how to run google ads

Thinking about running Google Ads but not sure where to start? We get it. It can seem a little overwhelming at first, with all the options and settings. But honestly, it’s not as complicated as it looks. We’re going to walk you through how to set up your first Google Ads campaigns, pick the right kinds of ads, and make sure you’re not wasting money. Whether you’re a small business owner or part of a marketing team, this guide will help you get your ads up and running effectively. And hey, if things get too tricky, there’s always a google ads agency that can lend a hand.

• First, get your Google Ads account set up and figure out what you want your ads to achieve and who you want to see them.
• Choose the right campaign type for your goals, then set up your budget, schedule, where they’ll show, and how you want to bid.
• Do your homework on keywords, group them logically, and write ad text that grabs attention and tells people what to do.
• Use extra ad features like extensions, target specific devices, and add negative keywords to make sure your ads reach the right people and perform better.
• After your ads are live, keep an eye on important numbers like cost per click and conversions, and tweak your bids and keywords to get the most bang for your buck.

Alright, let’s get this Google Ads party started! Setting up your account is the first big step, and honestly, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Think of it like getting your kitchen ready before you start cooking up a storm. We need the right tools and ingredients in place.

First things first, you’ll need a Google account. If you don’t have one, go ahead and create that. Then, head over to the Google Ads homepage and hit that "Start Now" button. Google will try to guide you into a "Smart campaign" right away, which is designed to be super simple. But, if you want more control and better results down the line, it’s worth clicking the option to "create account only." This lets you build your first campaign from scratch once you’re inside your new account. It might seem like a few extra clicks, but trust us, it pays off.

Once you’re in, Google will ask for some basic info about your business, like its name and website address. This helps them tailor things a bit. You might also get a chance to link other Google accounts you have, like your Google Business Profile or YouTube channel. This is a good idea because it gives Google more context about your business, which can help them show your ads to the right people. It’s all about making sure your ads are seen by folks who are actually interested in what you offer.

Now, before you even think about ads, you need to know what you want to achieve. What’s the main point of running these ads? Are you trying to get more people to visit your website, make a purchase, or maybe just get more phone calls? Google will ask you about your goals, and picking the right one is super important because it helps them suggest the best campaign types for you.

Here are some common goals:

• Sales: Drive sales online, in-app, by phone, or in-store.
• Leads: Get leads and other valuable conversions by encouraging customers to take action.
• Website traffic: Get the right people to visit your site.
• Product and brand consideration: Encourage people to explore your products or services.
• Brand awareness and reach: Reach a broad audience and build brand recognition.
• App promotion: Get more installs, registrations, or in-app actions.

Choosing your campaign goal is like picking your destination before you start a road trip. You wouldn’t just start driving without knowing where you’re going, right? Having a clear goal helps us make all the right decisions about targeting, budget, and ad types.

Don’t worry if this feels like a lot at first. We’ll break down how to pick the right campaign type and get everything set up in the next section. For now, just getting your account created and thinking about your goals is a huge win. If you’re looking for a team that focuses on driving real results, you might want to check out revenue-driven strategies.

Alright, so you’ve got your Google Ads account set up, and now it’s time to figure out what kind of ads we’re going to run. This is a big one, because picking the wrong campaign type is like trying to bake a cake with a hammer – it’s just not going to work out the way you want.

Google offers a bunch of different ways to get your ads in front of people. It’s not just one-size-fits-all. We’ve got:

• Search Ads: These are the text ads you see when you search for something on Google. Think of them as showing up right when someone is actively looking for what you offer.
• Display Ads: These are the image or banner ads that pop up on websites all over the internet. They’re great for getting your brand name out there and reminding people you exist.
• Video Ads: Yep, ads on YouTube. If you’ve got video content, this is how you can share it with a wider audience.
• Shopping Ads: If you sell products, these show up with images and prices directly in search results. Super useful for e-commerce.
• App Campaigns: These are designed to get more people to download and use your mobile app.
• Performance Max Campaigns: This is a newer, automated option that uses Google’s AI to show your ads across all of Google’s channels – Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover, and Maps. It’s meant to find customers wherever they are.

So, how do we pick? It really boils down to what we want to achieve. Are we trying to get people to buy something right now? Or are we just trying to get our name out there so people remember us later?

