Launch your first campaign on Google! Read this step-by-step guide.by Tyson !

As you browse the internet, use mobile apps, read your email, or shop online, you see ads. Google shows ads on Google products like Search, YouTube, and Gmail. Google's ad network also shows ads on 2+ million non-Google websites and apps. It is one of many ad networks that can personalize ads based on your online activity.

On Google, Ads are based on personalization. 

Ads that Google shows can be personalized based on many factors, like the types of websites you visit or mobile apps you've installed. If ad personalization is off, ads may still use non-personal data, such as your general location or the topics on the website or app you're looking at.

Where personalization comes from

Google can show you ads based on many factors, including:

• Types of websites you visit, and mobile apps you have on your device
• Cookies on your browser and the settings in your Google Account
• Websites and apps you’ve visited that belong to businesses that advertise with Google
• Your activity on another device
• Previous interactions with Google’s ads or advertising services
• Your Google Account activity and information

Click on this link to understand what type of content you consume and see ads on that basis. 

https://adssettings.google.com/authenticated?hl=en  

Benefits of online advertising

There's a lot that's different about online advertising compared to traditional advertising like newspapers, TV ads, or billboards. From the options below, choose the statement that's a true benefit of online advertising. The correct answer will reveal even more ways Google Ads can benefit your business.

Running online ads has no impact on where your website appears in organic search results. Organic search results are determined by how relevant a website is to what someone searches for. The more relevant the site is to the person's search term (among other factors), the higher the link can appear in the list.

Google Ads doesn't require a minimum budget. However, we recommend new advertisers start with an average budget of $5 to $50 per day so that your ads have more opportunities to show to potential customers.

With Google Ads, you decide how much you're comfortable spending and set your budget accordingly. This makes online advertising accessible to businesses with limited advertising budgets.

That's right! When you advertise online with Google Ads, you can use different targeting methods to reach potential customers right when they're searching for your products or services. This can help make sure you're putting your advertising dollars towards reaching only the people most likely to become your customers.

When you advertise alongside search results on the Google Search Network, you select keywords to help target your ads to people searching for related terms. You can also choose to show your ads at certain times of day, and specify a location and language.

When you advertise on websites that show Google ads (called the Google Display Network), you can get even more specific by choosing the age of the people you want to reach, the types of sites they visit, and their areas of interest.

Here are a few more key benefits of advertising online with Google Ads:

Control your budget

You decide how much you want to spend, and pay only when someone clicks on your ad.

Know what works

Quickly track your ad's effectiveness and easily make changes to improve results.

Reach more people in more places

Connect with customers no matter where they are—on their computers, tablets, mobile phones, even in apps!

Tailor ads to your goals

Take advantage of different ad formats and features to customize your ads to your different business goals, like adding a clickable "Call" button to your ads to get more phone calls, or using video ads to showcase your brand.

Ads on Google will only show on the top or bottom of organic search results with an ad label. Ads will never appear within the organic search results themselves.

How much you're willing to pay for your ad could impact where your ad appears in relation to other ads when a person searches for a particular term. However, your payment will have no impact on the organic search results that person's search produces.

Must-Have's on a website - 

A good website is a must for using google ads. But what makes a good website? Let's check out some points 

- feature Images and videos to engage.

- Clear and bright CTA - Call-To-Action

- Listing optimum information and state the benefits clearly

- Write eye-catching headlines

- Make website mobile optimized as most people use mobile for transactions

- Make it accessible for your visitors to find the most important information you want them to read

- Navigation through the website should be easy and quick providing common links to your products or information pages

- Put contact information on the website as well, be open and bold enough to share your business information, use 3rd party apps and websites to make the website interactive and engaging, use 

MyBusiness free listing service of Google, and links to your social media pages as well. 

Difference between ads and "organic" search results

Let's say you're advertising your products or services with Google Ads, Google's online advertising platform. When someone conducts a Google search for terms related to your business, your ad can appear on the top or bottom of the Google search results page with an ad label. Your ad's placement is primarily based on how relevant and useful it is to what the person searched for, your bid, and a few other factors.

The other section of the page shows "organic" search results. These are unpaid links to websites with content related directly to what the person searched for. The more relevant the site is to the search term, the higher the link will appear in the list. Your related website could appear here, but your ad won't. 

How Google Ads works

Your ad can appear when someone searches for terms related to your product or service, or when they're on a website with content related to your business. How does this work?

Keywords connect you with customers

Keywords are words or phrases you choose when you set up your Google Ads campaign. These are terms you think your potential customers are likely to use when searching for products or services like yours.

By matching your keywords with the ads you create, you make it possible for your ad to show when someone searches for similar terms or visits a website with related content.

For example, if you deliver fresh vegetables, you could use fresh vegetable delivery as one keyword paired with an ad promoting fresh vegetable delivery. When someone searches Google using the phrase fresh flower delivery or a similar term, your ad might appear next to Google search results, or on other websites related to fresh flower delivery.

Determine your keywords and enter the ad auction

So how does Google Ads determine which ads should show? It all happens with a lightning-fast ad auction, which takes place every time someone searches on Google or visits a site that shows ads.

