Google Ads vs Google AdWords Express

What’s The Difference Between Them?

Almost every business owner knows they need to be advertising to stay competitive in their local market. These days the most cost-effective and efficient way to advertise is online. Online advertising allows your business to target specific consumers and use the data gathered from your campaigns to maximize the return on your investment. The hardest part is figuring out where to start. Do you want to handle the advertising yourself? Should you reach out to a professional PPC Agency? What platforms should you even be advertising on?

At Black Propeller we are focused on building the best campaigns for our clients and optimizing those campaigns to maximize ROI, but we also want to provide potential clients with the information they need to make an educated selection when it comes to choosing an advertising platform.

Google Ads is the largest online advertising platform. But Google has two different platforms they offer to their users, Google Ads and Google AdWords Express. This article will break down the pros and cons of each platform along with our recommendation when it comes to selecting an online advertising platform.

Google Ads

Google Ads is a full-service advertising platform. It allows the user to create their own campaigns, target specific keywords, select geographic regions, catalog and track advertising analytics, and much more. Basically, you have the ability to tailor the advertising campaign to fit your specific needs. You can run your ads when you want, show them where you want, to whom you want. The difficulty arises when you come across a feature that you do not understand. It can be a little tough to figure out if you have never worked within an online advertising platform before. However, you have two options with this dilemma. You can either reach out to a certified Google Partner Accredited PPC Management Agency or contact Google directly via phone. Their tech support is able to walk you through initial set up; however, contacting an agency is the route we recommend if you plan to set your campaign up correctly and work to optimize and grow every month. Google Ads caters to the specific needs of the user and provides all of the tools needed to run a successful online advertising campaign.

Pros:

• Full access to the platforms features
• The ability to tailor the advertising campaign to your specific needs
• Data from Google Analytics for optimization and increased ROI
• Multiple ad formats and features

Cons:

• Learning Curve.
• The initial set up process can be a little difficult

AdWords Express

Google AdWords Express was created by Google in 2011 and marketed as the solution for small to medium sized businesses that needed advertising, but had no personal website or experience with Google’s online platform. It is supposed to be a stripped down, “easier” version of their AdWords platform. AdWords Express allows the user to create their account, select their target categories and Google fills in the rest with one of their one-size-fits-all templates. AdWords Express is a good option for businesses looking to start online marketing in a quick and easy manner, but there are some major downsides to AdWords Express that tend to outweigh the positive aspects. Express does not allow the user to select specific keywords. This means that Google uses their template for the category you chose. Their templates use keywords that may be related to the category you have selected, but not your specific business. AdWords Express does not allow for the input of negative keywords. In essence you are paying to use a Google template that was made to be a one-size-fits-all solution. Unfortunately, every business is unique. There may be some similarities, but the best way to maximize your return on investment is to optimize the campaign to fit YOUR specific needs. AdWords Express does not allow this type of personalization. They also have a very limited, stripped down version of analytics. This makes optimization even more difficult.

Pros:

• Easy to set up campaigns
• Quickly get your campaign set up and your ads running

Cons:

• Limited platform features
• Template style set up, features, and overall structure
• Limited data from Google Analytics for optimization
• Singular ad formats
• No ability to advertise on other partner sites

At Black Propeller we specialize in Pay-Per-Click Advertising. We cater to small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between. We approach every client as a unique, individual account. We strive to set competitive goals and hit them every month. Our company allows you to have the best of both platforms. We handle the set up of your Google Ads account or the conversion of your Express account to a traditional account. Using the years of industry experience we have under our belt, we get your campaigns set up quickly and have your ads running in a matter of days. This allows you to have access to all of the benefits of Google Ads while we make the process as easy as the set up for an AdWords Express account. Our monthly management fee covers the hours we spend optimizing your campaign to make it as specific and targeted as possible, while also maximizing your ROI.

If you have any questions about Google Ads or AdWords Express feel free to reach out to us for a free consultation.