Google Ads is a core channel for new customers in many businesses across the country. Whether b2c or b2b, Google Ads lets you reach your target market and influence their buying. Google Ads is also the largest network for online advertising. Many businesses who have a marketing budget that can sustain ads are eager to test this new channel. But business owners also know Google Ads can be a bit technical. It’s easy to get lost in the dashboard when you first login. Campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, and other options can dizzy your mind. For most, Google Ads may even be out of reach. Courageous businesses take the risk to try to learn how Google Ads works, and some of them benefit in big ways. Google Ads training is an important, or perhaps essential, stage of that. Whether business owner or employee, you’re likely to need help to make sense of how to use the platform. If you’re also on this journey, look for 5 essential topics in the learning you seek. These topics are at the essence of creating a successful Google Ads campaign. Keep in mind, you don’t need to be an expert marketer to create success on Google Ads. By simply covering core concepts you can achieve almost the same results as a pro. Think of these subjects as the exercises you need to develop a muscle. The learning method you choose is your personal trainer. Any trainer worth their salt will focus your exercise on key muscle groups. Just the same, a legitimate Google Ads course will present these 5 key subjects to your success.
1. Keyword Discovery
Keyword discovery is the first essential subject to quality Google Ads training. Most advertisers see their greatest ROAS advertising on Google’s search engine. Youtube, Google’s Display Network, and other options just aren’t as transactional. Search ads are powerful because you can show ads that are highly relevant to a user’s search. This includes when they’re searching for a product or purchase to make. Keywords allow you to show ads on searches that show intent to buy. Any learning method you choose should help you find keywords that check two boxes. One, the keywords you choose should show a clear intent to buy. Second, they should have enough search volume to cause you to meet your sales volume needs. What you want to avoid are keywords that users don’t search for or, worse, that have search volume but no desire to buy. Any training you use should talk about keyword discovery, sure. They should also talk about tools you can use. And how to spot buying intent. And how to evaluate cost. And how to focus on keywords that drive positive ROAS as soon as possible. When choosing Google Ads training please look closely. Consider how the content you’re selecting presents keyword discovery. Do this before buying a course, you’ll be thankful you did.
2. Campaign Structure
Campaign structure is another key part of setting up or relaunching a Google Ads account. Good structure means the difference between sending prospects to relevant or irrelevant webpages. You’ll do well to make sure you understand how to structure a campaign correctly. A good lesson should include how the accounts, campaigns, keywords, ads, etc. mesh. It should also include how to use structure to best match ads with searches. Finally, a campaign structure lesson should empower you to view the info you need. Learn this and you’ll put yourself ahead of many of your competitors in the ad auction. Don’t get lost in the sea of details and lose the forest for the trees. Commit to learning how proper campaign structure works before you start.
3. Settings
Other than keywords and ads, settings are where the rubber meets the road in Google Ads. Settings amount to the what, when, where, why, and how your ads run. Settings present a massive opportunity for improvement hidden in plain sight. Even seasoned advertisers will sometimes discover a way to create big wins in settings. Here, the devil is very much in the details. Training needs to cover where to find settings, what each does, how they can be used, and a mention of pitfalls. One example of a pitfall is the “Networks” section under campaign settings. Hidden here, Google includes 2 dangerous traps that most new advertisers fall into. By including Google Search Partners your ads show on 3rd party Google search. By including the Display Network your ads show next to article content and not at all in Google search. These both often result in wasted spend with few sales. Broadly, some default settings are genuinely useful. Others seem like a deliberate attempt to spend advertiser money. When choosing Google Ads training, make sure it covers settings in depth. We recommend an entire lesson on settings since they’re critically important ROAS.
4. Performance Evaluation
To create a working Google Ads campaign, you’ll almost follow the scientific method. This means stating a hypothesis, testing against it, and watching outcomes. Watching outcomes, or performance evaluation, is essential to Google Ads success. But it also isn’t often covered in enough detail, including even in Google’s own courses. In evaluation you need to look at the entire set of results you see from running your Google Ads. Results cross your marketing funnel, from attention to sale to loyalty purchasing. Businesses like Coca Cola and McDonalds can focus ad spend on brand awareness. Most businesses instead choose direct response and watch performance for sales and profit. Despite this, the average marketing agency leads with awareness metrics in reporting. This means knowing how to check results yourself is powerful, even as a business owner who pays for ads help. When watching results make sure you keep your eyes on the prize. Stay focused on your sales goals first, and use each launch to prove or disprove a test. Focus on a goal like increasing leads, customers, or profit. To do this well do your due diligence: know your business’ economic goals, and know your goals for Google Ads. Most grow when they drive profitable volume. That is, where customer lifetime value is well over breakeven customer acquisition cost. This means you need to watch your profitability. One way to do this is quarterly averaging CLTV, setting a ROAS goal, and calculating CAC. You can then calculate backwards to an average cost per lead, and make sure to set this as a goal for the marketing team. Another method is to pass revenue to the Google Ads platform with automations. This allows you watch profitability in real time. The most important part is to make sure you stay focused on your goals at all times, regardless of how you track.
5. Practical Application
Practical application is where the rubber meets the road. You may have heard the phrase “the map is not the territory.” Academic knowledge about Google Ads doesn’t directly relate to real world results. Despite this, practical application is missing from most Google Ads training. Most courses talk about all the essentials of launching a campaign. Some even do a good job of describing how to watch results from campaigns. But few talk about practical application. The truth is the real world inevitably moves off script. When that happens you need to run optimization tests. Our clients often start off following best practices, but still don’t end up driving results. Often new campaigns don’t drive impressions, clicks, or conversions. In a standard course you’re left to figure this mess out yourself. Results like this are extremely common, and you can follow a set of best practices to turn things around. Campaigns that aren’t driving impressions may have too restrictive settings, for example. If you see no conversions your budget may be too small, or you may have a broken form on your landing page. It is not the case that every new campaign can succeed, but many can turn poor results into positive results. When starting to learn Google Ads, look for analysis and practical application training. You’re certain to run into some challenges, and this is essential to your success. Get this right and your company will profit, but get it wrong and your Google Ads campaign will flounder.
Many other subjects could have fit into this list, and it’s not meant to be exhaustive. Google Ads can be a bit complicated, but studying the right concepts can make all the difference. Another subject we left out, arguably, is motivation. Technical skill is essential, but no success starts without motivation. You need to make sure the course you seek motivates you. You need a burning desire in your heart for marketing results and career success. This work is exciting! In it, you introduce people to a new product which (hopefully) makes their lives better. At the same time, you grow your career and have a big impact on your business or the business of your employer. Your training should support that, and leave you wanting to launch. When motivation is combined with skill you’ll have the influence you need to get out into the market and win.