What are Search Ads?

Course content (15 lessons)

Welcome to Module 1! In this module you’ll learn what search ads are and how to create your own search ads.

Search advertising with Google is a method of creating an online ad that shows results from search engine queries (either text or an image).

For example:

In the below image, text ads dominate the search results. Texts ads are marked with the word ‘Ad’ in a small green box.

✅ Watch the video to learn more about the benefits of search ads.

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If you’d like to learn more about the fundamentals of SEO, plan to take the SEO Training for Beginners course after this one.

When it comes to search advertising on Google, you have the opportunity to benefit from buyer intent. You're not interrupting a potential customer's experience on Google. You're actually adding value to their experience by helping them find your business. As a business owner, you want your store and your product to be the ideal answer for a searcher's query.
This is where search ads come in. So what happens when a customer searches for your product? Google decides which results are most relevant to a search. There are a lot of factors that come into play for organic search results. And it's covered in a great course by my friend Cassandra Campbell. I've added a link in the notes below.
Now, organic search results are web pages Google decides are most relevant. A search ad is shown above an organic search result and is a paid spot businesses can bid on. Today, we're just focused on paid ads and getting placement above those organic search results. With a paid ad search result, you'll see the blue link and a description like any other organic results.
But you'll also see a small little badge that says "Ad." This is easier to understand when you try it for yourself. So take a moment and type in something like 24-hour flower delivery on Google, and see the difference between paid and organic search. Just like organic search results, if your ads show up to the right person in the right search and they click, Google will continue to serve your ad when someone searches for it.
To rank at the top of search, Google considers a number of factors. The most important factor being relevance. If a customer doesn't see your business or product as relevant, they won't click your ad, and you won't pay. Google doesn't share every element of their algorithm 'cause they don't want businesses unfairly gaming the system.
You now know that when it comes to search advertising on Google, you're getting in front of people with buyer intent. Creating a relevant search ad is the key to having a customer see your ad and click it. One of the biggest benefits of search ads is that they offer that pay-per-click model. That makes search ads extremely low risk to try.
When I started Bull and Cleaver, I didn't know anything about Google Ads. I learned a lot of this from scratch. The truth is my real learnings came from trying and improving Google Ads for my business. So once you get started, that's where the real learning and growth begins. As I guide you through the steps to setting up your search ads, always keep in mind that you're going to have to be looking at ways to optimize your store, not just your Google Ads.
Even if people click on your ads, they might not buy. You need to ensure they're thinking of the entire journey from initial search to reading the product page. This was my biggest learning over the last four years. Next up, head to the next lesson to understand the different types of search so that you can focus your efforts.

What are Search Ads?

Course content (15 lessons)

Overview

01 |Google Ads Set-Up

02 |Search Ads

03 |Display Ads

04 |Shopping Ads

05 |Optimize and Grow

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