Google Ads is one of the most effective forms of paid online advertising. period.
But let’s back up. What is Google Ads? Well, when someone searches for anything on Google, paid ads are usually displayed at the top of the first page of results. These ads may be arranged as a line of images with ad copy below, or they may be arranged in the same way as the rest of the search results but with the word “ad” at the top of the URL.
So Google Ads is essentially just a Pay Per Click (PPC) platform that lives on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) of the most popular search engines and all other Google-owned platforms.
Over 1 billion people use Google. There are 7.674 billion people on the planet, so at least 13% of people alive now use Google . In 2020, there are 6.9 billion searches per day .
Now, think about how we can say that Google’s ads exist on the actual SERPs themselves, and imagine the staggering numbers these ads have to reach. It’s almost unfathomable!
So now you see why we’re making this statement: “Google Ads is one of the most effective methods of paid online advertising.” That might even be too conservative.
However, it’s not just the sheer reach that makes Google Ads a great tool for advancing your business goals. It’s also a collection of Google Ads amenities that make using the platform simple, cost-effective, customizable, and a comprehensive PPC elimination solution.
Table of Contents
Reach the right people
When you first start your Google Ads campaign, you need to tell Google what your main goals are.
For example, do you want to:
- Bring people to your website or a specific landing page?
- Increase call volume to your business?
- Direct more people to your store?
Next, you’ll specify whether you’re trying to reach a global audience or a local audience. If you want to bring people to your website, you might consider running your ad network globally. On the other hand, in order to maximize your advertising spend when directing people to brick-and-mortar locations, it’s best to narrow your targeting to local audiences.
Custom methodology
Google Ads gives you many types of campaigns to choose from (and Google is constantly innovating and creating new types; discovery campaigns are a recent notable addition). Each campaign type focuses on communicating your message in a specific way. The better you define your business goals and audience, the better you can choose the right type of marketing campaign.
Search campaigns show your ads primarily on the Google SERPs – that is, search campaigns show your ad on the results page after someone types a word into the Google search bar. When people search for terms related to keywords that belong to your campaign, they’ll see your ad. This means high-intent traffic to your ad.
Display campaigns show visual ads to users of Google Display Network products such as Gmail and YouTube, as well as thousands of Google partner sites and display ad space across the web.
Shopping campaigns display ads within Google’s shopping area. When users search for terms that match your products, they can see Shopping ads. Additionally, Google uses your online store’s product data to determine the text and images to serve based on user behavior. As a result, you can reduce the manual work of creating ads; instead, Google creates ads based on the information in your product feed.
Video campaigns use video ads that appear on YouTube and other Google Display Network properties to promote your business. They are moving. They are dynamic. They stand out from the static images and text of other campaign types.
App campaigns show your ads on Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, AdMob, the Google Display Network, Google Discover, Google’s search partners, and many other publishers that show app ads.
Campaigns are found to shine most when people do Google searches on mobile devices . These ads are tailored to each user and appear below the Google search bar on someone’s phone. Using a dynamically selected combination of text and images, Discovery campaigns deliver a rich advertising experience to selected audiences.
Being able to choose the campaign that best suits your business and needs is one of the ways Google Ads adapts to users, and a major part of what makes the platform so great for PPC.
Never go over budget
One of the most frequently asked questions about Google Ads is, how much does it cost? Of course, all these benefits come at a price, right? Do not! This is the best part!
When you start a campaign, you can set a budget, and when that budget is reached, Google will automatically stop. You never have to worry about spending more than you expected.
As for how much you should spend on a Google Ads campaign, it’s impossible to answer that question without knowing your specific situation, but the average monthly spend is usually around 90k or 10k.
One thing to keep in mind is that according to Google , the average return on ad spend (ROAS) is about $2 for every $1 spent , so it’s actually hard to lose money on a Google Ads campaign.
Let Google do its thing
Once you’ve set your parameters, decided on a budget, and selected the type of campaign you want to run, the real magic begins. This is the real answer to the question in the title of this article. How can Google Ads help you achieve your business goals? Well, you just let it go and it will do its thing and you will be rewarded.
When we think of Google as an entity (or force of nature to be more accurate), quantification is not easy. Of course, Google has over 80,000 employees. There are people behind the scenes writing code, pulling levers and pressing buttons. But the essence of Google is much more than that. It’s an almost intelligent being, seemingly omniscient and dedicated to creating the ebb and flow of web traffic on a global scale.
When you run a Google Ads campaign, your ads become part of this ebb and flow. You don’t have to worry about buying ad placements or micromanaging or any of that. Google knows who to show your ad when. It knows how to best display your information to achieve your goals.
You can also access performance data within the Google Ads platform while Google works hard for your benefit. What’s more, you can take your assessment of Google’s impact to the next level by putting Google Analytics on your website. This gives you data on organic traffic as well as all paid traffic generated by Google Ads. All in all, Google Analytics gives you a window into how people are interacting with your website – so you can optimize your user experience and ads to increase sales.
Does PPC Help SEO?
According to Google , PPC doesn’t directly help your site’s search engine rankings or SEO. If you talk to those of us in the trenches, you get a slightly different answer: yes, a little bit, maybe. Because Google’s algorithm is very opaque, it’s impossible to know exactly how your ad will affect your position in the organic SERPs. Having said that, we know that seeing your business name in advertising definitely helps your overall brand footprint. Isn’t that what the search is all about? After all, your customers can’t know what they don’t know.
At DOM, a large part of what we do involves understanding Google’s intrigue through data analysis and working within the digital marketing ecosystem to deliver results for our clients. If you’re considering starting a Google Ads campaign, be sure to contact us for a free consultation and learn how we can help.
