What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an online platform for promoting products and services across Google Search, YouTube, and other sites. These ads appear at the top of Google search results, above organic listings, and before or during YouTube videos.
It operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Alongside platforms like Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, or Amazon Ads, Google Ads is a part of a PPC marketing strategy.
What is the difference between Google Ads and SEO?
Google Ads and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) take different paths to increase your online visibility, particularly regarding Google search results.
Google Ads gives you exposure with paid ads that appear at the top of search results. You pay for ad space and compete with other advertisers for the best positions.
The role of SEO in marketing is different: it focuses on improving your organic rankings. If Google’s algorithm deems your website valuable, it will rank higher in search results without you having to pay for clicks.
If you want to dive deeper into the differences between these platforms, check out our full SEO vs Google Ads comparison.
How does Google Ads work?
To run Google Ads, you start by setting up a campaign that reflects your overall goal, whether driving website traffic or increasing product sales.
Inside each campaign, you have ad groups where you organize your ads based on different themes or target audiences.
The foundation to showing your ads is keywords—words or phrases people type into Google. Your ad can appear when someone searches for a keyword you’ve chosen.
You also decide how much you will pay when someone clicks on your ad, which is called bidding. You compete with other advertisers for the best spots. Google decides which ads to show based on your bid and how good your ad is.
Creative assets—images, videos, and copy—are vital to your campaign’s success. A solid creative strategy ensures that your ads stand out, speak directly to your audience, and encourage them to take action.
Finally, Google Ads uses AI to optimize campaigns. It helps you choose the best bids, automatically adjusts your ads to perform better, and even creates dynamic ads that adapt based on user behavior.
And voila! The campaign structure is fairly straightforward. But, as always, the devil lies in the details—and that’s what we’ll dive into next.
What are the benefits of Google Ads?
If Google Ads is one of the most popular marketing tools for businesses, there must be good reasons for that. You bet there are!
Here are the top benefits of Google Ads:
- Measurable results: You get detailed analytics on every aspect of your campaign—from clicks and impressions to conversions. You can track real-time performance and understand what’s working and what’s not.
- Targeted advertising: You can target specific audiences based on location, demographics, interests, and search behavior. Your ads reach the people most likely to engage with your business.
- Immediate visibility: Unlike SEO, which can take months to show results, Google Ads gets your business in front of potential customers instantly. This is particularly valuable if you’re looking to drive quick traffic or promote time-sensitive offers.
- Flexibility: You have full control over your budget, bidding strategies, and the ability to adjust your campaigns as needed. You can start or stop a campaign anytime, scale your budget up or down, and refine your ads for better performance without being locked into long-term commitments.
- Scalability: Whether you’re a small business just starting or a large enterprise, Google Ads scales with your needs. You can run small, localized campaigns or expand to target global audiences, all while staying within a budget that works for you.
How much Google Ads cost?
Google Ads prices depend on factors like your industry, competition, and the audience you’re targeting. There’s no fixed price—campaigns run on a bidding system where you set a maximum bid for each click, and the actual cost depends on how competitive your chosen keywords are.
However, you probably didn’t come here for the “it depends” answer. To give you a very rough idea:
- Low-competition industries: You might pay anywhere from $1 to $2 per click.
- Moderate-competition industries: Businesses typically spend around $3 to $5 per click.
- High-competition industries (like legal services or insurance): Costs can go as high as $50 or more per click due to the intense competition for keywords.
But don’t quote us on this one, please.
What marketing goals can you achieve with Google Ads?
Google Ads is a part of what we call Growth Marketing, and as such, it serves very specific marketing purposes.
So, how can Google Ads help you advance your business goals?
- Increase brand awareness: Google Ads allows your business to appear at the top of search results, ensuring your brand gets seen by more people, even if they don’t click right away.
- Drive website traffic: By targeting specific keywords, Google Ads helps attract users actively searching for your products or services, driving qualified traffic to your website.
- Generate leads: You can use Google Ads to create targeted campaigns focused on lead generation by offering something of value (e.g., free trials or e-books) in exchange for contact information.
- Boost sales: Google Ads campaigns can be optimized to push direct sales by targeting users ready to purchase, with options like shopping ads or remarketing to bring back users who previously visited your site.
- Re-engage potential customers: Remarketing features in Google Ads allow you to show ads to users who have interacted with your website before, keeping your brand top-of-mind.
How to track Google Ads performance?
Web analytics is by far the most potent source of data-driven decisions, and Google Ads excels in this department.
The platform tracks and measures everything in real-time, giving you a clear view of what’s working and what needs adjustment.
Tracking is done through the Google Ads Tag, a simple yet powerful tool. You install the Google Ads Tag, which monitors what happens after someone clicks on your ad—whether they made a purchase, filled out a form, or took another action important to your business.
Tracking these behaviors gives you a full picture of your ads’ performance. Key metrics tracked by the tag:
- Clicks: how many people interacted with your ad.
- Impressions: how often your ad was displayed.
- Conversions: how many clicks led to a sale, sign-up, or another goal you’ve set.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): how much revenue you’re generating for every dollar spent on ads.
If these terms still seem unclear, check out What are KPIs in Marketing?
Types of campaigns and advertising placements in Google Ads
Google Ads offers several campaign types, each designed to target different goals and audiences.
Search Ads
- Text-based ads that show up when people search for keywords related to your business.
