Google Advertising: What Are Google Ads and How Do They Work?
You don’t want to miss out on the ability to reach millions of users on a website that experiences steady traffic every day. When you invest in a Google Ads campaign, you place your company in a better position to hit its financial goals and customer acquisition objectives.
What exactly is Google Ads, and how can you use Google advertising to meet your company’s goals? Keep reading to learn all about this digital advertising platform. Or, if you’re looking for professional help launching your campaign, contact WebFX online or give us a call at 888-601-5359.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an online advertising platform owned and operated by Google. Via Google Ads, your company can launch an array of ad campaigns and ad types. The platform also makes it easy to monitor the performance of your campaigns via Google Ads or Google Analytics.
Google ads are advertisements that appear at the top of Google search results pages, as well as across websites in Google’s ad network. This strategy intends to encourage users to click on these pages to learn more about a brand, making it a highly effective marketing strategy.
How does advertising on Google work?
While searching on Google, you’ve probably encountered ads.
Have you ever noticed, for example, the row of top results on Google that feature a green “Ad” box? These ads appear when you look up a topic, product, service, or another search that features a keyword targeted by companies.
Unlike traditional advertising, which requires upfront payment, Google advertising follows a pay-per-click (PPC) model. With this model, you only pay when people click on your ads, which is one reason behind the impressive return on investment (ROI) of Google ads — $8 for every $1 spent.
As competing companies often target the same keywords and audiences, Google operates on a bidding system and ad quality rating score. This approach removes the possibility of pay-to-play. Instead, it demands that companies create relevant and compelling ads.
Businesses can also adapt their ad campaigns 24/7.
Whether you’re looking to modify a bid, change a piece of ad copy, or update the visuals on a display ad, you can always log into your Google Ads account and make changes. Your changes will go live as long as your ad doesn’t trigger a Google Ads disapproval.
Overall, advertising on Google is versatile and cost-effective.
How much does it cost to advertise on Google?
You know that advertising on Google sounds like an excellent way to get your company noticed by the people that matter most — your target market. Whether you’re a small-, medium-, or enterprise-sized company, however, it’s important to know how much Google advertising costs.
Ad costs on Google vary.
On average, however, companies spend roughly $1 to $2 per ad click. From a monthly perspective, small-to-midsize businesses (SMBs) invest $9000 to $10,000 per month on PPC advertising. With varying PPC pricing, a larger company, like an enterprise, can spend double that or more.
It’s important to note that depending on the competitiveness of your industry you may have to invest more in PPC. That’s why enterprises often have a large PPC budget, as they’re competing with their competitors for high-value keywords.
The good news is that with Google advertising, you can strategically choose how you want to invest your money to make the most of your company’s budget. Plus, you can adapt your investment at any time.
Types of Google ads
Every company’s marketing model is unique.
That’s why Google provides companies, like yours, with access to many different advertising options. You never have to worry about settling for an ad type that doesn’t suit your brand. Instead, you can access a variety of options to maximize your ad performance.
Get an in-depth look into the seven types of ads offered by Google:
1. Text ad
Text ads rely on word-based advertising. This ad option is ideal for companies who want to share information with prospective clients fast. You’ll find text ads are easy to set up and maintain, making them an excellent option for generating clicks and leads.
You can even add extensions, like your phone number, for a better user experience.
2. Responsive ad
Responsive advertisements from Google respond to ad spaces in real-time, customizing the appearance of your ad to provide a seamless experience for users. You can also create a variety of headlines and descriptions for responsive ads, and Google will discover the best-performing format.
3. Image ad
Capture your audience’s attention with visuals that highlight your business and products or services. With image ads or responsive display ads, you have the option to create a static image or animated graphics. Create the image ad that highlights your services or products in the best light.
4. App promotion ads
If your business has an app, this advertising type is helpful in persuading Google users to download your application. This ad format can include a direct link to your website for more information or can send users straight to your app’s download page.
The best part is that app promotion ads can even appear on Google Play, which is where Android users download apps. If your app is only available for one mobile operating system, like iOS or Android, Google will prevent your ad from appearing on devices that can’t use the app.
5. Video ads
Videos are a visually-engaging way to inform your prospective clients about your brand. Invest in video ads on YouTube to provide a rich advertising experience to your audience that lets you better market your business.
6. Shopping ads
Shopping ads are all about highlighting your products. These advertisements can include a picture of your product, plus product details, prices, and more. When displayed on Google, these ad types can help drive your ecommerce store’s sales.
7. Call-only ads
Call-only ads feature your company’s number and convince customers to call your business to find out more information. This ad option is excellent for keywords relating to local emergency services, like for plumbing repairs, heating and cooling fixes, and more.
Why use Google advertising?
While you may recognize the value of Google advertising, company decision makers may not understand how Google Ads can benefit the business. For the best results from an ad campaign, it’s essential to ensure everyone realizes the potential value and workings of a strategy.
Companies invest in Google advertising for a few reasons, including these three:
1. Better brand awareness
The moment you decide to advertise on Google, you significantly increase your chances of getting noticed by your target audience. Since 81 percent of consumers conduct research online before making a purchasing decision, search is a critical channel for reaching those users.
Whether you lead a small business or a global company, advertising on Google is a proven way to build brand awareness and to get consumers thinking about your business. With ads, you can also target users closest to purchasing a product, which delivers an immediate return.
Since some of your future clients aren’t aware of your company yet, Google advertising helps them learn about your business, which can increase your chances of landing new leads and improving your sales.
2. Cost-effective marketing
As a business leader, you know how important it is to make the most of your company’s budget. Fortunately, even businesses with the strictest of budgets can find an effective Google marketing plan that fits their financial needs.
A single $10 investment can provide a net value of $80 when it comes to Google advertising.
That’s an immense ROI that can boost your bottom line. Since Google doesn’t charge one set price for advertising services, it’s also easy to bid on keywords and phrases that match your marketing budget.
Depending on the results of your ad campaign, your team may even receive a bigger marketing budget. With this increase, you can reach additional users in your target market. Even better, you can target keywords with a higher purchase intent, which drives additional sales.
3. Consistent performance updates
Advertising campaigns are hardly ever static. You must make changes to your advertising plan and updates to your ads to meet your consumers’ changing needs. It’s also helpful to test if different images or text work better at driving clicks and conversions, maximizing your success.
On Google, you always know what direction your marketing efforts are headed in because you have 24/7 access to your Google Ads dashboard. Here, you can see the average cost-per-click (CPC) of your ads, as well as your average click-through-rate (CTR).
You can also determine which keywords generate the most qualified website traffic. Plus, you can track how many conversions your ads created, which can help your team demonstrate the value of Google advertising.
Understanding the performance of your campaign is straightforward and hassle-free in the intuitive dashboard too. Using Google Ads, you can evaluate the effectiveness of your ads while making any necessary changes.
As outlined above, there are numerous reasons why Google Ads is an excellent option for businesses. If you’re looking to grow your company and revenue, incorporating Google advertising into your marketing plan is a smart decision.
Explore: 6 Google Ads Hacks to Optimize Your ROI
Need help advertising on Google?
You know that Google offers many avenues of opportunities for your business. It’s a challenge to develop and manage an advertising campaign, though, especially if it’s a new area for your company.
If you’re looking for the expertise of a professional Google advertising agency, WebFX can help.
At WebFX, our team of more than 500 certified marketers can take your Google advertising campaign to the next level. We’ve not only managed more than 650 PPC campaigns, but also generated more than $10 billion in revenue for our clients in the past five years.
Give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online to learn more about our custom strategies!