Google Ads calculates a score, called Ad Rank, for every ad in the auction. Ad Rank determines your ad position and whether your ads are eligible to show at all. Generally, the ad with the highest Ad Rank appears in the top position, and the ad with the second-highest Ad Rank appears in the second position (when ads meet the relevant thresholds). You can think of Ad Rank as having five factors:

• Your bid - When you set your bid, you're telling Google Ads the maximum amount you're willing to pay for a click on your ad. How much you actually end up paying is often less, and you can change your bid at any time.
• The quality of your ads and landing page - Google Ads also looks at how relevant and useful your ad and the website it links to are to the person who'll see it. Our assessment of the quality of your ad is summarized in your Quality Score (Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. Higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better ad positions.), which you can monitor—and work to improve—in your Google Ads account.
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• Ad Rank thresholds - To help ensure high-quality ads, we set a minimum amount for keyword bidding, that an ad must meet to show in a particular ad position.
• Search context - With the ad auction, context matters. When calculating Ad Rank, it is determined by looking at the search terms the person has entered, geographical location at the time of the search, type of device used (such as computers or mobile phones), the other ads and search results that show on the page, and other user signals and attributes.
• The expected impact from your ad extensions and other ad formats - When creating an ad, you have the option to add additional information to your ads, such as a phone number, or more links to specific pages on your site. These are called ad extensions. Google Ads estimates how extensions and other ad formats you use will impact your ad's performance.

How do you Pay?

With cost-per-click (CPC), you're charged only when someone is interested enough to click your ad and go to your website. You tell Google Ads the most you're willing to pay for a click on your ad (called the maximum cost-per-click bid), but you could be charged less.

You have control over your Google Ads budget. You decide the average amount you want to spend each day. On the days when your ad is more popular, Google Ads will allow up to twice your average daily budget so you won't miss out on those valuable clicks. But don't worry, over the course of a month, you won’t be charged more than your average daily budget times the average number of days in a month (30.4).

For campaigns where you pay for conversions(another type of ads service that Google provides), your daily spend may exceed your average daily budget by more than 2 times.

Assuming you know how ads work on Google, let's move on to another set.

Which online marketing option is right for you?

When we advertise with Google Ads, we make a financial investment in your business. But it takes more than just money to see success. It's also vital that you invest time to regularly check in on your Google Ads account and make adjustments until you're satisfied with your return on investment.

Let's take a look at efforts other than financial investment is required. 

Time 

Plan for at least once or daily or even monthly to your  Ads account. More time you invest on your ads more you get to know regarding the platform and plan strategically and incur ROI and boost performance.

Now let's create our first campaign on Search Network of Google. 

Step 1 : Pick your goal

Be ready to question yourself what success means to you. Meaning what is the objective you're using the Ads for and what could term it is accomplished. It is important because you are managing your own campaign and design the metrics for that success. 

Select your campaign objectives from the list Leads, Calls Only, Website reach, Sales, Product Consideration or Video. You name your objective Google has it. 

Example of a goal can be I want to achieve Rs 1 lakh in sales. The metric I can define is I can invest only Rs 10,000 for generating sales of Rs 1 lakh and that too within 1 week. 

Over a period of time when you start your campaign, you can make the changes according to reach your goals and understand in depth using analytics. 

Step 2 : Map your locations geographically 

Location targeting helps you reach people in certain locations and people who are interested in those locations. You can either select a whole city or select a specific location or a pin code and set a radius around it. 

Step 3 : Build your Bid Strategy and budget

Most of the advertisers use automated bid strategy which Google does through its algorithms and which works perfetly good. Experts and those who have a good knowledge about bidding handpick the bid strategies.

Example, advertisers considering sales, use Maximise Conversions and 

Advertisers considering more and more no. of clicks use Maximise clicks. 

But you can also create a portfolio of your bid strategy acrossthe campaign. 

Step 4: Working on Ads and Ad Groups

The next step after bidding and strategy is creating Adgroups, these are a group os keywords who share the same idea of the origin. 

Example, a shoe company can use keywords related to discounts, keywords related to sales, keywords related to brands, related to color and may combinations like that. Adgroups helps you create a specific group of keywords for creating relevant ads to that Adgroup.  

Make it a best practice that you have a minimum of 3 adgroups and at least 3 ads for each adgroup. Its helpful in getting an insight as to what keywords and ad content is working to drive sales.

Step 5 Create Ads

Keep some basic things in mind, which would be helpful in creating good ad content

- Focus on mobiles

- Make your ads relevant to your audience and the type of keywords you use. 

- Include keywords in your ad content as well. 

- be specific towards the product you want to promote so that you don't get wrong audience on your website. 

- Ads should be in understanding with Landing pages

Step 6 - Add Extensions

Extensions are additional links given to the ad which can be used for linking different sections of your website. There are numerous extension types avaible but broadly classfified into 3 categories. 

- Sitelink extensions. Direct people to specific pages on your website—your store hours, a specific product, or more. When someone clicks or taps on your links, they can skip right to what they want to know or buy. For example, if you run a bicycle shop, you’d display the link “City bicycles” and set that sitelink URL as your page that shows your city bicycles. To make it more likely that your sitelinks show with your ads, add at least 4 sitelinks (for example: Hours, City bicycles, Electric bicycles, Contact us)

- Callouts. Callouts give you more space to add text. When customers see your ads with callouts, they see a larger ad with more detailed information about your business, products, and services. To make it more likely that your callouts show with your ads, add at least 4 callouts (for example: Free Shipping, New Arrivals Are Here, Extended Sizes, New Customer Discount. 

Structured snippets. Entice users by highlighting specific aspects of your products and services in your ads. Structured snippets show underneath your ad text in the form of a header and list (for example: “Destinations: Hawaii, Costa Rica, South Africa”).

Step 7: Understand your campaign and engage with it

To purposefully understand your campaigns install a conversion tracking code in your website which helps you know how many people came to your website and how much sales generated. This is by linking your Analytics and Ads account and some settings in place(we will discuss in another section of the blog)

As said earier, check the performance at least, once in a day, once in a week, or once in a month. preferably once in a week.