So you’ve heard of Google Ads and want to advertise your business on Google, but you’re not sure where to begin. We’re here to help with everything from defining a keyword to calculating the cost-per-click—and our Google Ads guide for beginners is a great place to start.

Setting up Google Ads for your business may appear to be complicated work, but with Ampd’s assistance and familiarisation with the basics, it’s simple to reach new customers and grow your business.

Our beginner’s guide will walk you through everything you need to know to get started today, including what exactly Google Ads is, how Google Ads work, and how to run successful Google Ads campaigns.

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is a paid advertising service that promotes products, websites, and services via Google’s network, which includes Search, Shopping, and YouTube.

To understand how Google Ads can help you win customers, you must first understand what Google Ads is and how it got started. The product debuted more than two decades ago, just two years after Google, and allows users to run and manage their own online advertising.

Glossary of Google Ads Terms

To give you a better understanding of what Google Ads is, we’ve included a glossary of key terms to help you understand the different components of the tool and what they mean.

Keyword

A keyword is a word or phrase that describes your product or service and is used by Google Ads to determine when and where your ad appears.

This is literally the key to Google Ads—get your keywords right, and you’ll be reaping the benefits in no time. A keyword is the primary targeting method for your search campaigns.

The best keywords to use for your Google Ads campaign are those that your customers are already searching for when looking for the service or product you provide.

CPC

A keyword is a word or phrase that describes your product or service and is used by Google Ads to determine when and where your ad appears.

This is literally the key to Google Ads—get your keywords right, and you’ll be reaping the benefits in no time. A keyword is the primary targeting method for your search campaigns.

The best keywords to use for your Google Ads campaign are those that your customers are already searching for when looking for the service or product you provide.

CTR

The click-through-rate (CTR) of your ad is the number of clicks per impression.

An ad with 200 clicks and 1,000 impressions, for example, would have a CTR of 20%.

Ad Groups

A Google Ads ad group is a collection of ads with similar targets. You can use an ad group to organise your ads around a common theme, such as a specific product group, for example.

Campaign

A Google Ads campaign is a high-level group of ad groups used to organise similar keywords, ads, or bids that are typically related to a category of products or services that your company provides.

Conversion tracking

Conversion tracking is a free tool that records what happens after a customer clicks on your ad.

You can see if the customer went on to buy something, sign up for your newsletter, call you, or download your app.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

ROAS is a way to calculate ROI on how you’re spending your ads—calculated it’s by dividing your cost of spend by the revenue generated by your ad campaigns’ clicks/conversions.

How Google Ads Works

Google Ads functions similarly to an auction in which businesses bid for clicks; however, unlike traditional auctions, the highest bidder does not always win.

Instead, Google considers a variety of factors when determining which ads to display, including the overall quality score of your ad. This ensures that when a person clicks on an ad, they have the best possible experience on Google and continue to click for more.

The higher your quality score and bid amount, the higher your ad will be ranked. A variety of factors contribute to your quality score, including the ad’s historical click-through rate and overall account performance.

Because Google Ads is based on a simple pay-per-click system, you only have to pay when a visitor clicks on your specific ad, but you must still pay for the click even if they do not go on to purchase or contact you.