The Google Ads is basically an advertising program created by Google to help promote marketing for various businesses. There is a lot to learn and benefit from Google Ads as it takes business advertising to a whole new level. There is a lot to be understood in Google Ads and when fully comprehended will make online advertising for ones business a little more fun. Many people, as we often see, would like to grasp comprehensively any program being thrown at them. It is for this reason that we have decided to highlight the basic need-to-knows about this ads program.

Fundamental exam background

Getting involved in the Google Ads program would require one taking a certificate exam. Before you run off, I would like to point out that the certification exams have, in recent times, been divided into two parts by Google; fundamentals of account management and advanced specialized exams. The truth is that you are required to pass both before being deemed certified. I can also add authoritatively that passing these exams can be a piece of cake for you as it has been for many others who scaled through successfully. The Google Ads certification program is basically divided into four (4) modules; the fundamental exam, Search Module, Display Module and Reporting Module (the last three being grouped under the Advanced exam). Passing the Google Ads fundamental exams would require you to score at least 85% in the exam, while the passing scores for each advance exam have different passing scores.

Taking each of these Google Ads exams would cost you $50 for each of the exams, making a total of $100. The benefits of having attaining success in these exams would eventually outweigh its initial cost requirements. Each of these exams is drafted to contain about 110 questions with a 2 hour exam time for completion. Well mathematically speaking, that should provide you with a little over a minute to do your magic and answer each question.  Those questions that you are not so certain about their answers can be marked down for review later on. Focus on the ones you know and return for those other ones later. This is because some of the questions have multiple right answers but Google will require you to select the best possible answer. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of if indeed you worked with PPC in your lessons, you would be able to identify such multiple-right-answer questions. The idea of this guide is to show you how to utilize your timing as well as achieving excellence in the exams. The Fundamental exam certification has a length of validation of 2 years.

Accessing the Fundamental Exam

As a new comer into Google Ads trying to take the Fundamental exam, you would have to start off by creating a Google Certification Program profile. When you have successfully created your profile, log in and click on the “My Exam” icon. You will be directed to a page in which you can access the Fundamental and Advance Exams by selecting the “Take this exam” button. You will be given a candidate ID. Take note of this ID number as you will be required to use it when you register for the exam.

Setting up an Google Ads account

For you to enjoy the benefits of the Google Ads certification program, you would have to set up your account for yourself. You would be instructed to put in your existing email address and create a password (which sufficient character density). This would be your key to accessing your account. In case you forgot your password, at any given time Google Ads can send your password (when demanding) to that your registered email. After setting up your account, take time out to navigate around your account to familiarize yourself with its features. In exploring your account, you would come across six main tabs; Home, campaigns, Opportunities, Tools and Analysis, Billing, and My account. Click on each one of them to explore their contents. Be in control of your account and customize it to suit your taste.

Account Management

Google Ads accounts receive three different types of messages; alerts, notification, and announcements. These messages are sent to keep you up-to-date on your account and any new Google Ads feature that have just been included. Google Ads also offer features that can enable you turn off certain messages that you deem to be nuisance to your account. Organizing your account in a well-structured manner has a direct effect on your Quality Score. An organized account allows for quick and easy changes to be made and also campaigns and ads to be arranged in relation to keywords.

Campaign and Ad Group Management

• Organizing ads and campaigns in your account

All Google Ads designs are organized into three layers; account, campaigns, and ad group. As earlier discussed, your account is your doorway into Google Ads program. It functions with the use of a unique email address and password. Your account still holds information as regards your billing. Your ad campaign is a combination of ad groups and has its own settings and budget that determines your ad placement. Ad groups consist of similar ads designed by you and linked to certain similar keywords or phrases. Whenever such keywords or phrases are inputted in Google’s search engine, it triggers your ad to be put up for display. The position and rank in which your ad would appear is determined by Google Ads. How to put your ad in the top position would be discussed later on.

You may be wondering the relevance of organizing your ads into groups and eventually campaigns. People all over the world use various search engines to search for information. Google, being the number one giant in search engine applications, uses their Google Ads program to place individual and company ads to online searchers in relation to the searched keyword. For example, if someone is to type the keyword “smart phones” they would be expecting to see relevant information and ads that are very much closely related to their search. If as a marketer or manufacturer of smart phones and you have successfully linked your available smart phones to this particular keyword, Google Ads would reel out your ad groups and campaign and bring them to appear on their search page. Properly managed ad groups and campaigns would yield more success than an unorganized one.

