Does Google Adwords Work For Small Business?

The potential impact of Google Ads on Small Businesses

Google Ads, also known as AdWords, come with all sorts of hype and anecdotes that are both really encouraging and severely underwhelming. All this chaotic online jargon can make it difficult for your average small business owner to decide if the Google Ads are worth investing their money, time and reputation. But, due to our rich knowledge and extensive research, we would sincerely advise any business owner to put Google Ads as their number one marketing priority. Especially if they are running a small business.

The Reasons Behind our Optimism

The first reason is Google’s omnipresence. When an average person wants to find something out they will go and look for it on Google. Googling something has become the norm when finding something out today. The same can be said about the average customer in our time. Before they buy anything they will look for it online, compare and contrast prices, the pros and cons of every product that they are interested in. It is hard to imagine that Google’s influence will diminish in the years to come. All that makes Google Ads a necessary partner for any online business.

What is the best thing that Google Ads brings to my business?

There isn’t a better and more effective way to connect with your potential customers than with Google Ads. In a way, with the help of Google Ads, you are there with them, as they look around and decide to buy something. And why shouldn’t that something be your very own product?

Google Ads today are what ads on TV during primetime or ads in the most popular newspapers in the older eras were. You are guaranteed maximum exposure, to an audience and customer base that is now larger than it ever was in the history of commerce. Only through Google Ads can you truly maximize your exposure and make your business cover all the essential markets where your products could be sold.

Everyone uses Google daily for almost anything. Based on that it is easy to see and understand why Google has become what it is today, the ultimate and most successful place for advertising your business.

It can be set up affordably and to your very specific instructions

With time Google Ads has found ways to target a very specific type of customer. With the data that they provide you can select your range of customers by the place where they live, their age, the language they speak, the time they are most likely to use their phone or PC for shopping, etc. In short, it offers you everything essential for your business. And the ads come and go as you want them to. Add them or remove them to your preference.

The different kinds of Google Ads

1. Search Ads – They are text ads that are used most often. They redirect customers your way with the help of keywords.
2. Shopping Ads – These will appear in online stores and similar websites. All the thumbnails you see on sites that offer you products are ads of this kind.
3. The Internet Display Ads – They appear on every website that allows Google to advertise on it. The number of sites that include these ads is gigantic. They are also available in different formats, from simple text ads to elaborate video ads – like a spot on TV during prime time, but much cheaper and further reaching.

 

There are three types of strategies that are included in the third kind of Google Ads mentioned above:

1. Ads that track your visitors as they browse the internet
2. Context ads that will be placed on websites of particular content, like sports gambling or fashion sites
3. Ads that are placed on very particular sites or strategically important places of a website

In our experience, we would highly recommend the first type of strategy of the three above mentioned. We hold that it will reduce your advertising costs as well as boost your inquiry numbers by a significant margin.

The Positives and Negatives of Google Ads for Small Business

The positive aspects :

1. Great at generating important, targeted search activities
2. In most cases, the costs are as low as they can be in this line of marketing
3. It is very easy to personalize the ads so they can attract the type of customer that you are looking for.
4. The improvements in traffic are easy to see and they happen very quickly after you started to use Google Ads
5. It is can be updated in every way possible when you desire to do so

The negative aspects:

1. There is a lot of nuances that might strike beginners as too complicated. There is a lot of change and new features, which makes it difficult to keep up and decide the ideal set up.
2. There is an evident rise in click costs
3. With the degree of complicated nuance, you can easily miss your target demographic
4. Credit cards are the only paying option
5. Website is a must, and its content and its quality are an important factor
6. It pretends to be a Do It Yourself kind of service but to get maximum results you need to consult a very good marketing expert.

The Cost

There is no initial cost. The clicks are the thing that will cost you. But you can set up a daily budget that limits your expenses per day. Google proudly claims that most of its users never spend the daily budget. More often than not, that daily budget is enough to last them a month. Using their analytics, you might think that some days you are spending a lot, or not enough on other days.

Many factors determine the cost of a click. The most important ones are site placement, keywords, and location. Some claim that five dollars a day are a good place to start. But to our knowledge and experience, fifteen dollars a day should cover all your needs. Once your daily budget is spent, the ads vanish and are reset the following day.

What kind of business is best suited for Google Ads?

1. Any business that gets its customers online
2. A business that is easy to identify by keywords
3. Home services and trading companies
4. Companies that deal with professional services
5. Travel and tourism
6. Hospitality providers
7. All types of sellers
8. Car salesmen
9. Online retailers

 

Could Google ads negatively affect certain businesses?

• Any type of business that is new and unfamiliar with the vast majority of people will struggle with Google ads.
• All those businesses that deal with generic products that are very difficult to distinguish from their competitors.
• Any business those products are very cheap will struggle to generate profit if they add the cost of Google Ads

 

How to begin your AdWords Adventure

You need to have a good, modern website. It should be optimized for both browsings via a PC and a mobile device. Combined with good customer service it should also be easy to use.

Once you have all that covered you will need to create a Google Account first, followed by the creation of an AdWords Account. Following the creation of those two accounts you need to take the following steps:

1. With the help of Google and all its tools figure out the ideal keywords for the products that you want to offer your customers
2. Decide if you are going to include a negative keyword
3. Combine keywords in a few ad groups. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, as they say.
4. Each adgroup needs an ad copy
5. Define your targeting settings
6. Select your strategy from the three we previously mentioned
7. Define your daily budget
8. Add your payment information, credit card, etc.
9. Add the Google Tracking and Analytics to your website
10. Let your set up run. Adjust now and then, or when you think you need to

 

Do I need the help of a Google Ads Management Company

It all depends on your knowledge level and experience. If you are new to online ads and marketing, it would be wise to seek the help of such a company. A good company will continue to maximize and adjust your strategies to fulfill all your potential.

If you want to hire a management company, it would be best to look for someone local, familiar with your market and its customers. Look at companies with a great reputation. Never go with a company that looks to control every aspect of your marketing. You should always have your autonomy and be a part of the decision making process. This will make it easier later down the line when you have to distinguish between click, media and management costs and how to optimize them.

In this day and age, a great AdWords strategy is perhaps the most important tool as well as the foundation for a successful online business. So a team of experts that will manage your strategy could be the deciding factor when it comes to the long term success of your business.

The Bluelight Marketing agency has more than 5 years of experience in Google Ads marketing and over 100+ successful campaigns under management, book a free consultation today and learn how we can help you.