Google Ads: What are Google Ads and How They Work

Google Ads has been Google’s online advertising platform, a topmost feature to utilize the potential of its search engine. It allows almost anyone (businesses, companies, entrepreneurs) to display their ads across Google’s vast network to potential customers.

Google Ads is a powerful tool for reaching your target audience and achieving marketing goals. It even offers highly targeted advertising options with measurable results/ROI. Knowing the what and how can get you a step forward to a marketing breakthrough.

How Does Google Ads Work?

Google Ads is a simple pay-per-click (PPC) model where advertisers bid on keywords. You’re to pay an agreed amount to Google when a user clicks on one of your ads.

The entire system features a complex algorithm to determine which ads to show and in what order. The overall working mechanism consists of the following steps/phases –

Keyword Bidding

Advertisers find and select business-related keywords. They set maximum bids for how much they will pay per click. Some smart advertisers even use automated bidding strategies for optimization.

Ad Auction

It occurs every time someone searches on Google. The underlying algorithm determines which ads should be shown in what order. Several factors drive the algorithmic decision.

You must consider the fundamental factors like – bid amount, ad quality and/or relevance, expected click-through rate (CTR), landing page experience, and ad extensions/formats.

Quality Score

It’s a Google metric that measures your ads’ overall quality and search relevance. A higher score leads to better ad positions against lower costs. The factors affecting Google ads quality score involve expected click-through rate, ads’ relevance to the search query, and landing page experience.

Ad Ranking

It determines your ads’ current/ongoing position on the search engine result page (SERP). And the deciding factors are similar as they mostly concern bidding amounts, quality score, and the expected impact of ad formats/extensions.

Actual Cost Per Click (CPC)

It’s the amount you’ll actually pay upon someone’s click on your ads. The value is generally lower than the maximum bid. This one is calculated based on ad ranks associated with the quality score.

Although the working principle seems easy, Google regularly updates the algorithms of their products. It requires you to keep updated and informed to hold the rank, quality, relevance, and appearance.

Advanced Google Ads Features

Continuous improvement doesn’t limit Google Ads to algorithmic updates only. You can also leverage some of the most advanced features to improve marketing performance.

Audience Targeting

It lets you find custom audiences based on website visitors or customer lists. Similar audiences can reach new users with characteristics similar to your existing clients.

Remarketing

You should display ads to users who have previously interacted with your site/app. Create well-tailored messages for different segments to initiate dynamic remarketing.

Ad Extensions

Use all the Google ads extensions relevant to your chosen campaigns. It can include site links, callouts, structured snippets, prices, locations, call extensions, etc.

Smart Bidding Strategies

Go for target CPA (Cost per Acquisition) and target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). Also, assess for maximized conversions along with Enhanced CPC (ECPC).

Google Analytics

You better link Google Analytics to Google Ads. Import the Analytics goals and e-commerce transactions into Google Ads. Also, the data can be used to make more informed optimization decisions.

Types of Google Ads Campaigns

Apart from letting you catch up with potential customers, you can opt for different advertisement campaigns. Google Ads offers various campaign types to suit different advertising goals and increase the reach of target audiences. Employing the right ones is crucial to drafting a strategic approach.

Search Campaign

Google search ads is the ideal one to capture high-intent customers. Text ads appear in Google SERPs. Specific keyword queries trigger them.

Display Campaign

These feature visual measures (images/banners) are to be displayed on sites within Google’s network. Google display ads works great on brand awareness and/or remarketing.

Video Campaign

It’s getting more common for video ads to appear before or during YouTube videos. This is effective for engaging audiences with rich media content.

Shopping Campaign

Google ads shopping campaigns enables product listings for Google search results and the Shopping tabs. An e-commerce business can easily showcase its products.

App Campaign

It directly promotes mobile apps across Google’s properties. These ads are automatically optimized for app installation and/or in-app actions.

Local Campaign

This one is designed to drive foot traffic to your physical store location. Here, ads appear across searches on Google’s Display, YouTube, or Maps.

How to Set Up a Google Ads Campaign

It’s now more or less mandatory for almost anyone doing business to harness the power of Google Ads. And you can create a successful campaign by implementing the following key steps –

Account Structure

Start organizing your account into campaigns and groups. Campaigns set the overall budget and potential targets. Meanwhile, ad groups contain related/relevant keywords and ads.

Keyword Research

Use Google’s Keyword Planner to find the relevant keywords. Don’t forget to consider search volume, competition, and relevance. You should also include a mix of broad, phrase, and exact match.

Creation of the Ad

Try to write a compelling ad copy using relevant keywords, unique selling propositions, and clear call-to-action (CTA). Continue crafting multiple variations for your ad to test their worthiness.

Landing Page Optimization

You must ensure the landing pages are relevant to the ad and the keywords. Try to optimize for fast loading and mobile responsiveness. Your measures should have CTAs and conversion elements.

Targeting Options

It takes some deep research and understanding to narrow down the entire audience. You must prioritize distinctive targeting, such as geographic, device, demographic, and even interested/behavioral.

Budget and Bidding

Evaluate your financial capability to set daily or lifetime budgets. Choose between manual or automated bidding strategies. You should also consider using bid adjustments for different targeting options.

Google Ads is a powerful and versatile advertising platform, helping millions of businesses reach their target audience more effectively. Understanding how Google Ads works can achieve significant returns on potential investments. Whether you need to drive website traffic, increase sales, or simply build brand awareness, Google Ads features all the necessary tools to help you achieve your marketing goals.