How to Advertise on Google & Boost Your Business in 2022

There’s a lot of buzz about advertising and search engine optimization, but what does it mean for business owners to succeed in 2020? It takes careful planning. This guide will teach you the best practices that are currently working on Google.

Google advertising is a cost-effective pay-per-click advertising platform that allows companies to appear alongside top-ranking search results for certain keywords, generating leads and increasing sales. To advertise on Google, create a Google Ads Manager account, click “+” to begin the new campaign creation process, and finish all stages by following the instructions.

What Are Google Ads and How Do They Work?

Google Advertisements (previously Google AdWords) is a pay-per-click advertising platform that allows companies to build and execute search and display ads on their own. The only distinction between search advertising and regular search results is the little word “Ad” in green.

In the search results, an example of Google Ads

How Does Google Adwords Work?

Google Advertisements are a kind of search engine marketing that is a component of Google’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform, which allows companies to develop, run, and manage ads using the company’s self-service ads manager. Businesses produce text-only advertisements, which are subsequently presented in search results depending on a variety of parameters such as relevant keywords and ad content, device kinds, time of day, and user location. Advertisers are only compensated when consumers click on their advertisements.

Advertisers should begin by registering with Google Ads Manager. Then, on the Ads Manager site, click the “+” symbol to begin the process of creating a new campaign. You’ll be asked to complete all essential ad creation stages here, including entering your daily budget, selecting a location, selecting target keywords, modifying basic ad settings, and lastly composing your Google ad.

Google will assess your ad when you’ve completed the new campaign creation procedure. It usually takes roughly 24 hours to do this task. Your ad will be accepted and go live if it does not breach any of Google’s advertising regulations. It will then be eligible to appear in search results depending on the keywords you’ve selected and the campaign parameters you’ve defined. Advertisers may make changes to their ads after they go live, such as changing keywords, adjusting the budget, or suspending the campaign.

A good Google Ad campaign considers what consumers are looking for when they’re looking for it, and what ad content would appeal to them the most. By targeting customers who are ready to purchase, a Google Ad may dramatically improve conversions and sales for your company if it is well-designed and executed.

In ten easy steps, learn how to advertise on Google.

Following the “new campaign” creation procedure, which leads users through each step, users may set up Google ad campaigns in as few as 10 steps. To get started, go to Google Ads Manager and click the “+” symbol to start a new campaign. After that, choose an objective, a campaign type, and a network. After that, build ad groups, develop advertisements, validate and launch your campaign, and then monitor and optimize it.

Companies like Hibu can assist you if you don’t have the time or resources to build and run your Google Ad campaign (or just want to leave it to the pros). Hibu is a Google Premier Partner that specializes in personalized search engine marketing — allowing you to target particular keywords and audiences — as well as website design to maximize conversions from search traffic.

If you’d rather manage your campaign yourself, here’s how to set up a Google Ads campaign in 10 easy steps:

1. Log in to Google Ads Manager & Create New Campaign

Begin by signing in to Google Ads Manager to Create a new AdWords campaign on Google. Visit Google to create a Google Ads Manager account if you don’t already have one. Navigate to the “Campaigns” option on the left-hand vertical menu once in Google Ads Manager. Find and click the “Create” button in the top left-hand corner of the screen on the campaigns tab, then choose “New Campaign” from the drop-down selections.

Create a new AdWords campaign on Google.

2. Select Your Marketing Goal & Campaign Type

The first stage in creating a new ad campaign is to decide on a marketing target. Sales, leads, website traffic, product and brand consideration, brand recognition and reach, and app promotion are the six marketing objectives now in place. By choosing the last option, “Create a campaign without a goal’s direction,” you may avoid picking a marketing objective.

It’s worth noting that Google search advertising has three alternatives (sales, leads, and website traffic) while Google search and display networks have six objectives. Each has its own set of applications.

The six marketing goals available for Google Ad campaigns are as follows:

• Sales (search): Using search, display, video, shopping, and smart advertisements, generate sales via Google Ads online, in-store, over the phone, or in-app by phone.
• Leads (search): Use search, display, video, commerce, and smart adverts to generate leads by encouraging people to do a certain action.
• Website traffic (search): Use search, display, retail, and video adverts to increase the number of visits to your website.
• Product and brand consideration: Use display and video advertising to get people to learn more about your services and goods.
• Brand awareness and reach: Increase brand awareness by employing display and video advertisements to reach a larger audience.
• App promotion: Use app adverts to increase app interactions and installations.

