How to Run Google Ads: A 10-Step Guide

Your concern could apt usage a boost to scope much imaginable customers. And quickly.

Google Ads tin help. 

When you decorativeness this article, you’ll cognize precisely however to tally Google ads that tin payment your business.

Before we get to that, let’s spell implicit immoderate inheritance information.

What Is Google Ads?

Google Ads is an online advertizing level that lets you show targeted advertisements crossed places like: 

• Google Search results pages
• Google-owned properties similar YouTube and Google Maps
• The Google Display Network (GDN): A radical of third-party websites and apps that show ads
• The Google Search Network (GSN): A radical of search-related spouse sites 

For example, you tin make substance ads that look successful Google's hunt results erstwhile a idiosyncratic types successful a applicable keyword:

Given each the places wherever your ads tin appear, it’s wide that you tin scope galore audiences utilizing Google Ads. And determination are galore formats to take from.

Plus, Google estimates that for each $1 companies walk connected Google Ads, “they person $8 successful profit done Google Search and Ads.” 

How Do Google Ads Work?

Google Ads uses a real-time auction system. You and different advertisers spot bids to person your ads shown to imaginable customers. 

Every clip a idiosyncratic searches connected Google, searches connected a spouse site, oregon visits a site/app successful Google's network, the strategy runs an auction. And it considers advertisers’ bids arsenic good arsenic factors similar advertisement prime and relevance to find whether your advertisement volition look and wherever it volition beryllium positioned.

This means a well-crafted advertisement tin outperform 1 from a higher-bidding competitor. 

How to Run a Google Ads Campaign successful 10 Steps

Here’s however to get started with Google Ads:

1. Do the Necessary Prep Work

Take immoderate clip to hole earlier you commencement moving successful Google Ads, truthful you don’t person to halt successful the mediate of mounting up your campaign.

For hunt ads, that usually means creating a campaign-specific landing page, doing keyword probe (finding presumption related to your concern that your perfect customers are searching), and analyzing your competitors’ ads. 

To commencement uncovering invaluable hunt terms, usage the Keyword Magic Tool.

Open the tool, participate a wide keyword applicable to your offering, prime the determination you privation to target, and click “Search.” 

The instrumentality volition make a database of applicable keywords based connected your archetypal term.

Review the database to find the champion keywords for your campaign. Consider factors like:

• Search intent: This reflects wherefore a idiosyncratic searches for a peculiar term. In astir cases, you’ll privation to prioritize keywords with commercialized intent (researching brands oregon services) oregon transactional intent (ready to convert).
• Search volume: This is the mean fig of monthly searches a keyword gets. Choose keywords that users often hunt for to guarantee capable radical spot your ads.
• Cost per click (CPC): This is the mean terms advertisers wage erstwhile idiosyncratic clicks connected their hunt ads. And it tin assistance you estimation however overmuch it volition cost to tally Google Ads.
• Competitive density: This metric shows however galore advertisers are competing for a keyword. The little the score, the little contention you’ll face.

Next, bash a speedy Google Ads rival analysis to find retired what keywords your competitors are bidding on. And what ads and landing pages they’re using.

Use Advertising Research for this.

Open the tool, participate a competitor’s domain, and click “Search.”

From the “Positions” report, scroll down to the “Paid Search Positions” section. 

Here, you’ll spot a database of keywords your competitor’s ads fertile for and the corresponding landing pages. Along with accusation similar each keyword’s CPC and hunt volume.
 

Review this list  to look for invaluable keywords that besides align with your planned campaign.

Next, navigate to the “Ads Copies” tab.

Here, you tin survey the nonstop transcript this rival has used. Which tin animate your ain advertisement copy

Further reading: How to Do PPC Keyword Research for Your Ad Campaigns

2. Create a Google Ads Account

First, log successful to the Google relationship you privation to usage for your Google Ads—likely a concern relationship tied to your company.

Next, click “Start Now” from the Google Ads homepage.

Confirm that you’d similar to make a caller relationship by clicking “New Google Ads account.”

Next, Google volition punctual you to input your concern information. 

At this stage, you mightiness spot an enactment to “Switch to Expert Mode.” If you do, prime this enactment since it gives you much power implicit your campaigns.

But sometimes, Google Ads asks you to make your archetypal run close disconnected the bat.

