PPC – The Secret Guide to Google Advertising
Did you know that 65% of high-intent searches result in a click on an ad?
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most effective strategies for driving qualified leads to your business. It allows you to display ads to individuals actively searching for your products or services, helping to convert them into customers.
If you’re new to PPC and Google advertising, this guide will cover everything you need to know—what it is, why it’s a worthwhile investment, and how you can get started!
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is one of the most widely-used platforms for promoting businesses, products, and services to potential customers through search results. Most of these ads follow a pay-per-click (PPC) model, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
With this model, your ad can remain visible for an extended period, but you only incur a cost when a user clicks.
Why should you run Google Ads?
There are numerous advantages for your business when using Google Ads. Here are some key benefits:
Boost your business revenue
On average, businesses see a return of $8 for every $1.60 spent on PPC ads. Google Ads offer an excellent return on investment (ROI) because they target highly relevant leads who are most likely to click and convert into customers.
Attract more qualified leads
As highlighted earlier, PPC ads are highly targeted, meaning you can reach people who are specifically looking for what you offer. This means you’re paying for leads who are more likely to make a purchase, making it a smart investment for your business.
Increase brand awareness
Even if users don’t click on your ads, Google Ads still contribute to building brand awareness. Your business will appear at the top of search results, making it more recognizable to potential customers. When they encounter your brand elsewhere, they’re more likely to engage because they’re already familiar with what you offer.
Maintain control over your budget
One of the key advantages of using Google Ads is that you have full control over your budget. There is no minimum spend required to start running ads (although the amount you invest will influence the performance of your ads). You set the budget, giving you the flexibility to make PPC work within your financial limits.
Types of Google Ads you can run
Google provides a variety of ad formats that can help you reach your ideal audience. These include:
Search Ads
Search ads appear at the top and bottom of search results for relevant queries. They allow you to connect with people actively searching for the products or services you offer.
Display Ads
Display ads show up on websites within Google’s Display Network. These visual ads help you engage with people while they browse different sites across the web.
Video Ads
These ads appear before, during, or after YouTube videos, as well as in the feed and in YouTube Shorts. Video ads are a powerful way to reach users as they watch video content on the platform.
Shopping Ads
Google Shopping Ads are displayed when users perform product-related search queries. These ads are highly effective for showcasing your products during transactional searches.
Smart Campaigns
These campaigns target specific markets with smaller, more niche audiences. They utilize AI to simplify the ad creation process, making it easier to reach your desired audience.
App Ads
If you’re looking to promote your app, app ads are designed to help increase downloads by reaching more users.
Performance Max (PMax)
PMax ads use AI to optimize your ad creatives. It analyzes your visuals, headlines, and other elements to craft the most effective ads, then displays them across platforms where they’re likely to have the greatest impact.
How to set up your first Google Ad
Ready to create your first Google Ad? Follow these steps:
- Create a Google Ads account
Visit the Google Ads website and sign up for an account. You’ll need to provide basic details about your business, including your website URL, business category, and billing information. If you’re new, click “Start Now” to begin, or sign in if you already have an account. - Set up your campaign
After your account is created, you can set up campaigns tailored to your specific business goals, such as driving website traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales. Choose the campaign type that best matches your objectives and follow the steps to configure settings like targeting and ad creatives. - Conduct keyword research
Keywords are a vital element of your PPC ads, as they help Google match your ad with relevant search queries. Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner to identify terms related to your business. Focus on long-tail keywords (those with three or more words), as they are typically less competitive, cost less, and attract more qualified leads.
Once you’ve identified your keywords, you’ll need to choose your match type. Google Ads offers several match types, ranging from the most precise to the broadest:
Broad Match
Ads may appear for searches related to your keyword.
Phrase Match
Ads may appear for searches that include the meaning of your keyword.
Exact Match
Ads may appear for searches that have the same meaning as your keyword.
Matching Types:
- Exact match: Ads will show for searches that have the exact meaning or intent as your keyword. To use exact match, enclose the keyword in brackets (e.g., [luxury watches]).
- Phrase match: Your ads will appear on searches that include the meaning of your keyword, even if the meaning is implied. To use phrase match, enclose the keyword in quotation marks (e.g., “luxury watches”).
- Broad match: Ads show for searches related to your keyword. Keywords without quotation marks or brackets are considered broad match.
