The internet is a jungle out there, with millions of people accessing the web every second of every day. From a business perspective, you know that there is a way to tap into the financial potential, but you’re stuck on figuring out how to make it happen.
What’s a business owner to do?
Businesses and their owners learn how to advertise on Google.
It might be a bit daunting, but once you’ve got a basic understanding on how everything works, you too will be ready to start running ads on the world’s most prolific advertising platform.
What is Google Ads?
Do you remember Google AdWords? That has since become Google Ads. Google’s advertising platform allows you to run your advertisements on it’s search results page.
With Google Ads, your ads show up right alongside search results presenting your business to millions at a time.
Still can’t envision it?
No problem. We can walk you through exactly what your ad would look like. Start by imagining conducting a typical Google search. You see all of the results, right?
Okay, from there, take a look at the top, and you’ll see something that looks nearly identical to a traditional search result with one small exception. The word “Ad” is near the URL indicating that the user is looking at a paid advertisement.
How Do Google Ads Work?
Google Ads functions similarly to an auction: you bid for search terms that are applicable to your ad, while other businesses put in competing bids for those same terms.
The simple explanation is you bid on a keyword that you think someone will use to find your business. From that point, how much you bid combined with ad and website quality will determine whether or not your ad gets placed on the results page.
In other words, having the highest bid is no guarantee that you’re going to have an ad placed because, as always, quality is critical to Google’s placement.
Google Keyword Planner
To help you figure out which phrases or keywords are going to be best for your ads, you can use the Google Keyword Planner to bid wisely.
The planner is available for people that are new to Google Ads as well as those experienced in the industry. With it, you can research the keywords and phrase you have in mind to give you an edge or at least level the playing field with your competitors.
Another benefit the keyword planner provides includes historical data to equip your current or future ad campaign with an excellent opportunity to use the tools and create an unparalleled marketing strategy.
As a bonus, doing the extra research also means you’re going to know which words are more valuable as you plan out your advertising costs.
You might want to check out this course at Udemy on How To Do Strategic Keywords Research with Google Keyword Planner and LongTailPro and Find Terms You Can Rank Fast!
What Does Google Advertising Cost?
As any savvy business owner should ask, what does Google advertising cost?
Every penny you spend affects your bottom line, and it’s a hard pill to swallow that sometimes, advertising can be one of the most significant pieces of your budget.
With Google Ads, the amount you can expect to pay is entirely flexible, and you can adjust it at your leisure. That means you can raise or lower your budget as you see fit and can even pause it when needed.
Additionally, signing up for a Google Ads account is entirely free, and the only time you ever have to pay is when there is an action like a click on your ad.
A Breakdown of Google Advertising Costs
As you learn about how to advertise on Google, it helps if you understand what a cost-per-click, or CPC, is in relation to PPC. CPC depends on keywords as well as various other settings that you can select.
Examples of these options include choosing whether or not to create your ad for mobile or desktop viewing. Costs can vary from as less than $1 to well over $10 for each click received.
Pro tip – start with a smaller budget and scale up as you get to know your circumstances,
Surrounding circumstances that can affect the CPC also include market reach and location. As an example, if you’re trying to reach people that are closer and in a smaller area, your CPC will be less as compared to a prominent law firm trying to reach a larger demographic.
In other words, the Google Ad you’re using is going to reflect a different cost than someone else with a different target demographic.
Google PPC Advertising
Google uses what is called a pay-per-click model, or PPC. You pay if someone searched for your keyword and clicked on your ad – it’s that simple.
You can choose how much you pay with Google PPC advertising because you control your minimum and maximum budget on a daily basis.
It’s worth noting that because Google Ads follows this model, there is no set price for displaying your ad regardless of whether or not someone sees it and acts on it.
Ads on YouTube function the same way.
YouTube Advertising
Everywhere you look, you see videos, and it’s not surprising given the opportunity the video platform offers to be an insta-star. Intelligent business owners recognize the potential and use it to their advantage with YouTube advertising.
