Have you ever noticed the first few results in the SERPs have Ad in front of the title? Those are Google ads. However, those aren’t the only placements for these ads. Google ads can also appear at the bottom, middle, or side of the search results and on the websites of Google Search Partners.
Google Ads, formerly known as Google Adwords, is a digital advertising platform that allows advertisers to reach users searching specifically for products or services they offer. This means that you can target potential customers or clients at the exact time they are looking for that product or service.
While the ad placement can be very competitive depending on the keywords you’re targeting; these campaigns are a great way to drive your leads and sales for a relatively low cost. If you’re curious about how Google Ads can increase your brand reach or grow your business, keep reading to learn more about how these ads work and their benefits.
Ad Criteria
When you’re creating your ad, determine the goal of your ad first. Are you looking to get more leads, website traffic, or visitors to your physical store? Once you decide what you’re looking to accomplish with your ad, you’ll customize your ad copy and select the location you want to advertise.
Next, you’ll choose the keywords or phrases you’re targeting. You want to ensure that you select the right keywords. To do this, you’ll need to understand more about your target audience and their needs. Think about how they search and the phrases they use to search for a product or service you offer. Then you’ll start to narrow down your options based on the following criteria:
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- The search volume. If a keyword has a low search volume, you won’t receive desired ad visibility. So choose ones with a high search volume.
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- Be specific and on-brand. Choose keywords and phrases that fit your brand and are specific to what you’re advertising. If your keywords are too broad or general, your ad performance will suffer.
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- Tie your keywords together with your ad copy. If your keywords don’t match your ad copy or they are different from the keywords used in your ad, this will negatively impact your Quality Score.
Aside from your target demographic and keywords, your budget plays a significant role in determining your ad placement and whether or not it shows up at the top of the SERPs. Though the ads are set up on a PPC basis, you can also determine a max daily spend to stay within your budget.
How Google Ads Work
Google ads and the placement they receive are based on your targeted keywords and the budget you set. Based on your ad criteria and your desired outcome, you can choose to have your ad placed in the traditional search results, in a shopping search, on a partner website or third-party app as a display ad, or in a video.
Here’s how the ad placement process works. Google determines what they believe the cost per click is for a specific keyword or phrase. If your cost per click is higher than Google’s, you get the ad placement. If your cost per click bid is lower than Google’s, you don’t receive the ad placement.
However, you shouldn’t try to outbid Google just for the sake of outbidding them because that can negatively affect your ad performance and ranking. This is due to the fact that the quality of your ad copy and keywords also factors into Google’s ad placement decision. This is referred to as your Quality Score. The higher your score, the better your ad will perform and the higher it will rank.
Once your ad is live, it will be shown to users searching for the products or services you’re advertising, and for every click your ad receives, you pay the amount you bid for each click. In return, your business receives more website traffic, calls, leads, or visitors to your physical store resulting in more sales and increased brand awareness.
Benefits of Google Ads
Google Ads and other online advertising platforms offer various benefits for your business. One of the main benefits of advertising with Google is the ability to target customers at the time they are searching for what you offer. By reaching people who are already interested in what you offer, your chance of converting those people into customers increases significantly.
Another benefit of these ads is that they are set up on the PPC model, which means you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This type of advertising model is ideal for businesses with a limited ad budget because you are able to advertise your products and services without overspending.
Since Google Ads also helps you grow your brand awareness and recognition, this increases your organic marketing reach and SEO efforts.
Need Help With Your Ad Campaigns?
If you want to learn more about how Google Ads can grow your business or you need help with your digital marketing efforts in general, contact our team of digital marketing specialists to discuss solutions for your brand and business.