After you’ve chosen your objective, you’ll be asked to choose your campaign type. Click “Continue” after selecting “Search” to generate text adverts that appear inside Google search results.

Then choose your conversion point, or how you want to get to your Google advertising target. The alternatives shown to you will be depending on the aim you chose before. If you choose “Leads” as your target, you’ll be offered the options of website visits, phone calls, store visits, app downloads, and leads from submissions. You may choose from a variety of possibilities. Then, depending on the choices you choose, fill in the appropriate information.

3. Create Campaign Name & Select Network

Create a campaign name and choose your advertising network on the next page. Your campaign name is only visible to you, so choose a name that will help you remember which advertisements are which. Then choose between search (text-based advertisements that show inside Google search results) and display advertising networks (banner ads that appear on third-party sites). For the greatest ad control, those new to Google advertising should start with the search network.

4. Choose your audience targeting options.

You’ll be invited to enter your audience targeting selections by location and language on the next page. You may also utilize the “Search,” “Browse,” and “Ideas” tabs under the “Audiences” section to enter more complex audience options, such as affinity audiences, interests, and general user demographics.

Choose the location(s) you want to target.

You’ll be asked to choose the location(s) where you want your ad to appear on this screen. You may choose from all nations, the United States and Canada, the United States just, or particular areas, such as states or cities. To guarantee that your advertising is seen by the proper individuals, be precise with your geographical targeting. If you’re targeting a particular local market, for example, it wouldn’t make sense to show your ad throughout the whole United States.

Advertisers may opt to target certain places as well as exclude specific regions. For example, a Delaware-based commercial construction business targets Delaware since it provides services across the state. However, there are a few places where it does not provide services, thus those cities are excluded. To do so, go to “Find a different place” and use the search box to find the location you wish to omit, then pick “Exclude” from the choices that show beneath it.

Make use of radius targeting (Optional)

Use the “Advanced search” option to have additional control over your location targeting technique. By selecting “Radius targeting,” you may target people within a particular radius. This is especially important for brick-and-mortar companies that want to ensure that their advertisements only appear to those who are near enough to visit them. Set your radius to 10 miles, for example, if you know that most people will not go more than 10 miles to see you.

Setup Location Input

To expand location settings, click the drop-down arrow beneath “Location choices.” Choose from “people in, or who show interest in, your targeted areas (preferred),” “people in, or who frequently visit, your targeted locations,” and “people looking for your targeted places” for your advertising. You may also select to omit places, which is useful if you don’t want your adverts to appear in certain areas.

Languages to Choose From (Optional)

Select the languages spoken by your target audience, or clients, once you’ve configured your location targeting. Click the “Enter a language” textbox to do so. You’ll see a selection of alternatives where you may choose the language(s) in which your clients communicate.

Google Ads allows you to choose from a variety of languages.

Set up Targeting Audiences (Optional)

Configuring audience targeting is the last stage in ad targeting. This allows advertisers to target consumers not just based on their location, but also on their hobbies and demographics like education level and marital status. See whether there is any audience targeting options accessible in the search, browse, or ideas sections to assist your adverts show to eligible people. If so, pick them; otherwise, go to the next step.

Options for audience targeting in Google Ads

5. Set Your Budget & Bidding

Set your daily ad budget, which is the maximum amount you want to spend each day on your Google ad. While there is no minimum daily ad spend requirement, $10 per day is a fair starting point for new marketers. Then, choose your bid strategy by focusing on one of the following types of ad interactions: conversions (preferred), conversion value, clicks, or impression share.

6. Design ad extensions

Set up your ad extensions next. These are extra lines of text that show underneath your advertisement. Ad extensions don’t cost anything more, and they not only provide your ad more real estate, but they also give consumers more alternatives and value, resulting in more effective advertisements. By using the right-hand drop-down arrow, you may add extensions that are related to what you’re promoting. When you’re done, go to the bottom left-hand corner and click the “Save and Continue” button.

Ad extensions may be added to a Google Ad campaign.

