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customers with a wide variety of interests. You can choose the sites you want your ads to show and to reach just the right target group for your product or service. With the entire Google network at your fingertips, your ads can show on Google Maps, You Tube, and more.
The Google Display Network lets you place your ad on a variety of niche sites and blogs. Finding the right audience can be a difficult venture with millions of websites being visited every day. Having your ads placed on the best websites, based on your keywords, is one way to focus your ads to the proper audience. Great ad campaigns start with great ads and with the Google Display Network. You can use a variety of formats for your ads. Text ads aren’t strictly for the Search Network. They can be used on the Display Network as well. They utilize the same structure as search ads using a headline, two text lines, and a URL with the same character limits as in search.
Image Ads
Image ads, which are most commonly associated with the Display Network, include graphics and text that best portray your product or service used in custom digital layouts. There are format and size requirements and limitations which vary depending on where you want your ad to show, whether it is on a desktop on mobile device. Both desktop and mobile devices are limited to a maximum file size of 150 KB using .GIF, .JPG, .JPEG, .PNG formats on both and .SWF on desktops as well. There are a variety of sizes, dimensions, depending on where on the page the ad will show. You can refer to Google’s support documentation for the details.
YouTube is one of the websites in the Display Network which allows you to use AdWords to place your ads next to your YouTube videos. Google integrated video into AdWords to improve your advertising experience. As with other ads you can target specific websites to get those most interested in your product or service. Your videos don’t have to directly advertise your product. Try using testimonials from satisfied customers or a demonstration of a product’s use. You will only pay for the ad showing if the viewer watches 30 seconds of your ad or the duration if it is shorter than 30 seconds.
Rich Media ads are basically image ads that viewers can interact with or have animation. These types of ads can contain moving displays of merchandise. Rich Media ads can also expand as the user passes their mouse over the ad or clicks on an ad to reveal more information. They can also be floaters on the page so they remain on the screen as the user scrolls down the page.
Targeting Audiences
Along with these types of ads, you can target audiences with your ads on the Google Display Network. To drive brand awareness, use affinity audiences which shows a true interest in a particular topic. To reach those that are actively shopping for a product or service, you can use in-market audiences.
As with search ads, keywords that describe what you are advertising are an easy way to start. Google matches the search terms with your keywords to get your display ad to show. Remarketing tracks users that have visited your site in lists. You then use the lists to show special display ads while they surf the web. You can offer special deals to draw them back to your site for another chance at converting.
You can use interest categories to target people that are interested in products or services similar to those your company offers. To reach out to specific age groups, genders, or other such select groups, Demographics will work for you.
To be sure you are reaching the right group of the population; there are placement options to direct your ads where they are more likely to work for you. Managed Placements gives you control of the exact websites that you want to show your ads on. These can be sites that relate to your product or service or sites related to interest groups that would benefit from your product or service.
The Display Network also utilizes topic targeting. Google has categorized groups of people and interests and associated them to websites. You select which topic group you want to focus on and Google has already identified the websites that will get your ads to the right users.
Let’s look at a simple example of some of the options available when running ads on Google’s Display Network. Let’s say you have a store that specializes in outdoor cooking where you sell grills, smokers, and accessories.
- You can use keywords such as “gas grills” or “grilling utensils” to get your ad to users searching for your products.
- Select specific sites that offer blogs, recipes, or new outdoor cooking techniques to show your ads on.
- Using a remarketing campaign will show your ads to previous visitors to your site even if they were looking for a different product.
Now that you have gone all in with the Google Display Network how are you going to know how well your ads are working for you? Reports of course. You will be able to see which websites your ads showed on, and see how many clicks each of your ads received. You will also see which website gave you the most sales or other conversion for the lowest price. By segmenting the performance of your ads, you will be able to adjust your targeting and bidding strategy to get the most out of your digital advertising dollar.
No matter what product or service you offer, Google’s Display Network can get your ads to the right audience. Ask your PPC manager how it can work for you.
– Gary Harvison, PPC Manager
