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How do Google ads work?

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How do Google ads work? Imagine that you put up an enticing billboard ad in front of a crowd of three billion people in a day. Even if only a quarter of that crowd becomes interested in your offer, your ad expenses are still worth it. That’s exactly how Google Ads works. The only difference is that it’s less expensive than billboard advertising.  

What are Google Ads?

As the largest search engine, Google processes 3.5 billion searches a day. You can reach out to this large market of online searchers (or even just a part of it) by capitalizing on the power of Google Ads.

Google Ads is an online advertising platform where marketers and business owners can pay to display brief advertisements, product listings, and other service offerings anywhere in the Google network. You only have to pay whenever a user clicks on your ad, making advertising in this platform cost-efficient.

How Do Ads Appear on Google?

Your brand is seen across the web through various types of ads that Google Ads offers:

  • Search Ads

Search ads appear on top or next to organic search results on Google. With these ads, you can reach out to your target consumers at the exact moment when they need a product/service like yours.

  • Display Ads

Display ads in the form of texts and banners help you show up on Gmail and other websites and apps in the Google network. To put it simply, your ad can show up where your customers are.

  • Video Ads

YouTube operates as one of Google’s subsidiaries, and it is arguably the biggest video sharing site today. Broadcast your brand’s story in front of millions of YouTube users through video ads.

  • App Ads

If you have mobile apps for your business, promote them by running ads across the entire Google network. Let Google Ads help you find the best app users and connect with your target consumers.

No matter which type of ads you pick, it will appear on Google. The question here, however, is how long you can make your ad stay on the Google network, for it to bring enough traffic or leads to your website?

If you have a huge budget, you can run your ad for as long as you want. But that doesn’t mean it would drive a lot of traffic or qualified prospects to your website for that entire period. You still need to do specific and smart strategies to make sure your ads appear in front of the right audience, at the right time.  

How Can You Capitalize on Google Ads?

Before you look to capitalize on the power of Google ads, it’s a good idea to find out how your site is currently performing with an SEO audit. Google is a user-focused search engine. It analyzes the search intent of a user before it suggests web pages that are likely to satisfy the query of the user. That’s how organic search results are generated. Google does the same with advertisements: your ad is more likely to show up if it matches the search query. However, other factors can affect your ad’s performance: ad budget and Quality Score.

Since Google strives to satisfy its users, Google Ads works with a focus on keywords. You can choose keywords your ad can target. These keywords should be relevant to your business and are most likely to use by people when searching for a product or service like yours. Then, you bid on these keywords based on how much you are willing to pay for a Google user to click on your advertisement.

That bid, along with a Quality Score assigned by Google based on the quality of your ad, determines the likelihood of your ad appearing on search engine results pages (SERPs) for queries related to your target keywords. So even if you have deep pockets and don’t mind bidding high, your ad won’t show up in the right places if it is not top-quality and you fail to choose the right keywords.

To make sure you gain more than what you invest in Google Ads, here are a few simple, actionable tips:

  • Set Low Cost-Per-Clicks (CPCs) and Daily Budgets

When launching new ads, it’s hard to gauge how much traffic your ads will drive to your site and how fast you’ll use up your ad budget. You don’t want to blow hundreds or thousands of dollars in the first few days of your ad campaign without enough conversions to make your ad spend worthwhile.  

It is recommended to set your daily budget and CPC (the bid on each keyword) low. It will help you prevent spending too much while you monitor how your ad performs based on your keyword targeting.

  • Optimize Ad Copy

Your ad copy should not only be engaging to attract the right audience. But it also needs to be keyword-optimized. Say, you want your fast-casual pizza restaurant ad to attract college students in Connecticut. Other than targeting relevant keywords like “fast-casual pizza in Connecticut” or “affordable pizza in Connecticut” in your Google Ads campaign, make sure your ad copy bears those keywords. Remember, your ad and the search intent of a Google user should match so that your ad shows up on SERPs.  

  • Monitor and Test Ad Campaigns

Like any other digital marketing effort, running campaigns on Google Ads requires testing and tracking. It is not a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of situation. It provides instant results — high website traffic and qualified prospects — if you use the right strategy. And you won’t know if your strategy works or if you need to adjust it if you don’t monitor and test your ad campaigns.

Sure, running advertisements through Google Ads is cost-efficient. After all, you only have to pay whenever someone clicks on your ad. But if you want your ad to show up in the right places where your target consumers would click on it, then you need to do more than setting up a Google Ads campaign. You have to manage it using industry-proven, results-driven, and customized strategies.

Want to learn more about Google Ads? Don’t hesitate to give us a call today.

What’s stopping you from using Google ads to grow your business? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Canalestech is an SEO agency in Tolland Connecticut offering cost-effective solutions to small and medium businesses. We provide a full SEO arsenal to help our clients achieve long-term online success.

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