Google processes approximately 99,000 searches per second, around 8.5 billion searches per day, and on most search results pages you'll find several results with the reference "SPONSORED" identifying Google Ads, and this is where businesses that want to grow fast appear.
In this article, we'll share our view on what Google Ads are, how they work, why you should advertise on Google, and whether you should manage your Google Ads account in-house or through an agency.
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Google ads what it is?
Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, is the name of Google's bid-based pay-per-click (PPC) platform that allows companies to gain visibility on Google properties.
The most common type of Google Ads advert is the search ad, which is displayed on the search engine results page (SERP) for searches relevant to the advertiser's products and services, but companies also use Google Ads to display graphic ads, shopping ads, YouTube ads and much more. Google ads are shown in Google search results and on millions of Google partner websites.
How does google advertising work?
You write an advert, place a bid, wait and sales appear. That's it... with a few minor caveats.
In another article, we'll explain how to create a Google Ads campaign step by step, but essentially, to advertise on Google advertisers create various types of ads within the platform, define the search terms or customer segments they want each campaign to be shown to, and measure the results of various parameters and introduce improvement actions to maximize the return on their investment.
There are usually several advertisers competing for the same search term or the same customer segment in the same location and for the same language, and Google decides which advert appears based on an auction, with the price for appearing in a given search and SERP position changing frequently.
It depends on several factors, including the number of other brands currently targeting that keyword, the search volume, the expected reach, the time of day or year, etc.
How do I pay Google?
Advertisers can pay Google in various ways, but in simplistic terms, they can:
Pay per action: You only pay when a user interacts with your advert, and the cost is calculated per click or engagement.
Pay per reach: Here you pay for visibility, and the cost is calculated per 1000 ad impressions.
Pay for profitability: You pay according to your profitability, and the cost is calculated by the return/investment function.
There are several bidding strategies, all with variations, which can be more manual or automated using AI and more restrictive or more open, the choice depending on the strategy and the maturity of the campaigns. We'll explore this topic in greater detail in a future article.
The campaign's objectives:
The creation of a campaign should always be based on an objective, in fact, this is one of the first questions Google asks you when creating a campaign, the main objectives can be:
Sales
Leads
Website Traffic
Notoriety and weighting
App Promotion
Promotion and visits to local shops
Types of campaigns:
Search Network Campaign:
Description: Centred on text ads that appear in Google search results, activated by specific keywords when customers are searching.
Usage examples: Local businesses or online shops looking to appear in searches related to their products or services.
Channels: Google search results and search partner network.
Shopping campaign:
Description: Displays products directly in search results and on the Google Shopping tab, with image, price, and description.
Usage examples: Online retailers who want to showcase their products visually.
Channels: Google Shopping tab, google search results and partners, maps, etc.
Apps campaign:
Description: Promotes apps on various Google platforms, including Search, Play Store, YouTube, and Display Network.
Usage examples: App developers looking to increase installs and engagement.
Channels: Google Play, YouTube, Google Display Network in apps, and others.
Demand Gen Campaign:
Description: Focussed on generating demand, usually through educational or informative content to attract customers.
Usage examples: B2B companies generating qualified leads through whitepapers, webinars, etc.
Channels: Discover, Gmail, and YouTube among others.
Maximum Performance Campaign:
Description: Uses Google's artificial intelligence to automatically optimize the placement and format of ads on various platforms.
Usage examples: Companies aiming to maximize conversions on multiple channels.
Channels: All the main Google channels.
Display Network Campaign:
Description: Uses graphic or text adverts on Google partner sites and applications.
Usage examples: Brands looking to increase awareness and retargeting.
Channels: Google Display Network including partners and youtube.
Hotels/Travel Campaign:
Description: Specific to the tourism sector, displays adverts on relevant platforms.
Examples of use: Hotels and travel agencies promoting packages and offers.
Channels: Google Search, Google Maps or YouTube.
Video Campaign:
Description: Video adverts shown before, during or after videos on YouTube and the Display Network.
Usage examples: Brand awareness and consumer engagement campaigns.
Channels: YouTube and other partner sites with video content.
Smart (Smart Campaign):
Description: Automates ad creation and bid management, ideal for small businesses.
Usage examples: Businesses with limited resources looking for efficient campaigns.
Channels: Google Search, Google Maps, YouTube, Gmail and Google partner websites.
How does Google decide which adverts to show for each search?
Google Ads focuses on keywords, the words that people use most when looking for a product. When creating a search campaign on Google Ads, advertisers develop an advert with a specific offer and select a list of keywords relevant to that offer. When someone searches on Google, the system checks to see if advertisers are bidding on keywords relevant to that search. If there are, the adverts will appear on that Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
How does Google decide which adverts to show and in what order?
This is where the Google Ads auction comes in.
Google analyses various factors to select the advertisers: those who rank best appear higher up in the results, those who rank worst lower down, and some may not even rank well enough to appear, at least on the first few pages.
In this selection, two very important factors come into play for the success and profitability of your Google Ads campaigns: the Quality Score and AdRank.
The Quality Score
The Quality Score is how Google Ads determines who has the "best" advert to show for a keyword. It is a numerical ranking from 1 to 10. For example, a restaurant might get a score of 10 (high) for the keyword "avocado sandwich", but would probably get a score of 1 (low) for the keyword "local plumber", right?
