Your Guide to Optimizing Your Real Estate Ads for Google – You Want Your Listings to Be Seen!
Today we are going to delve into the world of creating ads for Google! This is an extensive topic to explore and we’ll get you started with the knowledge and insights you need to help your listing be more searchable!
Google is THE leading search engine, so having a full understanding of how to use Google ads to your benefit is paramount to your business. We want to see your ads on the first page of a Google search… not buried in and amongst the crowds.
In this guide, we’ll explore why running Google Ads is crucial for real estate agents, provide insights on optimizing your ads for maximum effectiveness, discuss the importance of SEO for Google Ads, and give you a step-by-step guide to get started with Google Ads.
Why Running Google Ads is Important
Google is the largest search engine earning most of the online traffic by landslide margins:
“Google is the most popular search engine in the world. Capturing nearly 92 percent of the search market, it’s no wonder why SEO specialists seek out any available piece of information about Google’s ranking algorithm.” (Source)
The potential benefit to your business growth is outstanding in that Google is a tool that allows your ads to reach potential clients at the exact moment they’re searching for properties or real estate services online.
Here are several reasons why running Google Ads is essential for marketing strategies:
- Google Ads enables you to target your ads to specific geographic locations, demographics, interests, and search terms, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience… which with Google is extensive.
- By using relevant keywords related to real estate, specifically your niche, there is an increased likelihood that your listings and website will appear more prominently in Google search results, increasing visibility and attracting more traffic… which leads to conversion.
- Google Ads can generate immediate results, which is a win-win in real estate where time is of the essence. You want people who are looking for properties to be guided in their search to your listings within minutes of launching a campaign.
- Any time you are running an ad campaign it is good practice to monitor your results and engagement. Google Ads provides comprehensive analytics and reporting tools that allow you to track the performance of your ads in real time for better results.
- This is a big bonus, you have full control over your advertising budget. You can set daily or monthly spending limits and only pay when users click on your ads, making it a cost-effective advertising solution.
- This article by Yale University, helps to break down the payment method clearly, “ Google Ads uses a bidding system where you bid on keywords relevant to your business. Your ad’s position is determined by your Ad Rank, which takes into account your bid and Quality Score (a measure of ad relevance and performance). This means that even with a lower budget, a well-crafted, relevant ad can outperform competitors with larger budgets.”
Just so you know… you will be amongst savvy business owners if you start using Google Ads, “Almost every time you see an ad for a company’s landing page rank as the first (or second, or third) search result on a Google search, it’s not just the result of good SEO; the company likely has a Google Ads campaign underway” (Source)
How to Optimize Your Ads for Google
As you know, it’s one thing to throw out an ad and hope for the best, which rarely works. It’s an entirely different thing to start educating yourself on how to use Google to your benefit to make a better impact with your ads and drive results.
To maximize the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaigns, you might want to consider implementing the following optimization strategies:
- Keyword Research: Identify relevant terms and phrases that potential clients may use when searching for real estate properties or services in your neighborhood. Use a combination of keywords that might describe the type of property, style, location, etc. to capture a wide range of search queries. Here’s a helpful guide from Google to help you get started.
- Compelling Ad Copy: Always write personalized ad copy that highlights the unique features and benefits of your listings or services, but be sure to include a strong call-to-action (CTA) that will encourage users to click on your ad. This is a skill set that takes time to develop, and if you want to get started learning… head straight to Google here.
- Use Extensions on Your Ads: Google Ads has the option to add assets to your ads to help searchability, ““assets” on the Google Ads site, are additional pieces of information—including site links, product prices, and your phone number—that appear before potential customers click on your ad.” (Source)
Step-by-Step Guide to Help You Prepare Your Google Ad Campaigns
If you take a systematic approach for how you want to effectively use Google ads you’re setting yourself up for success. It’s worth taking the time to do a little pre-planning, get familiar with the tools Google ads offers, and create a plan to use them that is repeatable.
Ready to get started?
- Set Up Your Google Ads Account: Sign up for a Google Ads account if you haven’t already done so, and familiarize yourself with the platform. This will save you time when out of the blue you get 3 new listings and you need to run ads quickly!
- Define Your Advertising Goals: You need to set aside some time and think about what your goals are, realistically and with intention. Do you want to generate leads? Are you looking to increase revenue? Are you wanting to expand your audience reach? And… quantify each of those answers in measurable terms, like… by how much?
- Examine Keywords Relevant to Your Business: There are several tools you can use and strategies to help you determine what potential clients will be searching for and how best to set your listings up to be the ones they find.
- Try doing Google searches yourself and see what words pop up the most… that’s a good indicator that Google also favors those words. Google Keyword Planner to identify high-value keywords with strong search volume and low competition.
- Last but not least… Create Compelling Ad Campaigns: Easier said than done, we understand. If you need a more comprehensive guide about how to create compelling ads, check out this article before you get started.
- Key components are to include copy that feels personal and attention-grabbing, select eye-catching visuals, and include a strong call-to-action (CTA).
Seems simple enough right? It can be! The main thing is to get started. You’ll perfect your system over time, and find your vision that attracts the clients you are looking for!
Here are a few that caught my eye just by doing a quick search for various reasons… but there are companies that provide templates for you to use too!
Redfin is a well-known site, but with ads that offer options for different buyers is incredible. They include engaging questions and have clear calls to action in each category.
This ad includes a compelling offer to people who want to list their home and will help connect sellers to agents signed up for HomeLight. This makes a great lead generation ad.
This ad grabbed my attention because it adds urgency to its messaging. You know you’re going to get up-to-date information in a large city on what is available as a buyer.
Summary
Getting a streamlined system of ad campaigns is imperative in improving your business growth and reaching a broad audience. It’s almost essential that Google Ads be a tool in your marketing strategies for the best chance of coming up in potential client searches.
Hopefully, you feel more confident and are well on your way after reading this article!
0 comments