A few months ago I returned to providing IT services in my small town. In order to loudly express myself for the first time, I decided to try contextual advertising on the Internet. Since in our country Yandex and all its services are blocked, then the choice fell on the corporation Google and its service AdWords Express.
The system is very simple and beginners, even those not related to the IT field, can easily figure out how to work with it. I think that the idea of Google management to create a simple service for contextual advertising was correct, but the implementation of this idea turned out poorly. This article will discuss the problems and shortcomings of the AdWords Express system that I encountered while using it. Also mentioned is the My Business service, which is closely related to the one in question.
So, the sequence of my actions was as follows: first I registered in the free service My business and then in service AdWords Express. I received a nice bonus at the start - a promotional code for a promotion, according to which I was entitled to 900 UAH to the account provided it is spent within 1.5 months 300 UAH Ok Google, thanks for the help at the start! After registration, I waited another two weeks until I received a “paper” letter with a code confirming the address for the My Business service. I did not deposit money into my AdWords Express account and did not launch contextual advertising until I completed registration in the My Business service.
Then came the problems...
Problem #1 - Editing an ad
While waiting for a “paper” letter with a code to confirm my home address, I decided to prepare an advertisement in advance. When filling out the ad creation wizard forms, you provided a link to your personal website, which is located on a third-party hosting service. My website is completely useless, and the My Business service offers a simple website builder on their domain business.site and hosting. Although their builder is very primitive (compared to other website builders), the resulting site is optimized for mobile devices, stylish and free. So I changed the link to the site in the ad and got: " Ad Disapproval Notice - One site per ad group". Having contacted the support service by phone, I found out that the system is “gone” and I need to delete the ad and create it again.Problem No. 2 - Receipt of money into the account
I chose the prepaid payment method for advertisements. The promotion offered upon registration suggested spending 300 UAH- it was decided to start with this amount. I received the details, paid by bank transfer through the Internet banking system and began to wait for the money to arrive in my account. I received a letter stating that a payment for the specified amount was received and credited to my account. I checked in the Payment section - there is money in the account, but in the Ad Management section I get: “Alert - the ad is not shown because there are no funds in the account.” But there is money! Having contacted technical support, I found out that the money had been credited to the account, but had not yet reached the advertisement itself and I needed to wait a day.Problem #3 - Technical support by phone and chat - “once a week”
Faced with the first problem, my hand reached for the help button (?) . Having rummaged through the Help on my own and not finding an answer to the question, I requested a call back from the support service operator. This is how I solved Problem No. 1 - see above. Faced with Problem No. 2, I again decided to talk to the support service, but discovered that for me the button to request a call back had already become inactive. There were two options to choose from: a chat request or a letter. I used the chat. When solving the next problem, I discovered that for me the button to request a chat with an operator had become inactive. Thus, Google believes that the client should not bother them too often. A week later, the call back request button became active again.Problem No. 4 - discrepancy in ad statistics
"I am a mathematician and love to count everything."Studying the statistics of views and clicks on my only ad, I discovered a discrepancy in the data on the page Control panels announcement. Yes, in the block Clicks displays a time graph of clicks on the ad and their total number. Below is a block Search queries which details the number of views and clicks for each search phrase. I summed up the number of clicks for each search phrase and the resulting value turned out to be less than in the Clicks block. The support operator justified himself by saying that some of the search phrases were allegedly not visible to me due to user privacy settings, or because of obscene content.Problem No. 5 - lack of specific information on prices
Days passed, money was gradually withdrawn from the account - sometimes more, sometimes less. Watching and analyzing statistical data every day, I discovered that a small amount is charged for impressions, and a few hryvnias are charged for each click. I wanted to get accurate data: how much it costs to display an ad and how much it costs to click on an ad. Surprisingly, I didn't find any prices! It would seem that a simple service is offered - displaying an ad, which sometimes “turns” into a user click - the number is calculated. So why not publish a simple price list, for example: showing an ad - 25 kopecks, click on ad - 5 UAH All! But no, it’s a secret...Problem No. 6 - discrepancies in account status data in different parts of the system
As I wrote above, I chose the prepayment method of payment for advertising services. I considered this safer than linking a bank card for automatic debiting. AdWords Express offers rich account tracking capabilities. The amount of remaining funds can be observed in three places:- Ad control panel -> Expenses block: displays a time graph of expenses by day and the total amount;
- Payment section -> Payment Management tab: the balance is displayed, but knowing the amount of the deposit made, you can calculate the amount of expenses;
- Payment section -> Promotional codes tab: a filling indicator of expenses and the current amount for participation in the promotion are displayed (spend 300 UAH and get 900 UAH)
“How they test at Google”
I have always believed that corporations like Google have the most stringent selection of employees. I thought that the best minds, supermen, gods of programming worked there - who created perfect products. But the reality turned out to be completely different. The division that developed AdWords Express released a buggy product. The management of this service has not worked out the workflow. As a user, I have already seen several serious problems within a week. Moreover, this service did not appear yesterday; there is no label on it BETA, thousands of people use it and most likely also experience the problems described here. The AdWords Express service is not just some free nonsense, it is a “cash cow” that brings a certain share of revenue to the campaign. How can you be so disgraced, “How do they test at Google?” So, you have decided to conduct a local advertising campaign using contextual advertising on the Internet. Because there is no alternative and low budget, you chose the Adwords Express service. Here are my recommendations:- First, register in the My Business service, wait for a “paper” letter with a code to confirm your physical address. Only then should you start working with the AdWords Express service.