7. Set Up Ad Groups & Keywords

The next step is to create ad groups when you’ve completed all of the campaign settings. These are categorized by product or service and tagged with a common set of keywords. For example, a dental practice may be launching a Google advertising campaign to advertise its new range of teeth whitening services, so it creates separate ad groups for laser whitening and gel whitening treatments, each with its own set of keywords.

Create Google Ads ad groups.

Keywords to Consider

Next, select the terms or phrases that users enter into Google when they are using the search engine. When setting up your ad, you can choose which keywords you want to cause it to display. Google will suggest keywords for you to use based on your website content, and will also let you know how popular a keyword is. You will also need to select your keyword match types and input negative keywords to tell Google when not to display your ad.

“If your competition is too fierce, go for more targeted or alternate keywords. Instead of ’email client,’ for example, try ’email client for Windows.’ You’re deliberately targeting those seeking a Windows email client in this manner. Although these keywords have lesser search traffic, they reflect a market segment that your rivals are overlooking. Your cost-per-click will be reduced, and you’ll have a better chance of reaching the correct folks.”

― Dave Power, Hiri’s Founder

Types of Keyword Matches

Select match kinds next. Google Ads employs keyword match types to decide when your ad should appear based on different keyword combinations. For example, if a person searches “white tennis sneakers” or “white shoes for tennis” for your keywords of “white tennis shoes,” your ad will appear.

There is four distinct keyword matching possibilities available to you:

• Broad match: This is the default match type for your keywords, and it will reach the largest audience of all the match types. This may seem to be a good thing, but since your ad may appear when a search query contains any of your keywords in any sequence (including synonyms), it may appear on searches that aren’t truly relevant.
• Broad match modifier: This option provides you a bit more control than broad match since it allows you to lock certain keywords in place. Simply use a “+” in front of a term to tell Google that the search must contain that word in order for your ad to appear. For example, if your Dallas restaurant just serves pizza and no other dishes, you could want to bid on the term “+pizza in Dallas” so that your ad doesn’t show up when someone searches for “Dallas restaurant.”
• Phrase match: This option gives you a little more control. To activate your ad using phrase match, search phrases must be in the same sequence as your keywords, but other words may be before or after the phrase. So, if your keyword is “Dallas restaurant,” your ad won’t show up when someone searches for “restaurant Dallas,” but it could show up if they search for “best Dallas restaurant.” You must use quote marks around the phrase in order to tell Google that you want a phrase to match.
• Exact match: This option does exactly what it says. Someone must search the precise terms in the same sequence, with no other words before or after, in order for your ad to appear. As a result, if you wish to put an exact match on “Dallas restaurant,” your ad will not appear for searches like “best Dallas restaurant” or “restaurant in Dallas.” If you want a precise match, you’ll need to place brackets around the phrase (e.g., [dallas restaurant]).

Those selling a generic product or service (for example, hiking boots) with a wide variety of items and prices may use broad match since their ad will be relevant whether someone is searching for top-of-the-line hiking boots for adults or inexpensive hiking boots for kids. A firm promoting a particular product (for example, high-end hiking boots for kids) would wish to use a tighter match type to prevent advertisements for unrelated search phrases.

Google Ads Keyword Match Types

For their keywords, small company owners should employ a mix of these matching kinds. Broad and phrase matches are nice places to start. Broad match will generate the most clicks for the lowest cost-per-click (CPC); nevertheless, advertising may appear for fewer relevant search phrases, resulting in lower-quality clicks. The exact match will get the most relevant clicks, but at a higher CPC and with a lesser number of clicks.

Negative keywords should be included

Negative keywords are the polar opposite of regular keywords in that they inform Google when your ad should not be shown. A firm that manufactures high-end garage doors, for example, may use “cheap” as a negative keyword to prevent their ad from being seen by someone looking for a low-cost garage door. Another example is a marketing firm that uses “jobs” as a negative term to ensure that their ad does not appear when consumers search for “marketing agency jobs.”

Consider the many methods by which consumers could look for your keywords. Make a note of all irrelevant keywords and add them to your negative keyword list. Another strategy to prevent spending ad spend on low-quality inquiries is to examine your search terms on a regular basis and add irrelevant phrases to your negative keyword list.

