Google Search Ads vs Display Ads
It can be intimidating when it comes to choosing what kinds of ads to run for your business. Many questions may arise, like, “What is the difference between the different Google Ad types?” “Which one is best for my business?” “When should I use which ad?”
First, lets start by understanding the difference between the two types of Google Ads.
There are two different types of Google Ads, Display Ads and Search Ads.
The main difference between Display Ads and Search Ads is that the search ads are only shown to people who are looking for, or have already searched for, you or your products.
Display ads are a bit different, as they focus more on push advertising. These ads are placed on a website to try and pull people in based on different user parameters.
Before we get deeper into the differences, let’s take a little time to focus on what a Google display ad is and what a Google search ad is.
What Is a Google Display Ad
A Google display ad is a form of asset-based ad, meaning that they are made up of different assets like a headline, image, logo, or a description. Once you have made your ad, Google will take all of the assets portions you created and their AI will rearrange them and put them all over the web, constantly making changes to the design and order for optimal performance.
Display ads are the different advertising that you see on websites, specifically like the side banners ads. These are display ads, but not all of them are Google display ads.
What Are Google Search Ads?
Google search ads are a little different than Google display ads. Google search ads don’t show up on different web pages, they only show up in the SERPs. These look almost exactly like the search results that organically show up.
The way to get higher up the page with your ads is by participating in PPC bidding. PPC bidding is a virtual auction where you can bid on keywords and phrases that will make you appear higher in the SERP. This means that the more you spend per click the more likely you are to get your ads higher on the SERPs page. Now this isn’t always the case. For example, if you just made a company called Joe’s Shoe Depot and you are competing with Nike for the search term best running shoes it is going to be much harder for you to outbid Nike.
This isn’t because Nike will outbid you. It is because Google knows that Nike is a much larger brand and people are more likely to click on there link over yours, so they will let Nike win the top spot with a lower bid because they will make Google more money because even at the lower bid they have a higher gross spend.
Search ads can be a tremendous value to your marketing strategy. You can bid on targeted keywords, so you know that you are only showing yourself to others who are interested in what you have to offer. Let’s not forget the other benefit that you are only spending money when people click on your link.
Which Ad Type Should I Use?
Now that we all have a firm grasp on what the different ad types are, we should talk about when you should use one ad over the other.
When Should I Use Display Ads?
We would recommend that you use Google display ads over trying to do your own display ads. This is because Google makes it super easy to set up, and you don’t have to directly deal with websites.
The best time to use display ads is in a situation where you are trying to find people who aren’t looking for you.
A great example of this would be you if you sold laundry soap and you are advertising on a news website. Laundry soap is a well needed product, by being on a news website, you may remind people of their need for laundry soap, leading them to possibly purchase from you.
When Should I Use Search Ads
As we talked about, search ads show up in the SERPs right alongside the organic search results. But when should we use search ads?
We would recommend that you use search ads when you are looking to market to a specific group of people. For example, when you are looking to sell your shoes to runners, you should bid on keywords like “best shoes for runners”.
Just because you know you are looking to sell to runners doesn’t mean that display ads are out of the picture. If you are looking to draw runners in, you could still un a google display ad because Google will put your ad on webpages where you are likely to convert.
To Consider,
Now after everything, lets do a quick overview of when you should use what ad.
If you are trying to pull people onto your site you should use display ads, because Google will find people who might be interested in you even if they aren’t looking.
If you want to show yourself to people who are already looking and interested in your product or service you should use Google search ads, because that will allow you to show up right along side the organic answers.
Google Ads can be tricky. There is a lot more that goes into each ad than what we just talked about. Our marketing team can help!
If you want to make sure your ads are done right, give us a call today!