How to Advertise on Google & Boost Your Business in 2019

Any business can advertise on Google with costs as low as $1 per ad click; this builds brand awareness, generates leads, and increases sales. To create your own ad, simply set up an account, set your budget/location, choose keywords, write your ad, and launch it. Then, track and adjust your ad for best performance.

If you want to enlist help with your Google (and social media) SEO advertising, try using a Premier Google Partner like Hibu. They will review and optimize your digital marketing strategy to help you grow your business online. In addition to their SEO services, they will make sure your online information is correct, your website is optimized to convert visitors to customers, and more. Click here to reach a representative.

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What Are Google Ads?

Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is an online advertising service that allows businesses to have their ads run on Google’s search results page. The ads look almost identical to the normal search results, with the only difference being the small word “Ad” in green. Google Ads will show at the top and bottom of a search results page.

Example of Google Ads in search results

How Advertising on Google Works

Google Ads are part of Google’s pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform, where businesses create, launch, and manage ads through its self-service ads manager platform. Text-only ads are created by businesses, which are then displayed in search results based on a number of factors, including relevant keywords and ad content, device types, time of day, and user location. Advertisers only pay when users click on their ads.

Advertisers should start by creating a Google Ads Manager account. After that, click the “+” sign on the Ads Manager homepage to launch the new campaign creation process. Here, you will be prompted to complete all necessary ad creation steps, from inputting your daily budget to picking a location, choosing target keywords, adjusting general ad settings, and finally, writing your Google ad.

After finishing the new campaign creation process, Google will review your ad. This generally takes around 24 hours. If your ad doesn’t violate any of Google’s advertising policies, it will be approved and go live. It will then be eligible to display in search results based on your chosen keywords and campaign settings. Once an ad is live, advertisers may adjust the ad to improve its performance, including changing keywords, altering the budget, or pausing the campaign.

A successful Google Ad campaign takes into account what users are searching for, when they’re searching, and what ad copy will be most compelling. If created thoughtfully and run well, a Google Ad can greatly increase conversions and sales for your business by targeting those who are ready to buy.

Google Advertising Cost

Google Ads is a pay-per-click advertising platform, meaning you only pay if someone clicks on your ad. Cost-per-click (CPC) depends on your ad keywords as well as a number of campaign settings. While the average CPC across all industries is $2.69, CPCs vary greatly from as little as $1 to over $10 per click. Below, we offer industry averages, as well as a way to estimate your ad spend and an alternative for lower-cost PPC advertising.

Average Google CPCs by Industry 2019

Keep in mind, however, that competition, time of day, and location greatly influence your CPC. For example, if you are a real estate agent in a small town, you might be able to bid less than $1 per click on a keyword and still have your ad show on Google. However, if you own a medical malpractice law firm in a big city, the cost per click will be much more expensive. Learn more about the cost to advertise in our guide to Google advertising costs.

How to Estimate Your Google Advertising Cost

You can use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to see how much the suggested bids are for your ad when someone searches for specific keywords. However, instead of strictly focusing on the cost of advertising, you will also want to think about how much you stand to earn from advertising on Google, and whether this will yield a substantial profit for your business.

For example, a malpractice firm might be thrilled to pay $30 for a click on their ad if one out of 10 clicks becomes a new client. Even though they are paying $300 for a new client, they will likely still profit from the ad at the end of the day because their service fees are so high.

Save Over 50% on Your Average CPC

Google Ads isn’t the only PPC advertising platform, nor is it the most competitively priced. Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) has an average CPC over 50% less than Google Ads’ average. Depending on your industry and particular audience, you may find it to be a better option for your ad spend in general, as a lower CPC means your ad spend goes further. When you sign up and spend your first $25 in Microsoft Advertising, you get $100 in credits.

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How to Advertise on Google in 7 Steps

Before you can advertise on Google, you must set up a Google Ads account, which can be done by clicking here. With an account set up, begin the new campaign creation process by clicking the “+” icon on your home dashboard. Then follow all of the steps, such as setting your budget, targeting, and writing your ad.

