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An Ultimate Guide To Create Google Search Ads in 2022

Google Ads Account Campaign Structure

Rahul Gadekar

Mentor Stanford SEED & LISA

Google Search Ads are ads which show on Google search when a keyword is searched on Google. Google Search Ads also work on pay per click model. Search Ads are very effective as users are actively looking for products and services on Google Search, so targeting your business keywords and reaching out to these users can help you generate sales.

(To know more about the Importance of Google Search Ads follow our article section Advantages of Google Ads here)

In the below screenshot for the search query “Resorts in Kabini”, we can see top 4 results as search ads and the bottom 3 results as the search ads. There can be maximum 7 Ads on a particular search result page of Google. Google Search Ads

So How to Create Google Search Ads.

So before we start creating Google Search Ads, let’s first understand the campaign structure in Google Adwords. Google Search Ads have a fixed campaign structure which is as below:

Google Ads Account Campaign Structure

Designing a campaign structure for your search campaign effectively is very important in order to improve performance of your campaign. In a particular Google Ads account we can create:

  • 10,000 – Campaigns
  • 20,000 – Ad Groups
  • 25 – Ad Copies
  • 50,000 – Keywords

Let’s now understand each term which includes Campaigns, Ad Groups, Ad Copy and Keywords:

Understanding Campaign:

A Campaign is a set of ad groups (which has keywords & ad copy), that shares a budget, location setting, bid strategy, language setting, ad extensions and more.

  • Campaigns can be defined basis the categories or products or services that brand offers.
  • In one campaign, you can create upto 20,000 ad groups
  • You can create separate search ad campaigns for different locations with different budgets

Understanding Ad Group:

An Ad Group is a theme which represents similar set of keywords. For Eg: In the below Ad Group, “Luxury Resorts in Coorg”, the ad group has different combination of keywords including Best Luxury Resorts in Coorg, Luxury Resorts in Coorg with Swimming Pool and Luxury Resorts in Coorg for Family. So Luxury Resorts in Coorg becomes a theme (an ad group) and in this ad group there are similar set of keywords

Ad Groups in Google Ads

  • In a particular campaign, you can create around 20,000 ad groups
  • You can define ad groups with various themes basis your products and services

Understanding Ad Copy:

An Ad Copy is the message which triggers on Google search when an user searches for a query. It is the message which you want to communicate to your target audience on Google Search. The ad copy can talk about your product, USP of your product or any sales pitch you want to communicate.

For Eg: in the below screenshot for the keyword “Resorts in Kabini”, there are 4 Ads on Google search, let’s consider the first ad which is by EvolveBack.com, so the message/content/text which is written in the ad will be called as an Ad Copy.  

Google Ads Top 4 Search Results

  • Writing an effective Ad Copy is important which holds the interest of the prospective buyer
  • Effective Ad Copy helps to improve CTR which further helps to improve conversions

(For understanding how to write effective ad copies – Refer article here: How to Write Effective Ad Copies to Drive Sales)

Understanding Keywords:

Keywords are the phrases/queries which you add in your campaign (under every ad group), on which you want to show your search ad.

For eg: In the below screenshot, the keywords added in the ad groups are Best Luxury Resorts in Coorg, Luxury Resorts in Coorg with Swimming Pool and Luxury Resorts in Coorg for Family.

Ad Groups in Google Ads Campaign

  • You can add multiple keywords in an ad group
  • Selecting right keyword is important in order to use you campaign budget effectively to drive users looking for your products and services
  • Keywords are selected using Google Keyword Planner

Now that we have understood the campaign structure in Google Ads account, let’s move towards creating Google Search Ad

Step 1

Login to your Google Ads account and click on the plus button in blue color on the left hand side and then click new campaign. 

Google Search Ads Dashboard

Once you click new campaign, you will see the below options.

Selecting Goals in Google Search Ads

Sales:

This goal option should be selected when your objective is sales on your website, which means the user should be able to purchase products on your website. If your website does not have a payment gateway method, I would recommend not to go with this option. You can select this option for websites like ecommerce, E-Ticketing, Online Courses etc

Leads:

This goal option should be selected if your objective is to generate leads/enquiries etc, which means the landing page should have a form in order to collect leads through it. Do not select this option if your website has a payment gateway method.

