Google Adwords or Google Ads is Google’s own pay-per-click advertising system. It can be used to address several different online advertising needs businesses to have, such as increasing their visibility, growing an audience, or even selling more products.
In a way, the main function of Google Ads is to simply help you spread the word about your business, products, or services. Our team of Google Ads Experts is ready to assist you in understanding Google ads’ primary function.
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How Do Google Ad Campaigns Work?
Google Ads tap into the entirety of Google’s reach and allows brands to reach potential customers with content about their products or services in key moments when they are likely to act.
There are several types of Google ads you can run:
- Search ads – these are ads that appear in the search network, triggered when a user types in a specific query
- Display ads – banner ads that run on the Google Display Network, a group of more than 2 million sites, apps, and videos that make up around 90% of all online traffic;
- Shopping ads – designed for retailers to easily promote their products
These different types of ads can support your business goals in different ways, and not all of them will necessarily help you convert more.
Below, let’s look at each type of campaign and its main function.
Search ads
These are the text ads you run on Google search. They appear along with the organic search results pages, usually at the top of the first page, and clearly marked as an ad, so the user knows this particular search result has paid to appear where it is.
Here are some benefits of running search ads:
- They are easy to set up
- They allow very specific targeting
- They can help improve brand awareness
- They can work together with your SEO efforts to boost traffic
Display Ads
Ads on the Display Network are visual in nature. Think of banner ads or video ads that can feature more information about your brand, products or services, and can have a better shot of catching the user’s attention.
Display Ads can help you:
- Boost brand awareness
- Expand your reach beyond the search network
- Retarget existing website visitors
Shopping ads
Shopping ads are amazing ways for retailers to quickly present their products to potential customers. You need to give your product data to the Merchant Center, and Google will then create and show your ad to people most likely to be interested in it.
These ads will feature product photos, titles, brand information, the price of the product, and other relevant information.
Their benefits include:
- Specifically targeting online shoppers with ease
- Easy to set up
- Cuts down on your sales funnel
How to Make the Most out of Google Ads
Google’s online advertising system has something for everyone, so format or ‘main function’ is really not the issue.
The secret to making the most out of your Google Ads account lies in how well you set up your campaigns to generate the best possible results.
Some ways to optimize your Google Ads campaign include:
Refine your targeting
To ensure your intended target user actually clicks on your ad, it’s very important to know who that user is.
Google Adwords allows you to fine-tune your targeting in lots of different ways, depending on the type of campaign you run:
- Search ads can be targeted based on demographics, location, keywords, etc.
- Display ads go beyond this and can take into account user behaviour or interests
- Remarketing features allow you to target previous visitors, etc.
Choose the right format for your goals
Apart from targeting, you also want to make sure you choose the right format for the goal you want to achieve.
For example, if you’re interested in getting more phone calls to your business, there is a specific subtype of search ads for phone calls alone. While you can also run banner ads that feature your phone number, phone call ads are much more effective in helping you convert potential customers.
Choose the right bidding strategy
Google Ads has a reputation for being expensive, but that’s not exactly true. You can establish a daily budget for each ad, ad group, and campaign, and Google will not overcharge you.
The results you get for that daily budget will depend on your bidding strategy, which is also based on your goals. For example, if you want traffic to your site or a landing page, then the cost per click strategy is best for you because you will only get charged for each click, and not impressions or other stats. If you want more awareness, then the cost per impression is the best way to go.
Pay attention to your ad rank
The ad rank is a value Google assigns your ad to determine the ad position, AKA where it appears in the search results pages.
The ad rank is calculated every time the ad is eligible to appear to the user, and part of what goes into this value is how relevant the ad is for the target audience. Another major incentive to make sure your targeting is correct.
Mix it up
When you advertise on Google, it’s a good idea to leverage multiple types of ad and ad formats. Some formats shine better and help you reach certain goals than others, but a good Google Ads strategy should include diversity when it comes to ad types.
Optimise Your Adwords Campaigns with AIAD
Australian Internet Advertising is here to assist all Australian business owners in making the right choice when it comes to their Google Ads strategy and campaigns.
If you want to work with a team that can get you the results you want, call us today at 1300 304 640.