Here’s how to create a Google Ads campaign in seven steps:

1. Set Your Budget

The first step after logging into your Google Ads account is setting your daily budget. A good starting point is $10 per day, but you can increase or decrease this amount once you have a better idea of what you will have to bid per keyword. It’s not guaranteed that you will pay this amount every day (especially if no one is clicking your ad), but Google will make sure you won’t exceed your budget.

A good way to set your budget is to first figure out what percentage of clicks will convert into sales. Statistically, the average campaign has a conversion rate of around 2% to 5%. In other words, if five out of 100 people who visit your site make a purchase, then you have a 5% conversion rate. Using this as a guide, determine how much you are willing to spend to acquire a new customer.

Google Ads daily budget

2. Set Your Location

Next, you will be prompted to tell Google where you want your ads to display. This is important for local businesses because you can make sure that your ad only shows when people search for the keyword you are bidding on and are within a specified distance from your business. This can save you money and increase your conversion rate.

Geographic targeting on Google Ads

You can even target a certain radius from your ZIP code by hitting “Advanced search” and choosing “Radius targeting.” This is particularly useful for brick-and-mortar businesses that want to be sure their ad only displays to those who are in a close enough proximity to visit them. For example, if you know that people typically do not travel farther than 10 miles to visit you, then set your radius to 10 miles.

Another tip for using radius targeting is to set a number of different radius targets, then adjust bids by location so that your ad spend is focused on users who are closer to your location. For example, you could input your business address, then target two miles, five miles, and 10 miles. Add bid adjustments to each so that the two-mile radius has a 20% bid increase, the five-mile has a 10% bid increase, and the 10-mile radius doesn’t have an increase.

Radius targeting With Google Ads

3. Choose a Network

In the next step, you will choose your ad network. Google lets you choose between showing your ads exclusively on Google’s search results page (search network) and including Google content sites (display network). If you choose display network, your ad could show up on other sites, such as YouTube and Gmail. We suggest starting with the search network, as this ensures that your ad only shows for people searching for your type of business.

Select networks for Google Ads

4. Choose Your Keywords

Next, select keywords for your ad. Keywords are the terms or phrases that users enter into Google when they are using the search engine. When setting up your ad, you can choose which keywords you want to trigger it. Google will suggest keywords for you to use based on your website content, and will also let you know how popular a keyword is. You can also choose your keyword match-types and input negative keywords.

Review Google Suggestions

Google has good suggestions for each of the above keyword categories, so we recommend using those at first. If you are looking to add more keywords after you set up your account, Google has a useful resource in the “Tools” section of your Google Ads account called Keyword Planner. This will help you get ideas for other terms you could be using.

For example, when we typed “pizza dallas” and then clicked, “Get Ideas,” one of the suggested terms was “pizza delivery in dallas,” which is a phrase we had not thought of using for an ad. Since Google has data on every search, you can see trends and common searches that you may not have realized were popular for your type of business.

Another good strategy is to focus on keywords with more than two words, also known as long-tail keywords. These will have less competition since they are more specific. For example, a pizza place in Dallas might choose “best pizza in downtown dallas” or “chicago-style pizza dallas” over a more generic keyword such as “pizza.”

Select your keywords using the guidance above, then move on to the next step.

Select keywords for Google Ad campaign

“If your competition is too high, try finding alternative or more specific keywords. For example, instead of using ‘email client,’ try ‘email client for Windows.’ This way you’re specifically targeting people who are looking for an email client for Windows. These keywords might have a lower search volume, but they represent a niche in the market that your competitors are not utilizing. Your cost-per-click will be lower and your chances of reaching the right people will be higher.”

– Dave Power, Founder, Hiri

Determine the Match Type of Your Keywords

Next, select match types. Google Ads uses keyword match-types to determine when to display your ad based on various combinations of your keywords. Match-types allow for different keyword or search term variations, such as showing your ad when a user searches “white tennis sneakers” or “white shoes for tennis” for your keywords of “white tennis shoes.”

