Urban Element’s Guide To Google Ads Part 1

Google Ads can be a scary and confusing platform for the inexperienced but fear not, we have created a guide to help you get started.

What is Google Ads?

In October 2000, Google Adwords was launched as an advertising platform and was later rebranded as Google Ads in 2018. It is a paid advertising platform which utilises Pay-Per-Click (PPC). This is where you (the advertiser) pays per click or impression (CPM) on an ad.

Google Ads is positioned to help you boost website traffic, receive more phone calls, and increase online sales. It allows you to focus on advertising campaigns (both via mobile and desktop) that will appear on Google’s search engine results page (SERP)

Why use Google Ads?

Google is the most popular search engine with over 5 billion search queries a day. Google Ads have an average click-through rate of nearly 8% and, with the platform being 2 decades old, there’s no doubt it’s one of the most popular forms of paid advertising. 

According to Google, advertisers on average make £8 for every £1 they spend, giving growth-driven and ambitious businesses a pretty good reason to use the platform.

Google Terms to Know:

AdRank

AdRank determines your ad placement. The higher the value, the better you will rank. This equals greater visibility and could result in more clicks. Put simply, your AdRank is determined by your maximum bid multiplied by your Quality Score.

Quality Score (QS)

Your QS measures the quality of your ad by your click-through rate (CTR), the relevance of your keywords, the quality of your landing page, and the pertinence of your ad headlines and descriptions.

Bidding

Google Ads offers multiple bidding strategies. The most popular being manual which allows you to select a maximum bid amount that you are willing to pay for a click on your ad. There are 3 options for bidding: CPC, CPM, or CPA.

CPC is cost-per-click, this is the amount you will pay per click.

CPM is cost-per-mille, this is how much you would pay for 1k impressions (when the ad is shown to 1k people).

CPE is cost-per-acquisition, this is the amount you would be willing to pay per each action/conversion obtained.

Campaign Type

There are three types of campaigns you can choose when starting a campaign on Google Ads: search, display, or shopping.

Search Ads are text ads displayed among search results.

Display Ads are typically image or video based which are shown within the Google Display Network.

Shopping Ads are usually shown within Google’s search results page.

Click-Through Rate

CTR or click-through rate is the number of clicks you get on your ads as a proportion of the number of views your ad gets. A higher CTA means a higher quality ad that matches your search intent and targets relevant keywords.

Conversion Rate

CVR or conversion rate is the average number of conversions per ad interaction, shown as a percentage. A high CVR likely means your ads are relevant, your audience is qualified, and your landing page has a seamless user experience.

Display Network

Ads can either be displayed on the SERP or within GDN (Google’s Display Network). GDN is a network of websites that display Google Ads. These are text or image ads and can be displayed alongside content that matches your keywords.

Ad Extensions

This allows you to supplement your ad with additional information at no additional cost. There are multiple categories for extensions including sitelinks, call CTA, product and service offerings.

Keywords

Keywords are algorithmic phrases indexed by Google, all of which have unique search volumes and user intent. They can be broken down into three keyword match types, including broad match, phrase match, and exact match. You select your keywords based on what search queries you want to display your ads alongside.

You can also build a list of negative keywords that will tell Google what terms you do not wish to rank for, helping to further qualify your audience reach and conversions.

PPC

PPC or pay-per-click is a type of advertising where you (the advertiser) pays per click on an ad. PPC is not specific to Google Ads but is the most common type of paid advertising. Before launching your first Google Ads campaign, it’s important to understand PPC.

How can Urban Element help with Google Ads?

Our background in Google Ads is extensive and our team of Google Ads Certified Professionals tailor each account, ensuring your campaigns target the areas of your business that you need return from.

We have worked with a number of clients but our biggest ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) was  a 97.7% increase with Buildbase’s Google Ads.

We have a team of specialists on hand to help with every step of the way! Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help with Google Ads.

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