How to Grow Your Business with Google Ads

Have you conducted a search online before? Who am I kidding, of course, you have! But it’s not just you who is searching the web. Your potential customers are out there conducting searches too, and when they go searching for a business, product, or service like yours, you’d like to show up in their search results, right? If you want to increase the chances of them actually doing business with you, you need to invest in Google Ads. This is because when your business shows up at the top of your potential customer’s search results, it increases your chances of them seeing you and doing business with you. According to prnewswire, “75% of people say paid search ads make it easier to find information.”

Are Google Ads Worth the Investment?

Where Google search ads really come into play is when your potential customers are out there searching the web for businesses like yours. When you use Pay-per-click search ads, you want to earn the best ROI possible. According to Valve+Meter, “For every $1 spent on Google Ads, businesses earn an average revenue of $2(Google).” So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started!

For small businesses, Google Ads can feel overwhelming. I know you don’t want to waste any time or resources, so many of you are scared to start investing in Google Ads, but today, I’m going to break down the process for you to make it a little easier and less scary.

To reach new customers and grow your business using Google Ads, you need to create an effective ad campaign and then measure and analyze the results to optimize them to enhance your campaign. Follow these steps to get started with your first campaign:

Step 1 - Make a Google Ads Account

First and foremost, you’ll need to set up a Google Ads account on https://ads.google.com/home/. Here you will see a “start now” button. Once you create your account, you will see a button that says, “Create your first campaign.”

Step 2 – Select a Goal and Campaign Type

When you reach this step, you will be presented with several goal options, such as:

Sales– Drive sales online, in-app, by phone, or in-store.
Leads– Get leads and other conversions by encouraging customers to take action.
Website traffic– Get the right people to visit your website.
Product and brand consideration– Encourage people to explore your products or services.
Brand awareness and reach– Reach a broad audience and build awareness.
App promotion– Get more installs and interactions for your app.
Create a campaign without a goal’s guidance– Use any available campaign type and construct a campaign step-by-step without a goal’s recommendation.

Once you select a goal, you will be presented with many campaign type options such as:

Search– Drive more customers to your site with text or call ads.
Display- Create visually appealing ads that serve across the Google Display Network.
Shopping- Create shopping ads that drive online and in-store sales.
Video– Create video ads that are designed to increase reach and awareness.
App– Create app promotion ads that serve across the Google Search Network.
Smart– Create text and image ads that show on Google, Google maps, and across the web.

When you have selected your goal and campaign type, you will likely be presented with some follow up questions depending on what kind of goal and campaign type you selected. These questions will probably ask you to provide a link to your website, your phone number, the platform of your app, or a link to your product or service. Fill out this section and hit “Continue.”

Step 3- General Settings

Next, you will need to fill in your general settings, such as your campaign name, targeting audience and locations, and languages. You should select your locations and languages based on your companies target audiences. Are you looking to target people locally or globally? You need to determine this prior to making this selection because where you are targeting your audience is crucial to the success of your ads, depending on the campaign’s purpose. You must also consider the demographics of your audience. Google makes this process very easy by providing you with options to customize your audiences.

Customizing your audience with Google Ads is as easy as selecting boxes that define your ideal customer. Who are they? Are they married? A homeowner? What are their interests and habits? Do they like food & dining, beauty & wellness, media & entertainment? What are they actively researching? Have they been interactive with your business before? Are you looking to retarget them? These are questions to consider prior to selecting your target audience, so you are prepared to define your audience when you reach this step.

Step 4- Create a Budget

When selecting a budget for Google Ads for the first time, I advise you to start with a small daily spend. This is because you are new to Google Ads and want to allow yourself some flexibility while you work out the kinks; during this time, you should monitor your campaigns daily or weekly to optimize your ad and make adjustments to ensure your money is being spent wisely. When you feel you have worked out the kinks, you can go back and change the maximum daily spend to a higher amount.

Step 5- Keywords

When selecting keywords, you should consider what your customers would search for on the web when trying to find your business. What words will lead them to your website? Many free keyword suggestion tools on the internet can help you to determine which words you should consider including in your keywords section of this process. My favorite tool is Word stream’s free keyword search tool.

Step 6- Create Your Ad

When you get to this step, your options for creating an ad should look like the photo below. Fill out this form with the appropriate information to meet your business needs. Be sure to create an ad that is appealing and will attract the right customers. Consider the qualities that make you decide to click on an ad when you see one. Think like your customer and create engaging headlines. Don’t forget to check for grammatical errors; nothing is more unattractive than grammatical errors.

Step 7- Review Your Campaign Summary

Your final step is to review your campaign summary. Make sure your campaign run date, your campaign budget and your goal are all correct. Additionally, you should check your ad or ads for spelling errors, and correctness prior to selecting “Continue to campaign,” and starting your first Google Ad’s campaign.

Congratulations, you’ve created your first Google Ad, but you’re not done yet. It’s imperative to track the metrics of this ad to ensure that you have created an effective ad. If you find that you are not receiving the results you were hoping for, you may need to adjust your target audience, keywords, or the ad itself. Analytics are essential so be sure not to skip this step. Your Google Ad analytics will help you determine what is and is not working for your ad, so pay attention to them!

Need Help with Creating a Google Ads Campaign?

If you are looking to reach your marketing goals, only pay for results, measure your ad’s performance, and advertise across platforms, follow the steps above to get started with Google Ads or contact us today to set up a consultation so we can help you grow your business with Google Ads!