Quick Guide to Google Ad Campaigns: Search Ads

Everything You Need to Know About Google Search Ads

Google Search Ads are one of the most effective ways to secure your business a top spot in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). But securing a spot at the top is more complex than buying it outright. It takes careful planning and a strong bidding strategy to secure your desired ad placement. 

To help you get a better understanding of what goes into running a Google Search Ad campaign, we have compiled the most important information you need to know into a simplified guide. 

What Are Google Search Ads?

Google Search Ads are text ads that appear in Google Search results. Search Ads enable you to purchase ad space in Search results, and the ads look similar to other results that appear when a user performs a search. 

Why Use Google Search Ads Over Other Marketing Tools?

Google Search Ads offer numerous benefits to businesses looking to explore Pay-Per-Click (PPC)  marketing. 

For instance, compared to Search Engine Optimization, which can take time to see results with and isn’t even guaranteed, Search Ads are more of a sure thing if you have a high enough budget or are bidding on less competitive keywords. 

With Google Search Ads, your budget is also highly controlled and incredibly flexible. Plus, our campaigns can be highly targeted, with success easily measured.

By the Numbers

Along with the numerous benefits we’ve already mentioned, Google Ads offer:

• 180 million monthly impressions
• Double the conversions of organic search optimization
• A click-through rate of nearly 2%

How Search Ads Work

Google Search Ads fall under the PPC umbrella. This means advertisers pay every time a user clicks or makes an impression on one of their Search ads.

Advertisers looking to start a Google Search Ad campaign must target specific keywords based on the results they want their ads to appear in. Advertisers will then bid against each other for those keywords, with the bids set at the maximum amount of money they are willing to spend per keyword.

Steps For Setting Up Your Campaigns

Getting started with Google Search Ads and launching your campaigns is actually quite simple. Just follow the steps outlined below:

1. Get Started

Start by logging into your Google Ads account. If you don’t already have an account, you’ll need to create one. Once you are set up with an account and logged in, create the campaign and select your goal.

2. Choose Your Campaign Settings

The next step is to choose who you want to target with your ads. You’ll also need to decide how you want to spend your ad budget and enhance your campaign with assets.

3. Set Up Ad Groups

Once you have chosen your campaign settings, you’ll be directed to create groups of ads that relate to what Search users who would be interested in your products are searching for using Google. Unfortunately, you are only able to use one type of ad group per campaign.

It’s important to note that there are two different ways to create ad groups – Standard and Dynamic. Standard requires you to enter keywords related to Google searches and create ads matching these keywords.

With Standard, Google will take content from your website, target specific searches, and create ads for you.

Here is an example of what an ad group may look like: An online retailer that sells specialty women’s footwear would create an ad group titled “Boots” and target keywords like “leather ankle boots” or “leather lace-up boots.” They would then create Search ads to market these products. 

4. Create Search Ads

When creating your Search ads, it’s important to ensure that your ads are relevant to your keywords. The best way to do this is to write headlines and descriptions that closely match the keywords in your ad group.

Google also recommends creating three ads per ad group minimum. 

5. Choose Your Budget

Now it’s time to determine your daily budget. This is incredibly important, as it will determine how many people will see your ad.

Your daily budget should be set as the average amount you want to spend each day.

6. Wait For Approval

Once your ads are submitted, it will typically only take one business day for them to be approved by Google.

7. Optimizing Your Campaign

Even if you are the highest bidder for your chosen keywords, your ads should still be optimized to ensure people actually click on them.

Some of the best ways to do this are to:

• Write strong, compelling ad copy focused on the benefits of your products or services
• Make sure your messaging is relevant to your brand 
• Use many different asset types
• Use multiple unique headlines and descriptions
• Test different types of messaging

Important Google Ads Terminology

• AdRank: AdRank is determined by your maximum bid and is what decides the placement of your Google Ads. A higher AdRank means your ads will appear higher in Google search results.  
• Campaign: Campaigns are a set of ad groups that share the same budget, location targeting, and other settings and are used to organize your different categories of products or services. 
• Bidding: You must compete against other advertisers for your chosen keyword, otherwise known as bidding. The bid you submit is the maximum amount of money you are willing to spend per keyword.
• Ad Extensions: Ad extensions allow you to extend your ads and add additional information.
• Keywords: These are the words or phrases you choose that best match your ads and the search terms users would search for
• Quality Score: Google ranks the quality of your ads using a Quality Score. The strength of your Quality Score helps determine your ad placement.

Work With Toronto’s Leading Google Ads Management Agency

Even after reading our guide, it’s normal to feel a bit intimidated when starting with Google Search Ads. To help set yourself up for success, contact our team of Google Ads experts for help setting up and managing your campaigns.

Consultus Digital is one of Toronto’s top Google Ads agencies and will help make the most out of your budget and ensure you are targeting the right keywords.

Get in touch with us today to get started.