There are four different keyword matching options that you can choose from:

• Broad match: This is the default match type that your keywords are assigned and will reach the most extensive audience out of the options. This may seem like a positive thing, but since your ad is eligible to show when a search query includes any of your keywords in any order (including synonyms), your ad could be showing on searches that aren’t really relevant.
• Broad match modifier: This option gives you a little more control than the broad match because you can lock certain keywords into place. You just need to add a “+” in front of a word and that lets Google know that the search needs to include that word in order to trigger your ad. For example, if your restaurant specializes in pizza in the Dallas area—and no other types of food—you may want to bid on the keyword “+pizza in dallas” so that your ad won’t appear when someone searches “dallas restaurant.”
• Phrase match: This option is next down the line of control. With phrase match, search terms need to be in the same order as your keywords to trigger your ad, but there can be other words before or after the phrase. So, if your keyword is “dallas restaurant,” your ad won’t appear when someone searches “restaurant dallas,” but could if someone searches “best dallas restaurant.” In order to indicate to Google that you want a phrase match, you will need to put quotation marks around the phrase.
• Exact match: This option works just like it sounds. In order for your ad to show, someone will have to search the exact keywords in the same order and with no other words before or after. So if you want to place an exact match on “dallas restaurant,” your ad won’t show for the search “best dallas restaurant” or “restaurant in dallas.” You need to put brackets around the phrase if you would like it to be an exact match (e.g., [dallas restaurant]).

Small business owners should use a combination of these matching types for their keywords. Starting with broad match modifier and phrase match are good starting points. Broad match will yield the most clicks at the lowest CPC; however, ads may display for less relevant search terms, potentially driving lower-quality clicks. Exact match will have the most relevant clicks, but will yield a lower volume of clicks at a higher CPC.

Take Advantage of Negative Keywords

In the next step, select negative keywords. These work the opposite of standard keywords, as they tell Google when not to show your ad. For example, a company that builds high-end garage doors would use “cheap” as a negative keyword to avoid their ad displaying to those who want a low-cost garage door. Another example would be a marketing agency using “jobs” as a negative keyword to avoid their ad displaying when people search “marketing agency jobs.”

Consider all of the different ways users might be searching for your keywords. Add any irrelevant keywords to your negative keyword list. Another way to do this is by frequently reviewing your search terms and adding irrelevant words to your negative keyword list to avoid wasting ad spend on poor-quality queries.

“You want to use negative keywords so your ads don’t show for queries which have words you don’t like. For example, most small businesses don’t want their ads to show up for a phrase that includes the words ‘free’ or ‘cheap’ in it.”

– Collin J. Slattery, Founder, Taikun, Inc.

5. Set Your Keyword Bid

After you select your keywords, you will choose your keyword bid. This is the amount you are willing to pay for a click on your ad. You are bidding on keywords against other websites in order for your ad to show on the results page when someone searches for that keyword. If a website has an equally relevant ad to the search being made and is willing to pay more per keyword, then their ad will show higher than yours or even instead of yours.

Input keyword bid on Google Ads

Use Google’s Keyword planner to find out how much you will need to bid. Below is a comparison of suggested relevant keywords and bids for the search “pizza rochester” in the Keyword Planner.

Suggested bid sample in Google Keyword planner

6. Write Your Ad

The final step is writing your ad. You will need to write two headlines (or a headline and a subheadline) and a description. You have a limited number of characters for each—30 characters for each headline and 90 for the description—so make sure your ad is concise and straight to the point.

As you write your ad, consider copy that is compelling and actionable. Also, be sure to include the keywords that you searched and selected in previous steps. This will indicate to Google that your ad is particularly relevant for searches that contain those keywords.

Writing a text ad with Google Ads

7. Launch, Monitor & Optimize Your Ad

After building out your campaign, the next step is to launch your ad. To do this, follow the prompts to complete the new campaign creation process. Once your ads have been launched and are live, monitor your ads. First, review your keyword quality scores. Then check general campaign performance and optimize your ad to improve it.

