If you’re looking for a way to drive traffic to your website, look no further than Google AdWords. Billions of searches are conducted each day on Google which means it’s almost guaranteed someone is searching for your product or service. The only question now is how to get your ads in front of them.
In this blog, we will look at the ways you can target different audiences to make sure your ads are shown to the people who want your products or services.
Google AdWords Placements
Google AdWords allows you to have your ads shown on four main placements. These define where on the internet your ads are shown and what the ads look like. You can choose from: search, display, shopping, and video.
Each of these placements has their own advantages and selecting the correct placement depends on your business and your goals. For general reference, here are a few suggestions for each placement type.
Search ads
Search ads are text-only and are good for businesses looking to attract customers searching for an immediate solution or searching for a low-attachment product, e.g. emergency services or commodities.
Display ads
Display ads feature images and are good for advertising products and attracting customers in the consideration phase of the buyer’s journey. Ads in the Display Network should feature high-quality images and calls to action such as: “Learn More”, “Get Your Free Download”, etc.
The Display Network is also used for Remarketing ads which use special code on your website to track when a user visits a page on your website or fulfills a requirement. Remarketing ads will then only be shown to them.
Shopping ads
Shopping ads appear at the top of the search results page and feature product images and prices. These are good if you have a large inventory of products and if your customers already know what they need, e.g. reordering a product they already use.
Video ads
Video ads can be shown in the display network or on YouTube. These are great for introducing your company/business to your target audience and conveying company personality, values and culture. Videos should be well produced and are good for businesses looking to increase brand awareness.
Targeting
Once you’ve chosen where your ads will be shown, it’s time to target your desired audience. If you’ve chosen search ads, you’ll use appropriate keywords to attract your audience. If you’re going with display ads, you’ll choose your target from a list of interests. Shopping and video ads use a combination of keywords and interests.
Keywords
When planning out a keyword strategy, I like to start with a broad list of keywords. After the keywords have been active long enough to get some data, I begin to refine that list by removing poorly performing keywords to focus in on my target market. The Google keyword planner is a great place to start planning your keywords before your campaign begins. If you already have ads running, you can simply click the “Keywords+” button in your Ad Group to get more keyword suggestions.
When using the keyword planner, look for keywords that have high average monthly searches and low competition. These are often long-tail keywords and attract an audience that is more interested in your products or services.
Interests
For display ads, it’s important to select interests that are related to your product or service. Google AdWords has a large list of interests so chances are there is one related to your target market. For instance, if you’re a realtor specializing in renting apartments, there’s an in-market group just for you!
Now that you know how to use AdWords, get your first campaign launched and start getting more business!
Feel like you need a little more help with your AdWords campaign? Suite 4 is a Certified Partner for Google AdWords which means we’re certified to help with your ads. Just give us a call and we’ll discuss your ads over a cup of coffee. 971-264-2911
