There is no denying the power of digital advertising, particularly Google ads. You can use Google’s marketing tools to increase awareness and maximize your income in a targeted and cost-effective manner.
If you’re not taking advantage of these tools already, you’re missing out on potential income. If you do use Google Ads, perhaps you want to know how to make better use of the platform.
Here is our comprehensive guide that answers the question
How Do I Advertise on Google?
Advertising on Google is not that difficult. Once you’re ready to get started, you’ll need to create a Google account. (NOTE: If you have a Gmail address then you already have one!) Then you can open a Google Ads account.
The next task is creating an ad.
Again, this is not as simple as throwing up a few sentences and choosing keywords. There are quite a few steps to take.
Here are the 8 steps to create a Google ad:
- Determine the goals of your campaign (i.e. drive more traffic, drive sales, promote a sale, create awareness of product/service, etc.)
- Determine your target audience
- Determine the best keywords
- Choose your budget and set bids
- Build a campaign structure
- Write copy for your ad(s)
- Create a landing page
- Set up a method of tracking the effectiveness of your ad(s)
Now that you have a general map, let’s dive into some of the best practices for getting the highest ROI out of your Google campaigns.
1. Getting the Most out of Google Ads
If you want to know how to advertise on Google, you need to understand how the platform works.
Google Ads is the platform used to create display ads on search pages. If you search for any topic, you’ll notice that the results at the top of the page say “Sponsored Link”. These are paid search ads.
Each ad is linked to keywords, which are relevant terms people use when they’re searching for information.
For this blog post, we have keywords like, “tips for advertising on Google” and “best way to advertise on Google”.
2. Ad Spending: The Google Pay-Per-Click Model
Google Ads uses a pay-per-click (PPC) strategy, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. It seems simple enough, but there is a bit more that goes into it.
You don’t just decide how much you want to pay and your ad automatically shows up. Thousands of businesses advertise on Google so you’re actually competing with them for those coveted spots at top of the page.
Google Ads works somewhat like an auction with a bidding element. In this case, you are bidding on relevant keywords in order to have your ad displayed.
It’s not just a higher bid that gets results. The quality of an ad counts as well. You can help ensure your ad appears by producing a high-quality ad. You can even pay less per click than your competitors if your ad is good enough.
3. The Importance of Google Ad Account Structure
Perhaps the most complex aspect of setting up Google ads is deciding on an ad account structure. There are several ways you can go, but one effective strategy is running multiple campaigns. This way you can test ads and run analytics to determine which campaign is performing the best.
How many campaigns you choose to run depends on your budget and how much time you can devote to analyzing their effectiveness.
4. Making the Most Out of Keyword Bidding
We touched on the auction process earlier, but now we want to dive into that more. With Google ads, you bid on keywords that are relevant to the product/service you plan to advertise. You can bid any amount, but the higher your bid, the more you will pay.
3 parts of Google ad ranking:
- Maximum Bid – The highest amount you are willing to bid on a keyword.
- Quality Score – Score awarded to your website, keywords, and landing page based on the relevance of your ads compared to what someone searched. A higher score = a higher likelihood of your ad being seen.
- Format and Extensions
You can set up different bids for your keywords. High value (more popular) terms equal a higher bid. Still, you want to choose high-value keywords whenever possible as these are used the most.
The Google Ad platform includes a Keyword Planner tool that will provide suggested bids based on the popularity of particular keywords.
You can also choose automated bidding, which will “automatically” adjust your ad spend to ensure the most cost-effective results.
5. Keyword Strategies That Work
One of the best Google advertising tips involves ad targeting. You have the ability to choose who sees your ad.
- Target based on the demographics/interests of people who are likely to buy your product.
- Target by geolocation to ensure that only those in relevant locations see your ad.
- Optimize for negative keywords.
Negative keywords refer to specific terms that are not a good fit for your product. This way your ad only shows up for those who are most likely to be interested.
6. Don’t Forget to Optimize for Different Platforms
These days, consumers use different platforms to search the Internet. They may be on a desktop computer, a smartphone or a tablet device. The search experience is different on each platform so it’s important to make sure your ad works on each of them.
NOTE: Don’t leave out mobile advertising as this is how millions conduct Google searches now!
Want to ensure the success of your Google ad campaign? Check it out now to learn how to build an effective search campaign.
Enable Marketing Success With Google Ads
Google Ads is one of the most powerful marketing tools you can have in your arsenal. If you can answer the question of “how do I advertise on Google?”, you will go a long way to reaching new audiences even on a small budget.
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