Google Ads
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an effective platform for driving qualified traffic to your business by targeting users actively searching for products and services like yours. It can significantly boost your website traffic, increase inquiries, and enhance in-store visits. Additionally, Google Ads provides tools for analyzing and optimizing your campaigns over time, helping you reach a broader audience more effectively.
Why advertise on Google
Google Ads Terms to Know
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Ad Extensions: Ad Extensions enhance your ads by providing additional information without extra costs. These can significantly improve the performance of your ads by including options like:
- Sitelink Extensions: Direct links to specific pages on your site beyond the main landing page.
- Call Extensions: Add a phone number to your ads, making it easy for customers to call directly.
- Location Extensions: Show your business address, phone number, and a map marker within your ad.
- Offer Extensions: Attach offers or promotions to your ad.
- App Extensions: Links directly to an app download for mobile users.
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AdRank: AdRank determines the placement of your ads in search results and is crucial for visibility. It’s calculated by:
- Quality Score: A metric based on the relevance of your ad copy, keywords, and landing pages.
- Bid Amount: The maximum you are willing to pay per click on your ad. Higher AdRank leads to better ad positions and potentially more clicks.
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Bidding Strategies: Google Ads uses a bidding system where you decide the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad. The main bidding options include:
- CPC (Cost Per Click): Pay for each click on your ads.
- CPM (Cost Per Mille): Pay per thousand impressions.
- CPE (Cost Per Engagement): Pay when users engage in a predefined way with your ad.
Understanding and optimizing these aspects of Google Ads can greatly enhance your advertising effectiveness, driving more qualified traffic and conversions.
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CPC (Cost Per Click): This is the amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. It’s a popular model for driving traffic to websites.
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CPM (Cost Per Mille): Also known as cost per thousand impressions, this is the amount you pay for every thousand views of your ad. It’s commonly used for brand awareness campaigns.
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CPE (Cost Per Engagement): In this model, you pay when a user takes a specific action defined by the advertiser, such as watching a video, signing up for a newsletter, or another engagement beyond a click.
4. Select your advertising goal.
Next, select your main advertising goal. You have four options: Get more calls, get more website sales or sign-ups, get more visits to your physical location, and get more views and engagement on YouTube.
5. Craft your ad.
The next step is to create your ad. This requires creativity and can be a bit challenging.
Thankfully, Google gives you tips on what to write. But, of course, the most important thing is to write an ad that’ll attract and convert your audience.
6. Add keyword themes.
On the next page, you can choose keywords that match your brand. Google will suggest a few for you; if you’re not familiar with keyword research, we suggest selecting the ones Google has suggested to start. After selecting the right keywords, click “Next.”
7. Set your ad location.
The next page lets you choose the location or locations where you want your ad to appear. It can be near your physical address or anywhere else.
8. Set your budget.
Here, you’ll either use the budget options offered by Google or enter a specific budget.
9. Confirm payment.
Lastly, provide your billing information.Creating your first Google ad is straightforward and can be completed in about 10 minutes if you already have your ad copy and images ready. The Google Ads platform guides you through the setup process with useful tips along the way. However, the initial setup is just the beginning. To truly optimize your campaign and ensure it’s trackable, there are additional steps you need to follow once your ads are submitted for review. Let’s explore what those steps involve next.
10. Link your Google Analytics account.
Linking your Google Analytics account to Google Ads is essential if you already have Analytics set up to monitor website traffic and conversions. This integration allows for easier tracking, analyzing, and reporting across channels and campaigns because you can view and compare these metrics in one consolidated location. This step simplifies the management of your advertising efforts by providing comprehensive insights into performance across your digital assets.
11. Add UTM Codes.
Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) codes are used by Google to track any activity associated with a specific link. You’ve probably seen them before — it’s the part of a URL that follows a question mark (“?”). UTM codes will tell you which offer or ad led to conversion so you can track the most effective parts of your campaign. UTM codes make it easier to optimize your Google Ads since you know exactly what’s working.
The trick, though, is to add your UTM codes at the campaign level when you set up your Google Ads, so you don’t have to do so manually for each ad URL. Otherwise, you can add them manually with Google’s UTM builder.