Google Ads: Understanding and Creating Ad Campaigns

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is Google's paid online advertising platform. Originally known as Google Adwords, when the search engine company rebranded the service as Google Ads in 2018.

How it's working?

When a user searches for a keyword, they receive the query results on a search engine results page (SERP). These results may include paid ads (SEM) targeting those keywords, and organic results (SEO).

For example, in the search results for the term "healthy food", you can see that all your ads are at the top of the SERP, and it also looks like organic search results, except for the bold "ad" at the top of the post.

This is good for advertisers because the first results on Google usually get the most search traffic. However, buying ads on Google does not necessarily guarantee a higher position. After all, there may be many other marketers competing for the same keywords as Google Ads. To understand what this means, let's take a look at how Google Ads works.

This post contains affiliate links, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Learn more…

How Google Ads work!

Google Ads works on a pay-per-click (PPC) model. These marketers target specific keywords on Google and rank for those keywords to compete with others who target those keywords.

Set your "max bid" or the maximum amount you're willing to pay for your ad. For example, if your maximum bid is $5 and Google determines your cost per click is $2, your ad can appear. If it's $5 or more, you won't get an ad placement.

You can also set a maximum daily budget for your ads. You never spend more than a certain amount per day on these ads, so you know how much budget you need for your digital advertising campaigns.

Marketers have three options for offers.

1.) Cost per click (CPC). How much do you pay when a user clicks on your ad? 

2.) Cost per mile (CPM). How much will you pay for 1000 ad impressions?

3.) Cost of employment (CPE). How much do users pay when they take a specific action on your ad (subscribe to a list, watch a video, etc.), google then takes your bid and matches it to your ad's rating (called Quality Score). 

According to Google:

Quality Score is a measure of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. High-quality ads can lower your price and increase your position.

Scores range from 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score. The higher the score, the lower will be the cost per click. Quality Score combined with your bid determines where your ad appears on search results pages.

And when a user sees an ad and clicks on it, the marketer pays a small commission (pays) for that click. The more users who click on your ads, the more likely you are to reach your advertising goals (eg leads, purchases).

Now that you know how Google Ads works, let's take a look at the different types of ads you can use in your campaigns. 

Types of Google ads!

Google offers different types of campaigns that you can use.

• Search campaigns

• Display campaigns

• Commercial campaigns

• Video campaign

• Application Campaign

Now, let's take a look at each campaign type to see how they work and which one to choose.

Search Campaign

Ads for search campaigns appear as text ads on keyword result pages. For example, an ad for a search campaign for the keyword "laptop" would look like this:

This is the most famous advertisement. It appears on search results pages with an "ad" icon (picture) next to the URL. But as you can see, text ads aren't the only type of ads displayed on the Search Network. You can also place ads in Google Shopping. This gives us...

Commercial campaign

Shopping campaigns allow you to visually promote your products.

If you have physical products, Google Shopping ads can generate qualified leads by showing your products directly to customers. 

Display Network campaign

The Display Network uses Google's wide range of partner sites to show your ads on different websites across the Internet.

One of the advantages of using the Display Network is scaling. Google partners with over 2 million websites and reaches over 90% of all internet users, so as many people as possible to see your ads. The ads themselves are also flexible in terms of style. Ads can be gifs, text, videos, or images.

However, it is not without its drawbacks. Your ads can appear on websites you don't want ads to appear on, or on videos you don't want to be associated with your brand. Nowhere is this more evident than in the various YouTube "Adpocalypses" of recent years. However, if you pay attention to where you place your ads, the Display Network can be a great place to gather leads.

Video Campaign

This is an ad that appears in front of a YouTube video in a pre-roll format. Wait. Didn't we just discuss this with the Display Network?

Yap, but instead of advertising more broadly on the Google Display Network, YouTube offers you the option to target video ads.

Perfect if you have great video ad ideas you want to try. There are different layers and banners that you can use.

Application Campaign

App ads, such as video ads, are included in the Display Network but can be used for targeted campaigns. We don't create all app ads for this. Instead, it imports elements like text and photos to serve ads. The algorithm tests different combinations of assets and often uses the one that gives the best result.

Now that you know what types of ads Google can run, let's look at their cost.

The cost of advertising on google

The average cost per click in the US is usually between $1 and $2.

However, the actual cost of advertising on Google depends on many factors. These factors include the quality of the website and what it offers.

Therefore, the cost varies from ad to ad. To understand how valuable Google ads can be to your business, you first need to understand the ad auction system.

When a user searches for a keyword you're targeting, Google automatically goes into auction mode and compares your ad rank to all other marketers targeting that keyword. If you think a big ad budget with a high maximum bid will do the trick, think again. Google's auction and ad ranking systems favor user-serving websites with high-Quality Scores over sites with lower quality. So, because of the high quality of your ads, your CPC can be much lower than Fortune 500 companies with larger advertising budgets.

Now that you know how much it costs, what types of ads you can create, and what Google Ads are, let's take a look at how you can optimize your ads with Google Keyword Planner.

Use Google Keyword Planner for your ads

Google Keyword Planner is Google's free keyword tool that helps businesses choose the keywords they should target.

How it works is simple. Search for words and phrases related to your business in the Keyword Planner. It then provides information about those keywords, such as how often people search for both.

