Pick the right budget, choose the best ad format, match ad content to an optimised landing page, utilise keyword research and continually monitor performance – all these tips will support an effective Google Ads campaign.
Are you considering adding Google Ads to your marketing plan?
They’re a powerful tool for increasing website traffic, boosting a business’s online visibility. Google Ads can be a great addition to our digital marketing strategy. But with so many options and methods of implementation, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.
You may have seen the news of Google introducing AI more deeply into how and when ads are displayed and although this will lead to more automation in our campaigns, there are still steps we need to take to ensure success.
In this blog post, we’ve chosen 5 tips to help businesses create an effective Google Ads campaign that maximises results and outperforms the competition.
1. Start Small: A Budget-Friendly Beginning
How much do Google Ads cost?
It varies! When creating Google Ads, figuring out a budget is a key element in the planning process. It’s a common assumption for many business owners and marketing directors that a larger budget equals better results in Google Ads.
However, that’s not always the case…
When launching a new campaign, our Ads go through a ‘learning phase’. A smaller budget allows firstly us as marketers to experiment with the different formats offered by Google Ads and a range of keywords without the risk of overspending money.
Secondly, the lower budget allows Google to test the Ad in different places, times and audiences, without burning through money (which it will do if you set a higher budget!). Through closely watching the performance, we can make informed decisions about our campaign budget and distribute more funds to the strategies that provide the best results.
Changing a budget may not always be the answer, though. Check out our other tips for an effective campaign first and refer back budget allocation if a bigger boost in performance is needed.
To have more control over how the ad budget is spent, incorporate pay-per-click (PPC) ads into a marketing strategy. With PPC, the only costs to a business come from when someone clicks on the ad. This allows for a more efficient and easier-to-manage campaign over time.
Our advice? Be realistic…
Always consider your goals and financial capability before deciding on a campaign budget. Overspending can lead to wasted resources and a lack of overall profit from a campaign.
2. Target Your Audience: Choose the Right Google Ads Format
One of the keys to a successful ad campaign is targeting the right audience.
Like with any digital marketing campaign, the audience should always be at the centre of any decisions. When planning an Ad campaign, this is no different.
We can use audience targeting features such as demographic targeting, location targeting, and interest targeting. This can further refine the reach of a campaign and ensure that any ads are seen by those most likely to engage with them.
In addition to this, choosing the right format Ad for our audience, that aligns with our campaign aims, will also help to make the campaign more effective and reach the right people. Here are some of the common ad formats used in Google Ads campaigns:
Search Ads
Text-based ads appear as ‘Sponsored’ in Google’s search results pages (SERPs) when users browse for products or services. These search ads are triggered by keyword matches and are a usual form of PPC used by Google Ads.
Display Ads
These types of ads typically appear as banners or small box ads on websites, apps, and videos. They’re a great solution for businesses hoping to promote products or services to audiences. This includes when they’re browsing online, using apps or watching videos on Google platforms like YouTube.
Shopping Ads
Also known as product listing ads (PLAs), shopping ads display product information on Google’s SERPs. These ads are more visual than standard text ads. For e-commerce businesses, they’re a terrific way of promoting specific products directly in search results to potential buyers.
Our advice? Be specific about your audience
Look closely at who you’re trying to sell to and the product or service on offer. Is it an event with a sign-up form on the website? Is it a limited-time offer on a piece of equipment sold directly on an e-commerce platform?
By doing this, we can increase the likelihood of conversions by targeting the right audience for our objectives. In reaching the right people, we know that our ads are working efficiently to meet our objectives.
3. Make it Match: A Seamless Landing Page Experience
So, we’ve clicked on an ad. Now what happens?
Once a person clicks on an Ad, they’ve moved on from the first stage of awareness, during the customer lifecycle. It’s now up to us to nurture and prompt them into consideration of our service, and then to a conversion. This is where a landing page can be an effective solution.
Landing pages are essential to a strong Google Ads campaign. They offer visitors information about our products and services, offering valuable insight into the business. A good landing page will grab their attention and encourage them to choose us.
The job of a landing page is to persuade people to act once they’ve clicked on an ad from our campaign.
A seamless landing page experience is essential for converting visitors into customers. This means checking any content and messaging shown in Google Ads is reflected on the page. It’s also important to have a clear call to action that encourages interaction from visitors.
When designing a landing page, it should be user-friendly, with fast page loading and a mobile-responsive layout.
An engaging landing page will enhance the user experience.
Here are some quick tips we’d recommend:
- Use CTAs high up in the page content
- Keep the layout minimal and easy-to-understand
- Choose the right messaging and tone of voice
For even more insight into creating an effective landing page, check out this previous blog on our website.
4. Keyword Focus: Optimise Ads for Search
As mentioned above, search ads, and Google Ads in general, are dictated by keywords.
They are the backbone of a successful Google Ads campaign and a great method of search engine optimisation. By identifying the terms and phrases our target customer will search for through effective keyword research, we can optimise our ads for those people.
Using a range of online tools, businesses can discover relevant keywords with high search volumes and manageable competition.
Some of the tools we’d recommend include:
Also, be logical! What key terms do we want to appear for? What phrases do we use to describe our business to customers?
Once we’ve found the keywords, we can use them strategically in our ad text and landing page content. By regularly reviewing, and adding keywords to our campaign, we can further optimise our ads for the best performance.
As a campaign grows over time, we can retarget and find out more about which search queries we should be ranking for. Using this information, we can further target the right prospective customers.
What about negative keywords?
These are the terms or phrases that we use to exclude our ads from appearing in irrelevant searches. To prevent our ads from appearing in these searches and save our marketing budget, negative keywords are essential. We can ensure that our ads are only shown to those who fit within our target audience, by carefully choosing negative keywords for our campaign.
5. Continuous Monitoring: Don’t abandon the Ads!
Remember to keep an eye on the ads once they’re out there in the world!
Launching a Google Ads campaign is just the beginning. The best way to ensure that ads remain effective, and not waste a budget, is to watch their performance.
One way to do this includes tracking key metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and cost per acquisition (CPA). Figure out if the current set-up meets our business goals and objectives.
Then, businesses should use this data to make informed adjustments to individual bids, ad copy, and targeting settings, optimising and changing the ads to reflect our findings.
Regularly reviewing and tweaking your campaign will help you stay on top of performance trends and adapt to changes in user behaviour or market conditions. An abandoned campaign can quickly become outdated, so ongoing management is essential for sustained success.
Bonus Tip: Check the Value of Enquiries
As well as tracking the clicks and conversions of our campaigns, it’s important to review the quality of the enquiries our ads generate. Not all leads have an equal value to a business, and understanding the quality of each enquiry can help us to optimise and plan for future campaigns.
A popular way of monitoring enquiries includes setting up conversion tracking. This allows us to assess the quality of leads and their potential to turn into paying customers. By focusing on high-value enquiries, we can refine our targeting and adjust our ad spending to potentially maximise the return on investment.
Starting a Google Ads campaign doesn’t have to be overwhelming!
By starting small, targeting your audience effectively, ensuring a seamless landing page experience, optimising your keywords, and continuously monitoring your campaign, we can create an effective Google Ads strategy that drives tangible results.
If you would like some help with your next Google Ads campaign, get in touch with our team of experts here.