- I recommend choosing the prepayment payment method. This way you will be able to see your expenses and will be “insured” against unexpected debits from your card (if it is linked for automatic payments).
- In your ad, select the minimum budget. Don’t be fooled by the hint: “competitors usually choose this much...”. In my case, it still exceeded the established limit, but in an average situation the costs could have been even higher.
- It is better not to edit the ad in order to avoid system glitches. If you need to change something, it is better to rewrite all important data (selected key phrases, headings) and create a new ad
- Do not enter your search phrases into the search, and certainly do not click on your ad. As they explained to me in technical support, even if you are logged into your Google account and enter one of your key phrases in the search, the system will show you your own ad and charge you money. And for every click you will get even more money.
Epilogue
"The hedgehogs cried and injected themselves, but continued to eat the cactus"Hello everyone!
There are a lot of tools on the Internet for attracting traffic to a site, so much so that your eyes widen when choosing. One of the most popular tools is contextual advertising on Google, but in order to use it correctly you need to know certain things.
Fortunately, Google took care of those who cannot devote time to learning how to set up, and created an account type called Adwords Express. With its help, you can save a significant part of your time, because almost all processes are performed automatically.
Differences from a regular Adwords account
Essentially, Adwords Express is a stripped-down version of a regular account. Creating a campaign is several times faster - you only need to devote 10-15 minutes to this task. Actually, that’s why the word “Express” is in the name.
- There is no way to manage (add/remove) keywords. The fact is that the system, based on the campaign settings, will itself choose which “keywords” to show ads for and which not. Only thanks to this, a significant part of your time is already saved;
- There is no way to manage negative keywords. Yes, yes, it will also be impossible to cut off non-targeted impressions. The system will do everything;
- There is no way to manage bets. You can only select the average consumption for the day and that’s it. You cannot manage bids;
- You can target an audience only by radius or specific locality.
As you can see, all the most complex things inherent in a standard Adwords account were entrusted to the system, thereby reducing the amount of time spent on setup. This fact, unfortunately, can only mean one thing - the likelihood of budget overruns is very high.
Creating and setting up a campaign in Adwords Express
The process of creating and setting up a campaign is as simplified as possible - you only need to make a few mouse clicks. To get started, go to the page using this link and click on the “Get Started” button.
- Fill in the company information. Here you need to enter the company name and website URL:
- Select a campaign goal. There are three to choose from: Call the office, Visit the store, Action on the website. For each goal, a different betting algorithm has been developed, that is, the system will do everything to achieve the set goal:
- Set up geographic targeting. Here you need to choose in which region or locality your ads will be shown. You can also target a specific radius in which your target audience is located:
- Select a product or service. Here you need to select your product/service so that the system can navigate by which “keys” to display ads. If you don’t have what you need, you can choose a more suitable category:
- Write an attractive and relevant ad:
- Next, we determine the budget that we are willing to spend per day. Here it is enough to set the slider at the desired level. On the right you will see the approximate number of clicks, use it as a guide when setting your budget:
- After all these settings, the system prompts you to check them. If something doesn’t suit you, you can quickly change it:
- Finally, provide your payment information. Impressions will begin only when a certain amount is credited to your account:
As you can see, everything is very, very simple: you don’t need to spend hours compiling a semantic core for contextual advertising, you don’t need to delve into a bunch of incomprehensible settings, you don’t need to do practically anything at all. Of course, this is suitable for starting a small business on the Internet or simply getting acquainted with contextual advertising, but sooner or later you will still need to switch to a standard account and
Brad SmithGoogle Ads Smart Campaigns are one of the easiest ways to dip your feet in the world of PPC and digital marketing.
