Google is arguably the most popular search engine on the market with nearly 90% share. Most likely, the reader himself uses its services on a daily basis looking for information on any subject, product or service. Well, Google Search Ads allow you to show your products or services to someone who is intentionally looking for something similar. There are several types of campaigns, but “Search” is probably the best known, so let's look at this aspect in more detail.

1) Define the bases

1.1 Objectives

The first step is to define goals, why use Google Ads? To create leads? Increase notoriety? And what is your budget? If the objective is to “warm up” leads on a limited budget, Facebook ads can be a viable alternative. Google Search Ads are best suited for situations where the potential customer/interested person has a clear intent, an active search for the product or service. It all depends on your strategy and budget.

1.2 Target Audience

Who is your target audience? Where is it? What it does? Where do you do the searches? What problems do you have and what solutions are you looking for? Will your product/service be the solution for what they need?

2) Create account

You can use an existing Google account, or create another one specifically for this purpose. Just fill in some basic information, the process is very quick.

3) Define search words or phrases (keywords and keyphrases)

Here, the magic begins to happen 😊 Advertisers bid on words or phrases, according to their activity, as these Google ads work on an auction basis. There are additional factors to consider besides bidding (bid) by itself, but this is the basis. Think about what kind of words or expressions will be used by users looking for products or services similar to yours. In addition to your personal research and industry knowledge, there are tools that can help you find the most effective words and phrases for your budget. For example, Moz Keyword Explorer, Google Keyword Planner or Semrush.

4) Create the campaign

Let's move on to the campaign creation stage. To do this you will need:

4.1 Choose the campaign type

4.2 Choose ad application time

4.3 Set language and location

4.4 Set budget

4.5 Define your bidding strategy

4.6 Add search words and phrases

5) Create the ad

At this point comes the creative challenge of the written composition of the ad. What kind of message will convince your audience? What arguments and key points to refer? The available space is very short, the task is not easy.

Some good practices:

– Emphasize the solution you offer

– Be relevant

– Focus on benefits

– Include the keywords you want

– Be creative/unique (stand out from the crowd)

– include a call to action (action you want the user to take)

An example:

When the user clicks on the ad, the bid amount is paid for the word or expression previously defined by the advertiser.

For example, a Google user located in the Lisbon region has a broken appliance that needs repair. You can use numerous combinations of search phrases in search of a repair solution. The advertiser, who offers repair services, makes a bid for the expression “Repair home appliances Lisbon”, competing with all advertisers who also make bids (bids) by the same expression. If the ad is displayed and clicked on by the user, there is a payment for that click. Google search ads work on a PPC basis (pay per click).

6) Analyze results

This activity is very dynamic, it is not enough to run the ad and wait to reap the rewards after a few days. You must regularly monitor the performance of your ads, to make any necessary adjustments and intervene where necessary. Some important metrics regarding an ad:

– Cost per click (actual price paid for each click)

– Click-through rate (ratio between total clicks and total impressions)

– Conversion rate (ratio between number of conversions and total interactions and total interactions)

– Cost per action/cost per conversion (average cost of a conversion; conversion is an action you want your audience to take after seeing your ad)

7) Optimize, test and tune

Basically: test, test and test again. As with any marketing strategy, an essential part is assessing what is and is not working and implementing any necessary changes.

8) Simplify

Whenever possible, make your life easier. This medium involves a huge amount of variables, metrics and information to be managed from numerous sources. For example, try consolidating campaigns of the same type so you have less to manage and focus your attention on. On the other hand, it is better to start today with a simpler and more direct approach and “get your hands dirty” than to put it off indefinitely, waiting for the perfect moment. Google Ads is always a work in progress!

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