Can Google AdWords improve your business?

Google is a complicated little creature. Most of us know that it somehow reads and indexes our sites in order to deliver results when people search for certain topics. Google is also big business – and has tools available for purchase to increase your chance of being found. Today, we delve into the complex world of AdWords.

Increased traffic to your website may increase sales, but only if that increased traffic is from the right avenues and are genuinely interested customers. If the goal is to increase business, there is little point attracting views from people who are not interested in your products or services.

Great content on your site should always be your first priority, but Google offers a number of ways to improve visits to your site or increase your page ranking. Many businesses shy away from using these tools and miss out on potential customers because they don’t understand how they work. AdWords can be a monumental waste of money if not used properly, but the fear of it can also mean some businesses are missing out on a simple way to access more customers.

AdWords to increase traffic

While they sound quite similar, Google AdSense and Google AdWords do two different things, and often confusion between the two stops businesses using either. AdSense is a way for publishers to host ads on their site and get paid when people click these ads. AdWords, on the other hand, is the Google tool that is most useful to increase website traffic for businesses selling products or services.

AdWords has two categories: Search Network and Display Network. Through this program, businesses can bid on keywords to rank towards the top of a Google search. AdWords also lets businesses advertise their site on other related websites.

Targeting you when you’re looking

A Search Network AdWords campaign aims to deliver your business site to the top of the first page search results. The goal is to place your ad in front of people at the very time they are searching your targeted keywords. There’s no guarantee that AdWords will deliver you top results, especially in popular categories.

You’ll spot an AdWords campaign in the search result by the small green “Ad” box before the site description. These are usually displayed at the top or bottom of the search page. Google used to also display AdWords sites on the right hand side of the desktop page as well, but this was stopped in 2016.

Unexpected targeted advertising

The second component of AdWords, the Display Network, can seem more sneaky to some users. This kind of promotion allows you to select your target audience by certain criteria and show your advertisement on another website as a display ad.

Businesses can choose to target their advertising to someone who has previously visited their site, by historical search words or by demographic information about the user. Unlike a Search Network ad that is shown when a potential customer is actually searching for an answer, Display Network ads interrupt the customer while they are online doing something else.

When used correctly, both Display Network and Search Network ads can provide value to businesses, but it is important to understand the difference to get the most out of your advertising budget.

If you’re confused about how AdWords can help your business, get in touch with the team at Monkey Media for more information.