Beginner’s Guide to Google Ads

Did you know that Google receives over 60,000 searches every second? That’s a huge amount of results, and a significant amount of these results include those paid for through Google Ads. This paid advertisement program offers a pay-per-click method of driving traffic to your website when people search for keywords related to the products or services your business provides. Because there is no minimum spending requirement or subscription fee, users can set a budget that works for them. 

Here, we’ll dive into some of the ways that Google Ads works, some advantages and disadvantages to the program, and some examples of careers that experience with Google Ads can lead to. 

How Does Google Ads Work?

Creating your first campaign with Google Ads can feel overwhelming at first, especially for those who manage their own accounts. To uncomplicate the process a bit, let’s go through each step in a bit more detail to help you understand the basics of how Google Ads works. Bear in mind that there are options to give Google more or less control over making decisions throughout the entire process. 

Step One: To begin, users will create a Google Ads account. The initial pop-ups during this process help to establish your primary advertising goal. You can choose between a few options which will dictate what type of campaign you can run.

Step Two: Here is where you can choose from different campaign types. Some options include Search, Display, Video, and Shopping. For our purposes, let’s pretend you want to set up a “Search” ad campaign. This will display an ad based on targeted keywords related to your business.

Step Three: Now that you’ve decided what type of campaign you want to focus on, you’ll need to help Google Ads target the appropriate audience to make sure your ad reaches people who are most likely to visit your website. We can narrow your audience by targeting things like language and specific geographic areas. Here is where you also set your budget, bidding strategies, and the schedule for when you want your ads to be displayed. 

Step Four: Next, you’ll create keywords related to your product. If you need help, Google has a Keyword Planner tool to help you research the most appropriate words that match your core product.

Step Five: It’s finally time for you to create your ad! Google Ads will provide you with some fillable text boxes so you can create unique headlines, URLs, and descriptions so people know what your business is all about.

Pros and Cons of Google Ads

Google Ads is one of the top marketing tools in the world, and experienced users have shared what they love most about the program on various review platforms. The program provides detailed analytics that helps easily explain which keywords are working and which ones are not. The available Ad Extensions also ensure that your business takes up additional space on the results page, further reducing the likelihood that someone will click on a competitor’s ad instead of yours. Many users also feel that the interface of the Google Ads dashboards is fairly simple to figure out, even for beginners. The simplicity of the program means you’ll spend less time learning how to use it and more time actively promoting your brand!

Like most technology, some drawbacks come with using Google Ads. To start, the program can be expensive for smaller businesses, especially if your business has a lot of competition or sells a common product. Google has limited advertising space, so you’ll sometimes need to pay more than you planned if you want to be advertised above the competition. It is also more expensive to market with Google Ads than other channels like Facebook Ads. Another common complaint is regarding customer support. Google Ads primarily relies on an AI/chatbot system for customer support, meaning that users often struggle to get answers to more complicated questions.

Careers That Use Google Ads 

Digital Strategists often have a broad set of digital marketing skills at their disposal. They leverage tools like social media and search engine optimization to help clients better understand where to invest their advertising dollars. They can also help build new websites, help produce new content, or develop strategies for marketing campaigns. Digital Strategists make an average of $61,000 per year, but this has the potential to increase with experience and location.

Becoming a Search Manager is another career that requires experience with Google Ads. These professionals typically oversee both organic and paid search techniques because they have extensive knowledge of how search engines work and how to produce results. Some of their responsibilities include improving their client’s rank on a search engine results page, search engine optimization, and choosing the best keywords to drive up traffic. Search Managers earn an average annual salary of around $77,000. 

Another exciting digital marketing career option is called a Web Optimization Specialist. These experts act as stand-ins for users to better understand their behavior when using a specific site. These insights help produce better user experiences. In addition to experience with tools like Google Ads, Web Optimization Specialists must also possess an understanding of prototyping, data analysis, and user experience/user interface design. Their average salaries are a little over $66,000 a year. 

Learn About Google Ads With Career Centers

If you’d like to learn more about what Google Ads has to offer, check out the Google Ads courses offered by Noble Desktop, a partner program of Career Centers. All of the classes at Noble Desktop are taught by experienced teachers, and students are offered one free retake of their courses within one year. Programming includes a Google Ads in a Day course, which is a six-hour class suited for beginners. The Google Ads Bootcamp is a two-day program that covers building campaigns in Google Ads and teaches advanced marketing techniques to outshine your competitors. 

If you’re interested in topics related to Google Ads, you can also check out Noble Desktop’s Google Analytics Bootcamp to help better understand the data that your company’s website produces. This school also offers a comprehensive Digital Marketing Certificate. In just 78 hours, you’ll learn many in-demand skills to promote your business through various avenues of digital marketing.