• If you want immediate sales or leads: Search Ads or Shopping Ads are usually your best bet. People are actively searching, so they’re closer to making a decision. Performance Max can also be good here if you want to cover all bases.
• If you want to build brand awareness: Display Ads and Video Ads are fantastic for this. You can reach a lot of people and get your brand in front of them repeatedly.
• If you have a mobile app: App Campaigns are specifically built for driving app installs and engagement.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the choices. The key is to think about your main goal first. What’s the one thing you really want people to do after seeing your ad? Once you know that, you can start narrowing down the campaign types that make the most sense.

Let’s say our main goal is to get more people to visit our website and learn about our services. In this case, Search Ads are probably our starting point. They show up when someone types in keywords related to what we do. We can also consider Display Ads to reach a broader audience who might be interested but aren’t actively searching yet. For a more in-depth look at all the options, checking out the various types of Google Ads campaigns can be really helpful.

Don’t feel like you have to stick to just one type forever. As we get more comfortable, we can experiment with different campaign types and see what works best for us. It’s all about testing and learning!

Alright, now that we’ve got our account set up and know what we want to achieve, it’s time to actually build out our campaigns. This is where the magic happens, or at least, where we try to make it happen!

Think of your campaign structure like organizing your closet. You wouldn’t just throw everything in there, right? You’d probably group similar items together. In Google Ads, we do the same thing. We group related keywords and ads into what we call ‘ad groups’. Each ad group should focus on a very specific theme or product. This helps Google understand what your ad is about and show it to the right people. For example, if you sell shoes, you might have separate ad groups for ‘running shoes’, ‘dress shoes’, and ‘kids’ shoes’. This way, when someone searches for ‘best running shoes for marathons’, they see ads specifically about running shoes, not dress shoes.

Keywords are the words and phrases people type into Google when they’re looking for something. Your job is to figure out what those words are and then bid on them so your ads show up. This is a big part of making sure your ads get seen by the right audience. We want to find terms that people are actually searching for, but also terms that aren’t so competitive that they cost a fortune per click. It’s a bit of a balancing act. We’re looking for that sweet spot where demand is high, but competition isn’t crazy.

Here’s a quick look at how we might think about keywords:

• Broad Match: This is like casting a wide net. Google will show your ad for searches that are related to your keyword, even if they don’t contain the exact word. It can bring in a lot of traffic, but also a lot of irrelevant clicks.
• Phrase Match: This is a bit more specific. Your ad will show for searches that include the meaning of your keyword. For example, if your keyword is "blue running shoes", your ad might show for "buy blue running shoes" or "best blue running shoes".
• Exact Match: This is the most restrictive. Your ad will only show when someone searches for the exact keyword or very close variations of it. This usually leads to the most relevant traffic but can limit your reach.
• Negative Keywords: These are super important! They are words you don’t want your ad to show up for. If you sell new cars, you’d add "used" as a negative keyword so your ad doesn’t show when someone searches for "used cars".

Okay, so you’ve got your keywords and your structure. Now, what do you actually say in your ad? This is your chance to grab someone’s attention and convince them to click. Think about what makes your product or service stand out. What problem do you solve for the customer? Use clear, concise language. Your ad headline is the first thing people see, so make it count! Include a call to action – tell people what you want them to do, like "Shop Now" or "Get a Free Quote".

Google Ads offers a bunch of extra bits and pieces you can add to your ads to make them more useful and eye-catching. These are called ad assets (or extensions). They can show things like your phone number, your business address, links to specific pages on your website, or even star ratings from customers. Using these assets can make your ad bigger and more informative, which often leads to better performance. It’s like adding extra toppings to your pizza – it just makes it better!

We want our ads to be as helpful as possible to the person searching. If we can give them the information they need right there in the ad, they’re more likely to click and convert. It’s all about making it easy for them.

Getting your campaigns set up right from the start is key to seeing good results. It takes a bit of planning, but it’s totally doable. You can find more detailed steps on how to build successful campaigns using API tools. It’s worth the effort to get this part right before you start spending money.

Alright, let’s talk about the money part of Google Ads. This is where we figure out how much we’re willing to spend and how we want Google to spend it for us. It can feel a bit like guesswork at first, but once we get the hang of it, it makes a lot of sense.

First off, we need to decide on a budget. Think about what you can realistically afford to spend each month. It’s not just about throwing money at the problem, though. We want to be smart about it. A good starting point is to look at what similar businesses in your industry are spending or what Google benchmarks suggest. This gives us a ballpark figure.

