If you want to reach millions of potential customers with your ads, Google Ads remains one of the most effective tools to use for any business. Previously known as Google AdWords, Google Ads helps companies connect to as many as billions of Google users on a daily basis through both text and image ads. The key is knowing how to set up and properly utilize Google Ads to get your campaigns in front of prospective customers.
The fact is that people perform 63,000 Google searches per second every day, which could lead many of these daily users to your ads. In addition, Google Ads are highly profitable, yielding a positive return on ad spend (ROAS) at a lower cost compared to other less efficient advertising tools. Again, if you want to see the best results, you need to know how to use Google Ads to its full potential, which is why we’re going to review the steps to take to set up your next campaign. When used the right way, Google Ads can supplement SEO campaigns and other efforts to extend your reach.
In this guide, you’ll find out how to develop a winning campaign that gets your ads in front of your target audiences and helps you achieve your business goals.
Set Specific Goals for Your Ads
Before you even begin setting up a Google Ads campaign, you should figure out what you want to achieve with it. Is your goal with your ads to increase brand awareness and introduce people to your business, or do you want to drive sales for a particular product or service? Remember, different goals will have different metrics associated with them to measure success. Having specific goals will help guide your campaigns and give them a specific direction.
Create Your Google Ads Account
The very first step you’ll need to take when setting up a Google Ads campaign is to visit the main Google Ads website. All you need to do to begin is to click “Start now” and set up your account. From there, simply select “Create your first campaign” to start building out your ads.
Select the Appropriate Campaign Name and Type
Once you’ve created your Google Ads account and want to get started on your first campaign, you can choose a unique name and type of campaign that you want to launch. When selecting a name for your campaign, make sure it pertains to the subject of your ads. If you’re not sure which campaign type to choose, oftentimes the best option for a brand new campaign is “Search Network only,” which will only connect your ads with sites within Google’s search network.
Choose a Geographic Location to Target With Your Ads
The next step is to select a specific area you wish to target with your campaigns, which could range from local towns to entire countries. Ultimately, the location you choose will depend on your company’s service areas and whether you’re a local, national, or international business. For instance, if you only have a single physical location and want to bring in foot traffic to your store, target your service area based on a radius that’s within a reasonable distance from your location—you may want to target one or multiple nearby cities. In other cases, you may want to market to the entire U.S., while other international companies should try to figure out which countries offer the best opportunities and target those with their ads.
Regardless of the scope of your business, make sure your locations are likely to connect with your specific target audience. Many advertisers want to simply reach as many people as possible when it’s most important to target the right people in the right locations. This is particularly crucial for smaller local businesses that only cater to certain service areas.
Establish a Realistic Budget
To yield the best possible ROAS from your paid ads, you need to set a budget that makes sense for your campaigns. When just starting out with Google Ads, start with a lower budget that won’t hurt your bottom line. Doing so will give you some room to experiment as you learn what works and what doesn’t in your campaigns. Over time, you’ll figure out how to optimize your campaigns to maximize their efficiency as you collect insights into ads’ performance and analyze the data. As your campaigns progress, you can increase or decrease your budget accordingly and ensure you stay within your means.
Keep in mind that you have multiple payment options available when setting your budget. For example, you could set up manual or automatic payments, or you can select monthly invoicing if your company qualifies for this option.
Choose the Right Keywords for Your Campaigns
With your budget in place and your target areas selected, it’s time to add keywords to your ads. Although some marketers may be tempted to include as many relevant keywords as possible, this is both inefficient and needlessly expensive. Put simply, the “spray and pray” method of advertising doesn’t work with Google Ads. What you’ll want to do instead is select specific target keywords that people are likely to enter when actively searching for your business or offerings. You also need to make sure your keywords are congruent with ads and landing pages based on search intent. Even if you can’t find a large volume of highly targeted keywords, a few effective keywords will be much more vital to include than a mountain of largely irrelevant search terms that drive neither traffic nor sales.
Build Your Ads and Track Conversions
Now that everything in your paid ad campaigns is set up and ready to go, you can create your ads. When incorporating text into your ads, be sure to include the keyword that people searched to find your ad within the ad’s headline. Below the headline, write a compelling description that further drives conversions. For instance, you could include a specific offer or list certain benefits. Also, make sure the ad corresponds to your landing page, which will further lead people down the sales funnel. Otherwise, people may wind up on a page that doesn’t answer any specific questions that your ads may get them to ask regarding your business or a particular product or service.
After creating your ads, set up conversion tracking based on the option that’s best for you. Depending on the type of conversions you want to track, you can set up:
- E-commerce orders
- Webform leads such as contact page inquiries
- Imports from offline sales
- Calls from ads or websites
Knowing which conversions to track will help you evaluate your ads’ performance based on the goals you set at the start of your campaigns.
Maximize Your Business’s Reach With Google Ads
With the help of a strong Google Ads campaign, you’ll have the chance to reach target audiences of all types and attract more high-quality leads. However, it’s important to know how to set up the perfect campaign if you want to get the best possible results. If you need some help with developing a successful campaign along with other marketing services to supercharge your efforts, get in touch with the experts at Vigor Seorchers today.
