DEV Community

Kevin Urrutia
Kevin Urrutia

Posted on • Updated on

Google Ads Tutorial: all you need to know!

Learn to do proper Google Ads campaigns

A proper Google Ads campaign has many factors and moving parts involved. With that being said, it’s not exactly rocket science and all it takes is a little commitment and determination to bring them to an exceptional level. You really don't need to be an expert on the subject to create inventive and effective advertisements. If you’re at all worried about the ins and outs that go into making your campaigns, do not fret. We’re here to give you a brief Google Ads campaign tutorial and make it so you’re ready to create your own. By the end of this, we hope that you’ve learned a thing or two about Google Ads and it doesn’t seem like such a treacherous endeavor.

Getting Started

Before diving too in-depth on this marketing tutorial, it’s good to give a background on them. If you’re at all confused about the difference between Google Ads and Google Adwords, they are actually the same. Google changed the name of the platform from Google Adwords to the current Google Ads. As you may have guessed, you do have to create an account to get this started.

Step 1: Configure your keywords

Keywords are the backbone of your advertising campaign. They will ultimately decide whether or not you get traffic and conversions for your business.

So what are they? And why do they hold such importance?

Well, as the name may reveal, they are the words tied to the product you sell at your business. These keywords are diverse in nature, but many are highly sought for more common business types. If you run a business that sells something such as hats, a keyword for this business could simply be “hat”. However, that would be much too broad of a keyword and would need to be improved upon. If you sell different hat varieties, such as a “regular ball cap” or even a “sombrero”, a keyword might instead be “red baseball hat” or “colorful sombrero”. Once you make a more specific keyword, then you’ll be able to drive more meaningful traffic to your site.

Step 2: Choose your campaign type

There are a few different variations of what a Google Ads campaign can be. These campaigns could be a Search Network, Display Network, Shopping, Video, or App. Although these are all intrinsically different, they all have the same purpose. That purpose is to increase your sales, leads, web traffic, and more. To put it plainly, these campaigns are here to help your business in terms of its marketing strategy.

A good place to start if you’re a beginner is with a Search Network campaign. These are the campaigns tied directly to your keywords. They come into play when a potential buyer makes a Google search for a product that falls into your keyword database. If this occurs, your product will be at the top of the page in the form of an advertisement. It’s also important to keep in mind that you will not be charged for this ad unless it is clicked on by the person.

After choosing your campaign, you will also want to name it. A name relevant to your business or its product is best for this. To reiterate, each of these campaign varieties has its own qualities and uses.

Step 3: Decide on your advertising location

While it does make some sense to have your ads run anywhere and everywhere possible, it’s not the most economically sound thing to do.

It’s best to figure out where your audience resides and put the focus onto that geographical location. As it doesn’t come as a surprise, one of the largest markets for online goods is the United States. Having your ads run in that country is most likely a safe place, however, many paying customers could reside in Europe or Asian countries.

One of the most effective things to do with your advertisements is to be very fluid with them. For this section, it means realizing where your advertising is effective and where it is not. If you find that they are doing well in India, but not as much in say Canada, then emphasis should be then put on your Indian customers. A little research into consumer behavior based on your particular product can go a long way when it comes to this.

Step 4: Set up your daily budget and run those ads

How much should you spend on Google Ads?

The last thing you have to do before you’re ready to run your ads is to set up your daily budget. There’s no one precise way to handle your budget, it usually depends on the type of business that you are running.

If you’re running a smaller and cost-conscious business, then obviously a smaller budget would be the better route and vice versa. You’ll also find that Google may recommend a budget to you after you’ve begun to run your ads, finding what might be most efficient for your business.

You may also notice that you spend more than your daily budget on certain days. This happens because Google decides to spend more on days with higher search traffic to improve your performance and increase your ROI. After it’s all said and done, you won’t spend the equivalent of your daily budget after a certain period of time. All in all, Google is on your side in this endeavor. After your budget is set, your ads are ready to run and help your store get where you want it to be.

Okay, my ads are running, what now?

At this point in time, it’s a mix of waiting patiently and constantly trying to update and improve those very ads. For one, you’ll have the opportunity to audit your Google Ads to really get an inside look at their performance. One factor of this is being able to see which campaigns have a much higher spend with a lower quality score. When discovering something such as this, you’ll be able to diagnose the problem much easier. Along with this, you will be able to see how well each of your keywords is performing quantitatively. If you find that some of your keywords are underperforming, then you can work towards replacing or improving them. Sometimes, however, the best thing to do for your campaigns is to leave them be and see how well they stand the test of time.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, by now you have a background and understanding of Google Ads and this online ads tutorial was able to help in that. As you know, Google is one of the most prominent websites in people’s lives. Due to this, advertising your business directly through the platform may be one of the easiest/useful methods you can do. It’s also important to keep in mind that there are companies out there to help you with your advertising campaigns. One, in particular, is Clever ecommerce. This application helps you with all the facets of your ad campaigns, letting you focus on other components of your business.

Either way, we hope you were able to gain some knowledge on the basics of Google Ads and are ready to implement them to bring your business to a higher echelon!


This article is written by Matt Sanders, who worked for Clever Ecommerce in an internship position and has since helped as a freelancer. He's currently studying Marketing and Sociology at Ohio State University and is graduating in December of this year. He's an avid moviegoer, so if you ever need a recommendation he's your guy. Matt also loves trying new food/restaurants, and enjoys fine wine and beer!

Top comments (0)