Online advertising: Google Ads and Meta Ads

Online advertising lets you pay to appear in front of people who are searching for what you sell or who look like your ideal customer. For most small and medium businesses that means Google Ads and Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram). The hard part is not launching a campaign but knowing what a sensible budget is and whether the money comes back.

Start with the Google Ads cost guide: it explains how the cost per click works and includes a calculator for your monthly budget. The Meta Ads guide walks through Ads Manager and the metrics to watch, and the Meta Ad Library guide shows how to see the ads your competitors are running right now.