In my previous blog I talked about how I learned the basics of HTML. This week (Jan 11th, 2023) I FINALLY STARTED TO LEARN PAY PER CLICK ADVERTISING AND SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING! I was ecstatic to learn about my first in demand skill. So far, my journey to self-teach myself digital marketing skills has been an amazing experience. At that point I had a strong foundation to build upon. I started with Google Ads which is seen as the mother of PPC advertising. The first type of campaign I learned how to build was a Google Ads Search campaign. I am going to split the module into three blog posts, since I have 20 pages of notes to go through. To learn Google Ads, there is a lot of material to absorb.
Why do People Use Google Ads and the Types of Campaigns
People use Google Ads for online advertising and promoting their brand, product, or service. It’s accessible and anyone can create an account to get started with their marketing efforts. Google ads typically appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). Google Ads offers different types of campaigns to meet the needs of different businesses. These include Search Ads, Display Ads, Shopping Ads, Video Ads, Universal App Campaigns, Smart Campaigns, Local Campaigns, Discovery and Performance Max.
Search Ads appear next to search results on search engines and Display Ads are banners and images that pop up on websites and apps. Video Ads appear before YouTube videos, Shopping Ads show products on search engines, App Install Campaigns take you to the app store, Smart Campaigns are automatic ads on Google search and maps, and Local Campaigns target local businesses within 5 km. Performance Max optimizes your ad performance to reach your desired conversion goals by using Google’s automation technologies and combining bidding, budget optimization, audience, and more.
Getting Started
- Go to ads.google.com
- Once Google starts asking questions, scroll down and click “Expert Mode” – because we are expert digital marketers now!
- Click “ Create an account without a campaign”
As a digital marketer, you also want to have a Google Ads Manager account, so that you can manage all of your Google ads accounts from one place, grant access and control, monitor performance, and consolidate your billing.
Google Ads Hierarchy
Google Ads has a hierarchical structure, with the main components being Account, Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, and Keywords. Each level is designed to provide a specific level of control over the components within it. The Account level allows for managing multiple campaigns, the Campaign level allows for targeting specific audiences and devices, the Ad Group level provides control over the types of ads and their content, the Ad level includes the actual ad content, Keywords level allows for targeting specific searches.
Setting up a Google Ads Search Campaign
Google Search handles about 3.5 billion searches every day, making it a powerful tool for businesses to reach potential customers. By appearing in Google results when people search for products or services like yours, you can make sure your business is there at the moment when someone is looking for what you have to offer. This gives you an opportunity to connect with people who are actively searching for what you have to offer, making it a valuable tool for businesses looking to grow.
Campaign Type and Naming
When setting up a campaign, it’s important to choose the right type and name it effectively. The name of your campaign should include the client name, date, marketing objective, country, and campaign type. As for the campaign type, you usually don’t include Search Networks unless you’re not getting enough traffic from Google. Display Networks should be used sparingly as well, because you’re better off creating a dedicated display campaign.
Start and End Dates
Start and End Dates: It’s always a good idea to select an end date for your campaign, even if it’s running indefinitely. This way, you have more control over your budget and can adjust the campaign as needed.
Dynamic Search Ads
Dynamic Search Ads: Dynamic Search Ads are a great option if your website has a lot of content (an example of this is Udemy). However, if you’re not in a position to use them, it’s best to skip this setting. When using Dynamic Search Ads, it’s important to remember that not all parts of a search ad are automatically generated by the system. The description line is the only part that you need to create manually.
The Page Feeds option allows you to group your web pages under custom labels, making it easier to manage your campaigns.
Ad Schedule
In Google Ads, you have the option to select the times that your ads should be online. This is an important setting to consider, as ads cost money, and there’s no point in running them when your business is not operating.
Targeting and Audiences
In Google Ads, you have the option to target your audience based on location, language, and other demographic information. For example, you can target your audience based on their city, state, and country. You can also exclude certain locations and select multiple languages when targeting. In terms of audience solutions, Google Ads provides a variety of options, including Affinity Audiences, Detailed Demographics, and In-Market Audiences, to help you achieve your marketing objectives.
Customer Match
Customer Match allows you to reach a segment of your customers based on their lifetime value. You can leverage your online and offline customer data to reach customers on any device, across Search, YouTube, and Discovery. If you don’t want to add remarketing tags to your website, Customer Match is a good fit for you as it relies on your own data instead of a remarketing tag.
Similar Audiences
Similar Audiences help you find new customers based on the characteristics of your existing customers. This allows you to reach additional valuable audiences without having to add remarketing tags to your website.
As you can see, learning Google Ads means you have to absorb a lot of content. My journey to self-teaching digital marketing skills has been a rewarding experience, starting with HTML and now diving into the exciting world of PPC advertising and SEM. Even though it is a lot to absorb, I was particularly excited to learn how to create a Google Ads Search campaign. I was determined to master this skill and continue growing in the digital marketing field. This post is part one of the Google Ads Search module. I will split the module into three blog posts to ensure I can effectively share my newfound knowledge with others. Follow the blog to follow along!