If you’re a busy small business owner that wants to know if Google Ads could work for your business, getting started is easy.
And that’s why Smart Campaigns still have a place in Google Ads.
But what exactly are Google Ads Smart Campaigns?
What can you do with them, and are the results as good as normal Google Ads Campaigns?
Here’s everything you need to know about Smart Campaigns, how to use them, and if you should use them for your own business.
Running a Google ads campaign is not a simple task.
You have to master all kinds of things.
For example, you have to learn keywords, negative keywords, targeting, custom audiences, ad extensions, geo-targeting, determining when to bid and when not to bid, etc.
I could go on and on and on.
But when you’re running a small business where your job description fits every role, it’s almost impossible to find the time.
And hiring an outside PPC agency can be expensive.
Google Ads Smart Campaigns are here for you.
What are Google Ads Smart Campaigns?
To adequately explain what Smart Campaigns are and the role they serve in the Google Ads suite, we have to start from the beginning.
Google released AdWords Express to the public in 2011 intending to simplify their original, sophisticated platform into a more intuitive way to advertise with Google.
Mainly, the idea was to automate and simplify everything.
With regular Google Ads, you have countless factors you need to control.
From bidding to keyword research, ad creation and more. It’s like a full-time job to run a single account to its maximum potential.
Even the overall Google Ads dashboard can be overwhelming to a new user:
But that’s where Smart Campaigns come in.
Where Did AdWords Express Go?
If you’re wondering where AdWords Express went, don’t worry, it still exists.
In 2019, Google made it a part of the Google Ads suite and renamed the section “Smart Campaigns.”
Instead of a separate dashboard and URL, you now have to create Smart Campaigns by creating a new Google Ads campaign, and selecting “Smart” as the campaign type.
But that doesn’t mean the actual user experience has changed.
Smart Campaigns still maintain the simple user experience, and it is much easier to navigate for someone who either (1) has limited time and resources or (2) little to no experience with pay per click advertising.
Beyond being simplified, Smart Campaigns still help businesses leverage ads on Google properties to drive sales.
Just like with any advertising, to benefit from ads, you have to sell products or services, whether through a local brick and mortar store or online store.
If you choose a Smart Campaign, it probably won’t even take you 15 minutes to get started.
Where do your ads show?
Using Smart Campaigns, you can showcase ads for your business on the search network, mobile device targeting, Google Maps, and even Google website partners.
So, what are the benefits? Why should a small business use Smart Campaigns?
Why Should You Use Google Ads Smart Campaigns?
Smart Campaigns get a pretty bad rap.
Expert PPC marketers and agencies single it out as pointless and a waste of time/money.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Smart Campaigns is still a great ad product for small businesses with small budgets that lack technical knowledge.
A Much Simpler Dashboard and Reports
Smart Campaigns have a much, much simpler interface than regular campaigns. The campaign overview gives you everything a PPC beginner needs to know, at a glance.
At the top, you can see your ad preview, a breakdown of your company info, and the goal of your campaign. Then you see impressions, clicks, and the amount spent.
If you scroll down, you can see the five main metrics that a Smart Campaign reports on:
The main report shows impressions, clicks, ad spend, conversions, and map actions. Since the campaign goal of this campaign was “Calls,” it shows “Call clicks” instead of regular conversions.
The main ad settings, you can find at the bottom of the very same page.
Here you can control your budget, location targeting, and your business category and information. (The business category and information helps Google automatically target relevant keywords for your business.)
Save Time on Setting Up and Optimizing Campaigns
Smart Campaigns aren't more primitive in their targeting options than regular campaigns. The main difference is that Google’s algorithm handles most of the advanced decisions.
So because of the simplified options, you spend a lot less time on the platform to ensure that it’s running smoothly.
The most significant benefit of Smart Campaigns is that they target and optimize themselves.
Google fully automates the experience, creating ads based on your website and your Google My Business profile. They consistently optimize and tweak based on best practices.
Of course, you can edit the text of these ads by clicking the “Edit ad” link below your ad preview.
Once it develops the ads, Google picks the best placements depending on your business type.
For example, if you are running ads for your local business, they will automatically target audiences searching in your area or show your ads directly on Google Maps listings.
The entire selling point of Smart Campaigns is #SimplifiedAcquisition.