In this case, click “Skip run creation” oregon “Create an relationship without a campaign,”depending connected what you see.  

Follow the platform’s instructions to decorativeness mounting up your account. This includes entering your outgo details and confirming your relationship settings.

For much elaborate steps, travel Google’s authoritative usher to setting up your account.

3. Choose an Objective and Campaign Type

After creating your Google Ads account and heading to your dashboard, click the “+” icon and prime “Campaign.”

You’ll beryllium prompted to prime an nonsubjective you privation to execute with your Google Ads campaign. And the level volition past tailor the settings based connected your objective.

Here’s what each nonsubjective means:

• Sales: Boost merchandise oregon work sales
• Leads: Generate leads to thrust much income oregon conversions
• Website traffic: Get radical to sojourn your site
• App promotion: Increase app downloads oregon in-app actions
• Awareness and consideration: Get much radical funny successful your offering oregon brand
• Local store visits and promotions: Increase in-person visits to your section business

For this workflow, we’ll prime “Website traffic.”

The surface volition present populate with run types that acceptable your chosen objective. 

We’ll take “Search” (text ads that amusement successful Google’s hunt results):

But you besides person immoderate different options for your run type:

• Demand Gen: Image and video ads intended to thrust request that amusement crossed YouTube, Discover, and Gmail
• Display: Image and video-focused ads that look connected websites and apps wrong the GDN
• Shopping: Product listings that look successful Google Shopping and hunt results
• Video: Video ads that look connected YouTube and different sites
• Performance Max: Automated campaigns that usage AI to tally your run crossed each of Google's advertizing channels

Once you’ve chosen your run type, you’ll beryllium prompted to prime oregon participate immoderate applicable information. 

In this case, we request to specify that we’re trying to thrust website visits and bespeak the leafage we privation to nonstop radical to.

Finally, springiness your run a sanction and click “Continue.” 

4. Choose a Bidding Strategy

Now, prime what you privation to absorption connected for your campaign.

Your options include:

• Conversions: This focuses connected actions that you've defined arsenic invaluable to your business. Like purchases oregon sign-ups.
• Conversion value: This focuses connected the worth you subordinate with desirable actions users take
• Clicks: This focuses connected radical who click connected your ads
• Impression share: This focuses connected the information of impressions your advertisement gets retired of the full fig they could get

We’re trying to thrust radical to our website, truthful we’ll take “Clicks” for this campaign. 

Then, cheque the container to acceptable your maximum CPC and participate the worth you’re consenting to wage (revisit what you learned during your keyword probe if you request help).

Or permission this container unticked, and Google Ads volition automatically set your bids to maximize clicks without going implicit your budget. This tin beryllium a bully starting constituent for gathering information connected your archetypal campaign's performance.

Click “Next” erstwhile you’re ready.

Further reading: The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads Bid Strategy (with Examples) 

5. Customize Your Campaign Settings

In the “Campaign settings” step, you'll specify who sees your ads and wherever your ads tin look to guarantee you scope the close audience.

The archetypal measurement is to prime your people network(s):

• Search Network: Your ads look connected hunt results pages
• Display Network: Your ads amusement connected a assortment of websites and apps

If your advertisement won't see an image, it's champion to untick the "Include Google Display Network" option.

That’s due to the fact that the GDN is chiefly designed for ocular ads. And text-based ads mightiness not execute arsenic well.

Next, take your campaign’s location. 

If you don’t spot the determination you privation connected the list, prime “Enter different location” and benignant successful your desired country successful the hunt bar.

Google Ads automatically shows your advertisement to locals, predominant visitors, and radical who simply amusement involvement successful your people country.

To alteration this setting, click “Location options” and prime the ellipse adjacent to “Presence: People successful oregon regularly successful your included locations.” 

Next, prime the language(s) your imaginable customers speak.
 

Scroll down to the “Audience segments” conception to specify the radical of radical you’re targeting based connected things similar shared interests oregon behaviors. Which helps your ads scope the astir applicable people.

For example, if you're moving a section barbecue restaurant, you tin people radical funny successful eating retired and barbecue cuisine wrong your area, which helps you debar wasting your advertisement fund by showing ads to vegetarians oregon radical who seldom devour out.

Click “Next” to determination connected to the adjacent step.

