Think about the last time you went on vacation.
You planned months in advance—researching the best destinations, finding deals on flights (round-trip, obviously), booking the perfect hotel within walking distance of the beach, and reserving a table at that restaurant everyone's talking about.
Did each of those decisions start with a simple Google search? Most likely, yes. Google is an ingrained part of how we make decisions.
Now imagine a prospective renter planning their next move. They, too, rely on Google to find the perfect apartment, and that’s where Google Ads come in.
For apartment marketers, Google Ads is a powerful tool for increasing awareness of their community, attracting prospective renters, and driving leasing success.
In this article, we’re going to focus on how to make your apartment's Google Ads earn the top spot in search.
Say a prospective renter wants a pet-friendly studio apartment in Kansas City. They type “pet-friendly apartments in Kansas City” into Google’s search bar. Here’s an example of what they could see:
The first four results are Google Ads (marked with “Sponsored”).
To earn those spots, apartment marketers took the following steps:
The result? Highly relevant ads tailored to prospective renters' needs.
Because these ads are already relevant to the searcher, they're already interested when they click on one to visit the community's website. They can explore pet policies, check studio floorplan availability, and learn about rent prices to further confirm their interest.
Essentially, a Google Ad targeted to the right prospect makes it more likely they'll choose your apartments over others. This leads to more qualified traffic and leads. Every apartment marketer strives for this result, whether in a lease-up or having a few extra vacancies to fill quickly.
So, the next question is, 'How did these communities in the example above succeed in getting their Google Ads to show?'
Contrary to popular belief, Google Ads isn’t just about bidding the most money. Instead, Google prioritizes relevance to ensure users see ads that match their search intent.
Google determines ad placement using a metric called Quality Score, which evaluates:
Google combines your Maximum Bid (or how much you're willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad) and Quality Score to calculate AdRank:
Maximum Bid × Quality Score = AdRank
The higher your AdRank, the better your ad placement—regardless of your Maximum Bid.
This means even advertisers with smaller budgets (like apartment marketers) can achieve top placement if their ads are highly relevant.
The graphic below further illustrates how Google Ads' business model prevents only the highest bidders from getting their ads placed first:
(Source: Wordstream)
For example:
An ad's cost-per-click factors both your ad's Quality Score and the Ad Rank of the ad just below yours using this formula:
Ad Rank of the ad below your ad / Your ad's Quality Score + $0.01 = Your cost-per-click
Advertiser I's cost-per-click was $1.61, while Advertiser IV's was $8.
By Google's standards, Advertiser I's ads will appear more often and generate a higher rate of clicks than Advertiser IV's ads at a lower cost-per-click. Why? The more an ad is clicked, the more money Google makes.
By focusing on the quality of your Google Ad, you can compete with multiple apartment communities vying to target similar keywords.
Let’s revisit our prospective renter looking for a pet-friendly studio apartment in Kansas City.
They type that query into Google and click on a few ads, each taking them to the websites of different apartment communities. One community stands out because its ad and website perfectly align with the renter's needs.
Suppose an apartment community in Kansas City bids on an ad for the generic, hard-to-rank-for search term "apartments in kansas city."
That decision complicates things for two reasons:
Instead, a more specific keyword, such as “pet-friendly studio apartments in Kansas City,” helps your ad appear to renters actively searching for what your community offers.
The more relevant and specific the keywords, the better. Consider adding qualifiers such as location (“downtown Kansas City”), amenities (“studio with a gym”), and more that align with your community’s unique offerings.
When you target more specific keywords, you reduce the competition. This makes it easier for Google to show your apartment's ads to the right audience more often.
Given all the ambiguity in how people search, Google relies on advertisers by asking them in advance when they'd prefer their ads to appear.
Do they want their ads to appear when someone enters a search that includes selected words, like "apartments" and "Kansas City?" Or do they only want their ads to appear on specified searches such as "studio apartments in Kansas City?"
Google refers to these as "match types," and there are three match types advertisers can select when setting up their ads:
Using match types strategically ensures your ads reach the right audience at the right moment.
Google has implemented many AI tools into its advertising platform, making it even more user-friendly.
For example:
Whether you realized it or not, when you planned your last vacation, many decisions were guided by a Google search and Google Ads.
Prospective renters are the same, which is why Google Ads can give you a lot of power to help them discover your apartments and ultimately lease.
By focusing on high-intent searches that your target audience uses when searching for apartments like yours in your location, your Google Ads' relevance can increase their visibility, reduce costs, and generate more qualified traffic to your website.
Need help with your apartment community's digital advertising strategy? You're in the right place. Predictive Advertising automates your apartment community's digital ads to deliver the right leads at the right time and improve leasing.