How to use Google Ads in Education Business – A Complete Guide with 10-steps!
If you run an education business, such as a school, college, or online course provider, you might be wondering how to attract more students and increase your enrollment rates. One of the most effective ways to do that is using Google Ads the online advertising platform that allows you to reach potential customers searching for your services on Google. You need to understand how to use Google Ads in education business.
Google Ads can help you showcase your institute to people looking for what you offer, whether they want to enrol in a degree program, take a short course, or learn a new skill. You can also use Google Ads to target people who have visited your website before or who have shown interest in similar topics or services.
In this article, we will explain how Google Ads works for education businesses, and how you can use it to create and optimize your campaigns. We will also share some best practices and tips to help you get the most out of your advertising budget.
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is an online platform that allows you to create and run pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns. PPC means you only pay when someone clicks on your ad and visits your website or landing page.
There are two main types of Google Ads: search ads and display ads.
Search ads
Search ads are text-based ads that appear on the Google search engine results page (SERP) when someone searches for keywords related to your education business. For example, if someone searches for “online MBA programs”, they might see your ad at the top or bottom of the page, along with other organic results.
Display ads
Display ads are image-based ads that appear on other websites that are part of the Google Display Network (GDN). The GDN consists of millions of websites that partner with Google to show ads to their visitors. You can use display ads to reach people browsing websites related to your education business or who have previously visited your website or shown interest in your services.
Why use Google Ads in education business?
Google Ads can help you achieve various goals for your education business, such as:
Increasing brand awareness
Google Ads can help you to expose your education business to a large and relevant audience and build trust and recognition among potential students.
Generating leads
You can use Google Ads to drive qualified traffic to your website or landing page, where you can capture their contact information and follow up with them later.
Increasing conversions
Google Ads can persuade people who have shown interest in your education business to take action, such as requesting more information, enrol for counselling session, applying for admission, or enrolling in a course.
Retaining customers
Google Ads help you to stay in touch with your existing students and customers and encourage them to continue their education journey with you. By targeting ads to customers who have already engaged with your brand, you can encourage them to return and make repeat purchases. This can be especially used for short-term courses and upskilling courses.
How to create a Google Ads campaign for education businesses?
To create a Google Ads campaign for your education business, you need to follow these steps:
1. Set up a Google Ads account
If you don’t have one already, you need to create a Google Ads account using your Gmail address. You will also need to enter your billing information and choose your currency and time zone. Choosing your time zone correctly will help you in getting reports in your local time.
2. Choose a campaign goal
Google Ads will ask you to choose a goal for your campaign, such as sales, leads, website traffic, brand awareness, or app promotion. This will help Google tailor your campaign settings and options based on what you want to achieve.
3. Choose a campaign type
Next, you need to choose a campaign type based on where you want your ads to appear. You can choose between search network campaigns (for search ads), display network campaigns (for display ads), or both (for a combination of both types of ads).
4. Choose a campaign name and budget
Give your campaign a name that is descriptive and easy to remember. You also need to set a daily budget for your campaign, which is the maximum amount you are willing to spend daily on your ads.
5. Choose a bidding strategy
A bidding strategy is telling Google how much you are willing to pay for each click on your ad. You can choose between bidding strategies based on your campaign goal and budget. For example, you can choose cost-per-click (CPC) bidding if you want to pay only when someone clicks on your ad or cost-per-thousand-impressions (CPM) bidding if you want to pay based on how many times your ad is shown.
6. Choose a target audience
You need to define who you want to see your ads based on various criteria, such as location, language, age, gender, interests, behaviour, device type, etc. You can also use remarketing lists to target people who have visited your website or interacted with your previous ads.
7. Choose keywords and ad placements
For search network campaigns, you need to choose relevant keywords that trigger your ads to appear when someone searches for them on Google. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to research and choose keywords with high search volume and low competition. For display network campaigns, you need to choose relevant websites or topics where you want your ads to appear. You can use Google’s Placement Planner tool to find websites that match your target audience and budget.
8. Create ad groups and ads
You need to create ad groups containing related keywords and ads and write compelling ad copy encouraging people to click on your ads. For search network campaigns, you need to write headlines, descriptions, and display URLs that match the searcher’s intent and provide a clear value proposition. For display network campaigns, you need to create visually appealing and relevant ads that match the website’s design and context.
9. Set up conversion tracking
Install a Google Ads conversion tracking code on your website or landing page, which allows you to track and measure the actions that people take after clicking on your ads, such as filling out a form, calling your business, or making a purchase. This data will help you optimize your campaigns and improve your return on investment (ROI).
10. Launch and monitor your campaign
Once you have set up your campaign, you can launch it and monitor its performance using Google Ads’ dashboard and reporting tools. You can see how many clicks, impressions, and conversions your ads generate and adjust your targeting, bidding, and ad copy to improve your results.
Best Practices for Google Ads for education businesses
To get the most out of your Google Ads campaign for your education business, you should follow these best practices:
1. Define your target audience
Before creating your campaign, you should research and define your target audience based on their demographics, interests, behaviour, and needs. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Trends, and Facebook Audience Insights to gather insights about your potential students and create buyer personas.
2. Use relevant keywords
Choose keywords that are relevant to your education business and match the searcher’s intent. Use long-tail keywords that have specific and actionable queries, and avoid broad or generic keywords that have high competition and low relevance. Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches and save your ad spend.
3. Write compelling ad copy
Write ad copy that highlights the benefits and features of your education business and provides a clear call-to-action (CTA) that prompts the user to take action. Use emotional appeals, social proof, and unique selling propositions (USPs) to differentiate yourself from your competitors and persuade the user to choose your business.
4. Use ad extensions
Ad extensions are additional features that you can add to your ads to provide more information and options to the user. Use extensions like site links, callouts, reviews, and location to enhance your ad’s visibility and credibility.
Google Ads also call them as asset-based extensions.
They are as follows:
- Calls
- Callout
- Hotel Callout
- Lead Form
- Location
- Apps
- Prices
- Promotion
- Sitelink
- Structured Snippet
5. Test and optimize your campaigns
Continuously test and optimize your campaigns based on the data and insights you gather from your Google Ads account. Experiment with different ad formats, bidding strategies, targeting options, and ad copy variations to find the best combination that generates the highest ROI. Use A/B testing to compare the performance of two different ad elements and make data-driven decisions.
6. Monitor your competitors
Keep an eye on your competitors’ ads and keywords to stay ahead of the game and find new opportunities. Use tools like SpyFu, SEMRush, and AdBeat to analyze your competitors’ ad copy, landing pages, bidding strategies, and targeting options.
Conclusion
Google Ads can be a powerful tool for education businesses to attract and retain more students, increase brand awareness, and generate leads and conversions. By following the best practices and tips outlined in this article, you can create and optimize effective Google Ads.
