As a small business owner, you have many options for online marketing. Many businesses choose Google AdWords because of the simplicity of advertising on Google and reaching their target audience.
The goal of this article is to explain what Google AdWords is, how it works, and how it can benefit your small business. Continue reading to learn how running Google AdWords campaigns can help you reach your target audience.
What Is Google AdWords?
Google AdWords, rebranded as Google Ads, allows businesses to advertise on Google. Because of its ease of use and ability to target specific users, Google AdWords is one of the most popular advertising platforms used by marketers.
Google Ads can appear on the Google Search Network, which includes search results on Google and the Google Display Network. Using sophisticated technology, Google helps improve ads over time by refining them, thus driving better results. With access to insights, reports, and ongoing tips, Google Ads makes tracking your progress less complicated.
How Does Google AdWords Work?
Google Ads is broken into two networks: Search Network and Display Network. Both networks serve different purposes, so you can choose the best option for your small business.
- Search Network: Advertise your content on Google Search results, Google Maps, Google Shopping, and other Google partner sites featuring text ads.
- Display Networks: This advertising option displays ads on non-text-based platforms. Display networks include Gmail, YouTube, and thousands more of Google's partner sites. Instead of text-based ads, this option uses display ads.
Unlike search ads, display ads are paid placements. Display ads are best for businesses needing to showcase visual products or services. A video ad is a great example of a display ad. When text isn't enough to explain a product or service, display ads are the best option.
However, search ads can help your small business better cater to your target audience. Search ads are a great option for lower-budget AdWords campaigns. With the ability to bid for relevant keywords, you have more control over who you reach. By using relevant keywords and focusing on a bidding strategy, search ads are usually the best option for small business owners just starting their journey.
Creating a Google Ad is simple. First, create a Google Ads account. Then, tell Google what your goal is. Providing this information allows Google to tailor the ad based on your advertising goals. You will then need to decide where you want to advertise. Whether global or local, deciding where you want your ads to show can help get your content to your target audience. Once you've selected the location, it's time to craft a message for the ad copy. Google recommends writing three short and descriptive sentences about your business.
Afterward, you will need to set your daily budget. Be mindful of your marketing budget prior to starting your AdWords campaign and set a realistic cap. Even if you've done a lot of research prior to starting your ad campaign, start smaller with your budget and then work your way up.
When people view your website, call your business phone number, or get directions to your store from your ad, Google charges you. This is because they offer pay-per-click (PPC) ads. PPC ads are highly effective in attracting customers because they appear at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). Setting a monthly budget cap ensures you'll never pay more than the budget you set.
Additionally, you will need to set a maximum CPC. This is the bid amount you set, which determines the highest amount you will pay per click on your ad. Since search ads are PPC, it's important to set a maximum bid within your budget.
The Benefits of Using Google AdWords
Once you get the hang of it, Google AdWords can prove beneficial, especially for small businesses. Google has made advertising much easier, allowing business owners to improve their digital marketing strategy. In this section, we'll break down how Google Ads can benefit your small business and how you can use it to drive traffic to your website and generate leads.
Reach Your Target Audience
A Google AdWords campaign helps you reach specific people. Using relevant keywords can help you advertise your product or service to searchers looking for it. Although using relevant keywords helps, Google doesn't stop there.
Target Searchers Based on Geography
Although some businesses may benefit from ads outside of their area, local businesses can benefit from a geographically targeted approach. This comes in handy when searchers look up "food near me" and find local restaurants, for example.
Send Ad Traffic to a Specific Landing Page
When searchers click on an ad, they're sent to some page on your website. With Google Ads, you can send site visitors to specific landing pages. Even though your homepage might have compelling content, sending searchers to a specific landing page can help generate leads.
For example, if you run an e-commerce store, the homepage may link to clothing. Let's say you set up shopping ads to promote your fall lineup. If potential customers click on the shopping ad for fall fashion, it might disappoint them to see items other than what they were not looking for. Instead, you can send site visitors to specific landing pages optimized to convert.
Track Progress
With PPC Google Ads, you can see key metrics about your campaign. These metrics can help you refine your digital marketing strategy moving forward and improve your ad position.
- Clickthrough rate (CTR): The clickthrough rate shows the ratio of people who saw your Google AdWords campaign and clicked it. The CTR is an essential metric for understanding how your keywords are working for you.
- Conversion rate: The conversion rate is a percentage for the average number of conversions per every interaction with the ad. The conversion rate is calculated by taking the number of conversions and dividing it by the total number of interactions with the ad.
- Ad spend: When you start a Google AdWords campaign, you can set a daily budget for the amount you're willing to spend each day. After an ad campaign, Google Ads summarizes your average daily budget. This report is helpful for optimization and understanding your quality score.
- Quality score: The quality score estimates the quality of your ads. Google's algorithm considers the quality of keywords and landing pages. All in all, you want a high-quality score to get better ad positions and eventually have lower costs when running ads.
In short, you can use these insights to determine your return on investment (ROI). Instead of guessing if your marketing strategy is working, you can see real data on how your marketing budget is being used.
Get Fast Results
When compared to other digital marketing tactics, Google Ads can prove quite efficient. Other online advertising tactics can take a long time to work, especially when you want your content to be seen on search engines. Offering several tools for insight, Google Ads makes it easier for small businesses to see where they need to pivot and improve their strategy.
How Can Small Businesses Use Google AdWords?
As you can see, Google AdWords empowers businesses to target potential customers, making the conversion process less lengthy and more effective. With conversion tracking, small businesses can understand if their digital marketing strategy is effective, and if not, they can pivot quickly and see results.
For example, let's say a small bakery business wants to attract new customers. In the past, they used social media to find potential customers, but now, they want to bring it a step further. For this reason, the bakery has decided to run Google Ads campaigns.
First, the bakery identifies their target audience and creates a list of relevant keywords. The relevant keywords are then used to create ad copy. Next, they select a geographic location for their AdWords campaign to drive local traffic.
A potential customer can search for "bakery near me" and find their small business. With Google Ads, this targeted approach can be taken a step further, targeting multiple audiences. Let's say the same bakery specializes in creating cakes for events. To attract multiple audiences, they could use industry-specific keywords like "ornate wedding cakes" or "tiered quinceañera and sweet 16 cakes."
Once they've started the campaign, they can look at Google Analytics to better understand how the paid search went. With Google Ads Insights tools, the bakery can better understand their keyword quality, search query performance, bid goal performance, and paid versus organic traffic. All of this information can be used to better target their audiences moving forward and create more successful Google AdWords campaigns.
With the lessons learned from the first round of search ads, the bakery can hone in on their digital marketing strategy. By doing additional keyword research, they can improve their ad rank and get a high-quality score, allowing them to attract new customers.
All in all, a targeted digital marketing strategy with Google Ads can help small businesses get the word out about their products or services and generate more sales.
Small Business Financial Management Is Easy With Skynova
There are a lot of aspects to running a small business. From balancing the books to running Google AdWords campaigns, you have a lot on your mind. While you're busy working on content optimization and ranking high on the SERPs, Skynova can help you simplify the accounting aspect of your business.
We designed our accounting software with busy small business owners in mind. Our software provides you with remote access to your financial documents at all times. Plus, our software helps you track income, expenses, and everything you need to run a small business. Whether you need to send professional receipts or order confirmations, our software products and business templates make the financial side of running a small business much easier.
Notice to the Reader
The content within this article is meant to be used as general guidelines about Google AdWords and may not apply to your specific situation. Always consult with a professional marketer to ensure you're getting the most from your digital marketing strategy.