When you’re just starting, it’s best to use phrase or exact match, as these provide more refined targeting, allowing you to reach more qualified traffic.
Broad Match Keywords
Broad match keywords work with Smart Bidding to help achieve your campaign goals. Using broad match keywords for your entire campaign ensures consistency and gives you access to additional settings like brand inclusions. [Learn more about broad match keywords]
- On: Use broad match keywords across your entire campaign.
- Off: Use specific keyword match types.
Pro Tip: If you plan to use exact or phrase match, make sure broad match is turned off in the campaign setup wizard (the default is “on,” which uses broad match for the entire campaign). You can disable it in the wizard to ensure other keyword match types are available.
- Write Your Ad Copy
Craft engaging ad copy that captures attention and encourages users to click. Highlight your unique selling points, promotions, or special offers to make your ads stand out from the competition.
Make sure to include a strong call to action (CTA) that motivates your audience to take the next step and continue moving through the funnel.
- Optimize Your Landing Page
Your landing page is where visitors will land after clicking on your ad. Ensure that the landing page is relevant to your ad content, loads quickly, and provides a seamless experience for both mobile and desktop users.
- Set Your Budget and Bidding Strategy
Google Ads gives you control over your advertising spend by allowing you to set a daily budget and select a bidding strategy. Your daily budget is the amount you plan to spend each day on your campaign. While Google may spend up to twice your daily budget on any given day, it won’t exceed your daily budget multiplied by 30.4 over the course of a month.
A key advantage of Google Ads is its automated bidding strategies, also known as Smart Bidding, which help you achieve the best return on your ads.
Here are some of the most commonly used Smart Bidding strategies:
- Target cost per action (CPA): This strategy helps drive conversions by targeting specific actions.
- Target return on ad spend (ROAS): If you have a specific return goal for your ads, use Target ROAS to focus on the conversion value you get from your ads.
- Maximize conversions: If your goal is to spend your entire budget and focus on conversions without targeting a specific CPA, this bidding strategy is ideal.
- Maximize conversion value: If you want to optimize for conversion value without targeting a specific ROAS, this strategy is a good fit.
- Enhanced cost per click (ECPC): If you’d like to automatically adjust your manual bids to maximize conversions, ECPC is the way to go.
- Set Up Conversion Tracking
When users interact with your ads, it’s important to understand what happens next—whether it’s a purchase, an email newsletter sign-up, or an app download. By setting up conversion tracking, you can monitor the actions users take after engaging with your ads.
To set up conversion tracking, follow these two steps:
- Create a conversion action: Navigate to Goals > Conversions in your Google Ads account. From there, you can create a new conversion action and choose where you’d like to track it—whether it’s on your website, via phone calls, or within an app. Google will guide you through the remaining setup process.
- Set up your Google tag: After creating your conversion action, you’ll need to add the Google tag to your website’s backend. You can either manually add the tag or use Google Tag Manager for easier installation. The Google Ads Help Center provides step-by-step instructions for both methods.
- Launch Your Ad
Once you’ve sorted all the details for your ad, it’s time to launch it!
How to Track Your Google Ads Performance
After launching your ad campaigns, it’s crucial to track their performance to ensure they are driving growth for your business. Google Ads gives you access to a wealth of data, including:
- Campaign type
- Average cost per view (CPV)
- Average cost per thousand impressions (CPM)
- Average cost per click (CPC)
- Clicks
- Conversion rate
You can also use third-party software to track your Google Ads campaigns if preferred.
Tips for Optimizing Your Google Ads Campaigns
Want to get the most out of your Google Ads campaigns? Follow these best practices to improve your ads:
1. Monitor and Adjust Your Bids & Strategies
Once you set your bid for Google Ads, don’t just leave it as is. Regularly monitor your bids and make adjustments based on your campaign’s performance. Increase bids on keywords that are driving high-quality traffic and conversions, and lower bids on underperforming ones.
You can also experiment with different bidding strategies to see if another approach works better for your ads. For instance, if you’ve been using Target ROAS, try switching to Maximize Conversion Value and see if that yields better results.
Keep in mind, if you switch to a new Smart Bidding strategy, your campaign will need some time to “re-learn.” Be patient and allow the system time to adjust before evaluating your results and making further decisions.
2. Use Negative Keywords
Negative keywords are essential for saving on ad spend. These are the keywords you don’t want your ad to appear for. They help prevent your ads from showing up in irrelevant searches, which can waste part of your budget.
