5 Things to Know Before Advertising on Google

Google is a search engine giant. 63,000 people turn to Google for their search queries every second. That's a lot of searches. If you're not great with numbers (like some of us here), just think about where you go every time you want to find information. "I'll Google it," is a popular phrase for a reason.

This means that search engine optimization is important. Search engine marketing is important. And this is where Google ads come in.

If you've ever searched something related to your brand, you've probably noticed that your website doesn't appear on the first page of the search results. Same, tbh.

It's really hard to get on that page one of search results. Unless you use Google Ads.

You may be thinking, "guys, no one even clicks on those ads." And you might be partially right. Not everyone does.

But, two things:

1. You will still get seen, you will still get exposure even if people don't click.

2. If they don't click, you don't pay.

So, Why Use Google Ads for Small Business?

Why not just stick to social media ads, or give them a try? Well, we don't recommend Google Ads instead of social media ads. They both have their place, and can offer different benefits.

Want to promote your business? Here are 5 things you should know before creating your Google Ads campaign.

With Google Ads though, search shows intent.

Social media is a passive activity of scrolling, seeing, but not searching. When you open Google, on the other hand, it's because you are looking for something specific. You want something.

Wouldn't it be great to get in front of someone who's in the buying, booking mood for whatever it is that you offer? That is what Google Ads will help you to do.

So let's just go over a few things to start thinking about as you get ready to create your Google Ad campaign.

1. What is Your Ad Marketing Goal?

When creating your ad campaign, Google provides four options for what you would like your ad to accomplish. This will affect the headline and the text, as well as the call-to-action.

So think about what it is you want your ad to do for your business.

• Do you want to receive more calls? Maybe you offer a service and want to get the ball rolling on some inquiries and link with people who want to know more.

• Are you trying to generate more sales or bookings for your business? You can create an ad for a specific product or service, perhaps a limited time offer sale.

• Do you want to get more visits to your physical store? Maybe you want more people in store to see you in person. Maybe you don't have an e-commerce store yet, and depend on foot traffic for sales.

• Are you looking to create more brand awareness? If you're a new kid on the block, just re-branded or just haven't poked your head out of your hole of paperwork for a while, this is a great goal for Google Ads.

2. Make Sure to Perfect Landing Page

What is a landing page, you ask? Great question. A landing page is any page that you are sending a customer to, like a product page or a Contact Us page.

If your goal for Google Ads is to take users to your website, or to a specific page of your website, you need to make sure it's ready.

When we talk about "ready" we mean:

• Does it load quickly? Statistics show that if your page takes longer than three seconds, users are taking their business elsewhere. (Seems crazy, right? But we've all given up on a website that doesn't load instantly)

• Does the landing page immediately address and solve the customer's pain-point? Whatever it was that brought them from your Google Ad to that page, your process needs to be clear so that their actions are intuitive.

3. Think About What Keywords to Use

Keywords match what you're offering in your ad with what people are searching for. Google will also help you with creating keywords themes for your ad that you can bid on based on your price (more on budget in a minute).

• What words and phrases are prospects using to find online content?

• What are people searching for? (in your industry/business type)

• Use words/phrases people are searching for in your ad (Find out where to find keywords here)

• Create keyword themes to link related words

• Think of any appropriate negative keywords-

Example A: you sell coffee, so you want to block people searching coffee "tables" from seeing your ad because you don't want to pay for their click. You're not what they're searching for.

Example B: You're an apple orchard, so in your ad you block searches for Apple "computer" to keep those specifically searching for Macs and iPhones off your apple orchard website.

4. Set Your Budget for Google Ads

None of us have unlimited ad and marketing budgets. Google is great because it lets you set your daily or monthly maximum budget. This is great because it allows you to test things out and scale up or down as necessary (but see #5 before you make changes!).

So you've got your goal, you've perfected your landing page and you've got your keyword themes. What do you want to spend?

• How much can you afford to spend? What is your fixed budget? This might be more difficult for service-based businesses (like us, so we totally get it.)

• Paying for keywords - What keywords and themes do you want to focus on?

• Cost per click - You're only paying for a click on your ad, so how much is each click worth?

Example:

You're selling bricks (and you have great muscles).

You sell 500 bricks for $200 - You make $100 profit.

Out of 1000 views on your sales page of website (or 1000 ad clicks), 10 people make a purchase. 10 purchases for every 1000 ad clicks is a 1% conversion.

You need to make at least $70 profit on bricks, so from your $100 profit you can afford to pay Google 30% commission for your Google Ads.

Math equation time. Keep breathing. You've got this.

Maximum Cost-Per-Click = Your Profit x Google Commission X Conversion Rate

ie. 100 x .30 x .01= .30

In this example, you would choose to pay $0.30 for every click your ad gets.

Google does help you with budget and will show you the price range other similar ads are in for their cost-per-click ads budget.

5. Be Prepared to Wait for Results on Your Ad Campaign

This is not a road that will lead you to overnight success. This is a long-term strategy. This is about building awareness for your brand (whether that's the main goal you select or not).

This is also about tweaking and refining and learning. It's not a black and white process. Just like in-person sales, just like showing up on social media, Google Ads is something you can improve over time, get better at and see growth in your goals and yourself.

99% give up before giving it a chance. Be that 1%.

Need a little more guidance? We can help you with your Google Ads campaign.