The Age-Old Question: Are Google Ads Still Worth it?
You have spent some time and money setting up a website to showcase your business. It looks great and you can’t wait for to get it in front of as many people and hopefully get them educated on what you do. You tell your friends and family and everyone you know about it. However, you want more people and have exhausted your network. Enter Google Ads. All day long, every single day, all over the world, billions of people pull up the Google search bar and ask for help finding something they want…right now.
63,000 searches per second.
3.8 million searches per minute.
228 million searches per hour.
and 5.6 billion searches per day.
The largest search engine has millions of people using it every day, that’s millions of potential people coming to your website and spending money. If they don’t know you exist that’s an issue.
Google Ads is a pay per click platform that enables you to place text video or location ads to your business. Have a Dental clinic and need new clients? Looking to get more people view your e-commerce store? Have a SaaS Company seeking client acquisition? Google Ads are the answer. It allows you to show your business to the targeted people searching for it. The beauty is you only get charged when people click on your ads.
But paid ads aren’t the only results that show up when people make a search. Right below the Paid Google Ads on the SERP are the organic (or natural) search results. You can get your business to show up here by using Search Engine Optimization. SEO helps you improve your visibility within these organic search results, and is not to be confused with the paid search results. To learn about the difference between SEO and Google Ads, check out one of our previous blogs on this topic here
If you’re looking for a scalable marketing strategy, then Google AdWords is the perfect solution. With millions of keywords available to bid on and new ones every single day, you almost have an unlimited audience to target. With so many keywords to take advantage of, you can keep adding new keywords to your campaign to increase your traffic.
Once you have a profitable PPC campaign, you can always increase your daily spend to generate more clicks. Since keywords are ranked on a bidding system, by paying more per click you essentially increase your position on the rankings. If you are currently in position 4 and increase your average spend, then you could jump up to position 2.
The higher up you are on the rankings means the more clicks and more traffic you’ll get. By increasing the bid on your keywords you’ll attract as many visitors as you want (or can afford!).
If you have a strong strategy in place to target the right keywords/audiences/locations etc., Google Ads is highly effective for small businesses. The Google Ads platform allows advertisers to connect to anybody in the world searching online for the service you offer.
Following these simple guidelines will allow Google Ads work to take your small business up to the next level:
Control everything:
Ensure you place your ads when people are most likely to search for the products or services you offer. For example, it would be counterintuitive to have ads running in January if your business showcases Black Friday deals.
Ensure your website landing page is exactly where your customers need to be:
The attention span on the web is frighteningly low. Users will leave your website if your ad doesn’t lead them to the page that offers what they were originally searching for. Your landing page experience also affects your overall Quality Score.
Do deep keyword research to decide what to bid on:
Bidding on highly competitive keywords with a ton of search volume can get expensive quickly if left to run without good management. Bear in mind that a click isn’t even a guaranteed sale or lead. You may know your business in and out, but you might not know how your potential customers are searching for you.
Performing deep keyword research is critical for small businesses running Google Ads to ensure you’re showing ads for relevant searches.
During keyword research, you’ll discover negative keywords to add to your account. For example, if you only sell Nike products, do you want to waste money on “Adidas” terms? Adding negative keywords to your account is an ongoing task and saves small businesses a ton of cash over time.
How Much Does Google Ads Cost?
The amount of money small businesses chooses to spend on Google Ads totally depends on their advertising budget and the keywords they choose to target. One of the best aspects of Google Ads is that regardless of ad budget, smaller businesses can compete with those with huge, uncapped budgets. You can show ads based on the same keywords – it’s just that your daily spend will be exhausted faster.
The cost of Google Ads depends greatly on what keywords you’re bidding on, the locations you’re targeting and your advertising budget.
Is Google Ads Worth It For Small Business In 2021 and moving forward?
Short answer: Yes.
The fact that over 95% of Google’s annual revenue comes from Google Ads indicates that a lot of businesses are seriously investing in this platform.
Google revolutionised online advertisement by introducing Google Ads. It’s still the best and will continue to be, most direct online marketing tool available. But the success of a Google Ads campaign depends greatly on how you leverage the platform to specifically suit your business.
Mistakes in your Google Ads campaign can lead to a lot of wasted spend, frustration, and distrust in the platform. Small Businesses who aren’t experienced in this particular digital channel should strongly consider hiring an agency that specializes in Google Ads Campaigns… like us!
At ML360 we’re here to assist in taking your business online and/or strengthen your current online presence. Your Success is our Success! Contact Us in the form below and we’re here for you each step of the way forward.
