Search Ads vs Display Ads: What’s the Difference?
After countless hours working on your new project, you’re ready to share it with the world. But where do you start? Whether it’s a new business, service or product, getting started with advertising doesn’t have to be something out of a horror film. Start by thinking about the type of messaging you want to have. Do you want to pull customers to you, or do you want to push your product/service out to the world?
Once you decide on a path, Google Ads can be an incredible tool to carry out your strategy.
Google Ads
Let’s start with the basics. Google Ads lets you easily create your own ads and manage them. You write your ad copy, include images and set your own budget. It’s a platform that’s easy to navigate and simple to use. This makes it a great tool for someone who’s just getting started with digital advertising, or even seasoned professionals who dive into the platform and get more technical. Once you’ve created your ads, whether they’re search or display, you can come back any time to check performance and make any adjustments.
You can get very detailed in regards to link set-ups, conversion tracking, audience targeting and much more, but for now – that’s the quick elevator pitch.
Search Ads
One of the very first questions Google will ask when you’re setting up ads is if you want to run search or display ads. I think of search ads as “pull” advertising. Your ads are showing on Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), and you’re trying to pull people to your site to learn more. So, whenever people search for the keywords you listed during your ad creation, you’re paying to show up on Google’s search pages.
It’s a great way to begin to show up on search results, build awareness and supplement your organic traffic. Your ads are only showing up on those SERPs – but if you want to show up elsewhere, that’s where display ads come into play.
Display Ads
You know those ads that show on the web pages you view? They’re usually at the top as banners, at the bottom, or on the sides. Think of the time you viewed the page of your favorite taco recipe – those ads were likely there.
These are display ads. The entire creation process is very similar to setting up search ads, except you need to include images and logos. Ads are also not showing up on SERPs, but they’re showing up anywhere across the Google Display Network. You can choose to place your ads on websites that have content related to your keywords. Or you can target people directly who have previously searched for your keywords. They’ll see your ads on any pages they visit – regardless of its content.
These display ads are a “push” sort of advertising. You are showcasing your product, service and webpage to people when they aren’t specifically looking for it.
Final thoughts
Choosing between search and display ads is going to come down to what your goals are. Maybe you’ll find you just want to appear on search results when people are looking for a service, resource or product related to yours. Or showcasing yourself alongside web pages they’re browsing is more in line with your strategy. Maybe, it’s both. Either way, align your advertising with your goals and make sure you’re showing up where your target audience already is.