Website Traffic:

Website Traffic option should be selected when your objective is just to drive traffic from your ads to your landing page. This option’s key objective is drive maximum clicks from the budget you have defined for your campaign.

(Won’t recommend rest of the goals for Google Search Campaigns. Rest of the goals can be used for Display Ads, Video Ads & Universal Ads)

Let’s now take one business example and create a campaign for the same!

The Business is a Real Estate project located in a location called Balewadi (Pune, India). It’s a 3 BHK Luxury Project. Our objective for the campaign is to generate leads for the campaign targeting users who are searching from Pune location. So let’s start by selecting our goal as Leads.

Step 2

Once we select the Goal, the next step is to define the campaign name. I am defining the campaign name as 3 BHK – Pune – Search.

Step 3

After defining the campaign name, the next step is to select the network. As our campaign is search campaign, we should untick the display network option (as mentioned in the below screenshot).

Network Selection in Google Ads

The reason why we should untick the display network because we are only looking at search campaign and if we use search and display together, Google will use our budget of the campaign for Search & Display and control the budget share automatically. If we are looking for display ads as well, we should create a separate display ad campaign.

Step 4

The next step is to set the start date and end date of the campaign, you can set the start date and end date as per your requirement for the campaign.

Search Ads Start & End Date Setting

Step 5

The next step is to define the location. It means in which location the ads should trigger once users search for your business. In the below screenshot I have selected Pune because I want to show search ads on Google to the users who are in Pune and looking for my business/product.

Location Setting in Search Ads

After selecting the location, in the second half of the above screenshot we can see there is an option called as Target. By default the first option is selected by Google, we should not change the option the reason being, we want to target people who are in Pune, or who show interest in our product and our targeted location, which is what we are looking at!

Step 6

The next step is to select the language which your customer speak, have selected english as I am looking to target users who are using english Google search interface while searching. You can select other languages if your audience is using other language interface for Google search.

Language Setting in Google Ads

Step 7

The next step is to define budget you want to spend each day, you can start with a budget of Rs 500 per day. Post that you need you also need to define the delivery method. There are two options in delivery method, Standard & Accelerated.

Standard Delivery Method: It is the recommended delivery method, as it spends your budget evenly in a day

Accelerated Delivery Method: It’s not a recommended method, as it spends your budget as quickly as possible. This can be used when you have a limited period campaign Eg: You are running a New Year Party campaign to sell tickets and tomorrow is the last day, so you can use this method to speed up the campaign as running the ads post new year won’t make sense.

Budget Setting in Search Ads

Step 8

Next step is to define bidding strategy for your campaign.

Bidding Strategy is the method in which you would like to pay to Google for your advertising campaigns on Google. You would like to pay by impressions, clicks, Cost Per Acquisition, Maximum clicks etc.

This is an important step in the Google Ads campaign because if you have defined your  bidding strategy effectively, then it can help you get maximum ROI out of your budget.

There are different types of Bidding Strategies in Google Ads:

  • Target CPA
  • Target ROAS
  • Target Search Page Location
  • Target OutRanking Share
  • Maximize Clicks
  • Maximum Conversions
  • Enhanced CPC
  • Manual CPC

Selecting the right bidding strategy is important, the campaign performance will depend on your bidding strategy. To know more about Google Ads bidding strategy and which strategy to select when – Refer article here: An Ultimate Guide to Google Ads Bidding Strategies

For this campaign, I am selecting Manual CPC strategy as I want to pay per click.

Step 9

The next step in the campaign setting is Ad Scheduling. Ad Scheduling helps you to schedule you ads in different time slots of the day. For Eg: You are a restaurant business and you only want to schedule ads in the morning 12pm to 3pm and in the evening 7pm to 10pm then you can schedule your ads as below.

Google Ads Schedulling

You can also schedule ads in different time slots for Monday to Friday and a different time slot for Saturday to Sunday. This will help you to trigger your ads only for the searches happening during that time slot, which will help you to spend your budget effectively and gain maximum ROI out of it.

