How to Advertise on Google in 2024: The Ultimate Guide

Key Takeaways

• Google Ads allows businesses to reach customers who are searching for products/services on Google and its network.
• Setting up a Google Ads account, planning your campaign strategy, creating ads, choosing keywords, setting bids and budgets, and optimizing are key steps.
• Define your goals, target audience, and ideal customer to create relevant, effective ads. Research keywords and competitiveness.
• Write compelling, relevant ad text with a clear CTA. Use ad extensions. Create ad groups around topics.
• Bid strategically on keywords based on volume, competition, and relevance. Optimize for conversions or cost per conversion.
• Structure accounts for the organization. Analyze data like CTR, conversions, etc., to optimize. Expand top-performing elements.

• Set Up Your Google Ads Account
• Plan Your Google Ads Campaign Strategy
• Create Your Text Ads
• Structure Your Account & Campaigns
• Choose Your Keywords
• Set Your Bids & Budgets
• Measure & Optimize Your Campaigns
• Track Conversions & Retarget
• Organize & Share Campaign Access
• Continually Test & Improve

• Sign up at ads.google.com. If you don’t have a Google account already, you will need to create one.
• Choose your account type, such as individual or business. Select your country/region and time zone.
• Accept the Terms & Conditions and click “Create Account”.
• Select your payment method. Google Ads is pay-per-click, meaning you only pay when someone clicks your ad.
• Set your daily budget to control costs and enter your billing information.
• Verify your account via phone or postcard. Then, your account will be operational.

• Generate leads or sales.
• Increase website traffic
• Raise brand awareness
• Promote new products/services.

• Location
• Age
• Gender
• Income level
• Interests
• Needs & pain points
• Behaviors
• Purchase history

• Demographic data
• Goals and challenges
• Needs your business solves
• Where they are in the buyer’s journey
• Common objections

• Use clear, compelling headlines and descriptions that make the user want to click and learn more. Be relevant to their search.
• Highlight key benefits and value propositions for your product or service. Focus on what you can do for the customer.
• Use keywords and targeted phrases in the headline and description so your ads are more relevant to searches.
• Include a clear call-to-action like “Buy Now” or “Sign Up Now” to prompt clicks.
• Be concise – 25 characters for headlines, 35 for descriptions 1 and 2. Use 150 chars max in description 2.
• Use all available ad extensions, like location, call, etc., to improve ad visibility.
• Test multiple ad variations with different text and landing pages. Evaluate performance data.

• Group campaigns according to product/service, initiative, or seasonal. Ex. “Summer Sale” or “Q4 Lead Gen”.
• Use ad groups to cluster similar or related keywords and ads, such as “women’s shoes” or “men’s watches”.”
• Organize keywords into tightly themed ad groups for relevant ads and better Quality Scores.
• Categorize ads into groups for testing and analysis. Change underperforming elements first.
• Label campaigns and groups clearly for easy monitoring. Adjust as needed.
• Segment traffic by device, location, and audience for more focused targeting.

• Leverage free keyword tools like Google’s Keyword Planner for ideas and search volume data. Review competitor ads.
• Choose a mix of broad, phrase, and exact-match keywords. Allow for flexibility but also tighter targeting.
• Prioritize keywords with higher search volume and relevance to convert visitors. Lower competition also helps.
• Calculate keyword competitiveness using metrics like average CPC and monthly searches. Bid strategically.
• Organize keywords into tightly themed ad groups around topics for more relevant ad serving.
• Re-evaluate keywords periodically based on performance and remove or bid down underperformers.

Determine Initial Keyword Bids

• Start by bidding based on each keyword’s suggested bid in Keyword Planner.
• Bid higher on keywords that are more relevant or have higher conversion potential for you.
• Bid lower on very general or less competitive keywords to get impressions at lower costs.
• Adjust bids based on current ad position – increase bids to move up or decrease to move down while staying on page 1.
• Set minimum CPC bid targets based on your target cost per conversion and conversion rates.
• Bid higher if you have high-profit margins and can pay more per click/conversion.
• Scale bids down for keywords drive lots of clicks but have low conversion rates.
• Factor in the stage of your campaign – bid higher earlier on to gain impressions and data.
• Do A/B testing with manual CPC and Target CPA bidding to see what delivers the best results?
• Use bid simulations to estimate the impressions/clicks possible at different bid levels.
• Let Google automatically bid for you with Smart Bidding once you have enough conversion data.

