Using Google Ads to advertise online can take your digital marketing strategy to the next level. Learn more about this online advertising platform, how you can benefit from it, and how to take full advantage of everything it offers.
What Is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an online advertising solution where businesses can promote their products and services on Google, YouTube, and other websites. Google is the world’s largest search engine, maintaining over 85% of the search engine market share and processing approximately two trillion searches per year.
On the other hand, YouTube is the world’s largest video-sharing platform, with over two billion users and 720,000 hours of new content per day. Google also owns other popular platforms like Google Maps, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Play, Google Translate, and more.
Google Ads provides direct-to-consumer businesses with access to these platforms and billions of users. It’s a distinct process from making use of SEO, or search engine optimization. Google Ads, for the most part, runs on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, in which case you only pay when a consumer actually clicks on your online ad.
What Are the Different Types of Google Ads?
Now that you have a solid understanding of the basics surrounding Google Ads, let’s dive a bit deeper and discuss some of the different formats you can use when you have a Google Ads account:
- Google Search Campaigns: Google Search Campaigns are text ads that show up on the search engine results page on Google. Search ads are a great way to reach people actively searching for the products/services your company offers.
- Google Display Campaigns: Google Display Campaigns are image ads that show up on website landing pages and apps all over the internet. Display campaigns are a great way to expand your reach to every corner of the internet.
- Google Video Campaigns: Google Video Campaigns are video ads that show up primarily on YouTube — but also on other websites. Video campaigns are a great way to stand out from the competition with more engaging content, which might impact your conversion rate.
- Google Shopping Campaigns: Google Shopping Campaigns are product listings in Google’s search results and Google’s Shopping tab. Shopping campaigns are a great way to promote specific products, driving leads and conversions.
- Google Local Campaigns: Google Local Campaigns can appear in various ways across Google’s search network, Google’s display network, and Google Maps. Local campaigns are a great way to drive traffic to your physical storefront by promoting sales and providing information.
What Are the Benefits of Using Google Ads?
We’ve already touched on some of the benefits of using Google Ads, so now let’s expand on more of these benefits to give you a better appreciation of everything that Google Ads has to offer your business:
- Reach
As you now know, Google Ads is more than just Google’s search engine. Google Ads also integrates YouTube, Google Maps, and countless third-party websites all across the internet. It would be nearly impossible to calculate the true reach of all of these different platforms, with almost five billion YouTube videos watched daily, eight billion Google searches daily, and five billion downloads of Google Maps.
- Intent
One unique benefit of Google Ads, especially when it comes to search campaigns, relates to intent. With Google search campaigns, you’re putting your brand and products in front of people actively searching for relevant items to purchase. Compare this to social media advertising, where people aren’t actually looking to buy anything. Instead, they’re just looking to keep up with friends.
- Targeting
Another great benefit of Google Ads relates to targeting potential customers. Google gathers and analyzes tons of data about its users that you can then use as an advertiser to reach your target audience. For example, Google Ads offers targeting based on demographics like gender, age, education level, and affinities like hobbies, values, and interests.
- Tracking
Google Ads doesn’t just offer ad targeting. It also features ad tracking, which lets you quickly and easily assess the performance of your marketing campaign. A few examples of some of the metrics that you can track with Google Ads include return on investment (ROI), click-through rates (CTR), impressions, and actual conversions.
- Cost
Last but certainly not least, Google Ads offers all these benefits at a relatively low price. Google Ads purposely makes it possible for small businesses with smaller marketing budgets to compete for ad placements with larger and more established companies with larger advertising budgets.
How Much Does It Cost To Use Google Ads to Advertise Online?
The cost of using Google Ads to advertise online varies based on what types of ads you’re using and what your keywords are. For example, video and display ads will be more expensive than text ads. Additionally, some keywords are more competitive than others and will require you to spend more.
Here are some of the most expensive Google keywords and the corresponding cost per click (CPC) for each:
- Business Services: $58.64
- Bail Bonds: $58.48
- Casino: $55.48
- Lawyer: $54.86
- Asset Management: $49.86
- Insurance: $48.41
- Cash Services and Payday Loans: $48.18
- Cleanup and Restoration Services: $47.61
- Degree: $47.36
- Medical Coding Services: $46.84
Once you know your ad type and your keywords, you’re better able to estimate your Google advertising costs. Generally speaking, you can expect to spend anywhere between $1 and $2 per click. Your exact cost will depend on your ad quality and your maximum bid for your chosen keyword. From there, you will go to auction, and your ad rank will be determined.
How To Use Google Ads to Advertise Online?
Let’s get started using Google Ads to advertise online by following these steps:
Step 1: Choose Ad Type and Campaign Goals
For starters, you need to choose your ad type and campaign goals:
- For search campaigns, you can choose between sales, leads, and website traffic.
- For display campaigns, you can choose between sales, leads, website traffic, and brand awareness and reach.
- For shopping campaigns, you can choose between sales, leads, and website traffic.
- For video campaigns, you can choose between sales, leads, website traffic, product and brand consideration, and brand awareness and reach.
Step 2: Select Your Keywords and Budget
Next, you need to select your keywords and your daily budget. Perform keyword research ahead of time to choose the most relevant keywords with the least competition. Also, make sure to set a maximum bid that you’re comfortable with while still being competitive.
Step 3: Target Your Audience
After that, you need to target your audience. To get a better idea of your target audience, you can look at your current customers. Another excellent method is to create a customer persona to dive deeper and go beyond essential demographic factors to more detailed information like wants, fears, hobbies, motivations, etc.
Step 4: Create Your Ad
Now it’s time to create your ad. Whether creating an image ad or a text ad, make sure that you include a solid call to action (CTA) that tells the viewer exactly what they need to do. For example, “click here,” “sign up,” “buy now,” “learn more,” etc.
Step 5: Launch and Monitor Your Campaign
The work isn’t over after you launch your Google Ads campaign. You need to constantly monitor your campaign’s performance and make any necessary changes to get the best bang for your buck.
Conclusion
While Google Ads offers businesses a whole host of benefits, it can be difficult and time-consuming for business owners to manage Google Ads campaigns on their own. In this case, it might be worthwhile to work with a Google Ads expert like Greg Gillman. Reach out to him today to see how he can help take your Google Ads (and wider search engine marketing) strategy to the next level.
Sources:
Choose the Right Campaign Type | Google Ads Help