Step 10

Next we move towards Ad Rotation in the campaign settings. Ad Rotation is the way Google deliver your ads on Search & Display. (Right now we are only discussing Search Ads). If you have multiple ads in an ad group, your ads will rotate, as only one ad will be triggered at a time. Ad rotation setting allows you to specify, how often you would like your ads to be served with respect to the other ads in the same ad group. Below are different options in the Ad Rotation settings.

Google Ads Rotation Setting

Let’s understand each of them:

Optimize: Prefer best performing ads

In the option Google will trigger those ads which are performing better in the ad group basis different signals using device, keyword, physical location, time of the day,  

Do Not Optimize: Rotate Ads Indefinitely

Rotate Ads Indefinitely setting pushes lower performing ads to run over high performing ads for an indefinite period of time. This option is not recommended.

Optimize for Conversions and Rotate Evenly have been discontinued since September 2017. But let’s understand what they mean earlier.

Optimize for Conversions:

Optimize for conversions setting will push those ads which have resulted in conversions (filling a form or making a purchase). For this option to be available, you need to have the conversion code setup on your Thank You page.

Rotate Evenly:

In Rotate Evenly setting, Google automatically optimize your ads after a 90 day period.

Step 10

The next setup is too setup Ad Extensions for your campaign.

Understanding Ad Extensions:

Ad Extensions are part of Ad Copy, they expand your ad with additional information, making your ad more prominent, relevant and encourage users to click on your ad. Below is a screenshot which has different types of Ad Extensions (reference ad copy with ad extensions).

Google Search Ads Ad Extension

Different types of Ad Extensions in Google Ads are as below:
  • Sitelink Extensions
  • Structured Snippet Extensions
  • Location Extensions
  • Promotion Extensions
  • Price Extensions
  • Callout Extensions
  • Call Extensions
  • Message Extensions
  • Affiliate Location Extensions
  • App Extensions

Selecting each ad extension is not important, the idea is to select the right ad extension basis the product/service you are marketing on search ads. To know more about different types of ad extensions and which to extension to use when – Refer article here: Google Ad Extensions Guide To Increase ROI)

Step 11

The next step in campaign setting is to select Campaign URL Options and Dynamic Search Ads

Campaign URL Options

Campaign URL Options are tracking parameters which are added added automatically to your landing page URL’s once users click the ad set. They are used to track users basis your requirement. For Eg: You want to know which customer was acquired from which keyword, which customer was acquired from website, what was the device used by the users when they were acquired, what was the geo-location of the users when they were acquired etc

With the help of these tracking parameters it becomes easy to measure performance at campaign level, campaign type level (including Search, Display, Video), keyword level, device level etc which helps you to further optimize your campaign bids and budgets.

(For understanding in detail about campaign URL options – Refer article here: Google Ads Campaign URL Options)

Dynamic Search Ads

Dynamic Search Ads are Google Search Ads which trigger without keywords. Yes, they are triggered on Google Search without keyword targeting! So how do they work ?

Dynamic Search Ads work basis the content which is available on your landing page. When a keyword is searched on Google, the dynamic ad algorithm tries to match the searched keyword by the users with respect to the keywords which are there in the content. If the users search query matches the keywords in the content, in that case your ad is eligible to trigger on Google Search.

When you are running search ads, there is a chance that you might miss on couple of keywords for your campaigns. Dynamic Search Ads allows you to fill in the gap of those keywords which you could miss while advertising on search. Dynamic Search Ads are can be used if you have large inventory on your website or you are looking to drive high traffic to your website.

(For understanding in detail about Dynamic Search Ads, it’s advantages & Campaign Creation – Refer article here: Google Dynamic Search Ads Complete Guide)

Step 12

Moving ahead in the campaign, once you click on Save & Continue, you will move to the next step which is Ad Groups. As discussed above, in Ad Groups you will define Keywords and Ad Copies.

Keywords:

Keywords are the queries on which you want to bid and show your ads to users searching on Google Search. Selecting the right keyword is important in order to utilise your budget effectively and gain the maximum ROI from your campaigns.