• How to plan your campaigns

 As is common with any given business venture, it is paramount to have a detailed plan on what to you want to achieve. This is your business we are talking about, analyze every facet of the campaign and the effect you would want it to have. Each campaign you choose to embark on has its own budget. With this budget you can decide where (geographically) you want your ad to appear in specificity, if you want or on what online web pages you would want it to be shown. Like any other business prospects, kindly ask yourself these four (4) basic questions.

–          What product or service do you intend to offer?

–          What differentiates your business product and services from those of your competitors?

–          Who are your target audience?

–          Where do you hope to provide services?

When you have successfully provided answers to these questions, you are then ready to begin your campaign. Center each campaign on a single goal. For example, you can choose to sell or market your smart phone products as earlier stated. Never forget your target audience, for they are the major determining factor for the success of your campaign. Place ads in areas where they will yield maximum profit feedback.

Introduction to Keyword Targeting

We discussed briefly or rather mentioned what keyword targeting is about. To further enlighten us, let us consider this example. Mr. John is in dire need of a digital camera for his daughter’s recital and hopes to get the best affordable camera product. Somewhere else, a digital camera retailing company has keyed into Google’s Ads program. He creates a couple of digital camera ads and for an ads group, later developing a campaign for his product. Having understood the importance of keyword targeting, he links his campaign ads to the keyword phrases “affordable digital camera” and “best digital deals”. There is a high chance that Mr. John would key in this keyword phrases into Google’s search engine. The company’s campaign ads of digital camera would immediately been shown on the search result (having met the requirements for being placed high in Ad Rank and Ad Position), thereby bringing a company’s product closer to the doorsteps of a prospective customer.

• Keyword Targeting Options

 Google Ads provides some keyword targeting options that can help to organize your ad for display. There are two main trigger responses that range from broad to narrow searches. They include; broad match, broad match modifier, phrase match, and negative match. These options are fairly self explanatory with their names. In general, the more broad a keyword matching option, the more traffic potential it carries along with it. In contrast, the narrower the keyword matching option, the more relevant (in specificity) it is to the search. If one can fully understand the basic differences in these matching options, the more success one can achieve from his ads campaign and a resulting Returns on Investment (ROI).

• Using Negative Keywords in your Campaign

The word “negative” does not necessarily mean a bad thing here. Adding negative keywords to your add campaigns would allow you to reach only interested customers and reducing your total cost of advertising, thereby increasing your ROI (that’s the whole idea of business). People just merely visiting sites that contain your ads or those just broadly searching for a term similar to your linked keyword would not be able to see your campaign ads since they are not relatively interested in your product. To better aid our comprehension of this option, lets consider this example. Suppose you are a professional optometrist that sells glasses, you would not want a search query of “drinking glasses” to trigger your ads campaign. This is what using the negative keyword option in your campaign can eliminate. It brings your ads to people who are far more likely to click on them.

Choosing the right ad format

Many new-comers to the Google Ads program often want to know the best ad format to adopt. I think the choice of ad format to use should be determined by the audience you want to reach out to and the response you hope to attract. Google Ads account has many ad format types that extend beyond your conventional search engine results. The most popular ad format is the text ads but one can choose to create and use video ads, image ads, WAP ads, etc. I can assure you that each and every one type of this ad format has its own benefits. You also have the choice of combining two or more of this ad formats in your campaign. Let us just highlight the benefits of each ad format.

• Text ads – this is the commonly used ad format. It reaches customers more effectively as they often feature in search results.
• Image ads – these could be static pictures or moving animations. Your business product and services can be shown to prospective customers.
• WAP ads – this ad format is designed to be adaptive to mobile devices. You have the power to connect with customers anywhere, since the world is quickly being driven by the mobile industries. Put your product and services out there to be seen.
• Ad extensions – these extensions help marketing companies and firms to link more product information to their website. It allows your customer to gain more information about a given product. If done effectively, it can draw traffic to your company’s website.
• Video ads – these are audio and visual ads that display your product or service. They have that captivating tendency and can lure in customers if effectively designed.

By Candy Lowe