Compared to regular campaigns, you don’t have to manage dozens of tools, reports, and bidding modifications to find success. (But there are downsides to not having that access as well, more on that later.)
If ease of use is a concern to you, meaning you are relatively new to the PPC space, Smart Campaigns are a fantastic starting point.
It allows you to have some control over your account without overwhelming you with too many features.
Setting up your first campaign and ad takes only 15 minutes to do, whereas it could take you hours, if not days, to do it on a regular Google Ads account.
Targeting is another unique feature with Smart Campaigns.
Instead of fudging with custom audiences, IF functions, remarketing, and diverse targeting metrics, you can let Google do the work for you.
Based on your business’s location or category, Smart Campaigns target users in your area who have the highest propensity to purchase.
You don’t even have to lift a finger to get accurate audience targeting – a task that generally takes months of refining to master.
If you still want control over which keywords you target, you do have the option to manage which search phrases or keywords you target or exclude from your campaigns:
You can access these options by clicking the “Manage All” link in the “Search Phrases” section of the overview.
From here, you can enable or disable any search phrases that the Google algorithm thinks is relevant to your business. You can change this setting with the button in the “Status” column.
Giving you control over the basics and automating the rest, Smart Campaigns are compelling.
If you are looking for simplicity on your end with results for your bottom line, you should consider Smart Campaigns over the full Google Ads experience.
But what about the potential downsides?
The Downsides of Smart Campaigns
On the surface, Smart Campaigns look incredibly compelling. It might even be hard to understand why everyone doesn’t use them.
Spend less time to achieve great results and a return on investment.
Sounds promising, right?
But not so fast.
Access to Less Data
The simple dashboard and reporting come with an undeniable downside: you have access to less data.
Just because you spend less time, that doesn’t automatically make it the best choice for a business.
Making informed decisions for your business requires data.
And unfortunately, the Google Ads Smart Campaign interface doesn’t give you as much access to or control over your data.
It’s meant to be simple and easy to use for a small business owner looking to get a bit more recognition on local search or Google Maps.
But these upsides can become downsides fast.
First off, most advertisers quickly outgrow the platform. Within just a few weeks, it likely won’t be enough for you to get maximum benefits from PPC.
Smart Campaigns are an excellent testing platform to see how well you can get by with PPC, but it’s nowhere close to perfect.
A whopping 77% said that regular campaigns were more effective.
Because simplicity can be helpful for busy business owners, but it doesn’t provide them with tools that are integral to success on Google Ads.
Less Control of Where Your Ads Show
With Smart Campaigns, you sign over targeting to the Google algorithm. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it gives you a lot less control over where your ads show up.
Negative keywords are a great feature that lets you ensure you don’t waste money showing ads for the wrong search terms.
Negative keywords help you filter out the junk keywords that cost you money. For example, let’s imagine you were getting clicks for “used car dealership,” but you only lease new vehicles.
These clicks would likely result in almost no conversions and tons of wasted money.
Negative keywords allow you to filter those out.
While you can somewhat do this in Smart Campaigns by checking and unchecking search phrases, it’s not specific enough, as even simple match types can massively impact negative keywords.
For example, if you want to eliminate the word free from your keywords and not anything else, you’d need to enter it with quotes (“free”) to ensure that any search with that word is eliminated.
With a maximum 40-mile radius for user-targeting, your options for expanding your business are limited, too. If you open up a store somewhere else in the city, you have to create a new campaign from scratch, instead of just adding the location.
Another issue is ad placements. While Smart Campaigns have most of the same placements as regular campaigns, you can’t decide where you showcase your ads.
Meaning you have little control over customizing ads to each placement, likely resulting in lower conversion rates. (And more money spent on advertising.)
Overall, Smart Campaign downsides are closely related to their upsides.
Simplicity, automation, and time-saving features are great. Nobody is arguing against that. But they also limit your potential for optimization and success.
Who Can Reap the Biggest Rewards fromGoogle Ads Smart Campaigns?
Google Smart Campaigns are designed for local businesses with a brick-and-mortar presence.
You have to register your business with Google My Business and get listed on Google Maps even to get a Smart Campaign started.
But, why would you choose Smart Campaigns over the full Google Ads experience even if you are a local business?
The group that can benefit the most from Smart Campaigns tend to tick off these boxes:
- Small business with local presence
- Low advertising budget
- No marketing staff
- No money for consultants/agencies
- Owner/staff is too busy to learn how to run standard Google Ads effectively
The truth is Smart Campaigns are tailor-made for a small business with only a couple of employees. If you have your hands full with the day-to-day but could use a couple of extra customers, Smart Campaigns might be for you.
