Have you tried using Google Ads for your small business? Perhaps you have seen the ads when doing a Google search, but have never considered how having one of your own could benefit your business. These ads, sometimes referred to as Pay Per Click (PPC), can be an effective way to drive traffic to your website. An Google Ads campaign is designed by carefully choosing keywords for your business and crafting an ad that will grab the attention of those see it.

Of course, getting a Google Ads campaign set up can seem a bit tedious and daunting – especially if you have never done so before. Truth be told, it can be a challenge to maintain and master! That said, if you are considering trying your hand at setting up a Google Ads campaign, then here are a few tips to keep in mind:

  • Keep it simple. Start small and build on it as you become more comfortable and knowledgeable of how Google Ads works.
  • Track progress. Take time to check in often and see how your Ads campaign is going. You will need to note which words/phrases are getting the best/worst results and adjust your ads accordingly.
  • Think about your audience. Endeavor to match your ad to the location, device or network you want to reach. But be careful that you don’t narrow your reach too much. 
  • Set a budget. While you want to be in the top results shown, it is also important to stay on budget. To set a daily budget (the recommended approach) use this formula: Total Marketing Budget * Percentage towards Google Ads)/Days in the Month = Daily Budget. Ideally, you want to start slow and gradually increase until you are in at least ad position 4-6 AND receiving impressions.
  • Bid for positioning. Bidding on specific industry keywords helps improve your ad’s positioning. In determining your bid, multiply revenue or Customer LTV by conversion rate to get your max bid. 

If all of this sounds like more than you want to take on, no worries!  Our team is composed of  Google Ads certified experts so you don’t have to know all the ins and outs of setting up Google Ads. What is important is that you take the time to explore using Google Ads.

