A lot of our clients are a bit wary about Google advertising. And, understandably so: it is by far one of the most complex forms of online marketing, one that can quickly lose you a lot of money if you don’t know what you are doing and how to use it. Other small business owners, on the other hand, are ready to spend big on a Google AdWords campaign, hoping that it will skyrocket their bottom line. It doesn’t work like that either.
Look, Google advertising is perhaps one of the most effective types of pay-per-click marketing. Far from us to badmouth SEO or social media marketing, but the truth is that none can provide the scalability and return on investment of a Google ad campaign.
Still not convinced? Well, let us count the many ways Google Ads can help small businesses.
What Is Google Ads Anyway?
Before we dive into presenting the beneficial impact Google Ads can have on a business’ bottom line, let’s try first to understand the basics behind how it works.
Google Ads is an advertising system that allows companies to create sponsored links and promote their product or service on the search engine results page.
You bid on keywords that you think are relevant to your target audience. If prospects perform a Google search using your selected key phrases, then the search engine giant will display your ad in the paid search results section. Of course, your keywords aren’t the only factor Google considers when deciding where to place your ads. It will also look at the ad copy, your landing page, the amount you are willing to spend, and so on.
The great thing about Google Ads is that it works on a cost per click system, meaning that you only pay when someone actually clicks on your ad. Otherwise, all the exposure you get every time Google displays your ad is free of charge.
Of course, things rarely are as simple as they look and it takes some trial and error to create a profitable Google AdWords campaign. But, that’s a topic for a different article. First, let’s look at how Google Ads can help your business.
The Benefits of Using Google Ads
Raise your hand if you’ve ever used Google to look for products or services. We can’t see you, but we can assume both your hands are up right now. 81% of consumers conduct online research before buying, meaning that they look up information about the product they are interested in and the companies that sell it. And, you’ve guessed it, they use Google to do their research.
Not being present as one of their potential options is equal to not existing in the digital world. Only for this reason alone, Google Ads is worth your time and investment. Let’s look at other compelling reasons:
1. Google Ads Can Have a High Conversion Rate
One of the primary arguments that get most business owners on the Google Ads train is its scalability. Google Ads has the highest conversion rate out of all digital marketing tactics.
Reports show that the average conversion rate is 3.17% on the search network and 0.46% on the display network. These numbers have actually increased in the past few years, encouraging more small businesses to give Google advertising a chance.
If your Google ads are highly profitable, then there’s no need to stretch your budget and invest in other tactics as well. By increasing your ad spend, you can generate more leads and profits. That makes Google Ads extremely effective for businesses that need to acquire a lot of leads fast.
2. You Can Customise Your Campaigns to the T
One of the biggest benefits of Google advertising is that you can customise your campaigns to meet your exact business needs and target audience profile.
Here are some of the things you can do:
- Determine the Keyword Match Type: Google Ads allows you to determine which type of keywords will generate your ads. For instance, if you want your ads displayed whenever someone uses your keywords or a variation of it (such as “floor repairs, ” “flooring repairs, ” etc) then you can select a broad match. If you want to exclude certain keywords, such as “DIY flooring repairs,” then the negative keywords option will do the trick.
- Target the Audience Most Likely to Convert: SEO is great for getting traffic and engagement to your website. But, if you only sell your product or service in Australia and a vast majority of your traffic comes from the UK, then those users are rather useless regarding conversions. The great thing about Google advertising is that it allows you to customise your audience down to every detail, such as location, device used, language, and so on. That way, you can ensure that the people clicking on your ad have a high chance of converting too.
- You Can Leverage Ad Extensions: Make your ads more compeling by including images of your product or services, a phone number prospects can call to get more information, your address, and so on. The more useful information you provide, the higher the chances of conversion.
- The Search Results Page Is Only the Beginning: Google is a vast network that includes not only the search engine results page but also tons of partner sites and platforms. You can also have your ads displayed in Gmail, YouTube, the Play Store, and so on. That increases your target audience significantly. Of course, you need to make sure that the platform you are using is relevant to your prospects. There’s no point to have your ads shown in mobile apps if most of your prospects use their desktop computers to look for your products and services.
