Google Advertising: Five Common Questions and Answers 

Nowadays, there are so many forms of digital marketing that it’s easy for anyone to get lost in the terminologies. While Google ads have become recognized as a form of digital advertising, there remains some uncertainty about how to use them and how to buy them from providers. 

Here, I’ll explain the terminology of the channel and the possibilities so that you, as a buyer, can make better decisions about your Google advertising.

We’ve put together a series of five blogs on Google advertising planning, which cover digital advertising more broadly. You’ll find good tips for effective Google advertising in all of them:

1. Google Advertising: Five Common Questions and Answers
2. Google Ads advertising tips from an expert
3. Forward, with eyes tied!  (The importance of analytics)
4. How to get more out of a small marketing budget?
5. What makes a good landing page?

And back to this blog post.

1. Are SEM and Google advertising the same thing?

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is often used as a synonym for Google’s keyword advertising. However, SEM is an umbrella term that includes advertising in search engines and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEA (Search Engine Advertising) focuses on advertising in the search engines, while optimization focuses on organic search engine results.

Search engine advertising (SEA) is not limited to Google. One can also do it on other internet search engines such as Bing, Baidu (a search engine in China), and Yandex (the Russian equivalent). In the USA, the two most used search engines are Google and Bing, with Google having the largest market share.

2. What about Google advertising and keyword advertising?

Yes and no. Google advertising and keyword advertising are often seen as synonymous. Yes, you can do keyword advertising on Google. However, there is much more to Google than that.

Google’s keyword advertising is managed through the Google Ads tool. In the past, this tool was called Adwords, and you will still hear this name used.

3. What else can you do on Google other than keyword advertising?

There is much more to Google advertising than just keyword advertising. Google Ads also provides access to other Google advertising channels and campaign formats. These include the Google Display Network, YouTube, Gmail, and Google Shopping.

The Google Display Network (GDN) is an advertising network that extends across a wide range of websites, including news sites, forums and blogs. On these sites, you can run display (banner) advertising through Google Ads. 

You can target banner advertising in many different ways. Among the most popular techniques is remarketing, which reminds website visitors about you after they have left your website to visit another.

YouTube is an online video sharing and social media platform owned by Google. . Google Ads allows you to advertise videos on YouTube. Videos are a very effective way to convey brand image and awareness to different target audiences.

Gmail is Google’s free email service. You may have noticed ads at the top of your inbox. Clicking on an ad usually expands it into an email-sized ad, which may include images and videos. These ads are also managed through the Google Ads tool.

Google Shopping is a form of Google Ads campaign that has been in the US market for a while. If you have an online shop, this is an excellent ad format to showcase your products directly in Google search results.

4. How can I identify a good Google Ads provider?

Several providers currently offer Google Ads, and it can be difficult to compare and decide which advertising partner to choose. Below are some tips for identifying an expert.

Does the provider have an interest in you and your company? Google Ads advertising requires an understanding of the business, and no two businesses are exactly the same. A good service provider will get to know you and discuss your goals and aspirations with you at the beginning of the partnership.

Is the groundwork done before you start Google Ads? A good specialist will review the results of previous work, discuss your objectives, set up a follow-up, and analyze the search volumes for relevant search terms. Groundwork is a very important part of advertising, so a good service provider will not want to cut corners here.

How often is the account optimized and developed? To achieve good results in Google advertising, campaigns need to be updated regularly and long-term. I would be wary of a provider promising to fix your account at the beginning of a partnership.

Good service providers are happy to share the results with you and discuss them with you to improve. Reporting monthly to the client and ensuring that they can understand the results is part of professional practice.

5. How Much Does Google Ads Cost?

Google Ads is a free tool in itself, so anyone can use it without paying. However, to advertise, you need a media budget. 

It’s up to you to decide how much you want to spend on advertising. Google keyword advertising is mostly about daily budgets, but it might be a good idea to think about how much you want to spend on media on a monthly basis.

Both the Google Display Network and Google search advertising are click-based. Therefore, you only pay for clicks, not for ad displays. Several factors influence the price per click, including the competitive environment.

When you hire a digital marketing agency to manage, maintain, and develop your advertising on Google, you pay for the media and the work. 

At Kubla, our monthly fee includes the service fee for the work as well as the media budget. On top of these two fees, we do not charge start-up fees or other hidden costs. We love to keep things simple.

Have you thought about getting started with Google advertising? Contact us, and let’s talk together about how we can help you!

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