Set Your Daily Budget

• Consider your campaign goals and metrics like desired clicks or conversions per day.
• Factor in current CPCs and conversion rates to estimate costs to achieve your targets.
• Start conservatively with the daily budget, then optimize and increase it over time if needed.
• Use automatic bid strategies like Target CPA for Google to adjust bids dynamically within your budgets.
• Set campaign budgets and use shared budgets to distribute them efficiently across keywords and days.
• Schedule your budget to be evenly distributed daily for consistency or higher on high-traffic days.

Optimize for Your Goals

• Focus on conversion volume if your priority is generating more leads/sales.
• Optimize for conversion value if revenue or ROI per conversion matters more.
• Or optimize for the lowest cost per conversion to get converting visitors at the best price.
• Adjust your targeting, bids, landing pages, and ad copy to improve conversion metrics steadily.

Analyze Metrics & Data

• Review usage metrics like clicks, impressions, CTR, conversions, cost per conversion, etc.
• Dig into keyword performance stats to identify winners vs. underperformers.
• Review search term reports to find relevant new keywords to target.
• Check out stats by device, location, and day/time to identify when and where users are engaging.

Enhance Underperforming Elements

• Improve low CTR ad copy with more compelling messaging.
• Upgrade thinly targeted landing pages so they are more relevant.
• Broaden tightly themed ad groups for higher quality scores.
• Bid higher on converting keywords; lower or pause irrelevant keywords.

Scale Up Top Performers

• Extend ad schedules and increase budgets for top-performing days/times/devices.
• Broaden matching options on high-performing keywords.
• Add similar keywords and create new tightly themed ad groups around winners.
• Duplicate high-converting ads and landing pages into new campaigns.

Automate Optimization

• Use Smart Bidding strategies to optimize bids and ad placements automatically.
• Enable Google’s Automated Rules to apply best practices at scale automatically.
• Use Scripts and Experiments to test and iterate different campaign elements.

• Install conversion tracking like the Google Ads tag to track leads and sales from your ads.
• Import offline conversions from your CRM to accurately track all revenue driven by your campaigns.
• Create custom conversion goals like newsletter signups or app downloads beyond purchases.
• Build remarketing lists to target visitors who have already engaged with your site or ads.
• Create ads and bid higher to get in front of past visitors who are more likely to convert.
• Remarket across devices like search, display, YouTube, and Gmail for more chances to convert visitors.
• Sequence your retargeting ads from awareness to consideration to conversion messaging.

• Assign (campaign managers) to specific clients, campaigns, or initiatives based on expertise.
• Grant managers (view, edit, or approve) access only to elements they control to prevent conflicts.
• Limit changes with (change history) to see who changed what and when.
• Establish an (approval process) for reviewing modifications before they go live.
• Use (shared libraries) so managers can easily reuse approved ads, keywords, creatives, etc.
• Provide read-only access to executives to view dashboards and reports.
• Leverage tools like (Google Ads Editor) for bulk campaign management.

• Review metrics weekly and look for opportunities to improve underperformers.
• Conduct quarterly audits to identify new gaps as the competitive landscape shifts.
• Test ad variations, landing pages, bids, placements, extensions, etc., and scale winners.
• Stay on top of Google updates that impact ad formats, mandatory features, etc., and adapt quickly.
• Monitor searches and add keywords matching new trends relevant to your business.
• Hire a Google Ads expert to handle technical optimization and advanced tactics.
• Leverage automation for initial setup and ongoing optimization at scale.
• Give underperforming elements time to improve before cutting them. Patience is key.