Google Ad Grants: keys to optimizing results

Many of the non-profit organizations do not have a budget for advertising or marketing, something considered a luxury. These organizations are forced to take advantage of all the opportunities that come their way, being Google Ad Grants   a great support for its dissemination. With it, you can request up to $ 10,000 of free expenses in Adwords to carry out campaigns. In this way, they can create your brand   image and reach new volunteers and donors for their projects.

Google Adwords can be a great tool for nonprofits, as long as the platform is used correctly and campaigns are often optimized.

Steps to apply for Google Grants

First, the organization must meet Google’s eligibility criteria. The organization must be a valid charity and have documentation to prove it. Also, you need to have an up-to-date website. There are some organizations that are excluded, such as government organizations and hospitals.

Once it is verified that the criteria are met, you can fill out the Google   application for non-profit organizations. The application approval process can take up to 20 days, although it is usually faster.

Create a Google AdWords account. This step can be performed while waiting for the response to the request. A full account can be created prior to Google Grants approval or created with the minimum necessary to obtain Google Grants approval. Once approved you can continue with the creation of the account, which must have at least one campaign, one keyword, one text ad, a daily budget of $ 329, the type of network must be “only in the search network”, you can not activate the option to exit in associated search engines and not enter any billing information

As soon as   the registration is approved, you must log in with the email address associated with the account that was previously created. You will now see the option to enroll in Google Ad Grants. That request is sent and the customer ID of the AdWords account that was just created is inserted.

Limitations of Google Grant

• A campaign can spend $330 per day.
• Google has a bid limit of $2 for Grants accounts, so the maximum cost of $2 per click cannot be exceeded.
• Ads can only be run on the Search Network. Google Grants accounts can’t be published to the Display Network.
• Ads will only run in Google Search results, not in the Google partner network.

There is also a minimum for management activity on the account, where $10 in monthly expenses must be maintained. In addition, advertisers must sign in at least once a month and make changes at least once every 90 days.

Grants Account Management

The management style of a Google Grants account tends to be different from that of a typical AdWords account. One of the main differences is the fact that an advertiser has no control over their bids above $2.

Since you have $10,000 for free, an advertiser is incentivized to spend as much as possible. Without full control over bids, an advertiser must be creative and find other ways to guide click traffic. Google is known to reward the advertiser who owns high-quality relevant ads. By improving   quality and offering users an optimal user experience, an advertiser may pay less for a higher ad position.

Keys to a Grants account

Maximize bids

Grants accounts have a maximum CPC limit of $2, so it makes sense to set bids to the max to ensure they show up in a higher position. Later, as with any account, some Keywords   will be more efficient than others, so the bidding strategy will need to be adjusted.

Optimize CTR

Through continuous testing, the CTR must always improve. You can create various types of ads and test to see which ones stand out. Also, ad extensions are another great way to improve CTR, and it helps improve the relevance of your ads and your message.

Use all match types

In a non-Grants account, it is preferable to use exact keyword and modified keyword types as match types. With a Google Grants account, you tend to include a greater number of broad match terms. Broad match terms can help match other terms that were not previously thought of. Broad match types can also help expand reach, especially with inferior offers.

Focus on awareness, not conversions

For a website of this type, it is better to pay attention to the number of visitors it receives than to conversions, since it is usually looking to create a brand image.

Consider search queries

In itself, this is a general tip for all AdWords accounts. The search terms report can indicate which search queries trigger your ads, which can help you decide whether to delete keywords or add new ones.

Have good landing pages

The quality of ads also depends on landing pages, not just keywords. By having more quality, it is possible to pay a lower cpc to position the ad better.

If you have several Adwords accounts, since there are these limitations, the level of quality can suffer, so it is not highly recommended to have them under the same MCC.

Google Grants is a great way for a nonprofit to substantially increase its online exposure. This additional advertising budget can help get volunteers and donors, and also increase the amount of brand recognition. As long as a nonprofit can maintain eligibility and has inside knowledge of how to successfully optimize Google AdWords campaigns, there is no reason not to participate in the Google program.