Review Your Quality Score

Google assigns a quality score to each ad keyword, which is a number from one to 10 based on likely click-through rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience. In essence, this number indicates how well your ad aligns with a specific keyword, which determines its overall quality and relevance to searchers. Google uses this to decide on ad placement and CPCs.

Google will assign a quality score to each of your keywords based on:

• Expected click-through-rate: How likely someone is to click on your ad after searching for the keyword.
• Ad relevance: How closely the keyword is related to your ad.
• Landing page experience: How closely the keyword is related to the landing page or website your ad links to.

You can check the quality score of your keywords by clicking on the keywords tab on your account and adding the “Quality score” column. Note that Google multiplies your quality score times your bid to determine how your ad will rank. For example, if your quality score is 0.9 and your bid for the keyword is $1, you will rank higher than someone with a score of 0.4 who bids $2.

This is what that formula would look like:

(0.9 x $1) = 0.9 > (0.4 x $2) = 0.8

Quality score on Google Ads

“A great tool in Google Ads to help understand how relevant your ads and landing page are to the keywords for which you’re bidding is the Quality Score. A good quality score is typically between 7 and 10.”

– David Erickson, VP of Online Marketing, Karwoski & Courage

Review General Campaign Performance

Other areas to look at when reviewing your campaign’s performance include impressions, click-through rate, average cost per click, and your average conversion rate. Each of these key performance indicators aligns with different elements of your ad, from your ad copy to your offer or call to action (CTA).

Here are the main metrics to consider when looking at your Google Ad performance:

• Impressions: Impressions are counted each time your ad appears on a search results page. You will want to take note of the number of impressions of your ad; if you notice a low number of impressions, you’ll want to make sure your bid is competitive and that the keywords you chose to bid on match your ad and your landing page.
• Click-through rate (CTR): The click through rate is the number of ad clicks divided by the number of impressions. This percentage lets you know how many people actually click on your ad out of everyone seeing who sees it. Good click-through rates vary by industry, but if your CTR is less than 1%, you should re-evaluate the text of your ad. Make sure the ad is enticing and gives a compelling reason for someone to click on it.
• Average cost-per-click (CPC): CPC is the total amount paid for your ad divided by the total number of clicks. This price lets you know what you are paying for someone to click on your ad. Determining if you have a manageable CPC depends on the rate at which people on your site typically convert into sales. See the table in the cost section above for more information on average industry CPCs.
• Conversion rate: This is your ultimate key performance indicator as it tells you how many people who clicked on your ad take your desired action, like filling out a form or making a purchase. If you find you have a good click-through rate but a low conversion rate, then it is likely an issue with your landing page.

Building and launching a Google ad is the first step to Google advertising success, but you also have to continually monitor and optimize your ad. Keep your goals in mind and how the metrics above help you meet those goals. Also, be sure to check Google Ads Manager analytics several times a week to make sure your ad is meeting expectations.

Differences Between Mobile & Desktop Advertising

When setting up your Google Ads account, you can decide whether you want your ad to show on desktop, mobile, or both. More than half of Google’s searches are done from mobile devices, and people searching from phones often have local intent, so it’s worth creating ads for mobile. They differ from desktop ads in that there is less space on a mobile device with a smaller screen, they have different user intent, and CPCs vary based on device type.

Here are three major differences between desktop and mobile advertising are:

• Device size: There is less space on a mobile device, so you need to make sure your message is to the point.
• User intent: People on their phones are on the go, so you want to tailor your message to the device (desktop or mobile) user.
• Cost-per-click: CPCs are based on keywords. However, you will find that CPCs will vary by device. For example, tablets typically have the lowest average CPCs and desktops have the highest. For many industries, especially business-to-business (B2B) and ecommerce, desktop ads yield the most conversions, so while they cost more per click, they may still have a higher return on ad spend.

