A Guide to Creating and Editing Google Display Ads
By Published On: January 6, 2025Categories: Digital MarketingTags: , ,

Master the Art of Google Display Ads in This Guide

Learn how to create and edit responsive Google Display Ads with our step-by-step guide. Ads4Seo is here to help small business owners like you succeed by equipping you with valuable skills.

So, why should your business leverage the Google Display Ad network?

Google Display Ads are visual ads, like banners or sidebars, appearing across 2 million websites, reaching 90% of internet users. These ads promote your business to potential customers without requiring them to search for your brand or keywords actively.

Display ads excel because they target users as they browse, surf, and engage with content daily. Imagine scrolling through your favorite blog or website and spotting a sidebar or header ad featuring a product or service. That’s the power of Google Display Ads – they seamlessly integrate into the user’s experience, creating a non-intrusive yet impactful presence.

For small businesses, this presents an incredible opportunity to:

  • Convert audiences into customers
  • Build brand awareness
  • Increase impressions
  • Drive website traffic

Ready to harness these benefits for your business? Let’s dive in!

Follow Our Guideline for Launching a Google Display Ad Campaign!

Our Comprehensive 7-Step Guide to Setting Up a Responsive Google Display Ad Campaign:

1. Log in to Google Ads

Access your Google Ads account through the Google Ads interface.

2. Choose Your Google Ads Account

In your dashboard, click “Accounts” on the left-hand menu.

  • For manager accounts, click the account name next to the Google Ads logo in the top-left corner. A drop-down list of all managed accounts will appear. Select the account for your new campaign.
  • Small business owners managing a single account can skip this step.

3. Navigate to Campaigns and Create a New Campaign

Go to “Overview” > “Campaigns” on the left-hand menu.

Click the blue “+” button on the campaign dashboard. Choose “New Campaign” from the pop-up options to begin.

Set Up Your New Google Display Ad Campaign

4. Set Up Your New Google Display Ad Campaign

Select Campaign Goals

Choose from the following goals based on your business objectives:

  • Best-Performing Goals:
    • Product and Brand Consideration:Showcase your products or services.
    • Website Traffic:Drive your target audience to your website.
    • Brand Awareness:Increase visibility among a large audience.
  • Low-Performing Goals:
    • Sales:Encourage purchases through various channels (app, website, phone, in-store).
    • Leads:Focus on generating conversions via calls-to-action.

For most businesses, “Traffic” or “Branding” campaigns work best.

Navigate to Campaigns and Create a New Campaign

Select Campaign Type

Choose “Display Ad” as your campaign type.

Choose Campaign Subtype

Opt for “Standard Display Campaign.”

Define Your Goal-Reach Strategy

Provide your website URL as a starting point. You can modify this later for specific campaign tracking purposes.

Setting up a Google Display Ad Campaign involves defining your goals, choosing the appropriate settings, and tailoring your strategy to match your objectives. Use “Standard Display Campaign” for better control over targeting and costs. By following these steps, you’ll be positioned to create effective campaigns that drive traffic, build awareness, or promote your brand effectively.

5. Optimising Your Campaign Settings

Choosing a Campaign Name

Choose a meaningful name for your Display Ad Campaign. Typically, names are based on targeting and location to provide clarity when revisiting campaigns later. For example, if targeting a local audience within 10 miles by intent with a responsive display ad, you might name it: “Local 10 Miles (intent campaign) responsive.” This naming approach saves time by avoiding the need to review settings repeatedly.

Select Your Campaign’s Location

Local businesses should specify a particular city, then click the blue “Advanced Search” link to refine targeting further. In the pop-up, choose either Radius or Location targeting:

  • Radius Targeting: Target areas by zip code or the zip code of your Google My Business account. Specify the desired radius around the zip code.
  • Location Targeting: Focus on a specific geographic area relevant to your business.

Optimising Your Campaign Settings

Choose Languages

Input all languages relevant to your audience to ensure the campaign resonates effectively.

Determine Your Ad Bidding and Campaign Budget

When setting up your ad bidding and budget, follow these steps:

  • Focus: Select your goal – either clicks or conversions.
  • Bid Strategy: Choose between automatically maximising results or manually setting bids.
  • Maximum Bid: Optionally, define a maximum bid. Since Google Display Ads are often more affordable than Search Ads, consider setting your maximum bid at one-tenth of your Search Ad campaigns’ cost.

Finally, determine your daily campaign budget. Start with a modest amount and scale up gradually based on performance insights.

By thoughtfully optimising these campaign settings, you can enhance the effectiveness of your Google Display Ad strategy, ensuring it aligns with your business objectives while staying cost-efficient.

Optimise Your Google Display Ad Campaign with “Additional Settings”

  1. Ad Rotation: If your campaign includes multiple ads, Google will rotate them automatically.
  2. Ad Schedule: Choose specific days and hours for your ads to run. This ensures your ads show at optimal times.
  3. Start and End Dates: Set a start and end date to automate ad scheduling, particularly useful for time-sensitive promotions like events or limited-time offers.
  4. Devices: Target specific devices – computers, mobile phones, or tablets. For higher quality interactions, we recommend focusing on computers and/or tablets.
  5. Frequency Capping: Control how often your ad appears to the same user. A cap of three times per day is typically effective.
  6. Campaign URL Options: Add tracking parameters to your campaign URLs for detailed performance analysis.
  7. Dynamic Ads: Ideal for e-commerce, dynamic ads integrate data feeds to personalise user experiences.
  8. Content Exclusions: Filter out placements where you don’t want your ads to appear within the Google Display Network.

Selecting appropriate exclusions is crucial to ensure your ad appears in relevant, high-quality locations. Below is the full list of exclusion options for further refinement.

