Making the investment in Google Ads just may be one of the most impactful decisions you’ve made for your property to date. Given the platform’s outstanding reach, conversion and cost potential, you can ultimately fast-track your leads into leases in just a short period of time–especially if your campaign is configured correctly.  But, if this happens to be your first rodeo with Google Ads, the process may not seem so cut-and-dry–perhaps, even a tad overwhelming given pressures to fully reap all of its promises. If this happens to be you, have no fear, we’re here to help.  We’re giving you a quick breakdown of the Google Ads basics, how it works and what you need to know to set your campaign up for success.

How it works

The premise behind Google Ads is that when someone searches for a term (or terms) related to your business or product, your ad can appear. This process mainly occurs through what are known as keywords, which are specific words or phrases that you select based on what you feel customers are using or will use to locate your business online. For instance, in the multifamily spectrum, common keywords to utilize are “apartments in [your city],” “apartments with [specific feature/amenity],” or property names. Google then matches these keywords with users’ search terms and determines which ad(s) appears in the search results pages (also known as SERPS) and in what order.

Ad ranking

Now, it’s important to note that the process to determine which ad appears where far exceeds any “rock, paper, scissors” type of situation. In fact, it’s actually quite a complex process. Google leverages a fancy algorithm to calculate the ad’s rank based on your bid amount, quality of your ads and website content, details like geographical location, device type, competing ads, user signals and your ad’s format. (Oh–and, don’t worry, while this is all helpful to know, all of these algorithm specifics can be left to Google.)

Setting up your Google Ads

One of the beauties and top-selling features with Google Ads is that you’re only charged when someone actually clicks on your ad. Also, you control how much or how little you’re willing to pay for your ad to be displayed on any given day. During the actual campaign setup, you’ll need to create what’s known as a “campaign.” This allows you the freedom to promote across Google’s search network. From here, you’ll then transition to customizing the specifics of your campaign. Establishing campaign goals are done early in the process, right after finalizing the type of campaign you’ll be promoting. Then, you’ll typically advance to solidifying other campaign features, like targets, bids, and keywords. Don’t worry if we’ve breezed through a few setup features here, as Google does a pretty good job at walking you through the setup process.

Selecting the right keywords

Now, keywords are going to be the meat and potatoes of your campaign. By selecting the right keyword mix, the potential of your ad being shown to your leads rises exponentially.  When building your keyword list you’ll want to place yourself in the minds of your leads. First, think about what terms they’ll be using to find you online. Google’s keyword planner tool can help you sort out some phrases as well. One simple, yet helpful trick that marketers use when selecting keywords is to perform a Google search of the competition. You can see firsthand which terms they’re using and then cater your bid based on these results.   

Tracking your results

Apart from keywords, the other essential facet of your Ads campaign will be the data. Remember the goals you set up earlier in the campaign process? This is the point when you will determine if you’re actually meeting them. Google Ads provides several metrics around your campaign through basic and advanced reporting features, customized dashboards, and every other piece of data you could imagine and then some. I’d say you’ll need to most familiarize yourself with these tools to better understand the data to know how your customers are interacting with your campaign. From here, you can adjust, tweak and reimagine as you see fit.

Renbot can help.

Kudos on starting your journey with Google Ads! And, if you still haven’t quite decided on the investment but you know your website is ready to deliver due results, we’re here to help. As certified Google Partners, we can help you craft a results-driven, optimized campaign that will integrate with your website and provide you with clear reports every month that show you how well your campaign is performing. Even if you’ve already taken the Google Ads leap, we can help you fine-tune your existing campaign through an elevated targeted ad strategy and provide ongoing campaign maintenance so that you have ample time to handle those other pressing in-office needs. Whether you’re ready to get started with Google Ads or turn your website into a greater lead generator, we can help. Contact us here for your free consultation.

About the Author

Jonsette Calloway joined the Rentbot team in 2015. With a background in public relations, advertising, and copywriting, she has helped a multitude of clients achieve their marketing and communications goals within various fields, but she particularly enjoys working with the apartment industry.