For example, one company has created two different ads: one for mobile and one for desktop. The mobile ad incorporates a “click to call” button, so that people searching on their mobile devices can easily call for more information. This is not included in the desktop ad given that it would not be relevant to use a “click to call” CTA for those viewing the ad on a computer rather than a phone.

We suggest setting up separate ad campaigns for desktop and mobile in order to track how your ads perform across different devices. Depending on your type of business, you may want to focus your efforts on one over the other.

Google Ads on desktop and mobile

“If you’re an ecommerce store, you may want to start with desktop traffic, whereas restaurants or physical shops may want to focus on mobile. Desktop in general converts at a higher rate than mobile. However, people searching on their phones are more likely to be looking for a physical location to visit at the time of the search.”

– Antonella Pisani, CEO & Founder, Official Coupon Code

How Does Google Determine Ad Rank?

Google Ads uses an algorithm to determine which competing bidder’s ad gets displayed in relevant search results. While Google Ads is a type of auction, it’s not simply the highest bidder whose ad gets the top ad position. Instead, Google considers how good of a search result your ad is for a user performing a search, and with that, how likely they are to click your ad. Ads that have high bids and are deemed good search results get placed high on search pages.

Google uses these three primary factors to determine when an ad shows on the results page:

• Bid: The bid is the price you are willing to pay for a click on your ad. You bid against other websites on keywords that you believe people search for if they are interested in your product. For example, a flower store might bid on the terms “roses,” “cheap bouquet,” or “wedding flowers.”
• Quality score: Quality score is a number Google assigns to your ad keywords that reflect their relevance to your ad. Your ad needs to be relevant to the search being made in order to show on the search results page. If someone searches “wedding flowers,” it wouldn’t make sense for Google to show an ad for a nail salon. You want to make sure you have a lot of the same keywords that you are bidding on in the ad itself so Google can tell your ad is relevant to the search.
• Landing page experience: When someone clicks on your ad, the landing page that they are sent to should have content similar to the ad itself and the keywords used in the search. If you own a salon and are advertising manicures, you’ll want to link directly to a page that has more information on manicures, instead of a page that includes all of your services.

Google Ads uses these and a number of other metrics to determine ad position. However, it should be noted that its algorithm is frequently changing. What doesn’t seem to change is that ad position boils down to bid and quality score (which includes landing page experience). To determine which ad will rank at the top of search results, Google multiplies your quality score by your maximum bid. The higher the resulting number, the higher the ranking.

Example Google Ad Algorithm

Bonus: What’s better than Google Advertising? Getting traffic from Google for free. Get our guide and learn how to rank on the first page!

How Google determines ad rank

How to Write Effective Google Ads

Writing an eye-catching and appealing ad that draws people in to click it isn’t easy. You want to clearly state your offer, what your business does, and give users a reason to click your ad—all within a limited number of characters. To help you write effective ads, use your keywords in your ad copy, use local identifiers, make your offer and CTA clear, and use ad relevant extensions to increase the likelihood your ad will get clicked.

Here are seven things to consider when writing your Google ad:

• Use your keywords in your ad: You need to use the same keywords that you are bidding on in your ad so that Google will be able to tell that the ad is relevant to user searches.
• Use local identifiers: If you are a local business, you want to consider using location terms in your search. If someone is searching for “bbq dallas,” then your ad with the headline “Best BBQ in Dallas” will be more likely to show in the results and be highly relevant for a person looking for a restaurant in your area.
• Clearly state your offerings: The user should know immediately what your business is and how you can help with what they’re looking for. If you own a store that offers many different products, make sure you are matching your ad to the keywords being searched.
• Give users a reason to click your ad: There are tons of results on the first page of a Google search. You need to tell them why they should choose your business. Are you more affordable, dependable, or reliable? Do you have awesome reviews and ratings? Share that information in your ad.
• Have a clear call to action: Users are more likely to click on an ad if they are being instructed on next steps. Examples of this are “Call today for a free quote” or “Enter your ZIP code to find stores closest to you.”
• Include a promotion: You may want to include an offer such as “20% off shoes today!” or “Free shipping!” It’s understandable if you don’t want to offer a discount on top of the advertising cost, but even a small offer can attract a new customer to your site.
• Use ad extensions: Extensions show additional information about your business—such as your phone numbers, store rating, or address—as links extending from your ad. Including extensions will increase the amount of space you take up on the results page, and they tend to have a higher click-through rate. Plus, there is no additional cost for including extensions.