The higher your Quality Score, in conjunction with the value of your bid, the better the position of your advert. The following factors (among others) affect your Quality Score:
The relevance of your Google advert to the search query
The relevance of the Google keyword to your ad group
The relevance of your advert to the landing page
The historical click-through rate (CTR) of the ad and your ad group
Overall historical account performance
The Quality Score can lower your advertising costs and dramatically increase your exposure because it will affect your AdRank.
What is AdRank
Your AdRank determines the placement of your advert. The higher its value, the better your positioning, the greater the visibility of your advert, and the more likely it is that users will click on your advert.
It is calculated by a formula that takes into account the Quality Score and the amount you bid for a keyword. In the following infographic, we try to illustrate how these elements work together.
How much does it cost to advertise on Google: Google ads prices?
Google ads prices vary based on several factors. As we saw in the previous points, Google rewards advertisers with high-quality Scores, reducing the cost per click (CPC), which helps to improve the Return on Investment (ROI).
Also, by giving more exposure to those with high-quality Scores, your adverts will be shown more often and in better positions on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) - at the top rather than the bottom of the page. This allows you to get more clicks and conversions without having to increase your bids.
But many other factors influence Google ads prices, including the competitiveness of your keywords and industry, your geographical location - more competitive countries have higher costs, less competitive countries have lower costs, the quality of the creatives in your advertising campaigns, and much more.
But to give you an idea, the average cost per click for Google search adverts across all industries is around $4.22 but this cost varies greatly from industry to industry. In the graph below, with data from Worldstream.com and localiq.com, you can analyze these differences and get an idea of the benchmark for each industry.
Should I advertise on Google?
Through Google Ads, companies can reach people at the best possible time, when they already feel the need and are actively looking for information, products, and services.
This makes Google, and Google Ads in particular, a powerful and very efficient platform for all sectors and activities, here are some of the main advantages:
1. Increases Leads and Customers:
Google Ads is one of the best tools for generating leads (potential customers interested in your service). If well configured, campaigns can send extremely targeted leads to your website or registration form.
2. Flexible Marketing Platform:
This is an extremely flexible marketing tool with a high degree of control. It is suitable for all types of organizations and compatible with a wide range of other platforms and software systems.
3. High Return on Investment:
You only pay for ads that people click on, and you can get a high return after optimizing your campaigns. However, this takes time and you have to figure out which approach is right for you and your business. Google Ads is perfect for this because it is very transparent and the information you need is readily available.
4. Fast and transparent results:
Google Ads is known for the speed and clarity of campaign results and reports. The dashboard provides you with all the information related to each campaign, such as the adverts clicked on, the keywords that website visitors entered, and the cost of the clicks.
5. Access to high-quality traffic:
Due to Google's market dominance, and its huge customer base, it can send a large amount of traffic to businesses daily. But more importantly, Google prides itself on presenting the most relevant content and adverts to people, and this means that the people Google sends to you are more likely than people from other sources to become customers, join your mailing list, request information or take any action you want them to take.
6. Learn more about your market.
If you know where to look, Google Ads provides valuable information about your customers' habits and preferences. It's important to get inside the minds of your ideal customers. Understanding your audience makes it much easier to deal with customers and find out what they want. Google Ads provides information about customer habits and needs that entrepreneurs of previous generations could only dream of. You can use this information to improve your products and services, as well as to refine your marketing efforts.
Should I make my own Google adverts or turn to professionals?
Generally speaking, if your company has been around for more than six months or a year and has a significant volume of unique visitors per month, a figure that varies greatly depending on the type of business, but can range from 1000 to 2000 visitors if it's a B2B site, or 5000 to 10,000 visitors if it's a B2C site, it may be the right time to hire a Google Ads Manager or a consultant who offers personalized support.
There are several advantages to hiring an experienced professional right from the start. Here are some of the main benefits:
They will optimize your ads for the best performance, saving you work and frustration.
They are already certified by Google to manage your adverts, and with their experience, they can easily justify their cost in terms of the efficiency of your budget and the sales generated.
They know how to set up conversion tracking correctly, turning the data on your dashboard into valuable information.
They will allow you to concentrate fully on the business, instead of dividing your attention between managing adverts and running the company.
They will free up your time to devote to what matters as a business owner: creating original content and providing quality service to your customers.
They keep up to date with constantly evolving trends and innovations on the Google platform.
Because they work with multiple ad accounts, they can understand what works in other contexts and apply those strategies to their campaigns.
They use their previous experience to avoid spending money on campaign tactics that don't generate a return on investment.
They can tell if a conversion problem is related to their adverts or the website/landing page.
Google Ads is an indispensable tool in the armory of any company seeking growth and visibility in today's competitive market. With the ability to target highly segmented adverts to an audience that already shows interest, Google Ads not only increases your leads and customers but also offers flexibility, cost control, and return on investment.
Whether you manage it in-house or use certified professionals, investing in Google Ads can transform the way your company connects with its target audience, giving you a vital competitive advantage in the digital world. With the platform's continuous evolution and its ability to adapt to the needs of different businesses and industries, Google Ads remains an invaluable resource for companies seeking growth and sustained success.
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