It’s meant for the business owner who wears multiple hats, running everything from sales, finances, marketing to deliverables.
If you don’t have three to five hours a week to dedicate to Google Ads management, Smart Campaigns will generate traffic (both online and offline) for your business without the hassle.
If you are interested in building up your PPC strategy to become a massive part of your customer acquisition strategy, then you’ll likely have to branch out from Smart Campaigns in the long run.
Smart Campaigns are a great place to start if you are new to PPC, but it shouldn’t be how you run your campaigns forever.
5 Essential Tips for Success with Google Ads Smart Campaigns
If you decide to start your venture with Google Ads Smart Campaigns, here are five essential tips to guide your journey.
Tip #1: Start with a small budget.
Perhaps the most important aspect of your Smart Campaign is your budget.
Because Google pretty much controls everything else.
If you don’t set a budget and stick to it, you can expect that budget to go fast.
And since you have less access to reporting information, tracking back your return on investment isn’t as easy.
Unless you are using outside conversion tracking software, which is unlikely if you are using Smart Campaigns, it’s critical to start small.
Smart Campaigns are built to test the waters of PPC. If you want to invest thousands of dollars monthly into PPC or SEM, you should contact a local agency or marketing consultant.
Start by and work your way up to a comfortable budget based on your reported success in the dashboard.
Once you’ve done that, you can either consider increasing that budget or making the jump to the full Google Ads experience.
Tip #2: Schedule your ads with business hours.
You might not have much to say over where, but thankfully you can control when your ads run.
For example, are your current business hours limited to 9-5? Do you only have people on phone lines from 1-5?
Depending on your business, ad scheduling can make a significant impact on how well users convert.
If you are running ads that drive phone calls after hours, those calls cost you money that you aren’t capitalizing on.
Using the new ad scheduling feature, be sure to set your ads to business hours or customize them on a day-to-day basis depending on your needs:
It doesn't have to be uniform every day like in this example. If you have long working hours on some days, you can change the schedule to reflect that.
If the primary advertised way of contacting your business is an email form, you should consider running the ads 24/7. That way, you can tap into past-midnight impulse buyers, and people who work night shifts, etc.
Tip #3: Keep a keen eye on search phrases.
During the first few weeks of your smart campaign, make sure you keep a keen eye on search phrases in the dashboard.
These phrases control where your ads appear in Google Search, Google Maps, and on thousands of websites throughout the Google Display Network.
If you see any search terms that have low commercial intent (typically including the word “free” or “best”), make sure you disable those terms.
The users who search for those kinds of keywords are unlikely to purchase your products or services.
Click the button in the “Status” column to disable search terms for your smart campaign.
Tip #4: Use professional photos for your Google My Business listing
To get the full potential of Smart Campaigns, you need to have a Google My Business listing and connect it with your Google Ads account.
It allows your ad to show up in Google Maps results, and for searchers to ask for directions to your store.
Don’t rush through your profile to get it online ASAP. Take your time and fill it with professional photos instead.
As a local business, one of your most effective selling tools is how your business appears online. Your Google Maps profile is a big part of this, even more so if you are running a Google Ads Smart Campaign.
Follow New York's Ritz Carlton's example. Use professional photos to show off, and invite customers to come to visit your store.
Tip #5: Use outside call tracking software.
It’s essentially taking an offline activity (phone calls) and turning it into online metrics.
And unfortunately for users, Google Ads doesn’t provide detailed call tracking.
In Google Ads, you can only see area codes, dates, times, and call durations:
While this can give you a generalized idea of conversions, it’s not foolproof.
Call length doesn’t necessarily ensure sales.
And just knowing the area code doesn’t help you track a conversion.
For instance, if you are a local business, the majority of your calls will be local.
Meaning all of those area codes in the verified calls report won’t tell you anything. You will have no clue which actual, full phone number converted and from what source or keyword.
This makes it nearly impossible to understand which calls were generated by ads and which weren’t.
Instead of banking on these vague reports, use an external call tracking software like CallRail. By connecting it directly to Google Ads, you can start tracking full phone calls in just a few minutes with features like free call recording.
When someone calls your business, CallRail will log their information into your dashboard. This includes information like phone numbers, full names, locations, keywords, and sources:
It gives you a clear picture of who converted and where the lead was generated.
Using an external call tracking software is essential to have better phone call tracking in Smart Campaigns and Google Ads campaigns in general.
