad views. A high CTR is an indication of a good QS. This means your ads actually match the search intent of users and you’re targeting relevant keywords.

Conversion Rate (CVR)

This is the proportion of actual form submissions to your landing page’s total visits. A high CVR means you’re able to provide a seamless user experience to site visitors and that the content actually satisfies their search queries.

Display Network

The Display Network (a.k.a. Google Display Network or GDN) is a group of websites that allow Google Ads to appear in them. These include text and image ads, and are displayed alongside relevant content in relation to the keyword.

Keywords

These are words or phrases that align with searchers’ intent.

How Does Google Ads Work?

Now comes the fun part: Learning How Google Ads work. 

AdRank and Quality Score

QS and bid amount impact your AdRank, and AdRank affects ads placement. The QS is measured by the click-through rate, which is assessed based on how well your ads match search intent. There are 3 areas that impact CTR:

  • Relevance of your keywords
  • Meeting searchers’ expectations on ad copy and CTA
  • The users’ experience once they get to your landing page

Google Ads Retargeting

Also known as “Remarketing”, this allows you to re-advertise your offers to individuals who have previously interacted with your brand online. These users have not converted yet, but they can potentially become your customers.

Tracking cookies allow Google to follow these people throughout the web for the purpose of retargeting them. Studies show that if someone sees an ad at least 7 times, they’re more likely to buy it—that is the goal.

Headline and Description

Two things need to happen for your ads to make sense to your target audience and actually lead to a conversion:

  1. The ad headline and copy should match the searcher’s intent and should be aligned to the chosen keywords.
  2. The ad should address the user’s pain points by offering a clear solution.

Keywords

Regardless if it is a paid ad or organic content, keyword research is necessary. You can have between 1 to 5 keywords in an ad group for a specific campaign. From here, Google will then choose which ones to display.

Location

Whether you own a physical store or sell your products purely online, setting the ads’ location increases their success rate. For storefront owners, you can set a reasonable radius from your shop. Ecommerce businesses have a bit more wiggle room in this regard because it would just depend on where they’re shipping. They’re not limited by a physical store.

Match Types

This offers more flexibility in terms of keywords usage, and there are 4 types:

  1. Broad Match
  2. Exact Match
  3. Modified Broad Match
  4. Phrase Match

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What are the Different Types of Google Ads Campaigns?

Finally, you need to know the different types of Google Ads Campaigns.

App

Instead of designing your own ad, Google will use your ad text, images, videos, and assets from your app’s store listing to come up with different ad formats across various networks. All you need to do to get started is provide some text, an initial bid, and budget, and inform Google on your ads’ languages and locations.

Display

You can reach more users through this campaign type Your ads will appear on YouTube, Gmail, and other apps and websites in the Google Display Network. This is a great way to reach individuals who are still in the early stages of the buying cycle. It’s also useful in other stages of the sales cycle.

Search

Your run-in-the-mill ads, which you immediately see on Google’s SERP after typing a search query. These are text ads that can be used to highlight specific features and services related to a set of keywords. Ad extensions can also be added to them to encourage more clicks.

Shopping

This includes ads with detailed product information, such as price and relevant imagery. Managed in the Google Merchant Centre, you only need to enter certain product data, then let Google do the rest. It’s a good way to promote specific items and product lines.

Video

Video ads are usually 6 to 15-second ads that appear before, after, or in the middle of a YouTube video. It’s part of a selection of marketing strategies that you can use on YouTube and on other apps and websites running Google videos.

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Maximising the Marketing Potential of Google Ads

There’s still so much to learn and discover about Google Ads. You now have a clearer picture of what this game-changing platform can do—and what it requires. You can now market your products and services better, especially if you have a seasoned Google Ads manager and agency to help you out.

Although you can try giving it a shot on your own, the entire process can be tedious and time-consuming. If you’re still unsure where to start, an expert marketer can lead the way.


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