There are 3.5 billion searches conducted on Google every day, with millions of sites and businesses all vying for consumers’ attention on those elusive first pages of results. Most search results pages feature Google Ads; advertisements that appear on either Google Search Network or Google Display Network.
The sponsored results (Ads) on a Google Search Engine Result Page (or SERP) usually appear at the top and bottom of the page, distinguished by a green “Ad” label. These are appearances that have been paid for by brands. Any other
unmarked results that appear will be organic. They can appear in web (text) searches, or in a Google Shopping search.
Display Ads are another part of Google’s offering, appearing on the Google Display Network. This is a large collection of third-party sites that have partnered with Google to serve up Google Ads in text, video, image or rich media format.
How Should You Use Google Ads?
So how do you make sure that you set your Google Ads campaign up for success?
Here are some of our top tips for Google Ads Best Practice.
Google Ads Tip #1 - Get the Headline Right
Your Headline is perhaps the most important element of your Google Ad. It’s the first thing your potential customers and clients will see, and so must stand out against all of the other results on the Search Engine Ranking Page (SERP). It can be tempting to resort to clickbait, however you must make sure that all elements of your Ad are as relevant as possible to your selected keyword, in order to optimise your Quality Score, so make sure to avoid this. Choose a headline that’s relevant to the keyword, to the landing page on your website, and to your Ad.
Google Ads Tip #2 - Optimise your Quality Score
Google Ads functions around Auctions, which take place every time a user searches for a keyword. In order to “win” these auctions, your bid amount and Quality Score should be optimised, here are a few factors which can affect this:
- How relevant your Google Ad is to the search query
- How relevant the Google keyword is to your Ad Group (the group of keywords associated with your search marketing campaign)
- How relevant your Ad is to the landing page attached to it
- How well historically your Ad has performed in terms of Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- How well your account has performed historically.
The higher your Quality Score, the more often your Ad will appear in Google searches, and in a better position on the page. Google also rewards high Quality Scores with lower Cost Per Click (CPC).
Google Ads Tip #3 - Understand Your Consumer
By better understanding the needs and habits of your consumer, you can target more effectively in Google Ads. Like the other tools discussed in our last post, you can target by location and key demographics in Google Ads. This means that the more you understand your audience, the better you can become at finding people who are more likely to engage with your brand or business, by anticipating the way that they behave in searching for your products or services.
Google Ads Tip #4 - Make use of the Google Keyword Planner
Google’s Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you figure out which words your business should be targeting for Ads. Offering insights such as search frequency for each one you enter. The Keyword Planner will also offer suggestions for bid amounts and give you a head’s up on how competitive the auction on each word is.
These insights will help you to select relevant keywords that will translate to higher quality results for your campaign.
Google Ads are a unique opportunity to gain lucrative visibility within Google searches, capturing potential customers’ attention at a pivotal point in their journey to purchase. But, like any Digital Marketing Tool, it is essential that you put the work in to understand your customer in order to maximise relevancy and maintain your standing in Google’s good graces.
About the Author: Stephanie Weekes
Stephanie is a Freelance Social Media Manager and Marketing Consultant. With almost 10 years of experience working in-house with global brands and agencies, she has an in-depth understanding of multi-channel marketing and brand management.
IG: @stephgetssocial
LinkedIn: Stephanie Weekes L.In