People are lazy. No, this is not a bad thing: lazy can mean the most return for the least effort. It means optimization, it means being smart about using resources to get the business results you desire. People who want to use your services are lazy: they aren’t going to drive around town doing comparisons, they are going to use the internet. If you want them to find you, think about placing an ad – a Google Ad. Today I’m going to go over two types of Google Ads that give you high visibility when searching for your specialty, service, or product.

Let’s kick this pig.

Google Search Ads: Signpost at the Corner of Smart & Lazy

Everyone uses Google Search*. We use it because it is useful – that is, it is literally “full of use”, has multiple uses, and has functions that extend those uses. For many Google is a gateway, and if your browser hasn’t been to a website before and you don’t have a link, most likely you’re going to go through Google to find what you need. Google fulfills needs, and since we go to Google with our needs, that’s what makes Google Search Ads so great.

PSI: Product, Service, or Information

Most Google searches can be broken down into three requests as PSI: product, service, or information. It’s completely unrelated to tire pressure. This is where Google Search Ads shine. Let us journey to the fictitious land of examples and look at an example of looking at requests for a hypothetical example. If you’re a pet supply store, can you answer the following questions?

• Product: What’s the best hands-free cat litterbox?
• Service: Where is the nearest pet store?
• Information: How do I get my dog to behave?

Keystone of Google Ads: Keywords

If you can answer these questions with things you sell or do (or are), you can use AdWords. Of course, people don’t actually write out full questions with punctuation (corner of lazy, remember?), so instead for AdWords you focus on keywords. Keywords are what people actually type into Google to find things: instead of typing in “How do I get my dog to behave?”, someone might type “dog behavior methods” or “dog training”. Those keywords are used to trigger your ad and link the user to a page on your website that answers their question by getting them to use your company.

Google Shopping Ads

Do you use the Google Merchant Center to make your products available online for comparison? Much like Google’s Search Ads highlights your product above a normal (organic) search, Google’s Shopping Ads highlights product listings from your Google Merchant Center on product listings. These product listings appear on the Google Shopping page just like the regular use of the Merchant Center (and take priority over regular listings), but also will appear on Google Search when people search for your products there.

Listing on the Google Merchant Center

Don’t have your products listed on the Google Merchant Center? It’s important to know how feasible this first step is for your company and its website. Do you sell your products online from your website? If not, is your product one that is easy to sell online? Can you install a store system (including credit and ACH payments) into your current website? If you’ve said yes to these questions, then the addition of your product listings to Google Shopping is vital, just like optimizing your pages for Google SEO.

Like what you’ve read? If you’re looking for someone to help, from remaking your website with SEO and a product store, to more Google AdWords then you can shake a stick at, take a look at Vision Advertising. We can also do all those social media platforms you’ve never heard of.

*Okay, some people use Bing or Yahoo, but that’s like saying people use Windows Phones.

Alex Geyer is an Internet Marketing Specialist at Vision Advertising. When not managing all of their client’s AdWords accounts, he’s posting to social media, writing and editing blogs, cleaning out the kitchen sink, or buying everyone hot cocoa. His opinions are his own, but you wouldn’t guess that from how much he shares them.