Then, we break that down into a daily budget. A simple way to do this is to take your total monthly budget and divide it by the average number of days in a month (around 30.4). So, if you want to spend $300 a month, that’s roughly $10 a day. This daily amount is what Google will aim to spend on average each day.

It’s important to remember that Google might spend a bit more on some days and less on others. They do this to try and grab more clicks or conversions when they see a good opportunity. The goal is to even out over the month, so you don’t go over your total budget.

When you set up your campaign, you’ll tell Google your daily budget. This is pretty straightforward. Just enter the amount you figured out. We also need to think about our goals. If our goal is to get conversions, we need to consider how much a conversion is worth to us. If we’re spending $10 a day and our average cost per click (CPC) is $2, we’re looking at about 5 clicks a day. If our conversion rate is low, we might need more clicks to get a conversion, which means we might need a bigger budget or a lower CPC.

Here’s a quick example:

• Monthly Budget Goal: $500
• Average Days in Month: 30.4
• Daily Budget: $500 / 30.4 = ~$16.45
• Estimated CPC: $2.50
• Potential Clicks Per Day: ~$16.45 / $2.50 = ~6.5 clicks

If you’re aiming for one conversion a day and it takes about 10 clicks to get one, then $16.45 a day might not be enough. We’d need to adjust.

Now, how does Google actually spend that daily budget? That’s where bidding strategies come in. We can either tell Google exactly how much we’re willing to pay for each click (manual bidding) or let Google figure it out for us (automated bidding).

• Manual Bidding: This gives us total control. We set a maximum amount we’ll pay for a click on each keyword. It’s good if we know exactly what we’re doing and want to micromanage. However, setting bids too low can really limit how often our ads show up.
• Automated Bidding: This is often easier, especially when we’re starting out. We tell Google our goal (like getting more clicks, more conversions, or a specific return on ad spend), and Google uses its smarts to adjust bids automatically to try and meet that goal. It’s like letting a pro chef handle the cooking while you just tell them what kind of meal you want.

We’ll want to pick a bidding strategy that lines up with what we’re trying to achieve with our ads. If we want as many people as possible to see our ads, we might go for a clicks-focused strategy. If we want actual sales or leads, we’ll focus on conversion-based bidding.

There are tons of options, and Google’s AI is pretty good at this stuff. For most people, starting with an automated strategy that focuses on conversions is a solid bet. We can always switch or tweak things later as we get more data.

Alright, we’ve put in the work, and now it’s time to hit that "launch" button. It feels pretty good, right? But launching is just the beginning. The real magic happens when we start watching how our ads are doing and making smart adjustments. Think of it like tending a garden; you plant the seeds, but then you’ve got to water them, pull the weeds, and make sure they get enough sun.

The Google Ads dashboard can look a little overwhelming at first, with all its charts and numbers. But don’t worry, we’ll get the hang of it. It’s our central hub for everything related to our campaigns. We can see how our ads are performing, make changes, and check our spending. It’s pretty straightforward once you spend a bit of time clicking around. You’ll want to get familiar with the main sections, like Campaigns, Ad Groups, Ads, and Keywords. This is where we’ll spend most of our time.

So, what should we be looking at? There are a bunch of numbers, but a few are super important to start with. We need to know if people are actually seeing our ads, clicking on them, and then doing what we want them to do on our website.

Here are some of the key metrics we’ll keep an eye on:

• Impressions: How many times our ad was shown.
• Clicks: How many times people clicked on our ad.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who saw our ad and clicked it. This tells us if our ad is grabbing attention.
• Conversions: The number of times people completed a desired action (like making a purchase or filling out a form) after clicking our ad.
• Cost Per Conversion (CPC): How much we’re spending on average for each conversion.

Keeping track of these helps us understand what’s working and what’s not. We can also use tools like the Google Ads Performance Grader to get a quick overview of how things are going.

Our ads won’t always be running smoothly. Sometimes, Google might pause them, or they might get disapproved. It’s important to know what these statuses mean so we can fix any issues quickly.

