Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) is Google’s ad platform. Its first version was launched in 2000 and since then it has led the Online Media market. Through Google Ads it is possible to create Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Play Store ads. It has probably happened to you that, when doing a search in Google, you have found some links that stand out in the result.

You have probably also entered a blog and found an advertising banner located somewhere on the page. Even when watching a video on YouTube, some ads have appeared before or during the videos.

We will also talk about how the Google Ads platform works, how to create an account, your first ad, and we will also recommend some useful materials when creating ads that generate real results for your business.

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is an ad platform and Google’s main source of income. Its first version was launched in 2000 and since then it has been leading the market. In 2016, Google AdWords earnings were around $ 79 billion. The second position is a bit far: we mean the Facebook ad platform, with $ 26 billion.

What makes Google Ads such a fascinating ad platform?

Through this service, generally speaking, companies have the ability to pay Google to highlight them on the internet. But it is not that simple either. The biggest advantage of AdWords is that the ads can be featured for a super-targeted audience. That is, it is not simply paying to appear more times. It is investing in a qualified audience and therefore, that is related to your business.

Because at the end of the day, for example, for an e-commerce of vegan food, the most important would be: to display your campaign for 10 thousand people, regardless of their diet or for 500 people who declare themselves vegan?

This is the main premise of Adwords. Based on cookies and keywords, advertisers can determine when their ads will show. With this platform you have the possibility to choose the type of Adwords campaign you want to develop:

• Search Network
• Display
• Google Shopping
• Video
• Universal app campaign
• Ads on the search network

They are the ads that are displayed in the search results for certain keywords. These will be located as featured results at the beginning and at the end of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and with a small notice saying “Ad”, which indicates that it is a sponsored link.

It is a particularly useful format for reaching people in search of specific products, services, or solutions. For the same reason, it is the most competitive type of campaign, since it allows to display text ads directly in the most used search engine in the world for users who are looking for exactly what the company has to offer. Here, the great advantage is that the advertiser only pays when the person clicks on the result link to enter the website. In other words, these ads can have an excellent cost-benefit ratio for your business.

Ads on the display network

This style of campaign can be found on different websites, news pages and blogs. All of them make up the so-called Google Display Network, which reaches 90% of internet users in the world. In absolute numbers, Google display ads are displayed on more than two million websites and in more than 650,000 applications.

Display ads have special targeting options: keywords, geographic information, and remarketing. With them, you can get customers to see your brand, consider your offers and take action.

There are several ways to use display advertising:

Banner: These are graphic ads that can be images, interactive elements, animations, custom layouts, among others.

Text: It is similar to the banner, but it has a “text box” format, consisting of a title, a description, the name of the company and a URL.

Gmail: These are personalized ads in Gmail that can be seen directly in the user’s inbox.

Application: These are ads that appear specifically in applications for mobile devices.

YouTube Ads

If you are a YouTube user, you must have already seen that some videos contain advertising before starting or even during the video. Therefore, you can also create campaigns that are linked to the videos on this platform. With over a billion users, you can select the target audience you want based on age, gender, location, interest, and much more.

Important detail: According to YouTube, you will only pay when people are interested in your campaign. That is, if the ad is skipped before 30 seconds (or before the end), you will not pay anything.

App Ads

Here the ads are mainly focused on those who have applications and want to increase their reach with this Google platform. You can promote your business or even your application for iOS or Android users. After a short setup, your ad will be qualified to reach over a million people on the Google Network, including for Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, plus millions of websites and mobile apps.

Google Ads: How does it work?

Well then what this all means is that I just need to pay, and will I magically appear to everyone in my market? Again, it is not that simple. Google Ads works like an auction, that is, advertisers offer money in exchange for clicks. The advantage is that in AdWords, the highest bid does not always win.

Google couples some quality factors to rank the position of the ads based on their Ad Rank. In short, it is not enough to give the best offer. It is important that the ad is really good.

What is Ad Rank made of?

In summary, the Ad Rank is made up of:

Quality Index (IQ) x Lance (Maximum CPC)

This means that, even if your competitors’ bids are higher than yours, your ad can stand out if your quality index is higher.

How is the quality index calculated?

The quality index is an evaluation made by Google, which gives a score that goes from 1 to 10.

This note, plus the offer, is what will determine the position of your ad for the keyword and the defined segmentation.

The quality index components are:

• CTR.
• Relevance.
• Landing page.

How to create an account in Ads

Creating an account in Google Ads is very easy. Click on “Start Now”. Next, write the Google email that you want to link to the Ads account and your website. By clicking “continue”, Google will go through a guided setup, giving you all the details, you need to create your Ads account. In the steps to follow, you will need to enter some data and set up a test campaign (only if you wish) to start using Ads.

The steps are:

• About your company.
• Your first Adwords Campaign.
• Pay

How to make an ad in Google Ads?

So far, we’ve talked about what AdWords is and how relevant it is on the internet today. If it’s clear to you that Google Ads can be a great customer acquisition channel for your business, it’s time to start creating ads:

The ad structure in Google Ads

The ad in Google AdWords is divided into four parts:

Final URL: It is the destination page to which the user will be directed after clicking on the link. This address does not appear in the ad.

Title: It is the first line of the advertisement; however, its registration is done in 2 lines of 30 characters, which will be separated by a hyphen in the title.

Path: A “fictitious” address, but short, shown in green. It automatically includes the registered website in the final URL and allows the inclusion of two subcategories, with 15 characters each.

Description: The lines of text below, with a maximum size of 80 characters.