How Google Ads Works: A Beginner's Guide

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Google Ads is the leading online advertising platform for placing ads on search engine results pages (SERPs).

Google Ads works the same way as an auction would. If you're looking to use Google for your advertising, then you need to understand that cost per click (CPC) is the amount you pay for a click on your ad. The higher your bid, the higher your ad's chance of being seen—which in return increases your potential for sales and conversions.

Five Types of Google Ads

There are various types of ad campaigns that you should know about before you start to create your Google Ads campaign.

The five main types available are...

Search ads: Text ads on Google search results
Display ads: Image ads on websites
Video ads: Video ads on YouTube
Shopping ads: Google product listings
App ads: Promotion on many mobile channels

Five Musts for Beginners Who Use Google Ads

1. Keyword Research

The goal is to attract the right type of audience for your ad, so it's vital that you already know who your audiences are and what they're looking for.

There are some fantastic keyword research tools on the market so you can figure out exactly what your target audience is searching for.

Our favorite keyword research tools include Google's own Keyword Planner—which comes already embedded into the tools page on Google Ads—and Semrush. Both tools have the capability of showing you powerful statistics such as the average monthly searches for a keyword and how high or low the competition is for each keyword.

Ideally, you want to include keywords with a high search volume and low competition, as well as those with an affordable CPC.

2. Compelling, High-Quality Copy

Did you know that eight of ten people will read a headline and only two out of ten will read the body copy? That means that a powerful headline is critical to keep people interested in your ad. A combination of your keywords and interesting and engaging copy is needed to keep your readers engaged.

When creating text-based ads, you want to appeal to your potential buyers' needs and emotions. Using specific calls to action should get you the results you are looking for. Most people will want to know how your product or service can specifically help them.

Quality trumps quantity in text-based ads, which is why Google Ads limits you to only 30 characters per headline and 90 characters per description. Avoid misspellings and mistakes by reading your copy out loud and proofreading. Online tools such as Grammarly can help with the editing process by checking for mistakes and overly complex sentence structures.

3. Consistent Branding

Use a tone of voice and keywords that are specific to your brand to increase the chances of your getting traffic to your website. Having a strong brand personality should make it easy to create ads that are unique and instantly recognizable to customers. Imagery, taglines, logos, and brand names need to be included in your advertisement. Personalization is also key if you want to be remembered.

4. Understanding Dynamic vs. Responsive Search Ads

Understanding the differences between these two terms can help a Google Ads beginner during the early stages of creating ads.

Dynamic Search Ads use your website content to generate headlines and landing pages and thus work well if the information on the website stays the same, products and service offerings remain consistent, and the overall website has a clear and concise structure. These ads allow you to target user search queries and fill in keyword gaps, leading prospects directly to relevant site content.

Responsive Search Ads are popular because they are responsive to customers' search queries and adapt according to what language combinations perform best. You can create a few different headlines and descriptions on your Responsive Search Ad, and Google will automatically mix and match them to find the best-performing combination. Responsive Search Ads are poised to take over Dynamic Search Ads because AI is helping to increase Responsive Ad clickthrough rates and drive traffic to websites.

5. A/B-Testing

There is no one-size-fits-all method for figuring out which ad will work the best for your business. Experiment with a few options and compare how they are performing.

Google Ads allows you to take a deep dive into each separate campaign and analyze and report on which ones are working and which campaigns might need pausing/deleting altogether. Most people judge performance on metrics such as how much the campaign is costing compared with how many conversions it is getting. If an ad is costing $20 but has five conversions and another ad costs $200 but has no conversions, it's worth trying to figure out why one has been more successful than the other and repeating the campaign that works the best.

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Google Ads is an easy way to promote, sell, raise awareness, and increase your website traffic. Completing these initial steps can be challenging in the beginning, but every success story must start somewhere.