How to use Google Ads for photographers

Google Ads has been my saving grace for bringing in new photography clients. It’s an amazing tool for anyone looking for more clients – and quickly. I’ve been working on SEO for my website, but it’s a long-term game and takes some time to establish, while Google Ads helps to speed up the process, and you can see almost immediate results if done correctly.

I’ve gotta admit, starting Google Ads when you have no idea what you’re doing can be overwhelming and challenging – at least for me it was. Now that I’ve gotten the hang of it, I’m obsessed. It took many trials and errors to really understand how it all worked, but once I figured it out, it did the heavy lifting of bringing in new photography clients.

Learning how to set it up correctly is mandatory! When I first started with ads, I wasted $50 in 24 hours and it was soul-crushing. There wasn’t much information on how to set up Google Ads for wedding photographers so I created this guide for anyone who was in the same boat as I was. These steps will help with any type of photographer or any service based business.

How do Google Ads work?

Paying for Google Ads gets your website to show up when someone searches for your service or keyword. You’ll typically see these at the top of the page on Google and will say sponsored. The top websites under the sponsored posts are websites that are ranking high on Google with good organic SEO.

Google Ads is an auction, and you will bid for your website to show up and compete with other bidders. Your website may not show up every time, and Google will determine which website shows up depending on the quality of ads, your budget, and a few other factors. 

Before getting started: your website matters

First things first, having a good website is crucial. People will still find your ads, but if your website isn’t quality, they likely won’t convert and book. Be sure to set up your website first so it’s appealing and will make people want to reach out to find out more to book your services.

I also recommend having your Google Business profile set up with reviews so they can see that you’re a trustworthy business.

Keyword research

Keywords are what people type into Google to find your service. Choosing the right ones is such an important step to setting up your ads. You want to use keywords that people are searching for related to your area and services.

Start with your service and location. I would stay away from super broad terms like ‘wedding photographer’ as that won’t convert as well, and focus on something more specific. Example: ‘Asheville wedding photographer.’ 

You’ll also want to find search terms that people are actually searching for. Google Ads will let you know when your search term has low search traffic, and you’ll see ‘no search volume.’ For example: No one really searches ‘Denver candid photographer’. Instead, they may search for ‘Denver family photographer‘.

Once your research is done, you can use these ‘search terms’ in your Google Ads, but also on your website for better SEO (and rank higher on Google). Your short-term goal may be to pay for Google Ads, but your long-term goal may be to rank on the first page of Google organically (and free).

My favorite keyword research tools

There are a few tools out there to find your keywords, but my personal favorite is Keywords Everywhere. I use their Chrome extension pretty much daily. It’s also pretty cost-effective. Instead of paying for a subscription, you pay for ‘tokens’ which will only be used when you search for different keywords.

I’ve also started using Keysearch, which is a similar program, but with a monthly membership.

You can also do Keyword research for free right in Google Ads on their keyword planner, but again, my favorite is Keywords Everywhere. 

Setting up your Google Ads

First things first, you’ll want to sign up for your Google Ads account! I also like to have Google Search Console and Google Analytics set up so we can see where we’re at, and what’s already working and start tracking data to make your Ads even better. The earlier you can get these set up, the more data you’ll have to work with!

👉 Campaigns: how to structure your Google Ads

We’re going to start with a bit of Google Ads lingo so stick with me! First, we start with campaigns. I like to think of campaigns as the foundation of a home.

Note that there are SO many ways to structure Google Ads so take a minute to write down your services and areas you want to target. You may have different locations or completely different services to target. If you want to target multiple locations, you could have a different campaign for each location. Example: One campaign for Washington DC, one for California, one for NC.  

I currently only have one campaign which is my main ‘hub’ since I’m not targeting other locations. In the past, I had a few different campaigns. One for North Carolina and one for Colorado when I was back in forth between locations.