Before we move towards selecting the keywords for our search campaign, it is important for you to understand different types of keyword match types in Google Search Ads. Keyword match types are different combinations of keywords through which you can target multiple set of keywords in search ads.

There are different types of keyword match types in Google Ads, which are as below

  • Broad Match
  • Phrase Match
  • Exact Match
  • Broad Match Modifier
  • Negative Match

Selecting the right keyword match type is important so that you are reaching out to the users who are looking for your products and services. If the keyword match type is not define effectively, you might end up consuming budget on irrelevant keywords. To learn in detail about different keyword match types and which match type to use when Refer article Google Search Ads Keyword Match Types)

Selecting keywords for Google Search Ads

Selecting right set of keywords for your campaign is important as the performance of your campaign depends on these keywords. Also, another aspect is selecting multiple set of keywords so that you target maximum relevant searches related to your business.

There are millions of searches happening on Google every day in a specific category but you don’t know what these searches are, so how do you find out these searches and add these queries as your keywords?

In order to select multiple set of keywords, Google has its own tool called as Google Keyword Planner which is part of the adwords account. Keyword planner helps you by showing different kinds of searches happening on Google and the number of searches happening for specific queries on Google Search. To learn more about Keyword Planner and how to use keyword planner for selecting keywords – Refer Article – How To Use Google Ads Keyword Planner

So using Google Keyword Planner, I have selected keywords which are defined with respect to different ad groups. Here’s how the ad groups look!

Ad Group Creation in Google Ads

I have different Ad Groups including

  • Balewadi Projects
  • Properties in Balewadi
  • 3 BHK Balewadi
  • 3 BHK Flats Balewadi
  • 3 BHK balewadi
  • Luxury Properties Balewadi

In these ad groups, there are different keywords mapped with different themes. So let’s have a look at the keywords which I have added to these ad groups!

Google Ads Keyword Selection

As you can see, I have added two different match types of keywords including phrase match and exact match. In case you forget to change the match types while adding from keyword planner. You can also change it from the keywords dashboard by selecting the keywords you wish to change the match types for, and then selecting the change match type option from the edit selection. Follow the screenshot below.

Changing Keyword Match Type

Step 13

Post defining the keywords, the next step is to add an Ad Copy for the campaign. An Ad Copy is the message which an user will see when he searches for our product or service on Google Search. To define an ad copy in the search campaign, click on Ads & Extensions on the left hand side of the dashboard and click on plus button, create an Ad Copy by adding the message you want to communicate to your audience.

Follow the screenshot for options on the dashboard and sample ad copy which I have created for the campaign for different ad groups.

Search Ads - Ad Copy Sample

The ads, will go in review, which means Google’s automated system will review your ads and then approve it, once the ads are approved, the campaign is ready to go live, provided you have money in your account!

Step 14

To add money in your account, click on billings and payments under tools option on the top right hand side of your dashboard and your campaign is ready to launch!

Google Ads Billings & Payments Option

There are two types of payment methods in Google Ads account

Pre-Paid Payment

Pre-Paid payment method is an advance payment method, which we add to our Google Ads account, and basis the number of clicks which we receive on our ads, the amount is deducted from our Google Ads account. This payment method is available to all advertisers and you can start with a minimum amount of $10

Post Paid Payment

Post Paid Payment is only available to those advertisers who show spends history on their ads account with a minimum spends of $1000 in a period of 3 months. Once you have spent the minimum amount required for the period, you can connect with Google’s team and ask for post paid payment, Google’s team will review your Google Ads account and if they are convinced they will offer post paid payment method followed by document verification process for your business.

Conclusion

Google Search Ads are very effective as users are searching for your products and services on Google search, so reaching out to them, with the right message, highlighting how your product is beneficial for them etc can help you achieve higher ROI through Digital Media. Success of any search campaign will be defined by the keywords which you have used, so make sure you select the right keywords to make the most of Google Search Ads!

Related Articles:

Guide to What are Dynamic Search Ads & How to Create Dynamic Search Ads

Guide to Dynamic Keyword Insertion, to increase your ROI

When an unknown printegalley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting.

Rahul Gadekar

Stanford Alumnus

Mentor: Stanford Seed & Abu Dhabi SME Hub

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