Google Ads Beginners Tutorial for 2024 (Step By Step)
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Introduction
In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through how to create a Google Ads campaign from scratch. This guide is tailored specifically for beginners, ensuring that you comprehend each part of the process necessary to generate leads and sales through your Google Ads campaign. With over nine years of experience managing Google Ads campaigns, I'm here to help you navigate through this process effectively.
Step 1: Create a Google Ads Account
To begin, you'll need a Google Ads account. Use a browser where you're signed into your Google account, which you may already have if you use Gmail or any other Google services. If you don't have a Google account, quickly set one up.
Visit ads.google.com to start the account creation process. Google will often display promotional offers for new advertisers, such as ad credits that you can claim based on your spending. Choose an offer that best suits your needs.
Once you select an offer, click "Start now." Depending on your Google account setup, you may see various options, but you should be able to create a new Google Ads account.
Follow Google's prompts to add basic information about your business, including business name and website URL. If you want to skip the automatic campaign creation process initially, select "Create an account without a campaign."
Next, fill in the required settings such as billing country, time zone, and currency before clicking "Continue." After confirming these details, you'll be directed to the payment setup. Here, you can choose to set up a payment profile and add multiple payment methods to avoid potential issues with recurring payments.
Step 2: Begin Campaign Creation
Once your account is set up, navigate to the "New Campaign" option within the Overview section. Your first important choice is to select your campaign objective. For beginners, the ideal objectives are "Sales" or "Leads." Picking "Website Traffic" typically leads to poor conversion rates as Google optimizes for clicks rather than conversions.
For this tutorial, we'll choose "Leads." After this, Google may suggest conversion goals that align with producing leads for your business. Make sure to set these up properly as they will allow Google to track the success of your campaign.
Choosing Campaign Type
You’ll then be prompted to select a campaign type. The best fit for beginners is often "Search," which places your ads in front of users searching for related products or services.
If you're feeling confident, you can explore "Performance Max," which is a more complex but highly effective option, especially for advertisers with more experience.
Once you've chosen "Search," decide how you want to reach your goal. Since our aim is to generate leads, the most pragmatic option is "Website Visits."
Step 3: Set Bidding Strategy
Next, we need to set a bidding strategy. For a lead campaign, the recommended option is "Conversions." This tells Google to focus on getting as many leads as possible instead of just generating clicks. You need to keep in mind that it's more beneficial to optimize for leads rather than just traffic.
There are additional details related to customer acquisition that you can set, but this is more advanced and can be skipped for now.
Step 4: Targeting and Location Settings
At this stage, you need to specify where your ads will be shown. Think carefully about this and only target the locales where you can deliver your products or services. If you're a local business, consider using radius targeting around your area.
Specify the languages your ads will target next. Typically, this will be set to the main language of your target audience. You may also explore audience segments, but this is reserved for more advanced users.
Keyword Selection
Another crucial step is selecting keywords. Avoid using broad match keywords, as they can lead to wasted ad spend. Instead, utilize "phrase" and "exact" match types. This ensures your ads are only shown to the most relevant searches.
Create ad groups based on services or products you want to advertise, and populate them with suitable keywords.
Step 5: Create Your Ad
Now we will build our ad. A Responsive Search Ad is the best approach as it allows you to input multiple headlines and descriptions that Google can mix and match to find the best format.
Be sure to optimize and personalize your headlines and descriptions. Keep in mind the focus should be on clarity and relevance to your target audience. Utilize the high-character limit thoughtfully to provide essential information.
Additional Features
In addition to headlines and descriptions, you have the option to add assets—enhancements like site links and callouts that make your ads more informative and prominent. These can drastically improve your ad’s performance by providing additional relevant information to potential customers.
Step 6: Set Your Budget
Setting your budget is a significant factor for the success of your campaign. Choose a daily budget you can afford to lose initially while being mindful that your ad spend should reflect your business's financial realities. You can adjust and increase your budget as you begin to see results.
Step 7: Review and Launch
Finally, review all the details of your campaign. Ensure your campaign type, targeting, keywords, and ad creatives are all aligned and functioning as intended. After that, publish your campaign.
Once your campaign goes live, it is vital to monitor its performance regularly. You should analyze data, adjust keywords, and optimize ads based on what is working and what isn't.
A successful Google Ads campaign requires ongoing optimization. Utilize all the resources available to stay informed and improve your advertising strategies continually.
Keywords
- Google Ads
- Beginners Tutorial
- Create Campaign
- Account Setup
- Bidding Strategy
- Keyword Selection
- Ad Creation
- Budget Setting
- Campaign Optimization
FAQ
1. What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an online advertising platform developed by Google that allows businesses to display advertisements to users who are searching for products or services on Google.
2. How do I create a Google Ads account?
To create a Google Ads account, visit ads.google.com, sign in with your Google account, and follow the prompts to set up your account and billing information.
3. What campaign objectives should I select?
New advertisers typically benefit from selecting “Sales” or “Leads” as their campaign objectives, rather than "Website Traffic."
4. What is the best bidding strategy for beginners?
For beginners, the recommended bidding strategy is to optimize for “Conversions,” which encourages Google to prioritize gaining leads.
5. How do I choose keywords for my campaign?
Focus on using “phrase” and “exact” match types for your keywords to ensure your ads reach the most relevant audience while avoiding broad match terms that can attract inappropriate clicks.
6. How much should I budget for my Google Ads campaign?
Choose a budget that you can afford to potentially lose initially, while still being substantial enough to generate meaningful data for optimizing your ads.
7. How do I optimize my campaign after launching?
Regularly check the data, pause ineffective keywords or ads, and replace them with new experiments based on what has been successful.