Google Ads / SEA / Campaign Creation + Campaign Management
Tools
Below some of the essential tools that I use to create, manage, analyze and optimize Google Ads campaigns!
Google Analytics 4 ("GA4") is a web and app analytics tool that tracks user interactions across platforms and provides insights on user behavior, conversion paths, and lifetime value.
Conversion/Goals/Key events: It Enables tracking user behavior after clicking on an ad, measuring conversions, analyzing conversion funnels, and understanding overall user interaction on the site.
Audience Creation and Targeting: Create custom audiences in GA4 based on user behavior (e.g., users who visited specific pages) and import them directly into Google Ads for targeted remarketing campaigns.
Google Keyword Planner is designed to help you discover keywords relevant to your business, understand search volumes and competition levels, and estimate the costs of targeting specific keywords in Google Ads campaigns. It’s particularly useful for keyword research, forecasting performance, and planning budgets before launching or optimizing campaigns.
Key Features and Uses
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Discover New Keywords:
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Get Search Volume and Forecasts
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Bid Estimation and Cost Forecasting
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Location and Language Targeting
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Refine by Device and Network
Google Tag Manager is an essential tool for implementing and managing tracking tags easily without directly modifying the site’s code.
It simplifies the tracking of conversions and custom events, which are crucial for campaign optimization.
Key Uses:
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Streamlined Conversion Tracking.
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Custom Event Tracking.
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Remarketing: Install Google Ads remarketing tags to target users who visited your site but didn’t convert.
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Centralized Tag Management:
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Debugging and Testing.
Essential for making bulk edits, such as updating keywords, ads, or campaign settings offline.
Editor is ideal for handling accounts with many campaigns, ad groups, and keywords, or for performing complex edits. Editor also offer the possibility to work on your account offline (and apply the changes once you get back online).
Key Uses:
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Bulk Edits.
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Campaign Creation: Create, duplicate, or modify entire campaigns offline.
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Audit and Optimization: Quickly review
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Drafts and Testing.
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Bulk Import and Export.
Looker Studio is a data visualization and reporting tool that pulls in data from multiple sources, including Google Ads, GA4, and Google Sheets, to create interactive dashboards and reports.
Key Uses:
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Custom Report Building: Looker Studio allows you to create fully customized reports by combining Google Ads data with other data sources.
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Data Visualization
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Automated Reporting
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Cross-Platform Analysis
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Filters and Segments
FYI Looker studio used to be named "Google Data Studio"
The Google Search Console (GSC) is proeminentely a SEO tool, but some of it's features can be very useful for SEA and SEM campaigns:
Benefits for Google Ads:
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Keyword Insights: The Performance report shows organic keywords and search terms that drive traffic, which can provide ideas for targeting in your Google Ads campaigns.
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Top-Performing Pages: Identify high-performing landing pages.
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CTR and Position Data: Analyzing the CTR and position helps gauge search intent and engagement, useful for refining ad copy and targeting.
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Finally, it also allows you to monitor technical or visibility issues that may affect campaign performance.
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Google Sheets is versatile for analyzing campaign data, creating reports, and sharing insights. It integrates well with Google Ads for custom reporting and data manipulation.
Google Sheet can be very usefull to analyze metrics (such as impressions, clicks, CTR, conversion rates, and ROAS) across campaigns, ad groups, or keywords. You can calculate ROI, compare performance over time, and spot trends.
You can prepare bulk data (like keyword lists, ad copies, or budget changes) in Sheets and then import it directly into Google Ads Editor
Adobe Illustrator is a powerful design tool for creating high-quality, customized visuals, primarily used for creating display ads and other branded graphics.
Key Uses:
Creating Display Ads:
Illustrator is used to design eye-catching, professional banners for Google Display Network campaigns. You can ensure that visuals align with brand identity by creating custom color schemes, fonts, and design elements.
Canva is a user-friendly design tool ideal for creating professional-looking visuals, I also primarily use it for creating display ads and other branded graphics.