Google Search Ads

Search Ads is the display of ads in search results for specific keywords. Unlike other promotion methods, only targeted organic traffic is attracted, that is, users who want to see information for a specific search query.

Due to its ubiquitous availability, search advertising is now hugely popular around the world.

What is website search advertising?

The principle of operation of search advertising sites is as follows – advertisements are shown in response to a user’s search query. Query and impression match is determined by the match of the keywords chosen by the advertiser.

For example, you provide design services. The goal is to attract the maximum number of interested visitors to the site. At the same time, there is a user who is looking for designer services on the Internet. In the process of searching, he enters the query “order the design of something” in the Google search box. In order for an advertisement to be shown for this request, an advertising campaign is set up according to the required list of keywords.

A feature of the Google search advertising service is the ability to pay only when the user goes to the target site. The minimum price for one click (transition) in Google is from 1.5 UAH and depends on the subject in which you work.

Main Benefits of Google Search Advertising

• Quick start. Contextual advertising is a great way to quickly get to the top of search results. As soon as all the settings are made, the campaign is paid and launched, the ad will start showing;
• Reputation Maintenance. Only the most high-quality and relevant sites always appear in the first positions of Google search advertising, as the service always checks them. It also builds brand awareness;
• Only interested users see ads. When displaying ads, not only the words in the search query are taken into account, but also the interests and preferences of the user, the history of his search and other activity on the network;
• Analytics. The search engine offers a wide range of metrics by which an advertiser can evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. For example, the location of the user, how much time he spent on the site, which pages of the site he viewed, what type of device was used, etc.;
• Warm and hot traffic. Keywords can attract heterogeneous traffic. The words “buy”, “order” and the like will generate hot traffic, while the words “free”, “inexpensive” will generate cold traffic. Accordingly, the hotter the traffic, the better for the advertiser and the easier it is to convert it into real purchases and orders. Contextual advertising allows you to do this as simply as possible due to the ability to select and configure these keywords, as well as indicate negative keywords, that is, those in the presence of which the advertisement will not be shown in the search query.

Are there any downsides to advertising in search results?

Despite the obvious advantages of search advertising, it also has some features:

• Suitable only for formed demand. Advertising in Google search results is only suitable for those goods and services for which there is already a demand. If your product is not yet on the market or some users are looking for it, you are better off using other advertising tools.
• Dear clicks. Due to the high competition, the transition to the site from the search results is much more expensive for the advertiser than through display or product ads. At the same time, the more popular the niche, the more competition for the user in it, the more expensive you have to pay per click.
• Effective customization requires experience and knowledge. Setting up search advertising without relevant experience carries huge risks of draining the budget. Thus, a novice advertiser will receive a lot of clicks on non-targeted search queries, which creates an illusion for beginners that such advertising is ineffective.

When to use Google Search Ads?

Google search advertising is universal and allows you to attract customers at all stages of the sales funnel:

1. For the formed lead. Advertising in search results is great for satisfying the intent of users who are already ready to buy a product or order a service. As a rule, they enter commercial search queries in the search. This allows you to work with an already “hot” audience located at the lower stages of the marketing funnel. The conversion to sale for such users will be maximum.
2. For emerging demand. Users who have not yet decided to buy, but show interest in the subject as a whole, can be lured to the site by informational keywords. So, a potential buyer can search for “log houses” to read general information about them. And if the information on your site can attract him, perhaps he will order the construction of such a house for himself next season.
3. Comparison of alternatives. At this stage of the sales funnel, the buyer has already decided to order a product or service, but has not decided which brand to choose. The task of the advertiser at this stage is to capture the user’s attention and intercept it from competitors. Some advertisers even use competitors’ brand name queries for this purpose in order to get their traffic for themselves.

Search advertising formats from Google

Google search advertising provides several ad formats, each of which is suitable for solving specific problems. A competent combination of different types of search advertising allows you to reach the entire target audience of a business and maintain conversion at the highest level.

How is the search advertising service set up?

In order for the search advertising setup to be as effective as possible, the specialists of our company use the following algorithm of actions:

1. Analysis of business and main competitors. We study the specifics of the business, its competitive advantages, the target audience, the activities of competitors, together with the customer we determine the advantages and weaknesses of the brand;
2. Developing a placement strategy. We define the goals for the advertising campaign, as well as the indicators by which the result of its implementation will be evaluated;
3. Create advertising campaigns. To create a PPC ad, do the following:

• Define the semantic core – a set of keywords and negative keywords, select the most relevant pages for all groups of queries;
• Add unique UTM tags to all links (to track the source from which the order came in analytics systems);
• For each ad or ad group, we set up bids, determine the budget, and all the necessary display parameters (time, frequency, etc.);
• We are separately developing a strategy to attract mobile traffic users;
• We analyze the behavioral factors on the pages.

4. Ad optimization. At this stage, the achievement of the indicators defined earlier is analyzed. To do this, the semantic core is analyzed (irrelevant keywords are replaced by others), conversions and, if necessary, targeting is adjusted;
5. Campaign analysis. Using the Google Analytics service, analytics is collected on the effectiveness of the advertising campaign (the number of applications, the effectiveness of landing pages, advertising ROI) and, based on the data obtained, changes are implemented to achieve higher targets.

How is search advertising different from display advertising?

Google search ads have significant differences compared to display ads:

• The campaign task. If search advertising is aimed at increasing the number of orders or targeted actions, then display network ads are more likely to help raise awareness of the company or inform the audience about a new product.
• Placements. Search ads can only show ads on Google, while display ads can show ads on our partner network, YouTube, Gmail, and other sites.
• Clickability. The ratio of clicks to ad impressions is usually significantly higher for ads in search results. So, for search, it usually ranges from 3 to 11 percent, while for display campaigns it is no more than 2 percent.
• User experience. He sees advertising in the search as an answer to his question or recommendation, and he perceives banner advertising as a more intrusive advertising tool – hence the lower CTR.
• Different stages of a product’s life cycle. Banners in networks can be used from launching a new product to the market to familiarize the audience with it and further to maintain interest in it with the help of them. But advertising in search results is suitable only for products with established demand.