“You want to employ negative keywords so that your advertisements don’t show up for searches that include phrases you don’t want to show up for.” Most small firms, for example, don’t want their advertising to appear for a keyword that contains the words ‘free’ or ‘cheap.’”

— Collin J. Slattery, Taikun, Inc. Founder

8. Create Your Own Ads

Writing your Google ad is the last stage. This is how your ad will show in search results on Google. Two headlines (or a headline and a subheadline) plus a description are required. Because you only have a certain amount of characters for each—30 for the headline and 90 for the description—make sure your ad is brief and to the point.

Create a new Google Adwords campaign.

It’s not simple to create an appealing ad that pulls people in and encourages them to click. Within a restricted amount of characters, you must clearly define your offer, what your company does, and give consumers a reason to click your ad. To maximize the probability that your ad will be clicked, utilize your keywords in the ad content, use local identifiers, make your offer and call to action (CTA) obvious, and employ ad-relevant extensions. Click “save and continue” after you’re through composing your advertising.

When crafting your Google ad, keep the following six points in mind:

• Include your keywords in your ad: You must use the same keywords in your ad that you are bidding on so that Google can identify whether the ad is relevant to user queries.
• Use local identifiers: If you’re looking for a local company, you should think about employing location phrases. If someone searches for “bbq Dallas,” your ad with the title “Best BBQ in Dallas” is more likely to appear in the search results and will be extremely relevant to someone seeking a restaurant in your region.
• Clearly define your services: The user should understand what your company does and how you can assist them to find what they’re searching for right away. If you run a business with a variety of items, make sure your ad matches the terms people are searching for.
• Give people a cause to click on your advertisement: On the first page of a Google search, there are several results. You must explain why customers should select your company. Are you more cost-effective, dependable, or dependable? Do you have a lot of positive feedback and ratings? Include that information in your advertisement.
• Have a clear call to action: If users are given instructions on how to proceed, they are more likely to click on the ad. “Call now for a free quotation” or “Enter your ZIP code to locate retailers near you” are two examples.
• Include a promotion: For example, “20 percent off shoes today!” or “Free delivery!” might be included. It’s reasonable if you don’t want to provide a discount on top of the advertising fee, but even a modest discount may bring in a new consumer.

Before you start creating your advertising, do a quick search for your sort of company and observe what kinds of ads show up. You don’t want to imitate other companies’ commercials verbatim, but you may get a sense of what works and what’s available. Create distinct mobile advertisements with mobile-specific elements such as a click-to-call CTA and ad content that is exact to suit a tiny mobile screen.

9. Confirm & Launch Your Campaign

The last step is to confirm and launch your new campaign. To do so, you’ll be invited to examine and confirm your campaign’s information, including the start and finish dates. After an ad review, which normally takes less than 24 hours, your campaign will be live on its scheduled start date. If you haven’t filled out your payment information yet, you’ll need to do so before your campaign can go live. To see it on your dashboard, click “Continue to Campaign.”

After you’ve finished constructing your campaign, go to the bottom of the window and click the “Continue” button. If you haven’t already, you’ll be requested to evaluate your campaign, make any required adjustments, and enter your payment information. Launch or schedule your campaign to go live when you’re ready. Google reviews all new campaigns to verify they comply with all criteria, which takes around 24 hours.

10. Monitor & Optimize Your Ad

Begin monitoring your advertising after Google has approved your ad campaign and it has gone live. Start by looking at metrics like impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and conversions in Google Ads Manager’s ad campaign analytics. Examine your quality scores once you’ve given your campaign some time. Then look at the whole campaign’s performance and tweak your ad to make it better.

Here’s how to keep track of and improve your Google ad:

Examine Your Quality Rating

Each ad term receives a quality score from Google, which ranges from one to ten and is based on the likelihood of a click-through rate, ad relevancy, and landing page experience. This score, in essence, reflects how well your ad corresponds with a given keyword, determining its overall quality and relevancy to searchers. This is how Google determines ad placement and CPCs.

Google will give each of your keywords a quality score based on the following factors:

• Expected click-through rate (CTR): The likelihood of someone clicking on your ad after searching for the term.
• The degree to which the keyword is relevant to your ad.
• Landing page experience: The keyword’s relationship to the landing page or website to which your ad connects.

