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The Beginner’s Guide To Setting Up A Google Ads Account

My Post - 2020-02-13T121957.912.pngDiving into the world of PPC Advertising can be intimidating.  As PPC Hero bloggers we know this and have put together a helpful, “Beginners Guide to Setting Up a Google Ads Account.”  The Google platform is typically the first engine we recommend testing when new to PPC advertising.

The guide is designed to not only walk you through set up, but ensure you have the necessary assets in place to run successful campaigns. Once your credentials are established the contents cover account set up, campaign structures and settings, payment options, and tracking. Beyond the basic set up we review keyword research and creative tips and tricks.

Are you set up to run successful campaigns?

As mentioned above there are a few key elements you will need to consider in order to be successful on the Google Ads platform.  Review the checklist below to ensure you have thought through these key elements.

  • Website designed to easily lead users to your end conversion
  • PPC strategy and defined goals.  A great resource to help you along in this area can is How should you formulate your PPC Strategy by Diane Anselmo
  • Set aside a budget and timeline for the test. We recommend at minimum $500 per month for 3 months.

Account Set up Basics

In order to sign up to advertise on Google Ads you will need to create a Google Account.  Then simply head over to ads.google.com and sign in.  Once signed in you will be prompted with the question of “What’s your main advertising goal?” For the sake of this article and setting up a Google Ads account, select “Switch to Expert Mode” at the bottom.

From that point, you’ll be prompted to create a campaign. You certainly can create a campaign, however, I recommend skipping that step until you are familiar with the interface.

Next you will be prompted to confirm your business information. It’s important that this information is correct because you can not change this in the future.

From that point, you can explore your new account!

One thing to note is that the old interface gave us a few key items to consider, such as;

  • Choosing your budget
  • Creating your ads
  • Selecting keywords to match your ads to potential customers
  • Entering your billing information

Google AdWords welcome screen

However, the new UI, sends you straight to the main account page. While you still want to complete all of the above, it’s not prompted in the same format.

Prior to creating your first campaign, there will be some legwork required in order to avoid having to backtrack in the setup process.  The first two areas recommended to tackle are keyword selection followed by the account structure.

Creating An Initial PPC Keyword List

Keyword research is the foundation of a pay-per-click campaign.

Beginners tip:  Keywords are the words or phrases your customers would use when searching for your product or service. When a customer types in a keyword you are bidding for they will be shown an ad.

There are a few key areas that are helpful as you begin to build out your keyword portfolio:

  • Company website – A website is typically peppered with core words and phrases that describe your business. Reviewing the website layout will also help identify any major themes and can help drive the structure of your campaigns.
  • Keyword research tools – We recommend leveraging these tools to help you expand upon the core list you have pulled from the website. Most tools will also give you insight into volume, competition, as well as recommend starting bid. These tools will also help you identify keyword variations and synonyms. There are a ton of tools available to perform research.  A comprehensive list of research tools can be found in our PPC Hero post, “You’re bidding on all the wrong keywords” by Jacob Baadsgaard.
  • Think like your customer – Take a step back and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. What would someone who’s looking for your product or service type into a search engines. Often times you will find people searching a problem you have a solution to.
  • Don’t forget brand terms – Seems obvious enough but there is value in showing up in both paid and organic on your branded keywords.

 

Keyword research is an on-going process, but starting off with a strong list of initial keywords will start you on the path to PPC success. – Read more

 

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