Google processes over 3.5 billion searches per day, so it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone that they dominate the search engine market with over 92% of the market share. Consumers rely on Google to help them make decisions on everything from what dog bed to buy to where to go to dinner. In fact, almost half of all product searches begin on Google, so it is vital that your business has a strong presence in search in order to compete in a marketing ecosystem that is increasingly digital.
Google search results are comprised of organic and paid search results. Organic search rankings can be improved through SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and paid advertisements are created and optimized through the Google Ads platform. While a majority of your site traffic will most likely come from organic search, paid ads still have the top two spots in search results. It has been proven that users coming from those ads have a higher level of intent than traffic from other sources and as a result are more likely to convert.
How Do Google Search Ads Work?
You have all seen search ads at the top of Google searches. All of those ads are created within the Google Ads platform. These ads allow you to get in front of customers when they’re searching for business like yours. One of the pros of using this platform is the ability to pay only when you see results, using the pay-per-click (PPC) model to pay only when an individual clicks on your ad. To run search ads you set up campaigns using Google Ads, and each campaign has three main parts; the keywords, ad groups, and ad copy.
Start with Keywords
What are you hoping to achieve with a paid search campaign? Do you want to increase awareness, encourage candidates to apply for open positions, or have customers buy a product? Once you know what you’re hoping to accomplish it makes it easier to choose the best keywords to use in the campaign to reach your ideal audience. For example using the keyword “restaurant near me” would bring in a much different audience than “restaurants with job openings” even though both can be used for the same company.
When choosing keywords it is important to keep in mind the search intent of the user. If you match the search intent of a keyword phrase to your ultimate goal of the campaign then you will end up with higher click through rates (CTR) because you will be reaching an audience truly interested in what you have to offer.
Continue with Ad groups & Copywriting
When you set up a search campaign you have the opportunity to group like keywords into what are called ad groups. This allows you to later write ad copy that applies very closely to the keywords in that group. The benefit of creating ad groups is that a more relevant ad will almost always result in a higher CTR.
One of the most important things to consider when writing Google search ad copy is message match. You always want the keyword searched to match the ad group it’s in to match the ad copy written, so that users are getting the ad copy and calls to action that speak directly to their needs.
Add More than Just Keywords
Using keywords alone to serve your search ads is the most basic approach to paid search and it does work really well. But it’s just a starting point, we can also help you use Google’s demographic and behavior based targeting on top of identified keywords to narrow in on your ideal audience. Google Ads also allows you to use your own data like email lists or site traffic to target those already engaged with your business.
There are so many opportunities for your business to utilize search ads effectively. Are you interested in putting together a strategy for your business? Well-Oiled Marketing is here to help. With our years of experience in creating and optimizing search campaigns we are prepared to help you get in front of your perfect target audience with the best content. Contact us Today!
