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Ever wondered how some websites and online stores seem to become successful overnight, and their brand is seemingly popular? Well, the key is Google Ads and it’s a force to reckon with. Google can display ads for products and services and if used correctly, can drive sales. But first, you need some planning and strategy, since, Google Ads is huge with various options to choose from. It may not be clear which features are relevant for you but we’ll guide you on what to focus on for maximum impact.

Step 1: Prepare

The first thing you’d want to do is to outline your goals and prepare the requirements for your Ads campaign. Let us take a gander at this in more detail.

i. Select the Best Call-to-Action (CTA)

You’ll have to determine what kind of success you are envisioning. Ask yourself, “what does my success look like?” and “what next after users click my ad?” A call to action may be anything from placing an order to subscribing to your email list.

ii.Set Your Budget

A budget is necessary for any project you undertake and in Google Ads, it is no exception. To successfully launch a marketing initiative, having a number in mind will protect you against bankruptcy. Google Ads work on a daily budget basis, so you’ll have to determine the number from your current monthly ad expenditure. Ensure the budget is realistic to meet your expectations.

iii.Create Your Landing Page

Landing pages are suitable to drive traffic to a certain promotional item or generally the business website. Landing pages also ensure your visitors are not confused as to which direction they should take, essentially acting like a map. Moreover, they are useful in highlighting special deals or anything that is of primary focus in your business.

It would be wise to also include a CTA button at the terminal of your landing page.

Step 2: Market Research for Your Customers

The next step once you’re done with the prime directive is to discover your target and impact them strongly. How do you do that? Quite simple,

i.Keyword Research

AdWords keyword research is quite familiar to keyword research for content marketing. Researched keywords ought to:

Address the buyer’s journey stage-wise.

• Be product specific (here landing pages can be used as a guide).
• Be relevantly listed and grouped under specific topics.

ii.Develop a Strong Message

Before starting your first Google Ads campaign, ensure you already have an ad copy in your thoughts ready for execution. You can also have key messages written down to begin attracting customers before starting. Have a unique value proposition that’ll sway your intended target away from your competition.

Step 3: Google Ads Setup

Now, this is the moment you have been waiting for. It is finally time to create your Ads campaign.

1 Account Setup:

. Conversion Tracking Setup

Make sure conversion tracking is set up correctly and remarketing code is added to all the pages. Incorrect Tracking Setup will lead to incomplete data which will further lead to bad strategy and execution.

. Setup Merchant Centre

If you are running an eStore make sure the merchant centre is set up and connected with Google Ads Account. To read more about merchant centre in detail, click here

. Google Analytics is connected to Google Ads

Google Analytics should be connected to Google ads, and ensure the goals are imported from Google Analytics in Google Ads. This will help in enhancing the campaign’s performance.

2. Campaign Setup

i. Choose Your Goal

The first thing you want to do is set up your Google Ads account, and proceed to create a new campaign. Therein, with the aforementioned goals for eg: Sales, Drive Traffic or Brand Awareness, you can easily direct how your control runs. Moreover, Google Ads will occasionally show you recommendations to boost conversions relative to your goals laid bare.

ii. Target Locations

Following closely on this segment’s list is choosing your optimal location. Thanks to the filter function, you can include or exclude various parameters to narrow down on your intended target populace. Targeting ads to a specific location implies that only the people in that selected region will view your ads.

iii. Selecting a Bid Strategy

Depending on your original campaign goals, you can choose the appropriate bidding strategy.

If your original goal was to make more sales, then “Maximize Conversions” is the ideal bid strategy. In addition, Google Ads will automatically show your ads to likely purchasing candidates, based on historical data.

If your goal was to primarily drive traffic, then opt for “Maximize Clicks”, optimizing your campaign for high clicks irrespective of the conversion.

If you desire more control over your campaign, then the “Manual CPC” bid strategy is for you. Manual CPC lets you set a specific amount bid for each keyword. These are great if we wish to be on the first page of search result engines.

Moreover, these bids can be set to automatically run daily to raise your bid and propel you to the front pages. As most websites and stores opt for a “Maximise Conversions” bid strategy to obtain a conversion. Here, the quality of a single lead is more critical and essential than the number of leads.

iv. Write Your Ad Extensions

Before the actual creation of your ads, you must write ad extensions for your campaign. Ad extensions serve the crucial purpose of drawing attention to your product or service. There are various types of ad extensions you can incorporate into your business, they include:

·         Site links extensions – These add your website link to your ad

·         Callouts extensions – These add more information about your business

·         Product reviews – These add a review about a product on your ad

·         Call extensions – These add your phone contact on your displayed ad

·         Price extension – These add price information to your ad

Whatever the extension that suits your business well, write them down and create them first. Moreover, extensions can be added anytime and featured when relevant.

In general, all campaigns utilize site link and callout extensions which give you more space and a chance to talk about your brand. If you are promoting an event, i.e., discounted sales or exclusive offers, then a promotion extension is the right fit.

Step 4: Writing Ads

When it comes to writing ads, clarity beats cleverness. It is recommended to use Responsive ads having multiple headlines & descriptions.. Moreover, you can create 3-5 ads, test them out and evaluate their performance, and do away with or change the ones that aren’t performing. Ad copy experimentation is paramount to success.

Well, there you have it, a carefully crafted guide to Google Ads for your business success. Are you planning on running Google Ads campaign or looking for some result-oriented SEM Agencies? We can help.