It also provides recommended bids for how much you want to bid for a given keyword, as well as how competitive it is. This is where you can make better decisions about your Google Ads campaigns.

Getting started is easy, just follow the instruction on the Google Keyword Planner website, and you'll see a list of suggested keyword ideas. 

Google Ads (AdWords) Workbook: 2021: Advertising on Google Ads, YouTube, & the Display Network

How to Create a Google Ads Campaign!

1. Create a Google Ads account.

Before you do anything, you need to go to the Google Ads website and create an account.

When you sign up for a Google Ads account, Google will automatically guide you through creating your first campaign, so you have your financial information ready. Google charges per click, so bank credentials are required during the setup process.

Note: When setting up your first campaign with Google Ads, don't worry about being charged for advertising. You can turn it off at any time after going through the registration process.

2. Set your campaign goals.

The Google interface allows you to select the type of target from three options:

• Receive additional calls

• Sell or register multiple websites

• Increasing the number of physical visits to the location

This goal is tied to your ad campaign, so choose the one that matches the results you want to see.

3. Complete the "Company Description" section.

Google will then ask you to enter your business name and website as basic information that "describes your business." This information is used to predict your target audience and is also used to create targeted advertisements.

4. Please specify your geographic area.

In this section, specify where your ads will appear. This is especially beneficial for local businesses.

Also, geographic restrictions can be a problem if you are an online store. Still not a bad idea considering where most of your audience lives. If you're not sure, it's a good idea to step back and consider your buyer persona first. Most of your customers live in the Northeast, so why spend money advertising to people in the Midwest?

If your business serves international buyers, it can also reach other countries. View the ads to make sure you're ready to welcome the buyers who come your way. If you're not careful, you can end up paying a lot for visitors who don't buy.

5. Set your keyword topic.

Google detects various topics based on the content of the website. As a starting point for your campaign, you can adjust your keywords based on your recommendations. When choosing keywords to advertise on, remember that you will be competing with many other businesses for the same audience. Think about keywords that will reach people who are ready to buy. For example, instead of using "luxury shoes" in your PPC ads, you can use keywords like "red leather heels." You'll miss out on people looking for all kinds of shoes, but they'll attract people with a specific shoe in mind. If your ad leads to a landing page with red leather heels, you're more likely to make a purchase. That's more than just clicking. You can also use negative keywords and save a lot of clicks. This allows you to tell Google why you don't want to see ads. This means you can use keywords like red leather heels instead of stilettos.

6. Write your ad.

This is the most important aspect of Google Ads knowledge, you want to attract a lot of people, and you want those people to buy. There are three considerations for every ad you create.

-Subject
-Explanation
-Destination URL

-Subject. Start with a good title that uses relevant search terms for your niche. Google breaks the title into three sections of 30 characters each, so make sure each character is meaningful. You may need to use an abbreviation or look up a shorter synonym.

-Explanation. The title is followed by another 90 characters for the first description. Use this space to highlight your benefits. How does your product solve the buyer's pain? Then you can use the function in the second description.

If your ads aren't getting a lot of attention, be prepared to change them, and don't be afraid to experiment.

-Destination URL. Here you can choose where your ad clicks will go. Just select the page you want to visit and paste the URL into the field. You can use this template to plan your Google Ads character count and preview what your ad will look like when it's ready.

7. Set your advertising budget.

This is where you display your daily budget. You want enough money to make a difference, but you don't want to break the bank. Have more control by manually setting click bids. This means that your ads will stop once your budget is used up. That way, you won't end up with shocking bills later. You can adjust your budget each time you start seeing results from your campaign.

8. Complete the "Budget and Quotation" section.

In this section, review your campaign settings. I recommend that you double-check each of the following items.

-Daily budget
-Monthly budget
-The impact on this budget
-Estimated number of clicks based on impressions
-Target position

9. Double Check.

It's a good idea to double-check before you start advertising. Are all the spellings correct? If any of the keywords are incorrect, the keyword search will be missed. When you're sure you've done everything right, take a deep breath and move on to the next step. 

10. Account settings.

Because Google charges per click, you'll need your billing information when you set up your Google Ads account. By providing your payment information, you authorize Google to receive advertising costs calculated for your campaigns. 

11. Click Submit.

Congratulations! You have now set up your first Google Ads campaign.

Create additional campaigns 

To create additional campaigns with different or narrower keyword phrases, select Campaigns from the page menu on the left. Then click the blue plus button and choose New Campaign. A Google interface will guide you through the next steps. In addition to everything being well established, you'll want to A/B test the results often. Change the theme, introduce new features, focus on different benefits, and then set the number of conversions. There are always ways to improve your ads.

Now, what if you want to Cancel a Google Ads campaign!?

There is an option, first, sign in to your Google Ads account. Then follow the instructions below, click on Campaigns in the left menu, find the campaign you want to cancel, then click the checkbox next to your campaign, and click Edit in the drop-down menu that appears. Click the Pause button to stop the campaign or click the Delete button to stop the campaign permanently.

You can check the box with multiple campaigns for bulk processing. Now that you know how to set up and unsubscribe from Google Ads campaigns, nothing is stopping you from getting started with the many features that PPC has to offer.

Good luck, and if you like this post, share and follow me for more!