When it comes to digital advertising, you’ve probably at least heard about Google Ads. Also referred to as Google Adwords, this advertising program was created in 2000 with about 350 advertisers. 20 years later, there are now over a million people and companies advertising on this platform. What’s Google Ads all about, and should you be utilizing it for your digital advertisements?

What is Google Ads (Adwords)?

Google Ads is an advertising platform that allows advertisers to place bids on keywords in order for their ads to show up. This is actually how Google makes money from searches; these bids can be very competitive. 

Google’s advertising platform has been extremely helpful for many businesses, but there is definitely a bit of a learning curve that comes with it. The most important thing to remember is to really choose the keywords you’re bidding on carefully. If you pick the wrong keywords, you may end up losing money; more on that later.

What do “ad rank” and “quality score” mean for your advertisements?

“Ad rank” and “quality score” are a couple of the most important terms to recognize when you’re working with Google Ads. Essentially, your ad rank refers to how high on the search results page your ad will be displayed; this is equally affected by your maximum bid on that particular keyword as well as your quality score. Quality score is determined by the relevance of your advertisement to the searcher’s request.

These terms work in tandem to make sure that your advertisement is shown as a result for the most relevant searches. When your quality score and ad rank are both high, you will see incredible results from Google Ads. To that point, though, if they’re both low, it may be time to reevaluate your advertising strategy on this platform.

Does advertising on Google Ads actually yield any results?

Yes! Depending on the keywords you’re choosing to bid on, this platform has proven to yield real results for all types of businesses. 

Potentially the best piece of advice when you’re starting out with Google Ads is to begin with a small budget. The idea is to test out many different keywords and find which ones show the best results, then increase your budget based on your findings. This is the best way to test different strategies before making a huge financial commitment. 

How do the auctions work?

The auction aspect of Google Ads seems to be the most daunting part of advertising on the platform. One common misconception about this auction is that it only happens once every so often; in actuality, the same auction could occur billions of times per month. 

It’s a bit of a confusing concept at first glance, but Google has come out with some helpful information with regards to the auctions; we’ll paraphrase and break it down for you a bit here.

  1. When someone searches on Google, the advertising platform finds all ads related to keywords in that search. Essentially, if one of the keywords you’ve inputted appears in the search bar, your ad (along with other ads containing those keywords) has a chance to show up in search results.
  2. Out of that ad pool, the system eliminates ones that aren’t eligible to be shown. This includes ads that have a different target location or have been disapproved due to a violation of Google Ads policies.
  3. The remaining ads will then be sorted based on ad rank, meaning that your ad may not show up in the top results. This could be based on your quality score, bid amount, or the context of that particular Google search.

Don’t let any of that discourage you. In the words of Google, “The most important thing to remember is that even if your competition bids higher than you, you can still win a higher position — at a lower price — with highly relevant keywords and ads.”

What can you do to ensure you’re choosing the best keywords?

There are multiple different services out there that allow you to search specific keywords to see how well your ads can perform. Wordstream offers a free online keyword search tool to help you figure out which words to bid on. Because the needs of each business differ, this is a great way to determine whether or not this will be an effective way to advertise your business.

Additionally, it can be helpful to think like your intended audience. Consider coming up with example searches that your potential clients would make in order to lead them to your business. For example, if you’re a marketing agency in Mishawaka, Indiana (hint hint????), come up with phrases like “marketing agency Mishawaka” or “agency near me” that your audience may type into the search engine. Perspective is everything!

While Google Ads is a bit of a learning experience, it’s totally worth looking into for your business. If your current digital marketing strategy just isn’t cutting it anymore, don’t stress. Reach out to our team here at Blackwood Creative. We’re in the business of building remarkable brands, and yours could be next. Contact us today!

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