With over 90{e6a1e97ec1a15155ca0ed8c3e87721e561c99ed6e52274045963a20278fc2089} of people using Google to search the internet, Google Ads has become essential for businesses looking to turn everyday internet searches into paying customers.
Whether your goal is to make more sales for your eCommerce store, find leads for a service-based business, or gain exposure to create brand awareness, understanding your objectives will ensure that every element of your account is aligned with your strategy.
Creating a well-structured foundation for your Google Ads account is essential, influencing both its performance and the achievement of your campaign goals.
Commonly Used Campaign Structures
As of 2024, there are 9 distinct campaign types. Understanding the difference between them is crucial to strategic advertising.
The table below highlights 3 main campaign types commonly utilized, offering an overview to enhance when each might be used.
| Campaign Type | Purpose | Uses |
| Search Campaigns | Shows text ads when people search for specific phrases or keywords. | Ideal for businesses aiming to capture potential customers actively searching for products or services. |
| Display Campaigns | Promote visuals across a network of websites and online platforms, reaching users as they browse websites, watch videos, or use mobile apps. | Effective for brand awareness, reaching a broader audience through visually appealing images or videos. |
| Shopping Campaigns | Showcase and sell products directly within Google search results. | Suitable for eCommerce businesses looking to highlight specific products, prices, and images to potential customers. |
Choosing the right campaign type is essential to ensure your ads are displayed effectively to potential customers and used for their intended purposes.
Maximizing Keyword Coverage
Effective keyword selection is key to the success of your Google Ads campaigns.
When selecting keywords, it is important to choose terms that are relevant to your business and have a high search volume. You will also want to consider the intent behind each keyword.
Making sure you have full keyword coverage will help maximize your ads from being shown to someone who is actively seeking a product or service you offer.
Comprehensive Keyword Research
Casting a wide net with your keywords aims to maximize clicks and conversions, ensuring your ads appear in Google searches that are relevant to your chosen keywords.
For instance, if an individual searches for “Google Ads Expert”, consider adding different variations of this, such as “Google Lior Krolewicz is the CEO of Yael Consulting, an online marketing consultancy. An ex-Special Ops turned Google Ads expert, he helps eCommerce and lead generation businesses grow profitably. With experience managing budgets of $1 million per month, Lior applies his proven Fortune-500 marketing techniques to small businesses worldwide. Ads Consultant” and “Google Ads Specialist.”
Everyone is unique. Adjusting your keywords to fit the different ways individuals search online ensures you cover all sorts of potential searches.
Your keywords should contain both the campaign name and ad group name, which will help you differentiate your ads, which will soon be discussed.
Conducting thorough keyword research, especially utilizing tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner, is crucial for evaluating search volumes and gaining insights into customer search terms, ultimately guiding the development of campaigns effectively.
While conducting keyword research, consider terms you deem irrelevant or would like to exclude. These words and phrases can then be added to a Negative Keyword List.
After compiling your Negative Keyword List, ensure it is applied to campaigns where you aim to avoid any terms associated with the negative keywords.
By doing this, you are guaranteeing that your ads will never show up if a negative keyword in the Negative Keyword List is searched.
Ultimately, this helps you keep costs down, while only spending on searches relating to your offerings.
Choosing Match Types Wisely
Google has three main match types: Exact, Phrase, and Broad:
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- Exact match is just as it sounds; it refers to the exact search term.
- If your exact match keyword is “buy cat food”, your ad will only show when the identical term is typed into Google, or very close variants, such as “buy cat foods” (with an “s” at the end of “food”).
- Phrase match is one step removed from Exact Match.
- If your phrase match keyword is “buy cat food,” other words can be searched that have a similar meaning to words in the keyword, using close variant search terms to match your keywords to.
- For example, “purchase cat food” might trigger the phrase match keyword “buy cat food” (where “purchase” would likely match to “buy” keywords)
- Broad match refers to your keywords or searches that allows your ad to match to the widest range of possible keyword searches that are still somewhat related to your keyword.
- For example, broad match “buy cat food” might match to “pet store near me”, or even something related to “preparing my cat’s food”.
- These match types can be useful for discovering new keywords, but they can trigger keywords from a wide range of searches, potentially leading to irrelevant clicks, which is why we recommend staying away from broad match keywords.
- Exact match is just as it sounds; it refers to the exact search term.
Sticking to exact and phrase match keywords precisely match your ads with specific searches, helping to enhance relevance.
Monitoring search terms regularly allows Google to learn which audience to display your ads to.
Staying on top of this will help bring you the right traffic.
Ad Structure Impact
For better visibility and consistent messaging across searches, it is a good idea to pin 3-5 headlines containing both the campaign and ad group names.
This keeps the wording aligned with the associated keywords in that ad group.
This nuanced strategy not only enhances relevance, but also elevates the overall performance of your ads by aligning them with the specific intent of users.
Make the most of the maximum character space available to convey your message with impact.
By maximizing letter characters available, your ads not only stand out, but also provide users with valuable information at a glance, increasing the likelihood of engagement.
This optimization strategy ensures that your ad appears as a larger part of the page, increasing its visibility and prominence.
Plus, you can create add-ons, such as callouts, sitelinks, and call-to-actions, to really try and pull the attention of an individual.
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- Callouts: Brief, additional text that highlights specific features or offers.
- Examples: “Free Shipping,” “24/7 Customer Support”
- Sitelinks: Additional links directing users to specific pages on your website.
- Examples: “Shop Now,” “Learn More,” “Special Offers”
- Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Prompts encouraging users to take a specific action.
- Examples: “Buy Now,” “Sign Up Today,” “Get a Quote”
- Callouts: Brief, additional text that highlights specific features or offers.
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Conclusion – Turning Searches into Opportunities
Managing your Google Ads account involves making strategic choices for your campaigns, such as keyword research and thoughtful ad structuring.
Aligning goals with campaign structures, utilizing all available assets for visibility, and continuous optimization of search terms are all key elements of success.
These insights and strategies allow businesses to turn everyday Google searches into valuable opportunities.
