We’d all love to be number one in Google’s search results, but it’s not always as simple as having a great website. Strong content is excellent for showing up in Google’s search results, but sometimes it isn’t enough. Google Ads is a pay-per-click advertising service that allows businesses to place ads on Google’s search engine. These ads are placed according to specific keywords. Before we get too complicated, let’s take a look at how Google search results work.
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Organic versus paid search:
When you submit a search on Google, there are two types of search results: organic and paid. Organic results are the free search results that are shown based on the quality and relevance of the content they provide. However, there’s a lot of competition on Google. When a company is having trouble appearing the search results, they may need to invest in paid results. Paid search ads are the results that are usually at the top of a search list, denoted by the “Ad” tag. These links are at the top because people have paid Google to appear higher according to a specific keyword.
Keywords and cost-per-click:
Keywords are the specific phrases that ads appear under in the search results. Instead of paying to appear at the top of any Google search, you pay for your ads to appear when someone searches a specific phrase. For example, if you’re a second-hand car dealership, you would pay to appear in a search for “buy second-hand car.” There are many types of keywords, which we’ll look at next week. To appear in paid searches, you create a Google Ads account, create a campaign and ad group, develop your ads, choose keywords, set a budget, and set how much you’d like to pay each time some clicks on your ads. The cost-per-click (CPC) is determined by many factors, but mostly by your budget and how many people are bidding on the keywords. It will cost more to advertise a second-hand car dealership if there are lots of second-hand car dealers advertising on Google. However, even if someone outbids you, you can still appear in the search ads. Ad positioning is also determined by the quality of the ad itself. Plus, CPC isn’t the only bidding strategy.
Bidding Strategies:
Depending on your marketing campaign’s goals, you can bid according to click-throughs, conversions (sales or desired outcome) and views. As we already discussed, the default bidding strategy is CPC – paying each time someone clicks on your ad. However, you may prefer to pay when someone reaches a conversion. If this is the case, your bidding strategy will be cost-per-action (CPA). Alternatively, you can bid on cost-per-view (CPV) or cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM). CPV and CPM are good for building awareness. The bidding strategy you choose will be based on your goals and your budget.
For more information, or to elevate your Google Ad strategy, contact SBIM on +61 7 3325 0505 or email webmaster@sbim.com.au.
