What is the difference between Google Search Ads and Google Display Ads?
So you’ve decided to bite the bullet and put aside a budget for digital advertising. The question now on your mind will be how, and where, you should spend that budget to get the maximum return on investment.
Google remains the most popular search engine worldwide, so dedicating a budget towards Google advertising is a no-brainer.
What are search and display ads?
Search Ads
Google Search Ads target people who are actively searching for your products and services. For example, if you search for “used cars”, the first four listings on Google are marked with “Ad”, indicating that they are paid search results. The rest of the listings on Google, “below the fold” are organic listings. You can learn more about the difference between organic listings and paid search listings here.
Learn about- Search Engine Organic Search vs Paid Search
Display Ads
Google Display delivers targeted ads to websites that are relevant to what you are selling. For example, if we are advertising gardening equipment such as lawn mowers we might place adverts on websites such as gardendesign.com or gardenersworld.com
This means that your brand is appearing to people who are highly likely to be interested in buying what you are selling! Display ads appear across the entire Google Display Network — over 2 million sites that reach over 90% of online users.
The main difference between Google Search Ads vs Display Ads is that Search Ads are a form of “pull” advertising while Display Ads are “push” advertising. Meaning, Search Ads only appear to those who are already searching for your product or service, while Display Ads are paid placements that appear based on various targeting parameters.
So how do you know which option is right for you?
Google encourages advertisers to set up both search and display campaigns, as this will provide the most reach. However, maximum reach isn’t necessarily a good thing, because the key to advertising is getting your product or service in front of the right audience — not just the biggest.
Search Ads are a quick way to get your website appearing in Search Engine Results whilst you work on building up your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy to appear in organic search. Once your website is appearing highly in organic search, you could choose to scale back your Search Ads budget or continue to put money towards Search Ads to dominate the Search Engine results and drive traffic to your website.
With Search Ad campaigns, you can use different keywords to trigger your ad, along with negative keywords so that your ad isn’t triggered when users search for specific keywords that are irrelevant to your business. Doing this allows you to create your ads precisely to match a user’s search intent. This means that the clicks on your search ads, and the subsequent leads you collect should be high-quality and have intent to purchase. It is important to note that if you offer a local service, Search Ads are the right option for you as they can be tailored to your local area using keywords.
If you offer an emergency service, or sell products which are more of an impulsive purchase with a short sales cycle then utilise Search Ads. These are the products and services that people actively search for instead of spending weeks or months considering.
Conversely, when products have a longer sales cycle and require multiple touchpoint with a prospect while they are considering their purchase, Display Ads are the right option to keep your product or service front-of-mind for your potential customers.
The biggest predictor in whether someone will buy from you later down the line, is whether they have heard of you before. Therefore establishing brand awareness in the early stages of the buying journey is important. Reach people in the early stages of the buying journey with eye-catching visual adverts that distinguish your brand from your competition. 27% of consumers conduct a search for a business after seeing a display ad online. In other words, if a consumer sees a high-quality display ad, they are likely to search directly for your brand when they are further along the buying journey.
You can also retarget website visitors who have not made a purchase with Display Adverts, making them 70% more likely to convert.
Because Display Adverts can include imagery and video, they work particularly well for lifestyle goods, holidays, entertainment or anything which is visually appealing and exciting.
So, what will it be? There are more factors to consider when choosing where to spend your money; such as budget, market and intent. Here at TUSK digital we start with a consultation to understand your products/services and target demographic so that we can advise on the appropriate strategy for you.
Give us a call or fill out a contact form to arrange your free consultation.
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