The display network is a group of websites where you can show your ads. Ads can be displayed in various
formats including banners, text or video. Campaigns can be set up through the Google Adwords interface.
You can choose to appear simultaneously on the Search and Display network or just opt for one or the other. However it is recommended to create 2 different campaigns, one for Search and one for Display, this will allow you to specify different settings for each of them.
To set it up, simply go to campaign settings and under Genreral/Type, select the Display Network. The same pricing model as the Search Network applies: Pay Per Click. Once you have created your ads, there are several options available to specify where your ads will show:
Display keywords
You can specify which keywords need to be present on the pages you want your ads to appear. Don’t be too particular here or it will greatly reduce your reach.
Managed placements
Choose this option to select very specific websites where you want your ads to appear (e.g.: YouTube, The Guardian or any other website on the Google Display Network). You can also narrow down your targeting with topics (bookkeeping, internet cafés, etc).
Automatic placements
This option will be prevail if you did not enter any managed placements. In that case Google will automatically select websites to display your ads according to your keywords.
Whatever option you choose, you will also have the possibility to exclude certain websites, topics or keywords from your targeting.
Should you use the Display Network?
The Display Network is a great platform to advertiseyour business across a wide range of websites. The downside is that people seeing your ads won’t necessarily be actively looking for your products or services. You must therefore expect much lower conversion rates than on the Search network. But with good targeting and ads you should be able to get a decent return on investment for a minimal budget. So once again, it’s definitely worth testing.
