How Can Google Ads Help You Advance Your Business Goals?

Google Ads is one of the most effective methods of paid online advertising. Period.

But let’s back up. What is Google Ads? Well, when anybody searches for just about anything on Google, the top of the first page of results will usually display paid advertisements. Those ads might be laid out as a row of images with ad copy underneath, or they might be laid out in the same manner as the rest of the search results, but with the word “Ad” at the top next to the URL.

So, Google Ads is essentially just a pay-per-click (PPC) platform that lives right on the search engine results pages (SERPs) of the most popular search engine around, as well as on all other Google-owned platforms. 

More than a billion people use Google. There are 7.674 billion people on the entire planet, so at least 13% of all humans who are alive right now use Google. In 2020, there were 6.9 billion searches a day.

Now, think about how we said that Google’s ads live on the actual SERPs themselves, and imagine the staggering amount of reach those ads must have. It’s almost unfathomable! 

So now you see why we would make a statement like “Google Ads is one of the most effective methods of paid online advertising.” That might even be too conservative. 

However, it’s not just the gargantuan reach that makes Google Ads a great tool for advancing your business goals. It’s also the gaggle of Google Ads amenities that make using the platform easy, cost-effective, customizable, and an all-around knockout PPC solution.  

Reach the Right People

When you first set out on your Google Ads advertising effort, you’ll inform Google what primary objective you’re hoping to achieve. 

For example, are you looking to: 

• Bring people to your website or a particular landing page?
• Increase call volume to your business?
• Direct more people to your store?

Next, you’ll specify whether you’re trying to reach a global or local audience. If you’re looking to bring people to your website, you might consider casting your advertising net across the world. On the other hand, to make your advertising dollars stretch the furthest when directing people to a physical store location, narrowing your targeting to a local audience would be best. 

Customize the Methodology 

Google Ads gives you several types of ad campaigns to choose from (and Google is continually innovating and creating new types; Discovery campaigns are a recent notable addition). Each campaign type is focused on getting your message out there in a particular way. The better you can define your business objective and audience, the better you can select a suitable campaign type. 

Search campaigns primarily display your ad on Google SERPs—that is, search campaigns display your ads on the results page after someone types words into a Google search bar. When users search for terms related to a keyword that’s a part of your campaign, they’ll be presented with your ad. This means high-intent traffic for your ads.

Display campaigns show visual ads to people using products in the Google Display Network, such as Gmail and YouTube, as well as thousands of Google partner sites across the web with display ad space. 

Shopping campaigns display ads within Google’s shopping area. When users search for a term that aligns with your wares, they can be served a shopping ad. Plus, Google uses your online store’s product data to determine what text and images to serve based on a user’s behavior. So there’s less manual work on your end to create ads; rather, Google composes ads from the information in your product feed.

Video campaigns use video ads displayed on YouTube and other Google Display Network properties to promote your company. They’re moving. They’re dynamic. They stand out from the static imagery and text of other campaign types. 

App campaigns show your ad on Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, AdMob, the Google Display Network, Google Discover, Google’s search partners and a whole bunch of other publishers that show app ads. 

Discovery campaigns shine the brightest when people do a Google search on a mobile device. These ads appear in a tailored to each user that shows up below the Google search bar on someone’s phone. Using a combination of dynamically selected text and imagery, Discovery campaigns provide a rich ad experience to a select audience.

Having the option to choose the campaign that best suits your business and your needs is one of the ways that Google Ads accommodates users, and it’s a major part of what makes the platform so amazing for PPC. 

Never Go Over Budget

One of the most common questions about Google Ads is, How much does it cost? Surely all these benefits come at a premium, right? No! That’s the best part!

When launching your campaign, you get to set the budget and Google will automatically cease things when that budget is hit. You never have to worry about spending more than you meant to. 

As for how much you should be spending on your Google Ads campaign, there’s no way to answer that without understanding your specific circumstances, but the average monthly spend is generally around the 9- or 10-thousand mark. 

One thing to keep in mind is that the average return on ad spend (ROAS) is about $2 for every $1 spent, according to Google, so it’s pretty hard to actually lose money on a Google Ads campaign. 

Just Let Google Do Its Thing

Once you’ve set your parameters, decided on your budget, and selected the kind of campaign you want to run, then the real magic starts. This is where the true answer to this article’s titular question is found. How can Google Ads help you advance your business goals? Well, you just set it loose and it does its thing and you reap the rewards. 

When we think about Google as an entity (or maybe a force of nature is more accurate), it’s not easy to quantify. Sure, there are over 80,000 Google employees. There are people behind the scenes writing code and pulling levers and pushing buttons. But the essence of Google is so much more than that. It’s a nigh-sentient being that seems to know everything and works to create an ebb and flow of web traffic on a global scale. 

When you run a Google Ads campaign, your advertising becomes a part of this ebb and flow. You don’t have to worry about buying ad placement or micromanaging or any of that. Google knows when to show your ads to whom. It knows how to most effectively display your message to convert on your goal.

And while Google is working its might on your benefit, you can access performance data within the Google Ads platform. What’s more, you can take your evaluation of Google’s impact to the next level by putting Google Analytics on your website. This gives you data on organic traffic, as well as all the paid traffic that your Google Ads is generating. All in all, Google Analytics gives you a window into how people interact with your site—that way you can optimize your user experience and your ads to increase sales.

Does PPC Help With SEO?

According to Google, PPC does not directly help your website’s search engine rankings, or SEO. If you talk to those of us in the trenches, you’ll get a slightly different answer: yes, a little, maybe. Because Google’s algorithms are so opaque, it’s impossible to know exactly what impact ads have on your placement in organic SERPs. Having said that, we know that seeing your business’s name in ads will absolutely help your overall brand footprint. Isn’t that what search is all about? After all, your customers can’t know what they don’t know.

At DOM, a big part of what we do involves understanding the machinations of Google through data analysis and working within the digital marketing ecosystem to drive results for our clients. If you’re considering embarking on a Google Ads campaign, be sure to contact us for a free consultation to find out how we can be of help.