Conclusion
Google Ads is an incredibly complex platform to adjust to, let alone to run a successful campaign.
The number of details that you have to be aware of to run a Google Ads account successfully is mind-boggling.
There are countless reports, dashboards, metrics, tools, and settings to use and analyze. More so than ever in 2019.
Enter: Google Ads Smart Campaigns (Formerly known as AdWords Express).
By simplifying your options and automating the process, you barely have to touch the platform to drive customers and sales.
Smart Campaigns automatically show ads to locals in your area to drive website visits, online sales, and offline store visits.
It’s a great, cheap way to bring in more sales.
If you are a local business that can’t afford an outside agency to run your Google Ads account, Smart Campaigns are for you.
What do you think? Are you using Google Ads Smart Campaigns already? Are they working for you? Or do you plan to give it a try? Let us know in the comments!
You will learn what Google Adwords Express is and how it works, for what purposes it is needed and how to configure it correctly to launch advertising campaigns. I’ll also tell you whether it’s worth counting on this service at all and how it differs from regular Google Adwords.
The service itself is designed for small businesses that need to quickly publish a small offer. The express version is also suitable for beginners who are afraid to try the full version of Adwords.
Therefore, the key feature of the express version is that the service automatically manages ads for you and evaluates their effectiveness. You don't need to rack your brains over the correct setup of advertising campaigns. The service offers only basic settings. He will do the rest of the work himself.
Adwords Express vs Adwords - Simple interface
- Quick launch and setup
- The system does most of the work for you.
- Not all ad formats are available
- Limited functionality
- The system sometimes takes competitive keys with a higher cost
- You can't control the cost per click
Google Adwords:
- More complex control panel
- Requires time to set up and launch
- All ad formats available
- Many useful features available
- Advanced Account Organization
- Strict reporting
- You can set your own bets
As you can see, the multifunctional AdWords wins here, and not its express version. Although the latter is aimed at beginners or small businesses, I still recommend using the full version of Google Adwords.
Yes, it might be difficult for some!
But it’s better to spend time studying so that you can then use more opportunities to create. This gives you a chance to make flexible settings and bring your campaigns to a decent level.
With Adwords Express you won't have this opportunity!
Firstly, such work cannot be completely entrusted to a machine. For example, algorithms may select competitive keys at too high a price. Secondly, such reduced functionality will not allow you to develop normally. There aren't even normal targeting settings.
Therefore, I would recommend everyone to use only full-fledged Adwords. However, if you are a beginner, you do not have a specialist in contextual advertising, and you need to launch it in the near future, then you can work with the express option for a while.
Adwords Express - Login
Login to Adwords Express is carried out at this address - www.google.ru/adwords/express/. This is the Russian version of the service. There, click “Login” or “Create an account”.
However, before logging into your account, I first recommend calculating your budget in advance. There is a special calculator for this on the “Cost” page.
There you can track and understand what budget you will need to get a certain number of clients.
Contextual advertising cost calculator in Adwords Express As I said, payment occurs exclusively for clicks or calls. So, in the “Address” field we indicate the city. And in the category we indicate the direction of our activity. For example, an auto parts store.
Please note that you will be given hints as you fill out. You can select the desired item from them. When everything is filled out, click on the “Submit” button.
As a result, we see that for 18,000 rubles per month we can get from 2,500 to 4,000 clicks. For a budget of 8,000 rubles per month, we can get from 1,000 to 1,700 clicks on an ad. And for 3,500 rubles we will get from 450 to 780 clicks.
In general, such a calculator makes it clear how many clicks and views our amount should be calculated.
So, having sorted out the budget, you can move on to the settings. For those who already have an account, simply click “Login”. If you don’t have one yet, then click on “Create an account.”
You need to log in from gmail so that you can then link both Google My Business and Adwords Express to it.
Setting up Google Adwords Express
Now you will learn how to set up Google Adwords Express to quickly create contextual advertising on the Internet.
The campaign can be set up in just a few simple steps:
- Adding a website or Google My Business page
- Creating a campaign
- Setting a goal
- Setting up geographic targeting
- Selecting a service category
- Creating an ad
- Setting a budget
- Adding payment information
Registration in Google My Business
Add a website or Google My Business page. This is necessary for your ads to appear in marks on Google maps. This way, people will not only find you, but also know how to get to you.
Go to the Google My Business service and click “Get Started”.
Search for a company in Google My Business Creating an advertising campaign
So, we see here when we log in, we have already created one advertising campaign. This is the campaign that I use on the Google My Business service.