Your campaigns will also control your budget. So if you want to spend more money on weddings and a little less on portraits, make 2 different campaigns for each service. I like to split mine evenly so I have one campaign set up and then break up my services in my Ad groups.

How much to spend on Google Ads

Most advice you’ll see online will tell you to spend thousands but that wasn’t realistic for me. Obviously, the higher the budget, the more potential of more clicks and hopefully more clients. A lower budget will take a little extra time to get those clicks to your website bringing in new clients. 

I personally went with $10 a day which came out to be about $300 per month.

Depending on the cost of your keywords, $10 can be one click to your website or it could be a couple clicks to your website a day.

👉 Set up a Google Ads campaign

Step 1. New campaign

In your Google Ads and select “New Campaign.”

Step 2. Select your goal/objective

I like to click create a campaign without a goal guidance. This gives you a little more flexibility and more control.

You could also choose a specific goal like ‘Leads’ or ‘Website Traffic’. I prefer skipping it because I like having more manual control over how things are set up.

Step 3. Select campaign type

You’ll want to choose ‘search campaigns‘. What we’re trying to do is target search keywords when someone searches on Google. 

Be sure to have the search network and display network *unchecked*. That’s just putting money towards cold leads.

Step 4. Choose the location you want to target

Since I’m in a destination area, I have mine set up to The United States and ‘Presence or interest: People in, regularly in, or who’ve shown interest in your included locations.’ Since my keywords are super specific, I’m only getting people Googling my area.

If you have more vague keywords like ‘wedding photographer,’ you’ll want to set up your location in a specific area. I target certain towns/areas, so my keywords would look like ‘Raleigh wedding photographer’.

Step 5. Set your budget

This will vary from business to business. I do $10 a day which comes out to $300 a month. 

Step 6. Set your bidding strategy

I like to keep things manual and focus on manual costs per click. You’ll click select a bid strategy. Manual CPC will be towards the bottom.

I don’t set a schedule for when I want these to run. Some people will set times so people won’t call during weird hours, but since I live in a destination area, people are viewing my website from all different time zones and I want them to be able to view whenever they’re searching. 

👉 Set up ad groups

Ad groups will be our next ‘branch.’ While it’s structured similarly to campaigns, ad groups are like the branch under campaigns. 

For me, I have a different ad group for each service I provide.

Step 1. Name your ad group

I have an ad group for each service I offer. So wedding, elopement, family and engagement are my 4 different ad groups I have.

Step 2. Add your ad group keywords

Now we’ll go back to the keywords that you researched previously. There are 3 different types of ‘keywords’ in Google Ads. There’s phrase match, exact match and broad match.

I personally only use [exact match] and “phrase match.” I find broad match to be too general and it usually brings in people looking for something that I’m not selling or a service I don’t have. 

• Exact match: Only shows your ad for that exact phrase.
• Phrase match: Shows your ad for close variations like “photographer in Santa Barbara.”
• Broad match (not recommended): Too general and may trigger unrelated searches.

It will look a little something like this:

• [santa barbara photographer] – Exact match
• “santa barbara photographer” – Phrase match 
• santa barbara photographer – Broad match

👉 Create your Ads

Add headlines to your Ad

You’ll have the option to add in 15 headlines to your Ad which is the text that pops up to catch the reader’s attention. I find that specific terms like your location + service keywords are helpful here. You can test these out and be sure to check out your data to see what’s the most converting. You can also add other details about your brand or business. 

Add descriptions

Here you’ll add similar verbiage, but more in length with a call to action. 

Add Ad extensions

This will be links to your website. Maybe a ‘contact’, ‘about us’, testimonials or whatever makes sense for your services. 

Facebook Ads VS Google Ads

The amazing thing about Google Ads is the person is already searching for your specific service and typically, they are ready to book. Facebook or Instagram Ads puts you in front of new people (or retargeting people that have been on your website). What does this mean? Google Ads puts you in front of people who will usually convert faster. You have a higher chance of someone booking VS. Facebook Ads is more like an introduction to your business.