Oftentimes, a well-rounded marketing strategy includes paid advertising, and Google Ads are a popular way to do it. Not only are they a great way to get instant traffic and gratification for your efforts, but they provide businesses with unparalleled exposure and reach. But it’s not all fun and games—Google Ads can be tricky to get right, especially if you’re new to the PPC game.
Before we go any further, let’s back up and do a deeper dive on what Google Ads actually are first!
Advertising with Google
Okay, so you know when you go to Google, type something you’re looking for into the search bar, and press “enter”? Nine times out of ten, those first three results you see have a Google Ads campaign underway that’s giving them such a lucrative spot.
Through Google Ads (previously known as Google AdWords), businesses and individuals can pay to have a Google Ad displayed to viewers who search for relevant terms on Google search and maps. For example, Denver marketing businesses like ours oftentimes have Google Ads campaigns with words and phrases such as “Denver marketing services” and “Denver small business marketing”.
Google Ads are one of the most important digital marketing tools out there. Our clever marketing strategists have been in the Denver small business marketing game for over a decade—we know our way around proper Google advertising and we’re here to help.
Pull up a chair. We have a few pros and cons to share that will help you and your team get a better idea of whether investing in Google Ads can impact your marketing efforts.
The Pros
Traffic is (Pretty Much) Guaranteed
Every single second, 63,000 people search for something on Google. Pretty crazy, right?
Did You Know?
For your small business’ website and content to generate business, people must know you exist first! Google Ads can help you tap into markets you never thought imaginable and bring in immediate traffic to your website.
You Can Pay Whatever You’re Comfortable With
Utilizing Google Ads for your Denver small business marketing strategy is particularly useful since you are in total control of your daily budget. For every ad campaign, you’ll set your daily budget and you’ll only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
You’ll Get Instant Gratification
When you start running Google ads, you’ll boost the odds of people seeing your small business immediately, meaning you’ll get overnight results. In contrast, while SEO is essential for any business, it can take several weeks or even months to gain traction on the SERP.
Not only will you get instant results, but you’ll get transparent ones, too. When used correctly, your Google Ads dashboard can give you all the information you could possibly need for each campaign you’re running—such as ads clicked, the keywords that website visitors entered, and the cost of clicks—at the drop of a hat. That reminds us…
You’ll Get a Wealth of Data and Analytics to Drive Your Marketing Strategy
Gone are the days of simply crossing your fingers or acting on a hunch. Google Ads provides users with a ton of data and analytics they can use to drive more conversions, more engagement, and all in all, more results. Here are a few high-level metrics they provide their users:
Average cost it took to create a lead
Average amount it costs per click
The rate of which people interacted with your ad
The amount of traffic your ads drive to your website or product page
The number of leads each ad and campaign generate
And these are just a few of the things they let you know of. With all this information at your fingertips, you’ll be able to adjust your ad campaigns accordingly so their performance can improve, and you’ll get a better ROI.
You’ll Have Unmatched Targeting Capabilities
Sure, reach is important. But if you’re advertising to everyone, you’re bound to have a lot of missed conversions. Google Ads is built to avoid those lost conversions since it gives you the ability to target your ads to consumers who are already searching for the terms related to what you’re advertising. The keywords tool in Google Ads allows you to specify which search queries you want your ad to show up for, so your ads will only be shown to users that are already interested in what you’re selling. So, instead of broadcasting your message to anyone and everyone, you’re only speaking directly to potential customers.
The Cons
It Can Be Pretty Pricy
High-intent and high-volume keywords can be competitive and can cost A LOT per click. Typically, keywords can range anywhere from 50¢ to $50 (we’ve seen keywords as high as $90!).
How much you pay depends on quite a lot of things:
How much you’re bidding
How many other competitors are bidding
How much those competitors are bidding
Time of day
How much budget you have left to spend that day
How relevant your ads are to the keywords
How relevant your landing page is to the keyword
And on and on and on.
And unsurprisingly, the keywords that indicate a user is ready to buy something are almost always more expensive. Let’s say you’re selling graphic t-shirts on your small business website. You could bid on an incredibly broad keyword like “fashion trends”, and it wouldn’t cost you a lot. This is because the consumer is pretty early on in their decision-making process.
Or you could try “classic rock t-shirts”.
We know two things about whoever is searching for the above keyword:
They have great taste
They know what they’re looking for, so they’re far down the sales funnel
The person wants to buy the exact t-shirts you’re selling. And that’s awesome, but with more specificity comes fiercer competition. Every other company that sells classic rock t-shirts will also be bidding for that keyword.
All in all, Google Ads can get expensive—fast. With our clients, we make sure to find just the right balance between uber specific keywords and more generalized keywords so they can feel the positive effects of Google Ads without such a high price tag.
People Trust Natural Results Over Ads
While Google ads are a great way to boost your visibility and get your brand in front of people for keywords that you’re struggling to rank for with SEO, there’s one big “con” to them—people inherently trust organic results more. It’s just the way the cookie crumbles. People don’t want to feel like they’re being sold to, so they don’t automatically trust PPC ads like Google ads because they know that a site or business had to pay for it to be there.
You’ve Got to Know What You’re Doing
There’s no other way to say it—there’s a HUGE learning curve to Google Ads. While this isn’t exactly a “con” of Google ads effectiveness themselves, the lack of user-friendliness can make getting the results you need super difficult if you haven’t used them before. Not only that, but novices can waste a lot of money as they try to fumble through Google Ads on their own. Our recommendation? Go with a professional.
Denver Marketing Services
Our incredible marketing strategists and PPC extraordinaries know what’s what when it comes to Google Ads. Not only will we utilize a strategic, numbers-backed approach, but we’ll go the extra mile to keep up with all of Google’s everchanging updates and trends to ensure our clients get the results they need to succeed. If you’re looking for a Google Ad agency to give your Denver small business a hand, the Red Egg team would be more than happy to help