Adwords Express Campaigns Accordingly, if we want the ad to have a location tag, then we go to this campaign. I have these auto parts Samara.
If we don’t want it to be displayed in the ad, then we can simply create a new campaign. Then the mark on the maps will not be shown in the ad.
So, let's go into the campaign.
Edwards Express Setup Steps Here we are briefly told how the process of setting up Edwards Express will go. Immediately click on the “Create ad” button.
Choosing a goal
Goals in Google Adwords Express That is, if we select “Call to the office”, accordingly, the service will build a work algorithm in order to attract the maximum number of calls.
If we select “Visiting a store,” then the service will structure its work in such a way as to attract exactly those people who can come to you.
“Site action” is useful if you want to increase the number of conversions on a project.
I note that for this you definitely need to install the Google Analytics statistics service. Based on the information from this service, the system will be able to attract exactly those customers who are most likely to convert on the site.
. It can be set by distance from the location “Near my company” or “In certain cities, regions or countries.”
Geotargeting in Adwords Express
That is, if you want to attract people from nearby areas and districts, then you can choose targeting by distance. It can be from 10 to 60 km.
If you want to attract people from the whole city or several cities, then you can select the “In certain cities, regions or countries” option.
Selecting regions Here we write down the required cities in the line. Then they will appear directly on the map.
If a client from another city writes a request indicating the city in which he wants to see the goods, then he will also be shown our ad.
So, since in our example the company sells auto parts in Samara, I leave only this city and click “Continue”.
Selecting a product or service
So, we have determined that we have an auto parts store. Therefore, we mark this point. Below we are asked to select subcategories.
Based on these subsections, the service will form the pool of requests that will be used in the future. Mark the required sections and click “Continue”.
Creating an ad
Now we are transferred to creating the ad itself. There are three lines with character restrictions in titles and descriptions.
Write heading 1 In the first heading you need to indicate what we will sell. For me it will be “Auto parts in Samara”.
In the second heading we indicate a tempting offer. I recommend indicating what will catch the attention of clients.
In the first heading he sees what he was looking for. And in the second he sees a tempting offer. It additionally makes it clear to the user why it will be beneficial for him to work with you. For example, I’ll write “20% discount” here.
Header Filling 2 In the description we already provide more information about our service or product.
Filling out the ad description in Google Adwords Express We need to somehow motivate a person to come to us. Therefore, in the end we end with a motivated step. For example, call, order, come, and so on.
Below we are asked to enter the company website. Here we indicate a link to a website made through the Google My Business service or to your personal project.
Specify the address of the desired page Now we are asked to provide a phone number. This is especially important if you want to receive as many calls as possible.
We indicate the phone number Once you specify it, the “Enable Verified Calls” option will appear below. This function allows you to estimate how many clients came to us, at what time they contacted us and how long they were in conversation with us. I enabled this feature and clicked Continue.
Setting a Budget
Now the most crucial moment is choosing a budget. Here we set the maximum monthly budget.
Setting a Budget in Google Adwords Express For example, we choose 17,500. Then we see that this predicts us from 8485 to 14147 views per month. And also from 2107 to 3513 clicks per month.
So, select a budget and click “Continue”.
Checking settings
Checking settings Confirmation of payment details
The next step is to confirm your payment details in Adwords Express. Here you can register as an individual or a legal entity. Various documentation will be available for legal entities ( accounting reports, invoices and so on).
Confirming payment information in Adwords Express If you do not need any reporting, you can register the account type as an individual.
For example, let's register as an individual. We write the name only in Russian. Below is the address. We indicate the region and locality if necessary.
Further below we are warned that payments will be made in advance. That is, contextual advertising starts working only after the balance is replenished. As soon as the money in the account runs out, the campaign is suspended.
Specify the payment amount Below we are immediately taken to payment methods for advertising.
Payment Methods There are several payment methods here.
Since Google is one of the leaders in the search engine market in Russia and the CIS countries - with a market share of more than 40% - it is no wonder that contextual advertising services are in demand and provide tangible benefits for business.
contextual advertising
- target audience;
- region in which it is expected to attract clients;
- Demographic information such as age and gender.
It is possible to fine-tune the queries for which ads will be shown to clients.
Adwords Express
Recently, studies have been conducted that indicate that the majority of Internet users, when searching for the information they need, do not go further than the first page of search engine results.
More often, on the first page of search engines for various queries there are websites of large companies that spend serious resources on maintaining the site in the top results.
