Is Google Ads suitable for your business? Here are the pros and cons that you need to be aware of to help you decide.
What is Google Ads?
Do you know those little ads you see at the top and bottom in your Google search results? Yep, these are Google Ads. Whether you personally click on these or not, they’ve proven to be incredibly successful since their launch in the year 2000.
Ads will appear when you type a search query into Google (for example “Cleaning Companies Near Me”). Once a search is made, an ‘auction’ takes place between the various clean companies who are ‘bidding’ to be seen for that specific keyword. Within just seconds, Google runs the auction and determines which ads are most relevant to the specific search query. The “winning ads” appear at the top of the results.
The pros of using Google Ads:
- Get Seen, Fast! – If your objective is to increase relevant traffic to your website, this is the quickest way. SEO is a great alternative, but results can often take months if not years. Google Ads gets to work immediately
- Quick and Easy to Get Started – So long as you’ve done your research on your potential clients and you’re aware of the keywords and search phrases you’ll be targeting, you can jump right in. The main building blocks for a campaign start with your campaign level settings, then ad groups, keywords and lastly adverts, themselves. Of course, with the right agency behind you, this is a breeze!
- Incredible Exposure Opportunities – What if we told you that you could be appearing on the homepage of the biggest search engine on the planet, for results that are relevant to your company only? And, if anyone clicks through, you know they’ll be interested in your product or service! It’s all about appearing at the right time, exactly when your potential clients need you. The best part? You pay nothing until someone clicks on your ad! So you ad and brand could be seen 1,000’s of times for free (this is known as an ‘Impression’) and then you only pay for the people that actually hit your site.
- Try, Test and Adapt – You won’t always get it correct the first time but, fortunately, you’re never locked in. If something isn’t working after a few weeks, you can turn it off, analyse the data and adapt for your next campaign.
- Amazing Data – The world of digital has made it easier than ever to understand exactly what your advertising campaigns are achieving. Gone are the days of putting an advert in the newspaper and hoping that it’s being read by the right people at the right time, now you’re able to advertise on your terms! Google Ads provides a tonne of data that can give you the flexibility you need to spend your cash in the right areas, in the most efficient ways. Again, if you’ve got the right agency behind you, budget optimisation is taken care of.
- Flexible Budgets – We’ve got a huge range of clients using our Google Ads management services. Some of them are spending tens of thousands each month, whilst others are only spending a couple of hundred. The important element is simply looking at what your average cost per sale would be and providing a budget that works. If you cannot afford thousands each month, maybe start by spending two or three hundred pounds and seeing what your ROI can look like.
- BONUS: Couple Google Ads with tracking software to make a real powerhouse – We’ve discussed how Google Ads is a great way of getting relevant traffic to your website. However, when you pair it up with other software tools available on the internet, you can really see how you can start optimising, improving and converting with your website. It may take some time but if you can get your website to become a high-converting powerhouse, your sales approach has just become a whole lot easier.
The cons of using Google Ads:
- You Can End Up Paying for Poor Quality Clicks – Okay, so we’ve about how this can be an advantage as the traffic is more relevant. However, this only works if you’ve fully optimised your adverts. For example, if someone is searching for “Cleaning Company Jobs” and you’re ranking for the keywords “Cleaning + Company” you may appear and someone may click on your advert in the hope of finding job vacancies. You need to also make sure you’re EXCLUDING any inappropriate search terms by using negative keywords– a good agency will do this by default.
- Competitive Market – If you aren’t too sure what you’re doing and you’re in a competitive industry, you can end up spending a lot of money per click. It’s important you know the ways to take full advantage of Google Ads.
- No Budget = No Ads – Unlike SEO, which has a longer shelf life, Google Ads will stop running the second you’ve maxed out your budget. If you’re not aware of your budget and you haven’t optimised correctly, you could burn through money in a matter of days. Your Ads will only reappear if you put more money behind them
- There Are Some Limitations – When it comes to social ads (such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc) you are quite free when it comes to word count, emojis and other ways of writing text. However, with Google Ads, you’re quite limited. There are two 30-character headlines and slightly more wiggle room on your descriptions, alongside a customisable display URL… but that’s it! Choose wisely…
- You Have to Invest Your Time – Setting up any old Google Ads is quite a speedy process. However, setting up a successful campaign takes time. You’ll need software to track the results and to measure performance can be a little longer. You also have to make sure that you’re constantly looking at ways to optimise and improve your adverts and check in on your account daily. It’s not a case of creating your ads and sitting back to watch the results come in.
If you’re a business looking to drive more traffic to their website and inevitably increase sales, we’d strongly recommend looking into Google Ads for 2020. It’s a platform that has continued to grow throughout the years and there’s a reason for that… the results you can achieve are spectacular!
If you ever need any advice, a free review of your account or a strategy discussion, please feel free to give us a call and one of our experts would be more than happy to help. You can contact us by clicking here or book a meeting here.