• Enabled: Everything is good to go, and your ads are running.
• Paused: You’ve manually paused the campaign, ad group, or ad. It won’t run until you re-enable it.
• Disapproved: Your ad or extension didn’t meet Google’s advertising policies. You’ll need to edit it and resubmit it for review.
• Under Review: Your ad is currently being checked by Google to make sure it follows their policies.
• Eligible (Limited by Budget): Your ads are showing, but your budget might be restricting how often they appear. You might want to consider increasing your budget if you want more visibility.

It’s really important to check these statuses regularly. An ad that’s disapproved or paused isn’t going to bring in any business, and that’s the last thing we want. We need to be proactive about keeping our campaigns active and healthy.

So, you’ve launched your Google Ads campaigns. That’s awesome! But honestly, the real work starts now. Think of it like baking a cake – you’ve mixed the ingredients and put it in the oven, but you still need to check if it’s baking evenly and adjust the temperature if needed. We need to keep an eye on things and make smart tweaks to get the best results.

This is where we get picky. Are we showing our ads to the right people? Are we using the words they’re actually typing into Google? We should look at our keyword performance. Are some keywords bringing in clicks but no sales? Maybe it’s time to pause them or add them as negative keywords so they don’t show up again. We also need to check our audience targeting. Are we reaching people in the right locations? At the right age? If not, we can adjust these settings. It’s all about making sure our ads are seen by folks who are actually interested in what we offer.

Sometimes, Google flags our ads. It’s usually for a good reason, like not following their policies. We need to pay attention to these notifications. If an ad gets disapproved, we have to figure out why and fix it. It might be something in the ad text, the landing page, or even the product we’re selling. We also might see limitations, like an ad not showing because our bid is too low or our Quality Score isn’t great. We’ve got to sort these out so our ads can run freely.

Google has some pretty smart tools that can help us out. Things like automated bidding strategies can adjust our bids in real-time to try and get us the best results for our budget. We can also use performance reports to see what’s working and what’s not. These tools can spot patterns we might miss. We should definitely play around with these features to see how they can help our campaigns perform better.

Look, sometimes this stuff gets complicated. If we’re feeling stuck or just don’t have the time to dig into the details, it’s okay to ask for help. There are people who specialize in Google Ads. They can take a look at our account, give us advice, or even manage it for us. It might cost a bit, but if it means getting way better results, it could be worth it.

We need to remember that running Google Ads isn’t a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of thing. It requires ongoing attention and adjustments. We should give our campaigns some time to gather data before making big changes, maybe two weeks to a month, especially for new ones. Patience is key here.

Want to make your online ads work harder? We can help you fine-tune your campaigns so they bring in the best results. Ready to see your marketing efforts pay off? Visit our website today to learn how we can boost your success!

Alright, we’ve gone through a lot, haven’t we? Setting up Google Ads might seem like a big mountain to climb at first, but hopefully, we’ve shown you it’s totally doable. Remember to start with clear goals, pick the right campaign type for what you want to achieve, and don’t forget to keep an eye on how things are going. It’s not a ‘set it and forget it’ kind of thing. We’ll need to tweak things here and there, check our spending, and see what’s working. If an ad gets flagged, don’t panic – usually, there’s a way to fix it or appeal. Just keep learning and adjusting, and you’ll get the hang of it. Happy advertising!

To get going, we’ll need to create a Google Ads account. After that, we’ll add our business details. Then, we’ll figure out what we want our ads to achieve, like getting more website visitors or sales. This helps us set up our very first campaign goals.

There are several types of campaigns we can choose from, like Search ads (which show up when people search on Google), Display ads (which appear on websites), Video ads (on YouTube), and Shopping ads (for products). We pick the type that best fits what we want to accomplish.

The amount we spend really depends on our business goals, how competitive our industry is, and our overall budget. While there are average costs, it’s best to look at what similar businesses spend and then decide what works for us.

Sometimes, ads don’t get approved right away. If this happens, we need to check why. Google usually tells us which rule was broken. We can often fix simple things, like typos, and resubmit. If it’s a bigger issue or we think it’s a mistake, we can ask Google to review it again.

We keep an eye on important numbers in our Google Ads account. Things like how many people click our ads (CTR), how much each click costs (CPC), and if those clicks lead to what we want, like sales or sign-ups (conversions). This helps us see what’s going well and what needs tweaking.

Yes, absolutely! Google has powerful AI tools that can help us find new customers, make our ads look better, and improve how well they perform. It’s a great way to boost our results and make our marketing efforts work harder for us.