You may not have the ability to shoot spider webs from your wrists or possess super strength, but when it comes to digital marketing, you can still be a hero. Building a successful paid search campaign may seem like a daunting task, but fear not! Here at Zenzero, we’ve got your back. In this blog, we’ll guide you through the process of creating a paid search campaign from scratch, equipping you with the essential strategies, keyword targeting and campaign optimization techniques needed to achieve maximum results. So tighten your cape and let’s get started!
Unleash the Power of Planning
Every superhero knows that a solid plan is the first step toward victory. The same goes for building a paid search campaign. Before you dive headfirst into the world of search engine marketing (SEM), take the time to map out your goals and objectives. Consider your target audience, the message you want to convey, and the desired outcomes. This way, you’ll have a clear direction and can tailor your campaign accordingly.
For more information check out our blog How to Plan a Search Campaign.
Landing Pages: The Fortress of Solitude for Conversions
Once you’ve taken the steps to properly plan your campaign, you need to select a landing page to guide potential customers to. Think of your landing page as the Fortress of Solitude, a place where your visitors can find the answers they seek and take the desired actions. Keep your landing page focused on the objective of your campaign, whether it’s to generate leads or make sales. Use clear and compelling call-to-action buttons, and avoid any distractions that may take your visitors off course.
Campaign Creation
Step 1: Create a new campaign and set a goal
Head on over to Google Ads and create a new campaign. During the planning phase you should have defined your campaign goal so choose either Sales, Leads, or Website traffic.
Then select how you’d like to reach your goal – you can choose website visits, phone calls, shop visits, app downloads or a combination of these.
Step 2: Conversion Tracking
Conversion tracking is a must for Google Ads. It shows you exactly what happens once your ads have been clicked. There are a few different ways to do conversion tracking but we’ll focus on two – Google Ads and Google Analytics.
Google Ads Conversion Tracking
To create a conversion action in Google Ads, click on “Tools & Settings” then “Conversions” which is in the Measurement column. Click “New Conversion Action” and then select the type of conversion you’d like to set up. For a more detailed guide, you can watch this video.
Once you’ve chosen the conversion action and entered your website details, you’ll need to add a tag or some code to your website. If you have a webmaster/web developer you can send the code to them or you can do it yourself using Google Tag Manager. For help using Google Tag Manager, visit the Tag Manager Help Centre.
Google Analytics Conversion Tracking
Head over to Google Analytics, and if you don’t already have one, create an account. You’ll need to add a tag to your website at this stage too, follow the Tag Manager links above to set this up.
Once done, you’ll need to create some conversions to track. To do this, go to Settings > Admin > Events. Enter an event name and fill in the details to create parameters. For a detailed guide, visit the Analytics Help Centre.
The final step is to link your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts. In Google Ads, clicks on “Tools and Settings” then Linked Accounts. Find GA4 (Google Analytics) and click on details. If you’ve used the same email address, this should be fairly easy as Google will pull through the account – all you have to do is click the “Link” button. Click here for a step by step guide.
Step 3: Choose Your Bidding Strategy
Your bidding strategy should align with the goal you have chosen for your campaign. Again, this is something that would have been decided during the planning process. Google Ads will recommend bidding strategies based on the goal you had selected e.g. if you chose a Sales based goal – it will recommend a Conversion based bidding strategy.
Step 4: Ad Groups and Keywords
During the planning stage, you should have done your keyword research and now we’re going to put that to good use. Group your keywords together in themes, those themes will become ad groups. Say you’re selling shoes in all colours of the rainbow. You’ll have separate ad groups for red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Each ad group should only contain keywords which are relevant to that theme and there should be no overlapping keywords.
Let’s talk about negative keywords – these are words which people may search for in connection to keywords you have but are not necessarily related to your business. Example – you only sell shoes for adults, so add child, kid, baby and toddler as negative keywords to prevent your ad from showing to someone searching for “blue baby shoes”.
Step 5: Set up your budget
Google Ads works using a daily budget so if you have a monthly budget in mind, divide it by the average number of days in a month to work out your daily budget. You might find that you spend a little more or a little less than your daily budget on some days, but you’ll never be charged more per month than daily budget x average number of days in a month.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you’ve learned how to build a paid search campaign from the ground up and have equipped yourself with the tools needed to unleash your marketing superhero. You have the power to drive targeted traffic to your website, generate leads, and make sales. So, don’t wait another moment. Start building your paid search campaign and witness the results you’ve always dreamed of. Remember, at Zenzero, we believe in innovation, transparency, and achieving supercharged results. Now go forth and conquer the digital marketing universe!
*Disclaimer: Zenzero is not responsible for any spandex suits, capes, or witty comebacks you may acquire as a result of unleashing the marketing superhero within. Use powers responsibly.*
