If you own a business, are a marketer, or are involved in digital advertising, odds are you work with or are familiar with Google Ads. Previously known as Google Adwords, these ads are taking the marketing world by storm because of their targeting options, reach, and ROI. Let’s take a deeper dive into Google Adwords. For the sake of this blog, we will be using “Google Ads” and “Adwords” interchangeably. The official name is now Google Ads, but Adwords will always hold a nostalgic place in our hearts.

What Are Google Ads?

Because Google is the top search engine, it makes sense that most online activity passes through it. Bing, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Yahoo!, and Safari still remain competitors, but Google holds a very large percentage of the search engine market - almost 93%. Because of the huge daily traffic, it only makes sense that Google developed its own ad system. Thus, Google Adwords was born.

So what exactly are Google Ads? Adwords is a unique tool that allows you to create and manage highly detailed advertising campaigns. Google Ads are different than other online advertising platforms because of the many types of ads you can create. In addition to choosing what your goals are for your ads, you can also choose how, where, and to whom they are displayed (to a degree.) With the complex system Adwords has in place, it is easy to manage hundreds of campaigns, ad groups, and ads from one dashboard. Google offers “ Google Academy” to learn about the many types of Google Ads and how to use Adwords efficiently. You can take two exams in the Academy and if you pass both you will become Google Ads Certified. This is a simple title to earn if you’re willing to put in the time to learn the system, but it is a title that can hold a lot of significance for prospective clients or employers.

What Are the Types of Google Ads?

Search Ads: Search ads are the most common type of Adwords ad. These ads are comprised solely of text and they show up when someone searches for a trigger keyword on Google. The next time you search on Google, check out the top few listings on the page. Spots 1-4 are typically paid ads related to your search. This is a Google Ads search campaign at work.

Display Ads: Display ads are ads that contain images. Google shows these ads on the “Display Network” as well as on partnering sites. Banner ads and tower ads are included in the Display NEtwork, as are video and YouTube ads.

Shopping Ads: When you look for a product to buy online, some items usually show up at the top of the search results. These are Shipping Ads. Alternatively, you can find Shipping Ads on the Shopping page as the top several listings.

What Can Google Adwords Do For You?

Google Ads are phenomenal at getting your business in front of the audience who needs to see it. When you create a Google Ads Campaign, you can select what your goals are, what your budget is (lifetime or daily), what location you want to target, and so much more. When it comes to creating the ad groups, you can use laser targeting to make sure your ads are shown only to those most likely to be interested in them. You get to select the keywords that will trigger your ads. Google allows you to decide if you want to broad match your keywords (any search including them or something similar), modified broad match (contain the search terms but not synonyms), phrase match (a phrase and close variations of that phrase), or exact match (the search must be exactly the same as the keyword).

When you create your ads, you can use a feature on Adwords called “responsive search.” The beta test will show the best performing copy for the ad based on which versions received more clicks and conversions. This will create the optimal ad that is the most likely to attract attention.

One of the best things about Google Ads is the easy conversion tracking. You can set up goals or triggers for what constitutes and conversion. Whether that is clicking to the site, filling out a form, or something else, Adwords can track it for you to let you know when you get a lead. Additionally, Google Ads connects to Google Analytics for even more analytical opportunities. Because ads are often run to get conversions, Google Ads lets you optimize your ads with that goal in mind. It will automatically put more money into the higher-converting ads. You can do the same for impressions or click through rate. For the duration of your ads campaign, Adwords will optimize for you automatically (though there is a manual option), funneling your budget into the best ads in each ad group. This will prevent you from spending on ads that don’t convert, and improve your overall ROI.

This article has only skimmed the surface of Google Ads. Check our blog page often as we will soon be posting a more in-depth look at the creation of Adwords ads. If Google Ads scare you because Ads Manager is foreign territory for you, give us a call at BusySeed. We are a team of experts who love to help businesses grow. We specialize in social media and digital marketing and we manage numerous successful Google Ads accounts. We will help you get new leads, increase your conversion metrics, and improve your ROI. Call us at (888) 353-1484.