Everything you need to know about using Google Ads for your business

Google Ads management can be tricky to get right. Luckily, our simple guide will show you how to optimise your campaigns the easy way.

Written by Luke Davis

What is Google Ads and how does it work?

Google Ads, previously known as Google Adwords, is Google’s advertising system in which digital advertisers and marketers can pay to appear within Google’s search results for a particular keyword or search query. It is an essential platform for online advertisers wishing to get their brands or products in front of their audiences as quickly as possible.

Ask anyone in online advertising what the trickiest part of pay-per-click advertising (PPC) is, and they’ll likely say Google Ads management. It’s a time-consuming job, especially when you’ve got more exciting things to do. That’s why so many businesses end up with wasted ad spend every month. So many questions, not enough answers, and so little time, right?

But it needn’t be that way. Google Ads management is a learning process. The advertising model is constantly evolving with new tools to improve results with minimised spend. Knowing where and when to make changes needs a considered and structured approach or you can kiss your Google Ads success goodbye.

Here are the key things to consider with Google PPC management:

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Google Ads management can be your friend, and we’ll be covering most of the above in this Google Ads guide to help you gain an understanding of how to get the most out of it.

What’s more, the whole process is much easier with a few Google Ads tools, some handy techniques, and a strong Google Ads software platform to optimise it all for you. Something like Adzooma.

Improve your Google Ads performance in minutes

Your guide to Google Ads

For a better understanding of how Google Ads works, we’ve put together this guide looking at some of the basics. Getting to know the fundamentals will get you ahead of your competitors when it comes to experimentation, testing, and adapting to your customer base. It’s these insights that will help you to ensure you are clued up on the best way to manage Google Ads.

Google Ads Budgeting

Planning your marketing budget is tricky. There isn’t an all-in-one solution or a special remedy when things go awry.

That means you need to create a structure around your Google Ads budgeting and consider the following when figuring out how to apply your budget:

Decide what your goals are – What do you want to achieve? Higher customer retention more leads, better conversion rates? Whatever your goals are, they need to be clear and attainable. Focus your spend on the highest priority and reduce it as you go down the funnel. It's a matter of trial-and-error at first but Google Ads software like Adzooma can help once you've got the gist of things. The platform pauses your campaigns when you've reached your spend cap and protects your budget with bid reduction on low-performance keywords.
Use basic formulas If your business is less than five years old, allocate 12-20% of your gross revenue on marketing. If it's older than five years, lower it to 6-12%. The idea is newer companies need to spend more on marketing to get their name out there but older businesses are theoretically more established.
Think about brand awareness - Try to look past ROI figures as your key success indicator. Organic engagement is a great way to reach out to customers. An increase in engagement on non-paid channels will save you money. Then you can allocate it to important Google Ads management tools.

You’re not going to get it right the first time. That’s why a test budget can help.
It’ll teach you the best way to manage a Google Ads campaign and how to be more disciplined with your placements.

Start with a campaign in different ad groups, then split your budget across each one. Once you’ve got the hang of things, try different budget combinations.

Then, wait. Don’t be tempted to mess with things. You need to leave it alone to get accurate results.

After a set period, you’ll have enough data for analysis.

Read more on Google Ads budget management:

Google Ads keyword management

When it comes to Google pay-per-click advertising, knowing how to use keywords is paramount. In theory, keyword management seems like it would be simple. If you’re running a business, you target all the keywords related to that business, right? Unfortunately, it’s not quite so straight-forward.

Many businesses waste a lot of money on targeting the wrong keywords and the wrong type of keywords.

That’s why keyword match types are so important. There are four Google Ads keyword match types:

Broad match – the type with the widest audience (eg. would target Google ad management, managers for Google, and ad managers)
Broad match modified – the type with a wider audience but with restrictions (eg. would target Google Ads tools, Google Ads agency, Google ads editor)
Phrase match – the type with a more specific audience but room for width in searches (eg. would target cost of Google Ads manager or Google Ads manager tools for beginners)
Exact match – the type with the most specific audience (eg. will only target searches for Google Ads Manager)

You should also harness the power of long-tail keywords.

Around 70% of searches use terms with long-tail keywords. These offer more specific consumer queries and show more intent for what they want.

An example would be: “Google Ads management services in the UK”.

And then there are negative keywords. These are a list of words or phrases you can add to your Google Ads campaigns to exclude from searches. By using negative keywords, you ensure your budget is focused towards only the keywords you want to target.

Read more on Google Ads keywords management:

How to use Ad Groups to organise your campaigns

When it comes to Google PPC management, disorganised ads hinder campaign management. That’s why you need Ad Groups.

These structure your ads under a common theme, allowing you more freedom and focus. Rather than promoting everything simultaneously, you focus on one product, demographic or event.

