How to advertise your business on Google (a step-by-step guide)

Google's advertising service is known as Google Ads (formerly AdWords). Google Ads have become the world's most successful online advertising platform and is now widely used by many NZ businesses. Anyone can sign up for an AdWords account and start advertising on Google.

The Google advertising service allows ads to be placed in Google Search results and also places ads on other websites that accept Google ads (known as the Google Display Network).

Getting Started with Google Ads

Step 1: Google Ads Account Sign Up

You can sign up here for a Google Ads (AdWords) account. All you need is a Google account and a website to drive visitors to.

Step 2: Choose Where Your Ads Appear

We recommend that new advertisers start with just targeting ads in Google search results. You can also run ads across the Google Display Network (on a range of partner sites), but start with Search for best results.

Step 3: Targeting Your Audience

Location: Choose to target your ads nationwide, by region, city or even by postcode within New Zealand.

Demographics: Refine your audience by age and other factors to zero in on your ideal customers.

Language: Usually English for NZ businesses.

Step 4: Finding the right keywords

Your campaign’s success depends on targeting the keywords your customers actually search for.

• Use the Google AdWords keyword tool to find popular, relevant keywords.
• Focus on keywords closely related to your offer—broad keywords can waste budget, while hyper-specific keywords connect you with buyers ready to act.
• Organise keywords into “ad groups” based on common themes (e.g. Plumber Auckland, Emergency Plumbing, Hot Water Repairs). Each ad group will require ads to be created. Our Adwords guide for beginners article provides more detail on keywords, ad groups and ad structures.

Step 5: Setting your ad budget and bids

• Daily Budget: Set a daily limit for each campaign. Even $10 per day is enough to get started.
• Bids: You’ll set a maximum amount you’re willing to pay each time someone clicks your ad (called “max CPC”). Google will try to get you the best ad positions for your bid.
• Typical cost per click in New Zealand: Around 1.5~2 on average, but varies by industry and competition.

There are a number of payment options, but the easiest is via a credit card and you can choose between prepay and postpay options.

The system guarantees that you wont pay more each month than the daily budget multiplied by the no of days in the month. You can adjust your daily budget up or down at any time.

Pro Tip: You only pay when someone clicks—so every dollar goes towards real leads.

How much will clicks cost?

Once you have your campaign structure set up, you will need to set your keyword bidding options. Essentially, you place bids by keyword to achieve an ad position in the search results. This is known as the max cpc (cost per click) and the higher the bid, the higher your ads will appear. You only pay when people click on your ads and the average cost per click will be below your max cpc bid.

Click costs average around $1.6 in NZ at the moment, but your cost per click prices will vary by keyword and by ad position and the amount of competitor activity around each keyword.

Read our article about how much Google Ads cost.

Step 6: Writing Effective Ads

Write clear, compelling headlines that match your keywords and what customers are looking for.

Use a strong call-to-action (“Book a Free Quote”, “Call Today”).

Link to a relevant and well-designed landing page on your website.

Step 7: Launching and Managing Your Ads

• Go Live: Once set up, activate your campaign.
• Regular Maintenance: Google Ads isn’t “set and forget”. Check performance regularly, adjust bids, pause poor-performing keywords, and try new ads for better results.
• Measure Everything: Link your Google Ads account with Google Analytics to track phone calls, email enquiries, and bookings. Monitor which ads and keywords drive the most conversions (not just clicks).

Much of the work with Google Ads starts once your campaign is active and will require regular attention and adjustments to fine tune and improve its performance. Unlike traditional advertising, it's not a set and forget program.

You may wish to engage a specialist Google Ads (AdWords management company to look after your campaigns. Read about the pro's and cons of self managed vs outsourced.

Once you've turned your campaign on, you should check your keyword positions at the beginning of each day and increase or decrease your bids based on your previous days results.

How to measure performance

As part of managing and optimising your Google Ads (Adwords) campaign performance, you should ideally have Google Analytics set up on your website. The AdWords account should also be linked to your Google Analytics account to allow paid Google Ads (Pay-per-Click, or CPC) traffic to be viewable separately to Google organic traffic.

If you are struggling with AdWords and just don't have the time, one option is to consider having a professional set up your account and continue to manage it. Your advertising efforts are important and getting it right is an imperative for your businesses success.

Learn about our managed AdWords services, or contact us if you need assistance.