By going to your account’s keywords tab and adding the “Quality score” column, you can verify the quality score of your keywords. To assess how your ad will rank, Google multiplies your quality score by your bid. If your quality score is 9 out of 10 and your keyword bid is $1, you will most likely rank better than someone who has a quality score of 4 out of 10 and bids $2.

This is how the formula would appear:

(0.9 x $1) = 0.9 > (0.4 x $2) = 0.8

Google Ads Quality Score

“The Quality Score is a useful feature in Google Advertising for determining how relevant your ads and landing page are to the keywords for which you’re bidding. Typically, a decent quality score is between 7 and 10.”

— David Erickson, VP of Online Marketing, Karwoski & Courage

Examine the campaign’s overall performance.

Impressions, click-through rate, the average cost per click, and average conversion rate are all things to consider when evaluating your campaign’s effectiveness. Each of these KPIs corresponds to various aspects of your ad, ranging from the language to the offer or call to action (CTA).

When analyzing your Google Ads performance, keep the following metrics in mind:

• Impressions: Each time your ad shows on a search results page, it receives an impression. Take note of the number of impressions your ad receives; if it receives a low number of impressions, make sure your bid is competitive and the keywords you picked to bid on are relevant to your ad and landing page.
• The click-through rate (CTR) is calculated by dividing the number of ad clicks by the number of impressions. Out of everyone who views your ad, this percentage tells you how many people actually click on it. Click-through rates vary by industry, however, if your CTR is less than 1%, you should reconsider your ad’s language. Make sure the ad is appealing and provides a compelling incentive to click on it.
• The entire money spent for your ad divided by the total number of clicks is the average cost-per-click (CPC). This pricing indicates how much you will pay if someone clicks on your ad. The rate at which visitors to your site regularly convert into purchases is used to determine whether you have a reasonable CPC.
• Conversion rate: This is your most important KPI since it informs you how many people who saw your ad take the desired action, such as filling out a form or completing a purchase. If you have a high click-through rate but a poor conversion rate, your landing page is most likely the problem.

Building and running a Google ad is the first step toward Google advertising success, but you must actively analyze and tweak your ad on a regular basis to boost conversions and your return on ad spend. Keep in mind your objectives and how the indicators listed above may assist you in achieving them. Also, check your Google Ads Manager statistics multiple times a week to ensure that your ad is performing as expected.

Cost of Google Adwords

Google Ads is a pay-per-click advertising network, which means you only pay if your ad is clicked. The total cost-per-click (CPC) is determined by your ad keywords and a variety of campaign variables. While the average cost per click (CPC) across all businesses is $2.69, CPCs may range anywhere from $1 to over $10. Here are some industry statistics, as well as a method for estimating your ad expenditure and a low-cost PPC advertising option.

CPCs on Google (Average) by Industry in 2019

Keep in mind that competition, time of day, and location greatly influence your CPC. For example, if you are a real estate agent in a small town, you might be able to bid less than $1 per click on a keyword and still have your ad show on Google. However, if you own a medical malpractice law firm in a big city, the cost per click will be much more expensive.

How to Estimate Your Cost of Google Adwords

When someone searches for certain keywords, you may utilize Google’s Keyword Planner tool to check how much the proposed bids are for your ad. Instead of concentrating just on the expense of advertising, consider how much you stand to gain from advertising on Google and if this will result in a significant profit for your company.

A malpractice business, for example, could be delighted to spend $30 for a click on their ad if one out of every ten hits results in a new customer. Even though they are spending $300 for a new customer, their service costs are so high that they will almost certainly profit from the ad at the end of the day.

Using a Google Adwords Alternative to Cut Costs

Google Ads isn’t the only paid search advertising platform available, nor is it the cheapest. While Google Ads does provide free promotional coupons for new marketers, it may be more cost-effective to examine other solutions for your company.

Microsoft Advertising (previously Bing Ads), for example, has a CPC of $1.54, making it a more effective ad platform for certain marketers, especially those targeting an older or richer population. It’s worth experimenting with Microsoft Ads to see whether it’s a better way to spend your marketing dollars. When you purchase $25, you’ll get $100 in Microsoft Advertising credit.

What Factors Does Google Use to Determine Ad Rank?

