Anyone who owns an online business knows that their company will live or die based on their Google ranking. A high ranking will ensure that your company has the most visibility during related Google searches, while a low ranking is practically a death sentence for your company.
This is why a strong online advertising campaign matters, and why you will find a lot of different strategies offered by various digital marketing companies. One of these strategies involves using Google AdWords.
1] What Is Google AdWords and How does it Work?
Google AdWords is a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign, where you basically set a budget with Google to display your company’s ads. Each time someone clicks on these ads, the budget depletes little by little until it runs out. At this point, you either pay more to continue showing these ads or Google removes them.
You can reach people in two ways through Google AdWords.
1) Google Search Network
The Google Search Network works by allowing you to directly reach people who are actively searching for your business by entering related keywords in a Google search.
For example, if you have a catering business based in New York, your ad will show up on top of the search result every time a user types in “New York catering services” or similar combinations of the search phrase.
2) Google Display Network
The Google Display Network displays banners or ads on various websites where your target audience might be. This is a more indirect way of marketing your business since people are less likely to click on banner ads compared to direct links. However, you should not discount the advertising power of this type of marketing campaign.
Many people won’t actually know they want your services until they see your ad, so you can still net potential customers by a banner ad in the right place at the right time.
This indirect type of advertising also works well for re-engagement, where you encourage people who have already visited your site in the past to come back.
2] Is Google the only Place where I can get a PPC Campaign?
Technically, no. There are various other websites that offer PPC campaigns where you can advertise your business such as Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest.
However, if you’re going to advertise your business, why not advertise it on the platform that has the highest reach and visibility online? Of course, this is where Google still remains supreme.
3] How do I Start My Own Google AdWords Campaign?
Once you have decided to create a Google AdWords campaign, you simply go to the AdWords website and create an account. First, you need to decide what kind of campaign you want. You can choose from a variety of types offered by Google, such as traditional search ads, display network ads, or video ads.
Next, you still choose what goal you want to achieve through your Google AdWords campaign. Do you want to increase your website traffic, increase lead conversion rates, or increase sales? From there, you will also choose how these goals will be achieved such as through app downloads or site visits.
Next, you will name your campaign and narrow down your campaign to specific locations where you want to target your audience. You will also choose how your budget will be spent.
For full control over your campaign, you can choose manual cost-per-click. For beginners, however, Google can offer “smart” options that are automated. You will also decide when the campaign starts, and how quickly Google will use your budget.
The next step is the most critical: choosing your keywords. You should already have a set of high-value keywords that you have researched previously. These keywords must be high in terms of search volume and they must be relevant.
Finally, you create your ad by adding the headlines and descriptions and sending it over to Google for review. Once it is approved, you can start monitoring your Google AdWord PPC campaign!
4] Protecting Yourself from Google AdWord Fraud
If there is one downside to using Google AdWords, it’s that you are now vulnerable to Google AdWord click fraud. This type of fraud is usually done by competitors or even scammers who try to hijack your PPC campaign to affect your business negatively or even to steal revenue from you.
It is such a huge problem that even well-known websites such as Forbes, HuffPost, and the New York Times are not immune from it.
Click fraud can be done in two basic ways. Competitors can click on your ads continuously over and over to quickly deplete your budget, or scammers can use bots to register fraudulent clicks.
Either way, you will be wasting your money and you won’t get any profit from those fraudulent clicks. This is why you need to invest in strong click fraud protection measures.
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