Concentrating on a single area will bring out the best in your ads. You can make them more personable and attract more customers, increasing clicks and conversions.

There’s also Quality Score to consider. Implementing Ad Groups can actually improve your Quality Score which, in turn, improves ranking with lower CPCs (cost-per-clicks).

The right ad groups get your adverts onto better searches and for a much lower price. The perfect Google Ads budgeting companion.

But before you jump into making ad groups, you need to understand how they work and where they fit into the Google PPC management process. So here’s a handy diagram to demonstrate what it could look like.

Your Google Ads campaign can be narrowed down to:

Account > Campaign > Ad Group > Keyword + Ads

You may have multiple campaigns under one account with unique goals for your business. Outline clear goals and outcomes for all of your campaigns so you know what success looks like for you. Without this, you won’t be able to find areas for improvement (or cause for celebration).

Adzooma makes multi-campaign management easier by connecting all your accounts and optimising their performance at once. Thanks to its clean user interface and simple overview, you can adjust your budgets all from one screen.

While you’ll have multiple ad groups, they need to be specific to each campaign. Never duplicate your ad groups.

Read more on Google Ads keywords management:

Improve your Google Ads performance in minutes

Google pay-per-click campaign targeting

Picture an archer aiming their bow and arrow at a target. They want to hit the bullseye. The best archer would hit it on their first go.

Now picture an archer with multiple targets. Some are close by and some are far away. Even the best could miss from a great enough distance.

That’s why specific targeting is so important.

Back into the real world, there are different types of Google Ads campaign targeting. You could opt for time-limiting and geotargeting.

Time-limited ads are scheduled to run during certain hours, like 8pm-2am Friday to Sunday for example. This works well if your business is only available for those hours and it means you can cater to those customers straight away rather than leave them waiting outside those times.

Geotargeting uses geographical location as its main parameter. Ads can be restricted to a small district or a whole continent.

There are other targeting types including:

Read more on Google Ads campaign targeting:

How to optimise Google Ads to reach your customers

One of the final elements of digital marketing is optimisation. From a Google Ads management perspective, it’s an opportunity to polish up underperforming ads and maximise the value of your spend.

A key area for Google Ads optimisation is on mobile. Google now prioritises mobile search with mobile-first indexing. Your site needs to have an optimised mobile design so your Google Ads will need optimising too. It’ll be the first thing mobile users see at the top of their screen.

But where do you start?

Firstly, you need to have an effective keyword strategy. Use “action-oriented” keywords to target high-intent customers to get their clicks before they go elsewhere.

Then you bring out the big guns: Google ad extensions.

They take up more screen space, like a billboard compared to a magazine ad. Some of the best extensions include:

Of course, don’t use extensions for the sake of them. Customers are savvy and won’t be fooled by a digital wolf in sheep’s clothing.

You also need to optimise your Google Ads for speed. Mobile traffic relies on varying internet speeds from around the world Data costs range from $0.09/GB in India, to $1.42 in the UK, and a whopping $49.67 in Equatorial Guinea. Keep these stats in mind and make your mobile landing pages lightweight and speedy.

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Adzooma – the rocket fuel for your Google Ads campaigns

If that sounds like a lot of information to get your head around, we understand. That’s why Adzooma is here to navigate you through Google Ads management.

Smart advertising with effective results

With Adzooma, you can manage and optimise Google Ads faster and gain an advantage over your competitors.

Adzooma analyses your accounts 24/7 and finds opportunities for improvement with machine learning technology. Whether you’re working alone or with a large team that has to manage multiple adwords accounts, you can stay in control of everything. You are still the “Google Ads manager” but Adzooma keeps the cogs turning efficiently in the background while you concentrate on the fore.

That means more time for strategy and opportunities to increase your customer base.

All the Google Ads tools you’ll ever need

Imagine a Google Ads software Swiss army knife with loads of time-saving features. That’s Adzooma.

In essence, it’s the only management platform you’ll ever need for your Google Ads and Facebook Ads campaigns.

The benefits of using Adzooma for your Google Ads campaign:

An intuitive UX and smart suggestions that deliver better ROI

All the data you need to optimise your accounts in one place. Adzooma makes it possible to manage your Google Ads and grow your campaigns in no time at all.

These are three things you can do thanks to Adzooma’s Opportunity Engine:

Automation that saves you time

Many people manage their Google Ads campaigns manually. This takes too much time.

Sooner or later, you’ll run out of time and your campaign won’t perform as well as you’d hoped.

Or you could use Adzooma’s automation tools to turn things around.

Rule-based automation saves you time and money, by taking care of those manual tasks. Pause your campaigns when they reach your spend limit. Reduce bids when keywords are underperforming and protect your budget.

