A successful marketing campaign goes beyond crafting the perfect content for social media. Just as your efforts on Instagram, Facebook, and the like help to grow your customer base, Google Ads can improve your leads and convert them to clients. Read on for the complete guide to Google Ads.
What Are Google Ads?
Google AdWords, also known as Google Ads, is a PPC or pay-per-click platform for advertising. Unlike similar PPC platforms, Google Ads gives brands two ways to reach your audience: the Google Display Network and the Google Search Network. These approaches are different though they both have a PPC bidding system, giving brands the chance to show their ads to relevant audiences in online searches. Google Ads shows your brand’s ads to others that are actively looking for keywords you’ve selected.
Types of Google Ads
Search Campaign
Ads for search campaigns appear in search page results with the word “Ad”. Brands can use these search campaigns to drive traffic to their websites, potentially converting anyone searching online into devoted clients.
Display Campaign
The display campaign for Google Ads takes advantage of Google’s web partners to show your ads on relevant websites online. These types of ads pop up on third-party websites and even as pre-roll advertisements before videos on YouTube. Brands interested in taking advantage of Google’s Display network can reach over 2 million websites and 90% of all online users, expanding your reach to the most people possible.
Another benefit of Google Ads is its level of flexibility as you can use gifs, texts, images, or videos for your advertisements. While the display ads are convenient, brands should be careful when using this option as these ads can appear on websites that don’t align with their brand values.
Video Campaign
Google Ads easily complement video marketing social media campaigns. As pre-roll ads on YouTube, your campaign can specifically target your followers on this platform. Google Ads for YouTube offer two different forms: skippable and unskippable ads.
Brands can also use discovery ads on YouTube to respond to specific keywords. Likewise, there are other banners and overlays you can use to promote your campaigns via display ads.
App Campaign
App ads are similar to video ads and are part of Google Ads’ Display Network. These ads can easily be used as part of your targeted campaigns. With app ads, an individual design isn’t necessary as these ads are made for you based on the photos and text you provide. Ultimately, your final ad will be chosen based on what the algorithm determines tests the best.
Cost of Google Ads
Much like keywords with SEO, Google Ads uses keywords when selecting which ads to display. While Google Ads uses multiple factors to select the ad’s position, including the relevance of the ad and the click-through rate, the bid plays a huge role in which ads they display. As Google ads are PPC, you’ll only pay when someone clicks on your ad to visit your site or call your business.
The average cost-per-click for PPC ads in the US ranges from $1 to $2. Though, the cost of a specific Google Ad depends on multiple factors like the quality of your brand’s ad.
The basic strategy behind the price of Google Ads is the auction system. When someone searches for a keyword your campaign is targeting, Google will compare your brand’s Ad Rank with the ranking of every other marketer using that specific keyword. This ad rank and ad auction system favors sites with a high-quality score over others with lower scores. For this reason, the CPC or cost-per-click may be lower than a larger company with a huge ad budget.
As a small business, standing out from the competition isn’t easy. With the help of a digital marketing agency, you’ll be able to take full advantage of Google Ads’ offerings and take your company to the next level.