To get started, you’ll need to link both your Google Ads and YouTube accounts. From there, you get to select your daily budget.
According to Search Engine Watch, spending is typically less than a dollar, and you only pay if the viewer sees the entire ad through the very end.
Pro tip – use keywords that viewers would use on YouTube instead of a typical search engine result.
Specify locations and be as specific as you want to be or as broad as you would like. Once you’ve got those settings figured out, then you’re going to upload the video to your Google Ads account from YouTube.
Setting up a Google Ads Account
Setting up a Google Ads account is fairly straightforward and can be done in just a few minutes. When you sign in with your Google account, you can select the type of ads you want to have.
The options that are immediately available are to get more calls, get more visits, or get more website sales or sign-ups. If your goal is to drive traffic to your website, then you’re going to want to select the last choice.
Google Ads makes it extremely easy to determine your campaign strategy as it walks you through everything you need to do from their side of things.
Campaign Strategy
In developing your strategy, you need to identify your primary goal. Calls, visits, or website sales – the choice is yours, but select wisely, so you don’t spend funds unnecessarily.
To help you decide, you want to get more calls if you tend to talk to customers before booking appointments or if you prefer client acquisition to happen over the phone.
If you have a brick and mortar location where people tend to go, then you’re going to want to select getting more visits to your physical location.
On the other hand, if your business is primarily done online, then sending people to your website to drive sales and sign-ups is a no-brainer.
Once you know what direction you’re going in, you know what you need to do to reach your goal and which campaign strategy will be most effective.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing, or SEM, is also part of search marketing and is intimately tied to PPC as well as SEO. SEM describes paid search activities while SEO is free and organic search activities that all ultimately lead to more business for you.
Search engine marketing is not to be confused with PPC listings as PPC advertisements where you pay for every click while you’re listed. SEM is different because it encompasses multiple marketing opportunities including PPC, CPC, and paid searches.
Understanding SEM and its relation to SEO, PPC, and CPC can all contribute to a successful shopping campaign when you’re boosting traffic to your store or website.
Google Shopping Campaigns
Google shopping campaigns are one of the best ways for you to generate online sales, especially if you’re a retailer. The shopping campaigns are designed to promote your inventory, increase traffic to your site, and give you an improved web presence.
Using shopping campaigns has the power to yield excellent results. It starts with you submitting your product information to Google Ads. Then Google Ads creates ads where customers would be able to see what you have to offer.
Not only do these techniques give your potential customers a feel for your products courtesy of a photo op, but there is also information like the price, title, and a brief description. All of this leads to increased product impressions, resulting in quality potential customers that have a better chance of converting into sales.
Ways to Get the Most Value
When you’re a new business or a small business for that matter, ad funding is especially crucial to the survival of your company. Larger businesses may have more leeway in their annual budget, so it’s up to the little guy to know how to leverage the money available.
Let’s consider a few ways to get the most value for the money you’re spending on advertising.
- Track your conversions. Understand the importance of ROI to see just how much your funding is affecting your business.
- Create and use more than a single landing page. Best practice says that having pages that match your ads creates better conversion rates.
- Make conversion rate optimization your priority. Bid on the right keywords to boost leads, not just broad keywords that might bring your business.
- Focus on quality scores for your ads. Google prefers quality over the amount of money you spend on a bid, so your click-through rate will be better with resonating and impactful ad copy.
- Don’t be afraid of negative keywords. Take a look at your search query reports on a regular basis and tweak the words to optimize your spending.
- Get to know the Performance Grader. This free tool will check your performance and give you a grade to let you know how well your ads are doing.
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Take the Plunge By Learning How to Advertise on Google
Google Ads can get your business advertisements out among the masses, and as long as you do it properly. Learn to use your resources wisely, and you can maximize your budget.
With the flexible spending options, you can also rest assured that you’re not going to overspend anymore than you intentionally put aside. With your financials in check and the ability to keep an eye on your account at any time, even a novice can make Google Ads work for you.
So, what’s your next step when it comes to how to advertise on Google?
Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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