In order to select which competing bidder’s ad gets shown in relevant search results, Google utilizes an algorithm. While Google Ads is a form of auction, the top ad spot does not always go to the highest bidder. Instead, Google assesses how excellent a search result from your ad is for a person doing a search, and how likely they are to click your ad as a consequence. Ads with high bids and judged excellent search results appear first on search results pages.

When it comes to determining when an ad appears on the results page, Google looks at three main factors:

• The bid is the amount you’re prepared to spend for someone to click on your ad. You compete with other websites for terms you expect people would look up if they are interested in your goods. A flower shop, for example, may bid on phrases like “roses,” “budget bouquet,” and “wedding flowers.”
• Quality score: Google provides a number to your ad keywords that reflect their relevancy to your ad. To appear on the search results page, your ad must be relevant to the search query. It wouldn’t make sense for Google to provide a nail salon ad when someone searches “wedding flowers.” To ensure that your ad is relevant to the search, make sure it contains many of the same keywords that you are bidding on in the ad itself.
• Landing page experience: When someone clicks on your ad, they should be sent to a landing page that has information that is related to the ad and the keywords used in the search. If you run a salon and want to advertise manicures, instead of linking to a page that lists all of your services, you should link straight to a page that explains manicures.

These and a variety of other indicators are used by Google Ads to determine ad position. It should be emphasized, however, that its algorithm is always altering. What seems to remain constant is that ad position is determined by bid and quality score (which includes landing page experience). Google multiplies your quality score by your maximum bid to decide which ad will appear at the top of search results. The greater the resultant number, the higher the position on the list.

Google’s Ad Algorithm as an Example

The Benefits of Using Google AdWords

Google Ads, the world’s biggest advertising platform, offers a number of benefits. It’s a successful advertising platform since folks who view your advertisements are more likely to click on relevant ads because they’re already in the purchasing or interest stage. Google Ads are also cost-effective since you only pay when someone clicks on your ad; geotargeting allows companies to qualify clicks based on their location and helps them appear in search results.

The following are the five main advantages of advertising on Google:

• Find individuals that are seeking your product or service by using the following strategies: People who use Google are seeking something specific. In other words, individuals are seeking what you provide on Google, and by advertising on Google, you may contact them while they are looking for you.
• Qualify users based on location: Google Advertisements allows marketers to go beyond user intent (based on keyword searches) and qualify consumers based on their location, utilizing geographic targeting to ensure that ads only appear to users in certain areas.
• Another appealing feature is that you only pay if your marketing is successful. Because Google employs a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising strategy, you will only be charged if someone searches for the term you bid on and clicks on your ad. You may specify a maximum daily budget and how much you’re ready to spend each click on your ad.
• When it comes to SEO, every company wants its website and pages to rank well in Google. SEO, on the other hand, is a long-term plan that requires a significant amount of effort and experience. Businesses may use Google Ads to quickly get to the top of search results for phrases they wouldn’t otherwise be discovered for.
• Reach warm leads: Businesses may use Google Advertising to build up remarketing campaigns, which show ads to individuals who have recently visited their website. This allows firms to reach warm leads and complete sales, which helps them design more successful marketing.

Google Ads has a number of advantages, which is why it’s so beneficial to companies of all sizes. Advertisers that use Google Ads receive a low-cost, high-impact option to contact individuals while they’re looking for what you have to offer. It also allows companies to remarket to recent site visitors in order to cultivate warm leads, as well as provide detailed data and analytics that may help businesses better understand their audience and generate more effective advertising.

“A successful Google Ads campaign begins with a wide scope. After some time, you’ll figure out what works and what doesn’t, such as which keywords convert best, which ad copy gets the most hits, and which extensions truly make a difference. Begin optimizing from there. Keep what works and toss out what doesn’t. You’ll never have the most successful campaign until you know how to learn from your mistakes.”

— Matthew de Noronha, Eastside Co.’s Digital Marketing Specialist

Most Commonly Asked Questions (FAQs)

For Google Ads, how do you calculate the return on ad spend?

To get your average number of clicks per month, divide your monthly ad expenditure by your average cost-per-click (CPC). The average number of conversions your advertisements produce each month is calculated by multiplying the number of clicks by your average conversion rate. Finally, multiply your conversions by your customer lifetime value (CLV) to calculate your ad campaign’s return on ad spend (ROAS).