So… you want to try Google Ads?

What to expect and what you need to know

If people search for what you offer, you can run Google ads to attract them to your website.

If people don’t search for what you offer, you can still have success with Google Ads in the form of remarketing, display and YouTube ads.

Google Ads is what we refer to as pay per click (PPC) and can cover Google, Bing, Youtube or any platform where if you click on the advert, the advertiser will be paying for that click.

Social media advertising is different in that the user may not be looking for what you’re offering, but you’re attracting them to your offering based on the knowledge the platform holds about the user. You don’t pay per click with social media advertising.

Google Ads (PPC) is active advertising to people who are actively looking, so it ‘should’ generate results.

Get in touch

What you need

For all the below, ideally you’d have one email address for them all to allow them to easily link up and talk to each other: so for your Google Analytics account, your Google Ads account, your Google Merchant Center account: use the same email address to make synchronising your digital marketing activities, as smooth as possible.

Code on your website to allow tracking. Google’s tracking code, GA4, (in particular) has become more complicated. Sometimes you’re going to need the help of a developer to ensure the code is set up correctly on your website, and is tracking the right actions. If you don’t track the actions people take, you can’t tell whether your advertising is working.
Google Analytics – as above, you need Google Analytics set up properly for your site. We would need access to your Google Analytics account – you’d add us as minimum ‘editor’ to this to check links and data streams are in place with Google Ads, Website and to create and manage audience data and conversion events.
Google Ads account – we would need access to this. You’d tell us your Client ID/Account ID which is 10 digits long. From our MCC (main account) we’d send linking request, which you’d approve and which would give all our active users of the MCC access to your account.
Google Shopping – this is one form of advertising specific to ecommerce. You need to meet certain criteria to qualify for Google Shopping.
You need to sign up for Google Merchant Center Account and link it with your Google Ads account. If you’re using Shopify ideally we’d get access to Shopify as collaborator partner.
Google merchant centre will ask for you to meet its criteria for Google Shopping including – how you can pay, delivery info, returns policy, terms and conditions, privacy policy, email address, phone number and an address if possible and this needs to appear on your website – usually the footer (as it means it will then appear on every page of your site)

What to expect

Research:

Before setting any advertising up, we research.

Our advertising strategy is (happily) based on evidence: what are people searching for? Which keywords do they type in? Does it change throughout the year? Are there alternatives?

The research stage is hugely important and may take some time to complete. The better the research, the better your adverts are likely to perform.

If you ask us to set up a new campaign, we need this research time, so please allow at least 5 working days if you’ve asked us to research a sector.

Results:

Google Ads take some time to get going. Don’t expect fabulous results within the first two weeks or first month as, depending on your budget, and what people are looking for, you’re not likely to be jumping up and down with excitement.

We learn as the adverts bed in. We tweak and check and decipher the data to see what is working and what isn’t.

We would expect to be getting better results after 3 months but it does depend on budget: we can’t get miracles to happen if your budget isn’t high enough to appear. The unexpected long tail keyword is the cheap myth that everyone is chasing!

We would be advising you as we go as to whether we need to adjust budget expectations to achieve the results you’re looking for.

Expertise:

We bid on your behalf. So we’re competing with everyone else in your sector who is running Google Ads. If they are bidding high on certain keywords that you also want to bid for, they will show up ahead of you.

Part of our expertise is in knowing how to play the game to ensure you appear to people searching, at the right time, and in the right place, for the right price.

Updates:

We keep you updated throughout the time we work on your account.

In the early days, we’ll be in touch a lot about keywords and aims, budgets and approvals.

We then stay in touch every month with a written report. The first report includes a call to explain the report. And at our basic service level, we then have a call every three months.

The way people search and what they search doesn’t tend to change hugely unless it’s seasonal, but what does change is what other advertisers are doing and so does the market.

What we’ve found with calls that take place too often is that there can be little to report other than a reassurance that all is in hand, things are going well, we’re monitoring it all. There are of course exceptions and it very much depends on your account and budgets.

If you have other services or developments with your business, then please keep us updated and if the campaign needs to alter then we can book in a call (please allow at least two working days)

If your accounts are very active and there is a high spend which involves a lot of monitoring and tweaking then we hold calls every month.

We work with you to find the best service to fit your needs and expectations and our fees reflect the expertise spent on your account.

What we don’t do

We don’t teach you how to run Google Ads but we do report to you on what we’re doing and advise you on what may and may not work. We also look for opportunities.

We tend not to tweak based on whims or feelings: our actions are based on data and all adverts need time to bed in, in order to become effective.

We guide you as much as possible in the process and keep you informed while managing your expectations.