Spending the same amount of money for small companies is not always possible, nor is it practical. In such cases, contextual advertising services from Google can help. In particular, Google AdDoords Express. This service is suitable for small companies.
Google adwords express allows you to attract customers with minimal time and effort. Adwords express help is useful. Google's help forum provides comprehensive information on what this is.
Setting up Adwords Express
Google Adwords Express is one of the easiest contextual advertising systems to operate and configure. Usually, creating the first ad does not take much time, even for people who are not familiar with this service.
3. Indicates information about your company
4.Select your ad purpose
If you want to configure it for the site, select “Action on the site”; other goals are described in detail in the instructions.
5. Set up the GEO of your ad based on the location of your clients; you can select the radius with the slider.
6. Select a product or service
7. Create ads
8. Add images to your ad
It is important that if moderation does not pass within 3 days, you need to call Google support.
Next, you need to select the target audience based on distance from the selected location. Various options are available - from 25 kilometers to 65 in 10 km increments. Here you can specify the type of activity of the company by choosing from several categories.
The next step will be the most time-consuming. At this stage, you need to write the correct ad that complies with Google's editorial rules. First you need to enter a heading that corresponds to the name of the enterprise or the type of services provided. Then you need to write a short explanatory description in two sentences, each no more than 38 characters. For Western European countries, the limit is stricter - up to 35 characters. It is advisable to write the description in such a way that it describes certain advantages of services or goods. After all, if the description is catchy, then the number of transitions, and therefore the effectiveness of advertising, will be higher.
That's it - the job is almost finished. Now you pay for the selected option and receive the results that will certainly follow if the settings are correct.
From this moment on, the created ad will be shown to an audience that meets the specified parameters and uses the necessary queries when searching on Google. Such advertising will hit the target much more often, which will increase profits.
At the same time, Google AdWords Express does not require any intervention. Most processes occur without human intervention. Google's software automatically selects options for displaying contextual advertising to obtain a positive marketing effect.
How to switch from Adwords Express to Adwords (Google Ads)
In order to merge your AdWords Express account with your manager account, you must:
From your manager account, make a request to connect your Google AdWords Express account.
Confirm this action from your express version account.
This solution is most popular for organizations involved in online marketing and contextual advertising. For small organizations, one Google AdWords Express will do the job. Still, merging accounts between the two services could be useful in the future.
What is the difference between classic Adwords Express and Adwords?
Advrds espress - simplified version. Here are the advantages of this approach:
- simplicity and accessibility;
- to create an advertising campaign, nothing is required except desire and a certain amount of funds;
- clients of this service pay only for clicks and clicks on the links they provided in the ad. This circumstance allows for significant savings compared to the use of classical advertising means;
- there is no need to interfere with the operation of the system. The algorithms themselves determine the parameters.
However, the advanced version has the following functional advantages:
- compiling strict reporting (This function will be useful for large companies that often order contextual advertising);
- ad types and formats available;
- merging AdWords and AdWords Express accounts;
- account organization;
- You can set your own bids and participate in auctions.
Let us briefly describe the difference between the two systems as follows: Google AdWords Express is a junior version that is suitable for small firms and companies, and Google AdWords is an advanced contextual advertising service that is necessary for reputable organizations, as well as companies working in the advertising and marketing business.
How does Google Adwords work?
The principle of operation of the service is that the user creates an ad with keywords that relate to the type of activity of the enterprise. You must enter a brief description of the goods or services provided. The ad is moderated and appears to the target audience on the Google search engine results page in a place intended for contextual advertising. Usually at the very top of the page, in the so-called top search engine results.
However, this is not always true and not for all industries. In general, Google provides quite a wide range of opportunities for AdWords Express users.
Extensive automation of all processes of such an advertising campaign saves time. Many complex algorithms themselves calculate the effectiveness of advertising and allow you to attract customers with minimal expenditure of resources. Thanks to an effective “targeting” system—searching for and reaching the target audience—such a tool will make your business more profitable and efficient.
Today, many popular web resources are connected to this system, which makes it possible to reach a potential audience as efficiently as possible.
Simultaneous use of Adwords Express on Adwords
Using both services at the same time gives a double effect. However, this is useful for companies with a wide range of services provided or with a large range of products. In such cases, Google algorithms can promote less significant areas of the organization when using AdWords Express.
For small companies that are just thinking about ordering contextual advertising through using Google AdWords and Google AdWords Express together, it is not practical. In such cases, it is better to use the least expensive option, evaluate the result obtained, and only then think about more serious tools for promoting goods and services.