A simple step you can take before writing your ads is to search for your type of business and see what type of ads come up. You don’t want to copy other businesses ads exactly, but you can get an idea of what works and what is out there. Also, create separate ads for mobile, with mobile-specific features, such as using a click-to-call CTA and keeping ad copy precise to better fit a small mobile screen.

How to Calculate Return on Ad Spend

Return on ad spend (ROAS) reveals how much money your ad will likely yield in sales, indicating how profitable it will be. To do this, you will need your projected CPCs using the Keyword Planner tool, your monthly advertising budget, and your average customer lifetime value (or how much a customer is worth to your business).

For example, a holistic medical practice has an estimated CPC of $1.70. Their available budget for advertising on Google is $1,000 per month and their estimated customer lifetime value is $200. Using industry averages, they estimate that their conversion rate will be 5%. These figures are used below to determine ROAS.

These are the steps for calculating return on ad spend for Google Ads:

Divide Monthly Ad Spend by Average CPC

First, divide monthly ad spend by the average CPC to find your projected number of clicks per month.

Example: $1,000 / $1.70 = 588 clicks

Multiply Monthly Clicks by Your Conversion Rate

Next, multiply the number of clicks by your historical conversion rate to find the number of conversions you should receive per month.

Example: 588 X 0.05 = 29.4 conversions per month

Multiply Conversions by Your Average Customer Lifetime Value

Lastly, multiply the number of conversions by your average customer lifetime value.

Keep in mind that not all conversions equate to a sale or revenue. For example, if you are advertising to get more newsletter signups, then lifetime value might not directly apply.

Example: 29.4 X $200 = $5,880 per month

Subtract Monthly Ad Spend From Ad Revenue

Subtract your monthly ad spend from your ad revenue to find projected monthly return on ad spend. If you use a PPC management company to manage your Google Ads account, also deduct what you pay in management fees from your projected ad revenue.

Example: $5,880 – $1,000 = $4,880 total return on ad spend

The Advantages of Advertising on Google

There are several advantages to advertising on Google. First, those seeing your ads are likely already in a buying or interest phase and so are more likely to click on relevant ads. Second, Google Ads are cost-effective as you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Third, they give businesses a great deal of insight through analytics and tracking that many advertising channels do not have.

There are three primary benefits to advertising on Google:

1. You Can Specify Location Placement

People searching Google are actively seeking what you offer. For example, if a user searches “pizza nyc,” it is not too presumptuous to assume they are looking for a place to get pizza. Since you can set the geographical location that you want your ad to show in, you can make sure only people in your area are seeing your ad. For example, you can tell Google to only have your ad show to people located in New York, or in a five-mile radius.

Compare this to advertising on Facebook. Even though you can show an ad for your restaurant to someone who is a known pizza enthusiast, you can’t show it at the moment they are looking for a pizza restaurant. Instead, you are targeting them based on a wealth of demographic information and user interests.

This is what makes advertising on Google unlike any other type of advertising. You are specifically targeting people who are in the market for your goods or services at the moment they’re seeing your ad. Not only that, but you can target only people who are located in your area, which is a huge plus for local businesses.

2. You Only Pay if Someone Clicks on Your Ad

Another enticing factor is that you only pay if your advertisement works. Since Google uses a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising model, you only pay if someone is searching for the keyword you have bid on and is interested enough in your ad to click on it.

