Advertising on Google: A Beginner’s Guide

[ Published on Zerolens ]

People conduct 5.6 billion searches on Google everyday. Yes – every DAY! 

With 90% of the market share, Google is the most widely used search engine in most countries, and the first place most people look for products and services.

Whether you’re looking to grow locally or globally, making sure your brand is visible on Google is the fastest way to grow your customer base. 

The good news: Google Ads’ intuitive interface has made promoting your brand online easier than ever. 

Machine learning and algorithms do a lot of the heavy lifting. To get started, all you have to do is choose your goal (more clicks? Leads? Sales?), what kind(s) of ad campaign to run, and how much you want to spend. If you’re new to online advertising, this may seem a little overwhelming – so let’s start with the basics.

Where can I advertise on Google?

There are 5 main types of Ads on Google:

Search – These are ads that appear when people search for something on Google. Google’s crawlers (a programme that “crawls” the internet looking for websites to add to Google’s directory – contrary to popular belief, Google doesn’t actually own the internet, so you aren’t automatically listed!) usually find and “rank” websites based on how relevant they are to the “keyword” searched. The best quality websites appear closer to the top of the Search English Results Page (SERP). 

However, you can get one step ahead by taking out a “Search Ad”, and guaranteeing your site will appear at the top. 67% of people click on one of the first 5 search results, and 32% click on the first one, so it’s definitely worth paying more to appear before your competitors! 

As you can see, Ads appear at the top of the page, and have the added advantage of not “looking” too much like an ad. They consist of a link, title and description, like any other search engine result.

Display – Have you ever been reading the news online when suddenly you see an ad for a product you hovered over.. A week ago? This was a Google Display Ad.

Over 2 million websites, including many online stores, blogging platforms and news sites, are part of the Google “Display Network”. This means they offer their “ad space” to Google, which then uses machine learning and algorithms to personalise the ads for each user. The Google Display network is estimated to reach over 90% of internet users, so this is a great way to reach new audiences, as well as remind old customers that you’re still there.

The ads you see are related to your Google search history and interests. Ads can be adjusted to only appear to local or regional users, to a certain age group, to parents (for children’s products), or to those who work in certain industries. 

If designing ads isn’t your thing, display ads could still be a great option for you. Just upload your “assets” (images, headlines, logos, videos, descriptions, etc) and Google will create a “responsive display ad”, an automatically-generated ad. Google Ads uses machine learning to test out different combinations and “optimise” your ad – i.e, figure out which look gets you the most clicks.

Shopping Ads

Formerly known as “Google Product Search”, Google Shopping enables shoppers to search for a particular item, and then compare prices and offerings from a range of stores. Basically, it’s a Google search engine for stores. This makes shopping easier for customers, and it’s also a great way to reach new audiences, promote your brand, and drive traffic to your website. The ads appear whenever someone searches for the product on Google, as well as in Google Images or on Partner Sites. 

Users can also click the “Shopping” tab to browse all Google Shopping Ads.

Google knows your location and prioritises ads from companies in the searcher’s region, or with products which match your interests.

Google Ads is simple to use, and Shopping ads are no exception – just upload your product data (photo, title, price, store name, etc) and create a campaign. You can group your products and list their attributes to make sure the right customer finds them. You can also access data on how many clicks your ads receive, or how many “impressions” (potential customers viewing your product for 10 seconds or more). 

Video

You know the ads that play before the video on Youtube? Or those random videos that pop up on the side of other sites? These are Google Video Ads, and they appear on Youtube (owned by Google!), or as “Outstream Ads” on partner sites.

If you already have product videos, demonstrations, or other branded content, consider a Video campaign. 6-second Bumper ads are a great option for raising awareness or reminding customers of your brand, and their short length means this is a good option for those of us with less movie-directing experience.

Here are some examples:

Google App Campaign

Have you ever seen a promotional video for an app with an “install” button right in the ad? This is an App Ad. 85% of mobile users prefer apps to mobile sites, so it makes sense to invest in promoting your app. These ads then appear on Google Search (as an ad at the top of the page, with an added “install” button), in Google Play, on Youtube, and across the Display Network.

You don’t need to design individual ads. Just upload your assets, such as text, description, photos, videos, and any HTML5 assets. Google’s systems test different combinations and go with those which get the most clicks. 

A notable difference between App Campaigns and other Google Ads is the variety of campaign types available. You can select a campaign designed to get more installs (great for new apps), to drive app usage among people who’ve already installed, or to encourage a specific in-app action (e.g, purchases). 

Sounds cool – how do I start a Google Ads Campaign?

Go to Google Ads and register. Start a campaign, sort your products into ad groups and assign the  keywords you want associated with each. Google’s Keyword Planner explains how often each keyword is searched. Use MOZ Keyword Explorer to see which related keywords could help boost your website traffic.

How do I decide what to spend?

This is where it gets a little more complicated!

Google has complex algorithms which decide which ad will appear at any given time. The process is known as an ad auction and can seem quite daunting to a newbie. Luckily, you can harness the power of Google data and select “automated bidding”. You decide how much you want to spend per day, per campaign, or per keyword, and Google does the rest. 

Google’s algorithms remove human error, and automated bidding frees up your time to focus on developing a strategy or other areas of your business.

Strategies

Whether you’re looking for more impressions (views), clicks, or sales, Google can recommend a strategy for you.  Common strategies include “maximise clicks”, “maximise conversions”, or “Target return on ad spend” (ROAS). 

Your budget is entirely in your control, and you “pay-per-click” – this is arguably much better value than real-world advertising, where you pay regardless of how many people interact with your ad! 

[ Image 6: Pay-per-click Source]

There’s also a remarketing option: you can upload your customer data or a list of previous customers, and target them through “remarketing”, or you can reach “similar audiences”, people who have things in common with your existing customers. As they say, Google knows everything!

Use Google Ads’ data to grow your business

Google processes over 20 petabytes of data per day, and some of its findings are bound to help your business. Here are just some of the metrics you could use to grow your business:

 “Bid Simulator”: Use Google’s data to try out “what-if” scenarios and see how you could have done better, e.g, how many more views you would have gotten if your budget was €0.10 higher. 

“First Page Bid Estimate”: reveal exactly how much you need to bid to put your ad on the much-coveted first page of Google search results.

Optimisation score: Google will constantly evaluate how your ads perform and give feedback on how you could optimise campaigns. If your score is 100, this means you’re advertising at maximum potential! 

Quality Score: Ads with a higher rank will appear higher on the search results page and are more likely to win auctions – i.e, Google will show these ads rather than their competitors’. To improve your Quality score, work on your landing page experience (how usable your website is) and relevance to the keyword searched. 

Important note: Google prioritises user experience, so having awesome content is more important than having a bank-breaking budget!

Although this article gives a good overview, advertising on Google can be a full-time job, and there’s a lot of know-how involved in fully optimising your campaign. If you aren’t already  “Google Ads Certified”, take the free online courses at Google SkillShop and you’ll be an expert in no time!

That’s it for today. Have you advertised on Google before? What tips would you offer to someone starting out? What’s the coolest feature you’ve discovered on Google Ads? Share your experience in the comments 🙂