6. Setting Up an Ad Group for Your Display Ad

Choosing a Name for Your Ad Group

Give your ad group a name based on the targeting strategy you’re using. For example, “Demo + Intent + Keywords” reflects targeting by demographics, user intent, and specific keywords.

Select campaign goals

Choosing Your Target Audiences

Choose audiences Google suggests based on your input or create a custom audience. In this example, we’ll use Google-generated audience groups.

Selecting Demographics

Define the demographics of your target audience. Specify attributes such as age, gender, parental status, or household income.

Refining Your Content Reach

Narrow down your reach by using Keywords, Topics, or Placements. For instance, targeting by keywords allows you to focus on terms relevant to your ad. Add keywords manually or select from Google’s list based on your URL.

Once your keyword list is complete, access the “Keyword Settings” to choose between:

  • Audience: Displays your ad to users interested in your keywords.
  • Content: Displays your ad on web pages, apps, and videos directly related to the keywords.

For this ad, we will target based on content.

Expanding Your Targeting

This option uses lookalike audience principles, similar to Facebook, to broaden your reach. However, we recommend disabling this feature to maintain a focused audience.

By fine-tuning these settings, you can better control when, where, and how your Google Display Ads are shown. Always prioritise quality over quantity to achieve effective targeting and impactful campaign results.

7. Creating Your Google Display Ad

Select Your Ad Type

You have three options for Google Display Ads:

  1. Responsive Display Ads– Upload your text and images, and Google Ads will test and combine them to create optimised ads for maximum reach and placements.
  2. Upload Display Ads– Directly upload your pre-designed display ad.
  3. Copy Existing Ads– Duplicate an existing display ad to use in your new campaign.

For this guide, we will create a Responsive Display Ad.

Set Up Ad Tracking

Before creating your ad, prepare for tracking using Google Analytics Campaign URL Builder:

  • Enter your website’s URL in the Website URL
  • Use “Google” as the Campaign Source.
  • Insert “Display” as the Campaign Medium.
  • Add your campaign name in the Campaign Name

Optionally, include paid campaign terms or content in the URL. Once completed, Google will generate a personalised campaign URL. Use this URL for your display ad campaign.

Upload Images and Logos

You can let Google scan your website, upload images manually, or use stock images. Start with scanning your website to pull images and your company logo.

After scanning, Google Ads may also pull content from your social media platforms, offering additional assets for your ads. Review the scanned assets and assign them as images or logos.

If the scanned assets don’t meet your needs, upload custom images or use Google Ads’ stock images.

Finally, review all selected assets before saving.

Add Video

Incorporating a video can make your ad more engaging. You can add a video by pasting a URL, selecting a recently used file, or uploading a new one.

Include Headlines and Descriptions

Create 5 headline variations (up to 30 characters each) and 5 descriptions (up to 90 characters each). Each should be distinct and tailored to your campaign. Additionally, write one long headline of up to 90 characters.

These elements help Google Ads optimise your ad for better performance by combining and testing them to determine the most effective combinations.

By following these steps, you’ll have a well-optimised Responsive Display Ad ready to maximise your campaign’s impact!

Preview Your Ads

Google Ads generates mock-ups of your ads for Desktop and Mobile on the Google Display Network, YouTube, and Gmail.

Review Ad Strength

Google Ads evaluates your content, rating it based on images, headlines, and descriptions, adapting dynamically to Google’s recommendations and algorithms.

Your hard work is complete! Click “Create Campaign” to launch your campaign live.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What are Google Display Ads, and how can they benefit my business?

Google Display Ads are visual advertisements that appear across millions of websites, such as banners and sidebars, reaching nearly 90% of internet users. These ads are designed to promote your products or services to potential customers even when they are not actively searching for specific keywords. By using Display Ads, businesses can build brand awareness, increase impressions, drive website traffic, and ultimately convert audiences into customers.

How do I create a new Google Display Ad campaign?

To create a new Google Display Ad campaign, start by logging into your Google Ads account and navigating to the “Campaigns” section. Click the blue “+” button to create a new campaign and select your campaign goal, such as “Brand Awareness” or “Website Traffic.” Choose “Display” as the campaign type and proceed with the “Standard Display Campaign” option. You’ll then be prompted to enter your website URL to move forward with the setup process. This ensures your campaign aligns with your goals and is ready for further customisation.

What are the recommended image sizes for responsive display ads?

Responsive display ads require specific image dimensions to ensure high-quality visuals. For a landscape image, the recommended size is 1200 x 628 pixels, with a minimum size of 600 x 314 pixels. For a square image, 1200 x 1200 pixels is ideal, with a minimum size of 300 x 300 pixels. Additionally, for a portrait image, the recommended size is 900 x 1600 pixels, with a minimum size of 600 x 1067 pixels. Using the correct sizes ensures that your ads are clear and visually appealing across devices and placements.

How can I optimise my responsive display ads for better performance?

To optimise responsive display ads, focus on several key areas. Upload high-quality, visually appealing images and ensure your brand logo is clear and recognisable. Craft compelling headlines and descriptions by creating up to five distinct headlines (30 characters each), five descriptions (90 characters each), and one long headline (90 characters). Including engaging video content can also significantly enhance the interaction rate with your ads. Make use of Google Ads’ ad strength evaluation tools to assess the quality of your ad and apply their recommendations to improve its effectiveness.

What is the importance of previewing ads before launching a campaign?

Previewing your ads before launching ensures they look and function as intended across all platforms, including desktop and mobile devices within the Google Display Network, YouTube, and Gmail. This process helps verify that the ads maintain their visual appeal and consistency, providing users with an effective and engaging experience. By previewing, you can make adjustments if necessary, guaranteeing your campaign performs as expected upon launch.