Ah, Google AdWords or should we say Google Ads now. It is one of the cornerstones of digital marketing and an ad platform for search engine marketing (SEM) on Google.
If you are new to digital marketing, chances are Google Ads is foreign to you. So before we dive any deeper, here’s Google’s definition of Google Ads:
Google Ads is Google’s online advertising programme. Through this, you can create online ads to reach people exactly when they are interested in the products and services that you offer.
READ MORE: How To Set Up A Google Ads Campaign?
In other words, Google Ads is an intricate algorithm program that helps relevant and useful paid ads to appear in front of potential paying consumers. But for any ad to appear in front of potential customers, it will have to compete with other competitors for ad space through Google Ad bidding.
To learn how it works, keep reading. The following will discuss what Google Ad bidding is, including Adwords bidding tips you can use for winning and increasing your traffic in 2022
What is Google Ad Bidding?
It is a process of how and how much you bid for the keywords you would like to use for the SEM campaign of your company. Think of it like playing chess. You would think things thoroughly and develop a plan to checkmate your opponent.
ALSO READ: Choosing Your Keywords Carefully
The only difference in Google Ad bidding is that you have many opponents to win against, and those bids you won will dictate where your SEM campaign will show up on search engine result pages (SERPs): upper or lower.
Know that buying ad space on Google’s SERPs is a very complex process; it requires a complete understanding of the entire process and how every factor of your website, budget, and Google Ad quality score contribute to your “Ad Rank”.
But what is Ad Rank, and how does Google determine an ad position?
Ad Rank threshold, according to Google, determines one ability to bid and compete in an ad auction. The higher the Ad Rank threshold of an SEM campaign is, its ad position will be on top of SERPs. That means that the Ad Rank threshold is an SEM campaign placement determiner on SERPs of Google.
But before that can happen, any SEM campaign will get determined by certain factors. They are your bid amount, expected clickthrough rate, landing page experience, Ad relevance to search query, device, location, etc.
Google considers all of these factors to help them narrow down SEM campaigns and only post relevant paid ads to what people are searching for online. Doing so guarantees that searchers will find what they want and give advertisers the worth of their money. That is a win-win for both parties.
How Does It work?
Even though Google offers several ways to bid for your SEM campaign, it will all depend on your end goal. Listed below are the bid options you can choose from for your business goal.
Suitable for those who want to increase the number of target audience and leads
Ideal for ecommerce that run SEM campaigns without budget limitation and to increase profits
For those who want to get as many clicks as possible within the budget
Great for those who plan to use the entire SEM budget in a single day
Automatically sets bids to help get the most out of the conversion value within the budget
Perfect for raising brand awareness
Whenever there is an available space for an ad on a website or SERPs, Google will hold an ad auction. The ad auction then determines which ads will appear in that space at that time.
In short, your bid for your SEM campaign qualifies you for the auction.
A brief demonstration of how Google ad auction works. Source from support.google.com
The entire process might sound simple, but there are hundreds to thousands of bidders you have to beat for the top paid spot.
To give you a clear picture of what an ad auction is like, here is an overview of what usually happens.
- First, advertisers bid on relevant keywords like “car insurance”, “best”, etc.
- Once they have made their bids and created an ad, Google added them to its roster of ads. But some keywords could have a few dozen bidders to over a hundred bidders that will fight for the top paid spot.
- Once someone enters a query on search, Google finds the best ads related to that query. Depending on the number of ads available on the query, Google initiates a bidding process.
- Once the bidding process begins, it’s now simply a face-off on who has the better ad rank.
- If you have a better ad rank, you get the top spot—it doesn’t depend on how much you placed on the bid (of course, they do consider it, too)
How To Win The Bidding
If you notice, we keep mentioning win or winning above, but what does it mean to “win” the bid anyway?
Winning the bid on Google for the SEM campaign means you got the top spot and paid for the lowest possible bid. Paying for the highest bid amount and not appearing on the SERPs of your potential customers is the losing end of the stick.
So how do you win for your SEM campaign? Here are some SEM tips to help you out:
4 Google Ads Bidding Strategies
1. Smart Naming vs Manual Bidding
These two are Google Ads bidding methods that you can use when bidding keywords for your SEM campaign.
The only difference between smart naming and manual bidding is that the former uses machine learning to optimise conversions in every bidding auction. On the other hand, the latter allows you to set maximum cost-per-click (CPC) for your keywords by yourself, and you will only pay for the number of clicks and not views.
2. Set Clear A Goal
When deciding what you want your SEM campaign to accomplish, you have to set a realistic goal first. Know that your goal will be the basis of how you will bid in the ad auction/
Apart from that, not all of your metrics will move in the same direction, but regardless, it is okay. When it comes to meeting your goal, sacrificing smaller metrics for bigger ones is natural and acceptable.
If you still do not have any clear goals in mind, you may consider the following goals for your SEM campaign.
- Boost conversion rate by 20%
- Improve ROAS by 15%
- Lower CPA by 45%
3. Try The Funnel Strategy
Before you can convert a visitor into paying customers, it is important to keep in mind doing so might take some time.
And one way to guarantee that your potential customers will go to that end is to implement the funnel strategy. It is a tactic used to monitor the customer purchase journey, from awareness to loyalty.
READ MORE: What Is The Consumer Purchase Journey?
Here are the reasons you should do this.
- Set separate budgets for SEM campaigns to avoid running out of funds on your top funnel SEM campaigns.
- Exhibit more powerful messages to entice potential customers to take action quickly: discounts and limited-time offers.
4. Add The In-Market Audiences
By including in-market audiences in your SEM campaigns, you can connect with people who are actively researching or comparing products across Google’s SERPs. You can then target them with cumulative conversions before potential customers purchase.
To do this, click all the relevant in-market audiences you would like to include in your SEM campaigns. The following are what you will see and what your options are.
- Apparel and Accessories
- Autos & Vehicles (Parts & Services)
- Baby & Children’s Products
- Beauty Products & Services
- Business Services
- Computers & Peripherals
- Consumer Electronics
- Consumer Software
- Dating Services
- Education
- Employment
- Financial Services
- Gifts & Occasions
- Home & Garden
- Real Estate
- Sports & Fitness
- Telecom
- Travel
Go, Win The Bid!
Dealing with Google AdWords is no easy task. It requires a lot of planning, understanding goals and objectives, and knowing when and where to put your money.
Know that nothing comes good if you blindly rush everything. Not only does it cost you a fortune, but expect not single traffic will come to your website, which both are bad situations for any company.
That is why if you are looking to win the Google ad words bidding without the hassle of going through all of these strategies, hire experts in Google Ads management to handle your AdWords bidding war and SEM campaign of your company on your behalf.
For more SEM tips, check out our blog or get in touch with our SEM services in Singapore. Contact OOm at 6690 4049 and let us know how we can help.
