You’ve got a small business, and you want to continue to grow, so you know you should be placing ads, and with all the digital marketing offerings, where do you begin?

You’ve seen ads on your search engine results page when looking for various products, but did you know that Google Ad Manager provides options far beyond the basic text-based ads? You can micro-target your audience by geographic region and some demographics, making Google ads far more cost-effective than you may realize.

One thing nobody really tells you is how rabbit-hole-y the targeting options can get. It’s a weird mix of fun and overwhelming—like someone hands you all the levers in a cockpit and says, “Here, have at it.” You could focus your budget just on your town, or people searching from a coffee shop (no joke) at 7 a.m. on a Tuesday—if, for some reason, you really want that vibe.

But honestly, it’s easy to get lost clicking around and overthinking it all. The trick is not letting the options paralyze you. Sometimes, the simple approach (like picking just three zip codes or targeting one age group) is more than enough to get real results, especially when your budget isn’t huge.

Getting started with Google ads doesn’t have to be scary. We’ll walk you through the process step-by-step, helping ensure you get the best possible results for your advertising dollars.

Let’s get started with the basics!