3. Google Ads Make It Easy to Measure Your Efforts
While effective in their own ways, social media and SEO can make it a bit difficult for small business owners to measure their efforts. It’s not always easy to pinpoint the exact tactic that generated great results. Moreover, what works now may not be as effective next time. SEO is a prime example of how fast things can change in the digital world and how you need to change your game regularly.
With Google advertising, on the other hand, you can measure the results of your campaign with great accuracy and determine with ease what works and what needs adjusting. Everything from the impression shares and conversion rate to the cost per lead and return on investment can give you an accurate understanding of your campaign’s effectiveness.
4. Google Ads Enable You to Reach Your Customers When They Need You the Most
A prospect seeing your ad about leather shoes for women in their Facebook newsfeed might not be interested in your product yet. Someone reading your blog post about how to buy leather shoes might not be ready to convert yet. But a person typing “cheap leather shoes for women online” in Google’s search bar has a clear intent to buy. Even if they don’t click on your ad now, it can still help you build brand recognition and be remembered as a viable option for whatever needs your prospects might have in the future.
5. It’s Easy to Keep Advertising Costs Under Control
Another great benefit of Google Ads is that you have complete control over your costs. You can set your daily budget and adjust it based on your marketing goals.
Determine how much you are willing to spend per day for each of your campaigns. Keep in mind that your cost per click cost can actually be lower than your maximum CPC bid. In other words, your CPC will vary from auction to auction but your set daily budget will remain the same. Google won’t spend a cent over your target amount and it will stop showing your ads once you’ve reached your limit.
If you want to get the most out of your Google advertising budget, then you should pay close attention to your quality score. Choose keywords that your audience is most likely to use when looking for your products or services to increase your Quality Score. Make sure that the ad copy and landing page are relevant to your keywords too. If your ads talk about the best serums for oily skin, then that’s what you should offer on your landing page too.
Here’s an example: your maximum CPC is $3 and your competitors’ is $5, but if you have a higher Quality Score than them, then Google may place your ads at the top of the paid search results.
6. It’s Faster and Easier Than SEO
This argument may surprise a lot of people. While most can see how Google advertising can be faster than SEO, the idea that is also simpler may raise a few eyebrows.
Let us explain.
SEO takes a lot of time to show results. It takes a lot of ink (translation: quality content and smart SEO tactics) to prove the worth of your website and gain authority. One small error that gets you a penalty can hinder all your efforts useless and force you to start all over again. Not to mention, it takes months, sometimes years to increase just one position.
With Google Ads, on the other hand, you can start getting impressions and clicks the moment you launch your campaign. Moreover, you can quickly see if certain keywords are effective or just losing you money. That’s not the case with SEO.
Now, the question is: what makes Google Ads easier than SEO. Well, SEO takes a lot of optimisation and tweaking to find a working formula. And, you have to wait for a long time to see if your effort is profitable or useless. With Google advertising, the data is readily available in the form of metrics. You can easily tell what is working and what not simply by looking at the numbers.
7. Your Competitors Are Probably Using Google Ads
Here’s a question: if your competitors rank high in paid search results for your selected keywords, can you afford to ignore Google ads?
8. It Fits Perfectly with Your Other Online Advertising Efforts
Google Ads can boost your remarketing efforts. Let’s imagine that a prospect landed on your website, looked around but bounced without taking any action. Google Ads allows you to track their on-site activity and then follow them around with relevant ads. That can help maintain your brand top of mind or even persuade them to convert.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we managed to make a strong case for the utility of Google Ads for small businesses. As you can see, not only that it puts your products and services in front of an audience with a clear intent to buy, but it also easily integrates with your other digital marketing efforts and it’s highly scalable. Not to mention, you are in perfect control of your ad costs.
But, the road from theory to putting everything in practice is long and strenuous. If you need help from a team of experts who eat, breathe, and dream Google advertising, then we are here for you. Give Australian Internet Advertising a call and we will help you scale your business with Google ads.