- Appear on Google search results and partner sites.
- Best for reaching people who are actively searching for your products or services.
- Great for conversions and lead generation by targeting specific queries.
Display Ads
- Visually appealing ads, like images or banners, that are displayed across Google’s vast Display Network.
- Appear on websites, apps, and platforms like Gmail and YouTube.
- Perfect for building brand awareness and reaching people who might not be actively searching for your product.
- Offer a wide reach with multiple formats, including static, responsive, and interactive banners.
Shopping Ads
- Product-focused ads that show images, prices, and descriptions.
- Appear on Google Search results and in the Google Shopping tab.
- Ideal for e-commerce businesses looking to showcase specific products and drive sales.
- Highly visual, perfect for comparison shopping.
Video Ads
- Ads that play as videos, often on YouTube and across the Display Network.
- Appear on YouTube, partner sites, and apps.
- Great for storytelling, product demos, and engaging your audience with rich video content.
- Available in various formats, including skippable in-stream ads (TrueView) and non-skippable bumper ads.
Performance Max
- A fully automated campaign type that runs ads across all of Google’s channels, including Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.
- Perfect for maximizing conversions and extending your reach with one unified campaign.
- Uses AI to optimize ad placements and automate the creation process.
App Campaigns
- Ads focused on promoting app installs or driving in-app conversions.
- Appear on Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, and other apps in the Display Network.
- Great for app developers looking to boost installs or increase engagement.
- Automatically generates ads using your app store listing and other assets.
Local Ads
- Ads designed to attract nearby customers and drive in-store visits.
- Appear on Google Search, Maps, YouTube, and Display Network.
- Ideal for local businesses looking to get more foot traffic.
- Integrates with Google My Business to showcase store hours, directions, and reviews.
Discovery Ads
- Eye-catching ads that appear across Google’s Discover feed, YouTube, and Gmail.
- Tailored to users’ interests, based on their browsing activity.
- Great for brand discovery and engaging people in a non-search environment.
- Visually rich ads that blend naturally with the content users are already viewing.
Concepts and metrics in Google Ads you should know about
At its core, Google Ads is a straightforward system built around a few key concepts that drive its functionality.
Let’s learn about them.
Auction and bidding
The Google Ads auction is the process that determines which ads are shown and where they appear on the search results page. Advertisers enter their maximum bid – the highest amount they will pay for each click.
The auction considers both this bid and the Quality Score (explained below) to decide the position of your ad.
There are several bidding strategies available in Google Ads:
- Cost Per Click (CPC): You pay when someone clicks your ad, best for driving website traffic.
- Cost Per Thousand Impressions (CPM): You pay for every 1,000 times your ad is shown, ideal for raising brand awareness.
- Target ROAS: This strategy aims to maximize return on ad spend by adjusting bids to get the best possible revenue.
Audience targeting
Audience targeting allows you to reach users most likely to be interested in your business.
With options like demographic targeting, remarketing, and custom audiences, you can tailor your ads to specific segments based on their age, location, interests, and past interactions with your site.
You can also link Google Analytics with Google Ads to expand your audience-targeting capabilities. You can retarget users by importing Google Analytics audiences based on more detailed behavior data, like time spent on your site or specific actions taken.
Impressions and clicks
Impressions tell you how often your ad is shown, while clicks show how many users engage with it. Together, these metrics help you gauge the visibility of your ads and how well they capture attention.
One additional metric to watch is impression share, which indicates the percentage of total impressions your ad could have received compared to what was available. A high impression share = your ads are showing frequently, while a low impression share = you need to increase your bids or adjust your targeting.
CPC (Cost Per Click)
Cost Per Click (CPC) is a key metric determining how much you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. It’s crucial to monitor your CPC to ensure your campaign runs efficiently. By optimizing your bids and refining your targeting, you can often reduce your CPC while still driving valuable traffic.
People often ask what a good CPC is for Google Ads, but this heavily depends on your industry and target audience. For instance, the average CPC in highly competitive industries like legal services or insurance can be much higher than in other verticals.
Conversions
A conversion happens when a user completes a desired action after clicking your ad—whether making a purchase, submitting a form, or another goal you’ve set.
To track conversions, you need to set up conversion tracking in your Google Ads account. This involves adding a snippet of code (conversion tag) to your website or using Google Analytics integration.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is one of the most important metrics for assessing the profitability of your Google Ads campaigns. It tells you how much revenue you generate for every dollar you spend on ads.
The ROAS formula is simple: divide your revenue by your ad spend.
Quality Score
Google Ads Quality Score determines both the cost and placement of your ads in the auction.
Google assigns a Quality Score based on the relevance of your ad to the user, the quality of the landing page, and the expected click-through rate (CTR).
A higher Quality Score can lower your CPC and boost your ad ranking, making your ads more likely to appear in prime positions.
Remarketing
Remarketing lets you reconnect with people who have visited your website or app.
With the Google Ads remarketing tag, you can show personalized ads to these users as they browse other websites, keeping your brand top of mind. It’s a great way to return potential customers and give them that extra nudge to purchase or take another important action.
Are Google Ads worth it?
Extended business reach, increased conversion rates, instant traffic, increased brand awareness, data-driven decision-making…
Do we need to keep listing more?
Google Ads is one of the most powerful marketing tools out there, and if you use it wisely and strategically, you’ll take your business to the next level.