Let Adzooma be your personal Google Ads management assistant.

The simple solution to Google PPC Management

Most Google Ads management strategies are a pain to create. They’re boring and laborious. And then you have to optimise them but only after your ads go live.

How do you relieve yourself from these tasks? By using a campaign management tool to optimise, automate, and win.

By using Adzooma.

Adzooma has the edge on other Google Ads software with a host of smart features, automation, and an Opportunity Engine to provide business-specific suggestions. All under an intuitive UI.

Your questions answered

How much do Google Ads cost?

It’s easy enough to set up your first Google Ads account, and you can follow our step-by-step guide for full details on getting started.

The key steps though, are as follows:

Head over to Google Ads and click ‘Start now’, then create an account.
Choose your main advertising goal, whether it’s to generate calls or sign ups, or to make more sales.
Add your business name
Select where you want Google to send visitors when they click on your ad. It could be to a specific landing page, or to a particular product.
Write copy for your ad(s) focusing on the benefits of your product or service. Don’t forget to include a CTA!
Add keyword themes to group your ads together (broad match, phrase match or exact match)
Choose where to show your ad – you can set specific cities, regions or even postcodes.
Set a budget. You can either pick one of Google’s daily budget options, or determine your own.
Review your campaign to check everything’s correct and you’re totally happy with it.
Add your payment details… and you’re done!

How to set up Google Ads

It’s easy enough to set up your first Google Ads account, and you can follow our step-by-step guide for full details on getting started.

The key steps though, are as follows:

Head over to Google Ads and click ‘Start now’, then create an account.
Choose your main advertising goal, whether it’s to generate calls or sign ups, or to make more sales.
Add your business name
Select where you want Google to send visitors when they click on your ad. It could be to a specific landing page, or to a particular product.
Write copy for your ad(s) focusing on the benefits of your product or service. Don’t forget to include a CTA!
Add keyword themes to group your ads together (broad match, phrase match or exact match)
Choose where to show your ad – you can set specific cities, regions or even postcodes.
Set a budget. You can either pick one of Google’s daily budget options, or determine your own.
Review your campaign to check everything’s correct and you’re totally happy with it.
Add your payment details… and you’re done!

How does Google Ads provide control?

It’s easy enough to set up your first Google Ads account, and you can follow our step-by-step guide for full details on getting started.

The key steps though, are as follows:

Head over to Google Ads and click ‘Start now’, then create an account.
Choose your main advertising goal, whether it’s to generate calls or sign ups, or to make more sales.
Add your business name
Select where you want Google to send visitors when they click on your ad. It could be to a specific landing page, or to a particular product.
Write copy for your ad(s) focusing on the benefits of your product or service. Don’t forget to include a CTA!
Add keyword themes to group your ads together (broad match, phrase match or exact match)
Choose where to show your ad – you can set specific cities, regions or even postcodes.
Set a budget. You can either pick one of Google’s daily budget options, or determine your own.
Review your campaign to check everything’s correct and you’re totally happy with it.
Add your payment details… and you’re done!

What are Google display ads?

It’s easy enough to set up your first Google Ads account, and you can follow our step-by-step guide for full details on getting started.

The key steps though, are as follows:

Head over to Google Ads and click ‘Start now’, then create an account.
Choose your main advertising goal, whether it’s to generate calls or sign ups, or to make more sales.
Add your business name
Select where you want Google to send visitors when they click on your ad. It could be to a specific landing page, or to a particular product.
Write copy for your ad(s) focusing on the benefits of your product or service. Don’t forget to include a CTA!
Add keyword themes to group your ads together (broad match, phrase match or exact match)
Choose where to show your ad – you can set specific cities, regions or even postcodes.
Set a budget. You can either pick one of Google’s daily budget options, or determine your own.
Review your campaign to check everything’s correct and you’re totally happy with it.
Add your payment details… and you’re done!

How do I get Google Ads to stop charging me?

It’s easy enough to set up your first Google Ads account, and you can follow our step-by-step guide for full details on getting started.

The key steps though, are as follows:

Head over to Google Ads and click ‘Start now’, then create an account.
Choose your main advertising goal, whether it’s to generate calls or sign ups, or to make more sales.
Add your business name
Select where you want Google to send visitors when they click on your ad. It could be to a specific landing page, or to a particular product.
Write copy for your ad(s) focusing on the benefits of your product or service. Don’t forget to include a CTA!
Add keyword themes to group your ads together (broad match, phrase match or exact match)
Choose where to show your ad – you can set specific cities, regions or even postcodes.
Set a budget. You can either pick one of Google’s daily budget options, or determine your own.
Review your campaign to check everything’s correct and you’re totally happy with it.
Add your payment details… and you’re done!

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