Effective Strategies for Advertising on Google to Boost Your Business

How Advertising on Google Works

First, advertisers create an ad campaign for a specific offer and then inform Google which searches they want their ad to appear for. They do this by bidding on keywords that are relevant to their ad.

If their ad appears on the search engine results page, they’ll pay only when a user clicks on that ad. This is known as “pay-per-click advertising.”

The Google Ads Auction

How does Google decide which ads to show? Google Ads operates like an auction, but unlike a traditional auction, the highest bidder does not always win. Google's ad algorithm takes the quality and relevance of your ad into account, which levels the playing field for advertisers with varying budgets.

You can learn more about how Google Ads works here, but here’s a quick overview:
The ad auction occurs every time a searcher enters a keyword into Google. This means that each search for the keywords you’re bidding on represents an opportunity for your ads to be shown to potential new customers.

Since these prospects are actively searching for what you’re offering, your ad will appear at the exact right moment. This is what makes advertising on Google so powerful and one of the best ways to grow your business.

How to Advertise on Google

Advertising on Google requires a Google Ads account, which is free to create. Once you’ve opened your account, it’s time to figure out how to use Google Ads to grow your business!

Here is a ten-step process for advertising on Google:

1. Establish Your Account Goals

2. Determine Your Audience

3. Conduct Keyword Research

4. Set Budgets and Bids

5. Build Your Optimal Account Structure

6. Write High-Performing Ads

7. Create Effective Landing Pages

8. Implement Conversion Tracking

9. Grow Your Remarketing Lists

10. Make Optimization a Habit

Below, we’ll provide more tips on how to optimize your Google advertising.

Optimal Google Ads Account Structure

The first step is to consider your account structure. Although there are many ways to structure a Google Ads account, such as mirroring the structure of your website or by product categorization, the most effective and successful accounts share the same qualities in terms of organizational hierarchy. The following figure shows an optimal Google Ads account structure:
The account itself is the top-most level. Within each account are campaigns. Some advertisers may run only a single campaign at any given time, whereas others might run numerous campaigns simultaneously. Each campaign houses various ad groups, each containing unique keywords, ad text, and accompanying landing pages.

Campaigns are often organized by theme, such as a holiday promotion or back-to-school sale. Within each campaign, ad groups are typically organized by products or services, such as Hanukkah merchandise or school stationery. Finally, individual products, like menorahs or notebooks, have their own targeted keywords, unique ad copy, and relevant accompanying landing pages.

Your Google Ads account structure may not exactly match this hierarchy, but organizing your account in this way will help you keep things organized and tightly themed from the outset. This can significantly influence PPC metrics like Quality Score.

Advertise on Google with WordStream

Aside from the technical aspects of setting up and running a PPC campaign using Google Ads, many advertisers find the time commitment needed to achieve success with paid search challenging. This is why WordStream’s software and free tools have proven invaluable to thousands of businesses advertising on Google.

The Google Ads Performance Grader: A Free & Fast Audit

To maximize the impact of your Google advertising campaigns, you need to understand what is working and where improvements can be made.

The Google Ads Performance Grader is the most comprehensive, fully featured free tool of its kind. In 60 seconds or less, the Google Ads Performance Grader performs a detailed and thorough audit of your PPC account. It identifies areas for improvement and highlights successful areas of your account, showing how they compare to competitive benchmarks in your industry.

In conclusion, understanding how to effectively advertise on Google can significantly boost your business's visibility and growth. By following the outlined steps and utilizing tools like the Google Ads Performance Grader, you can optimize your campaigns for success.