AdWords Simplified
AdWords is an online adverting service offered by the Google network. Its revenue accounts for 80% of google total earnings.
Who should have an AdWords account?
Everyone who has an online or an offline business should have a google AdWords account. It is best to hire an expert to handle your account as they can optimize your spends with maximum returns.
How does AdWords work?
Advertisers can pay and display brief ads, product listings and videos on the Google network. AdWords offers services such as pay-per-click advertising, cost-per-acquisition advertising and cost per view for YouTube videos. The system works on keywords or phrases suggested by the advertiser.
Google uses this information to strategically place ads on pages where they think it will be relevant. Advertisers only have to pay when browsers click on the advertising copy. Partner websites receive a portion of the generated income.
AdWords is a great place to start your digital campaigns because you can target your demographic audience at a particular time of a day or a particular location or a particular phrase or a keyword.
How does Search network work?
Type a phrase like the “best colleges” or “budget hotels” near you or “digital marketing classes” in the Google search box. The first 2-4 websites that come up for that particular search are the search network ads.
These ads are too costly. For example, I tried to do an ad for digital marketing in Bangalore for my website. It was showing Rs 60 (almost 1 dollar) per click. This type of campaign is also complicated. You need to remove the negative keywords for your website and use the correct keywords in the key word planner in AdWords while running a campaign if you want your website to rank first on google.
AdWords with AdSense:
YouTube video ads:
YouTube channels need to be approved by AdSense to show ads. The ads are from AdWords, with the help of AdWords, you can target your video ads for a particular channel to show your ad at a particular time or in a particular city or area. You will be charged per view and will be charged only after 15 secs of the ad being seen. There are 5 sec ads and skippable ads, I wouldn’t go with the 5 sec ads as it won’t make an impact on your figures.
Display ads:
Similar to YouTube channel procedure, many websites also can get AdSense approval to show ads. Take my website for example, it shows ads from AdSense and these ads come from AdWords.
There are many types of display ads:
Build awareness where your website ad is shown to many people on the net,
Influence consideration through which you can influence people to do an action on your website.
In display ads you are given the option of choosing the time, place, the keywords and even the websites where it can appear. It is similar to YouTube video ads. I find this display campaign a lot cheaper than the other AdWords campaigns and even cheaper than Facebook ads.
AdWords: Universal app campaign
Universal app campaigns is where you can promote games/apps in Google play and IOS.
There is only one format for the ads in Universal app campaign. You can create the ad with text and images and it is shown in the apps and other google network, there is an option of showing your app trailer video too (a video from YouTube).
I have recently done a campaign for my game Puppet Pals but I found it too costly. People are seeing the ads and coming into the play store (my game page) but the cost of conversion is too high.
Shopping ads:
This type of ads only works with an e commerce website. Say suppose a phone company is selling its new model on its website, they have to sign up with google merchant once and they have to link that product with AdWords, promote it and when someone searches for that product in google search it comes up on the search console. As a customer I can compare the price of that model with other phones on the net and buy which ever product I feel is better.
Few important things to check/ know when you do an AdWords campaign:
1) Check whether your bank’s net banking or debit card or credit card works with google AdWords first before starting a campaign. Not all banks in India are accepted by google AdWords, I don’t know about other countries. In India minimum amount to be paid to AdWords to run a campaign is 500 Rupees.
2) Link your AdWords and google analytics (in both the websites). I have done numerous AdWords display campaigns in the past few months but there seems to be a mismatch between google AdWords and analytics. For example I had spent 1000 Indian Rupees on a display campaign and I have gotten somewhere between 2000 – 2500 clicks for that campaign in a single day but In google analytics it only showed around 1800 clicks for that particular paid campaign for that particular day. For the next few days I see paid campaigns clicks in google analytics without any promotion. Sometimes I have gotten more paid campaigns clicks in google analytics (if you add all the days, from the day campaign starts in google AdWords and in the google analytics the paid campaign stops). I have been researching about this on the net still haven’t gotten why it happens.
3) Set your budget. Even if your budget is xxx amount. If the campaign is doing good or bad. Google doesn’t stop with the budget there, AdWords tends to spends more than your allocated budget for that campaign. Ensure you monitor your campaign to pause it before it overshoots the budget.
4) Google AdWords campaigns works on cpc- which is cost per click, cpv- cost per view, cpa- cost per acquisition. Even though you will see cost for impressions, at the end you will be charged per view or click or acquisition per campaign.
5) For display, search or a universal app campaign or shopping ads. You need to set a conversion tracking which is available in google AdWords tools. Take the code and place it where ever you want to place it on your website, for apps try linking your app with firebase and link your AdWords account with firebase. You need to set a value for the conversion as well.
YouTube video ads and display ads are my favorite types of AdWords campaigns.
My company makes games for the mobile market and I also undertake digital marketing services for others. AdWords marketing helps my games reach a wider audience.