Benefits of Using Google Ads for Your Small Business

  1. Google Ads are cost effective. You can reach a large amount of people with a relatively small investment. By having the right keywords, structure and target options even a small budget garners impressions and clicks.
  2. Only pay for results. One of the great things about Google Ads is that you are only charged when your campaign is successful. Because of the way PPC is designed, you only pay for the number of times your ad or link is clicked. Also, there is no minimum investment required in order to advertise with Google Ads so the small to medium size business can compete against a larger business regardless of their budget.
  3. It is measurable. Thanks to an assortment of online tools, it is easy to track the effectiveness of your ads. In fact, Google Ads has more tools than anyone else for tracking how well your campaign is going. This allows you to tell if your campaign is working as you envision it.
  4. Google Ads is faster than SEO. Search engine optimization is certainly important and necessary for helping your business get found on the Web. But for relatively quick results an Google Ads campaign is the way to go -especially for small and new business! Why? Because you can start getting results immediately. Plus, if you discover that a keyword or phrase is work especially good with your campaign, then it’s safe to think it will be equally effective as building out your website’s content. Another reason Google Ads is faster is you can focus on multiple keywords at a time, thus spreading your approach and reaching more people.
  5. It is scalable. In most marketing approaches, to get a significant number of results an equal amount of effort must be invested. With Google Ads, when you have a campaign that is converting at a profitable rate you don’t need to cap spending. Instead, just increase your PPC budget and the leads and profits will increase accordingly.
  6. No commitment required. Only want to run an ad campaign for the holiday season? Perhaps you are having a seasonal celebration and want to get the word out to as many as possible. Then create a Google Ads campaign for just a that event. When it’s over, simply stop the campaign.
  7. Google Ads allows for data collection. Run a campaign for just a short span of time to collect data that will help you later transition to a PPC campaign.
  8. Google Ads are flexible. There are numerous ways that you can utilize Google Ads.
    1. Specific match types based on a location and city, for example, “Raleigh auto repair”.
    2. Narrow your audience based on location, time of day, language, browser, or device used.
    3. Combine it with ad extensions to display product images, a contact number, browser used or physical location.
    4. It can be used with partner sites like Gmail, Google Business, YouTube and dozens of others.
    5. Take advantage of the display network, thus increasing brand awareness, and often works out to a lower cost than Google Search.
  9. Typically, easier to use than SEO. Keeping up a large website and ensuring that you use keywords in a beneficial way can take a great deal of energy and people due to needing to constantly create SEO content, maintaining optimization and link building. Google Ads works without having to do excessive maintenance.
  10. Peer Pressure. Did you know. That there is an average of 40,000 Google search queries per second or that there are 1.5 billion people online worldwide? That’s a lot of people and searches! So, if your competitor seems to be doing significantly better than you, chances are, they are using Google Ads to build their business. Don’t get left behind because you haven’t set up a Google Ads campaign.
  11. Google Ads allows for remarketing. This allows you to target site guests who have already visited your website. You can design your remarketing approach to either show the ads to previous visitors or show ads for specific products or services they previously viewed on your site. This is accomplished in two ways: Display Remarketing and RLSA campaigns.
    1. With Display remarketing a list of site guests who visit but don’t take action is created Those people are then reached out to again, while those who have made purchases are not target as new leads. RLSA stands for Remarketing Lists for Search Ads. It works using a keyword plus the remarketing campaigns on a search network.
    2. Google ads match the user’s search term with the keyword and the remarketing list, and then show relevant ads. Also, through remarketing, Google Ads compliments any other online marketing channels you are using as your display ads will “follow” them around the Web.
  12. Google Ads helps engage your customers. As Google Ads has evolved, it has expanded to offer ads that include product listings, show videos, and an assortment of other add ins. Each of these new iterations makes Google Ads a wise choice.
  13. Google Ads traffic is believed to convert better than organic traffic. Organic traffic is important, so don’t stop those efforts! However, there is some evidence that paid search engine results converts more quickly.
  14. It is more engaging. Because Google Ads offers features like video and product listings, the ads are prettier and more likely to get a person’s attention than just text.
  15. Google Ads is trumping SERPs. Google Ads is, of course a Google service, and as such, they give it more top ranking real estate than other media.
  16. Your Google Ads campaign results are in an easy to understand format. You can’t determine what you need to do to improve if you don’t know how well something is working. Google Ads makes it simple to track things like clicks, impressions, budget usage, click through rate, how long they spend on your website, where they exited your website and a variety of other metrics. And, unlike other tracking tools, the Google Ads data is easy to understand, so you can determine exactly where changes may be needed.
  17. Build brand awareness. A study done by Ipsos and Google found that search ads increase awareness by 6.6%. Even if people aren’t immediately clicking on your ad, they are still seeing the name of your business, your tagline, what you offer and any other content you include in your ad. The more often they see your ad, the more rand awareness is built Then, when they do need one of your services, it is more likely that you will be the one they reach out to -simply because they have “heard of you”.
  18. Get more conversions. If you want to be seen as more valuable to Google, then it is important that your ad takes people directly to what was advertised. This is referred to as Post-click Landing Page Experience. Many other ad programs will allow you to link to any page on your website (and this can quickly drain your advertising budget). Google requires you to connect to key page on your site which means that you your conversion rate is higher.
  19. You can maximize your ROI by using different bidding strategies. Unlike many ad approaches, Google Ads offers several approaches to bidding on your desired keywords. The three types of bidding:
    1. CPC – Stands for Cost Per Click and is recommended for driving website traffic. This approach allows you to set a maximum bid you will pay and you only pay when your ad is clicked.
    2. CPM – Referring to Cost Per Thousand Viewable Impressions and is what Google recommends if your purpose is to build brand awareness. Using this method, you determine how much money you are willing to pay for 1,000 people to see your ad. This option is only available through the Google Display Network.
    3. CPA – This form of bidding is best when the goal is conversions or sign-ups. With this type of bidding, you bid based on how much a specific conversion is worth to you.
  20. Google Ads reaches customers through their Gmail inbox. Since 2015, Ads and Gmail have been integrated and is available to all advertisers. Consequently, you can reach more prospects via email.

Still wondering if Google Ads is worth it for your business? Does it still seem a bit mysterious and difficult to understand how to use? No worries! You don’t have to be a seasoned pro at using Ads in order to make your mark. Rather, talk to the Google Ads certified team at Page Progressive and let us help get your business more exposure on the web. We can help you determine what keywords will be best for your business, decide what type of approach will best suit your budget and answer any questions you might have regarding Google Ads. Give us a call today.