For example, if you’re advertising luxury watches, you might add “cheap” as a negative keyword to avoid showing your ads for searches that include the term “cheap watches.”
You can view and manage your negative keywords by going to the Search Terms report under the Insights and Reports tab. This will show you what keywords have been added, excluded, or are currently receiving no action.
3. Test Ad Variations
The first version of your ad might not be the most effective one. That’s why testing ad variations is an essential part of optimizing your Google Ads performance. By testing different versions of your ads, you can identify the best-performing one and drive more revenue.
4. Test Different Keyword Match Types
With various match types available, it’s worth testing them to see which ones work best for your campaigns. You may discover that some keywords perform better than others, and adjusting the match type can help you optimize those results.
For instance, you may find that a particular keyword isn’t driving results, which could mean you need to adjust the match type to attract more qualified leads.
Keyword Match Types:
- Broad Match
- Phrase Match
- Exact Match
If you’re using broad match, you might need to narrow the targeting to phrase or exact match to achieve better results. Adjusting your keyword match types can help you maximize the effectiveness of your ad campaigns.
5. Leverage Ad Extensions
Ad extensions allow you to add extra information to your ads, encouraging users to click. This is a great way to provide your audience with the information they’re looking for and increase the chances of them engaging with your ads.
Ad extensions allow you to include additional information such as:
- Your phone number
- Details about your business (amenities, brands, services, destinations, etc.)
- Unique selling points (e.g., A+ BBB rating, customer-focused, etc.)
- An option to text your business
- Pricing information
- Your location
- Current promotions
- Sitelinks
Using these ad extensions can help you attract more clicks on your ads and achieve better results with your marketing efforts.
6.Use Custom Landing Pages
A custom landing page is crucial for keeping leads engaged once they click on your ad.
For example, if you’re advertising blue running sneakers but your landing page directs visitors to your homepage (which many businesses do), it can confuse your audience. They won’t know where to find the product you advertised, which can cause them to bounce back to the search results.
A custom landing page focused on the specific product or service you promoted in your ad is essential. It helps keep your audience focused and increases the likelihood of conversion.
Ensure Your Landing Page:
- Only includes the essential information your audience needs—overloading the page with irrelevant details can prevent conversions.
- Features a visual component relevant to what you’re advertising.
- Includes a single CTA that clearly directs your audience on the specific action you want them to take.
- Integrates your business’s branding to maintain a consistent experience.
- Provides concise, straightforward copy.
- Turn Off the Search Partners Network
When creating search ad campaigns in Google, the Search Partners Network is enabled by default. This network consists of sites that partner with Google to display ads and free product listings.
While this can help increase the reach of your Google Search ads, it can sometimes result in lower-quality traffic. If your campaign isn’t performing well, try turning off the Search Partners Network to see if performance improves.
FAQ for Google Ads
Here are some commonly asked questions about Google Ads campaigns:
How long will my ads run?
Your ads will run until your budget is exhausted. How Google uses your budget depends on your ad campaigns. On some days, Google might use up to twice your daily budget, while on other days, it might not spend the full budget. This depends on the performance of your campaigns.
You can set start and end dates for your campaigns if you want them to run during a specific time (e.g., for a limited-time promotion), or you can choose to run them continuously.
To get more granular, you can also set ad schedules to control when your ads run—only on certain days or at specific times.
How do I pause campaigns?
If you want to temporarily pause a campaign, follow these steps:
- Log into your Google Ads account.
- Click the Campaigns icon.
- Select Ads.
- Click the green dot next to the ad or ad group you wish to pause.
- From the menu, select Pause.
What Should I Do if an Ad Isn’t Performing Well?
If your ad isn’t performing as expected, you have several options:
- Make small adjustments to the ad, such as tweaking the copy, updating ad extensions, etc., to improve performance.
- Double-check that you’re targeting the right keywords and audience—it could be underperforming because you’re not reaching the right people.
- Pause the campaign to reassess your approach and see if a fresh perspective can improve results.
- Stop the campaign and reallocate the budget to more successful ads.
You’re Ready to Start Using Google Ads!
Now that you’ve gone through this guide, you’re ready to set up your account and launch your first Google Ads campaign!
If you’re still feeling unsure about launching a Google Ads campaign, the experts at DigiTotal are here to help. Feel free to contact us to learn how we can help you launch Google Ads campaigns that drive revenue growth for your business!