You can set how much you are willing to pay per click on your ad and set a maximum daily budget. This differs from traditional advertising, which costs you a set price to display your ad and does not consider whether or not someone even looks at your ad.

3. Advanced Tracking Ability

With the Google Ads dashboard, you can track how many people see your ad, how many click on your ad, and how many take action once they’re on your website. That way, if you notice a lot of people are clicking on your ad, but no one is buying anything once on your site, you know you need to edit either the landing page or the ad itself. By keeping a pulse on how your ad is doing, you can make any necessary adjustments quickly in order to have a successful ad campaign.

The tracking capabilities with advertising on Google is a huge plus for small businesses.

Imagine you own a flower store and decide to buy a billboard advertisement. Unless a customer told you, there would be little to no information telling you if anyone came to your store because they saw the billboard. You would be making a big ad investment without really knowing if it was yielding a positive return.

With Google Ads, you can track exactly how many people visited your site because they clicked on your ad. There is little risk since you can stop running an ad at any time if you notice that you are not getting the results you want.

Bonus Tips for Successful Campaigns

While each campaign is different, there are certain baseline tips that all businesses should keep in mind when creating and running ads. First, be sure to regularly experiment with different ad elements, budgets, and keywords that might work. Then, consider running multiple ads at one time to see if multiple ad strategies can yield the results you want.

Experiment to Find What Works

Just like how you wouldn’t settle on the first pizza recipe you come across if you own a pizza restaurant, you also don’t want to settle on the first ad that you write. You should always have at least two ads running at once. You will want to change something in one of the ads and then test which one works best. Be sure to make only one change at a time, because if an ad starts doing exponentially better, you’ll need to know which change led to better results.

Clean Your Keyword List

You should also consistently clean your keyword list. Use Google’s search term report to see what actual searches are triggering your ad. You can find this report in your account under the “Keyword” tab by hitting the “Search terms” button. If you notice that your ad is showing for keywords that are not relevant to your site, you will want to remove that keyword, add it as a negative keyword, or use exact match for your keyword match-type.

For example, imagine you own an eyeglass store, and your ad is showing when someone searches “wine glasses” because one of your keywords is “glasses.” You will either want to add “wine” as a negative keyword, or you can make sure Google only matches your ad when someone searches the full phrase “eye glasses.”

Consider Running Multiple Campaigns at Once

After you get the hang of running your first Google Ad, you will want to start running multiple campaigns at once. A campaign is a set of ad groups that all share a budget, location setting, and device settings. If you own a business that has two locations, you will want to have a separate campaign for each. Then, you can use targeted keywords depending on which location the campaign is for.

Each campaign is made of different ad groups. Each ad group shares a list of keywords and should have a similar theme. Therefore, if you own a home goods store, you could have an ad group that consists of keywords related to dishware and one that has keywords relating to furniture. Keep in mind that you don’t want two ad groups in the same campaign to share too many of the same keywords, because then you might be bidding against yourself to have one of your ads show.

“An effective Google Ads campaign starts relatively broad. After some time, you will learn what works and what doesn’t, what keywords are converting, what ad copies are getting the most clicks, what extensions actually make a difference, and so on. From there, start optimizing. Bin what doesn’t work, keep what works. You’ll never have the strongest performing campaign until you know how to learn from failing.”

– Matthew de Noronha, Digital Marketing Specialist, Eastside Co.

Bottom Line: How to Advertise on Google

Businesses that advertise on Google can quickly generate leads and increase sales with a very low cost—sometimes as low as $1 per ad click. What makes it so effective is that it puts your ads in front of people who are actively seeking products or services that your business offers. Businesses that are looking for a cost-effective way of obtaining new customers in the short term should use Google Ads.

There is a lot involved if you are just learning how to advertise on Google, and it’s not a user-friendly platform. To avoid wasting ad spend on poorly built campaigns, consider leaving your campaigns to the professionals, such as those at Hibu. Here, you get expert ad management from ad veterans with decades of experience, leading to more conversions and a higher return on ad spend. Get your free consultation today.

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