What Budget Should I Set For Google Ads?

Paid ads are quite attractive when you want quick results such as increased traffic, brawn awareness, or conversion rates. Choosing Google to launch your paid ads campaign is an excellent idea because over one billion people use Google search every day.  

But you probably knew this already. You are here because you are unsure how much money to use on the next Google Ads campaign. 

This is not an easy decision to make. However, you will make an informed one with access to the correct information. Let’s see what budget you should set for Google Ads.  

Before you can assess the cost of advertising on Google, you need to learn a few technicalities about budgeting your paid ads campaign on Google’s platform. There are several Google Ads budget types. Here is what you should know about each one of them. 

Total Campaign Budget 

As the name suggests, the total campaign budget stands for the total amount of money you are willing to spend on an ads campaign. These budgets are commonly set for time-sensitive campaigns. For instance, they are perfect for ads promoting a webinar, limited-time discounts, or sales.  

Google allows you to select the start and end date for a campaign. Then you need to add the total budget. Google will use your budget to display your ad to the relevant audience. The platform will use the budget efficiently to achieve optimal results. 

Daily Budget 

The Google Ads platform also enables you to set a daily budget called a campaign budget. To set the daily budget, you need to know how much cash you can spend in a week or month. When you know your weekly or monthly budget, it’s easy to set the daily budget.  

Given that Google records discrepancies and fluctuations in search traffic, the platform may spend 20% more than you specify. That’s why Google calls it the average daily budget. It’s all there in the fine print, so make sure to read carefully. If you set the monthly budget, Google will subtract these 20% increases to ensure it doesn’t go over the monthly budget.  

When in Doubt, Consult Google Keyword Planner 

Google Keyword Planner and Google Ads work hand in hand, and you should start using them together to create optimal campaigns. When it comes to your next Google Ads campaign budget, Keyword Planner can give you the estimates. You can access it right from Google Ads if you go to “Tools > Settings > Planning > Keyword Planner.” 

Here is what you should learn from the planner for the targeted keyword(s): 

• Estimated number of clicks; 

• Average cost per click; 
• Estimated daily budget; 
• Estimated monthly budget. 

Use the View Recommended Budget Feature 

If you are an inexperienced marketer, at least when it comes to Google Ads, you should know that Google did a marvelous job making the platform easy to use. It uses both Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to analyze data in real-time.  

If you’ve run a campaign for at least 15 days, Google will be able to provide you with a budget estimate. In the Google Ads platform, you can find the “View recommended budget” option in your budget settings. It is a pretty precise estimate the platform calculates based on your campaign performance.  

The longer the campaign has been up, the better, as the platform will have more data to consider enabling even more accurate estimates.  

How to Know Which Budget to Set?

It doesn’t matter whether you choose to set a daily or monthly budget. Either one will work fine.  If you work better with monthly budgets, set the monthly budget.  

Your test budget should not be a couple of $$! 

Simply put, Google Ads is not designed to work with budgets as small as a couple of $$. If you want to test a campaign, you should start with at least $10 as a daily budget. If you know your keyword research and targeting game, feel free to go with daily budgets around the $1,000 mark.  

Let it run for at least two weeks! 

Google Ads learn from the data, as do you. So, to know how much cash to pour into your Google Ads, you need to let your test campaign run for at least two weeks; the longer, the better. If your daily budget is set to $10, we are talking about $140 of investment. After two weeks, you will have valuable insights, including: 

• Cost per click; 
• Number of clicks; 
• Number of impressions; 
• Conversion rate; 
• Cost per acquisition. 

Conclusion 

To sum up, you can set daily and monthly budgets for your Google Ads campaign. It doesn’t matter which one you choose. What does matter is the budget you set aside for it. Fortunately, with a little help from Google Keyword Planner, you can discover the recommended budget for your keywords. Never leave your campaign on autopilot.