Further reading: Google Ads Audience Segments: Types, Tips, and Best Practices

6. Use Google Ads’ AI Assistant (Optional)

Google Ads offers an AI-powered instrumentality to assistance make elements similar keywords and headlines, which tin beryllium peculiarly utile if you're caller to creating ads oregon looking for caller ideas.

To usage this tool, you'll request to supply the URL wherever radical volition onshore erstwhile they click your ad. 

Then, supply much accusation astir your offering, nether the “What makes your products oregon services unique?” section. 

Then, click “Generate.”

If you take to usage this feature, ever reappraisal the generated contented cautiously and marque immoderate indispensable adjustments. 

You tin besides click “Skip” to determination connected to creating your advertisement without utilizing AI.

7. Create Your Ad

The archetypal measurement successful creating your run (if you didn’t get assistance from AI) is adding your Google Ads keywords. 

There are a fewer ways to bash this.

The archetypal is to participate your destination URL and the products oregon services you privation to advertise. And click "Get keyword suggestions" to person Google Ads make a database of imaginable keywords for you.

You’ll spot your suggestions successful the “Enter keywords” box.

Otherwise, participate the presumption you discovered utilizing the Keyword Magic Tool and Advertising Research.

Then, scroll down to the “Ads” conception and participate your destination URL nether “Final URL.” 

You tin set however you privation your URL to look successful the "Display path" section.

Modifying this tin supply a clean, easy-to-read URL that gives users a wide thought of what to expect erstwhile they click your ad.

Next, constitute your headlines. These are the large, bluish lines radical usually spot first.

You tin participate up to 15 headlines that are each 30 characters oregon shorter. The much you add, the easier it is for Google to trial antithetic combinations and recognize which ones execute best. 

Google recommends keywords to include. But absorption astir connected creating compelling and applicable headlines.

And adhd 2 to 4 descriptions that tin beryllium up to 90 characters each. Use this abstraction to item what makes your offering peculiar and see a call to action (CTA).

You tin besides adhd sitelinks—additional links successful your advertisement to instrumentality radical to circumstantial pages connected your site. This helps users rapidly navigate to the astir applicable sections of your website. 

For example, a BBQ edifice proprietor mightiness adhd links to their menu, reservations, and peculiar offers pages.

When you’re done, click the “Next” fastener astatine the bottommost of the page.

In this step, determine however overmuch you privation to walk connected your advertisement run each day. 

Google mightiness automatically urge an mean regular fund based connected your run settings. But you tin besides acceptable up a customized budget.

To cipher your regular budget, disagreement your full monthly Google Ads fund by 30.4 (the mean fig of days per month). 

So, if your monthly fund is $1,378, your regular fund would beryllium astir $45.

Enter that fig successful the container nether “Set customized budget” and click “Next.”

9. Review Campaign Settings

At this stage, your run is acceptable to publish. But earlier you bash that, instrumentality a look astatine the “Recommendations” and see implementing them to optimize performance. 

Each proposal provides a percent estimation of however overmuch it could amended your campaign.

Click connected the arrows to navigate done the recommendations. And click the “View” fastener adjacent to 1 to spell to the due measurement and marque the suggested improvement.

Finally, reappraisal your run details 1 much time. 

If you request to alteration anything, conscionable click connected the applicable tract and you’ll automatically spell to the corresponding page. 

Once you’re done, navigate backmost to the reappraisal leafage utilizing the paper connected the near broadside of your screen.

10. Launch Your Campaign

Once your run is precisely arsenic you privation it, click “Publish campaign” connected the “Review” page. 

Google reviews each advertisement earlier it tin spell live. Which tin instrumentality 1 to 2 concern days. 

Once you people your campaign, you’ll spot a surface similar the 1 below, prompting you to instrumentality steps to measurement the occurrence of your campaign. 

For example, you mightiness privation to acceptable up a mode to measurement conversions. 

Setting up conversion tracking involves adding a tiny portion of codification to your website. To way important actions similar purchases oregon sign-ups.

You tin instal this codification either done your website builder (if you usage one) oregon by pasting the codification straight into your site’s HTML. 

Drive Success with Google Ads

Now that you cognize however to tally ads connected Google, show your run to spot however it performs.

And usage Semrush’s Advertising Research instrumentality to analyse adjacent much of your competitors’ advertizing strategies to get further ideas.

Sign up for a free Semrush trial to get started.