Google Ads are Google’s online advertising platform that allows any business or individual to create ads to reach potential customers. It offers numerous advantages but it does have some drawbacks. Read below to see if Google Ads fit into your marketing strategy.
Let's start by talking about Advantages:
1. Getting in Front of The Right Audiences
One of the biggest advantages of Google Ads is having the ability to target specific audiences with accuracy. Based on a number of demographics you can tailor your ads via location, age and even people’s specific interests. By positioning your ads in front of the people who are your ‘ideal audience’ it should help you increase the chances of conversions.
2. Unlimited Budgets
With Google Ads there is no set limit on how much you can spend! Spend Away My Friend (Joking Don’t). Having this flexibility allows all businesses to participate, whether this may be a smaller business with a relatively small budget or a larger business with a marketing budget to spend. However you have to keep in mind something called the diminishing return. This is when you are increasing your ad spend and it is not leading to a proportionate increase in results. It is all about finding the sweet spot, once you find that you will see a constant increase in results for the right amount spent.
3. The Ability to Learn About Your Customers
Having the ability to see how your customers are engaging with your content is so important. Within Google Ads they provide you with detailed insights telling you how users are interacting with your ads. You can track which keywords are driving traffic, which ads are performing best and even gather data on user demographics and behaviour. An example of your customers behaviour would be seeing what day/time during the week you get the most engagement. Having this information so easily accessible gives you the opportunity to refine your marketing strategy and have a better understanding of your audience.
4. Guaranteed Increase of Traffic to Your Website
Google Ads is arguably the best way to increase traffic to your website and can be used like a lever. If you want more traffic you can pull that lever if you want to slow your traffic turn it back off. You are paying for clicks which means you're almost guaranteeing people viewing your website if your ads display the message you are wanting to portray. Whether you are a new business wanting to build awareness or a well established one wanting to generate a constant flow of new traffic Google Ads have you covered.
Now moving onto the Disadvantages:
1. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) - It Costs! It’s in the name
What this model means is whenever someone clicks on your ad, you will pay. Some may see this as a good thing because you are paying for actual traffic, but you have to be careful as the costs can add up very quickly. It is very important to manage your budgets carefully and ensure that the clicks you are paying for are leading to conversions, otherwise you may be wasting more money than you realise. At Big Bear we offer an analysis of your PPC in which we make sure your budgets are being spent in the correct places to help minimise budget wastage.
2. High Cost-Per-Click (CPC) in competitive industries
Google Ads is an auction, everyone is bidding against one another to be at the top of the page. Therefore in competitive industries for example Insurance, the CPC can be significantly higher due to bidding wars on the top keywords. Due to this being the case it can get very expensive if you want to maintain your presence on Google Ads. This is particularly a problem for the smaller businesses with a smaller budget as they simply can’t keep up with the larger businesses in their industry. Therefore when you are looking to start running ads in specific areas it is always important to conduct thorough keyword research to help manage costs more effectively.
3. Limitations and Policies on Ads
Google has very strict advertising policies that you have to adhere to if you wish to advertise on their platform. Some of these include: Rules on ad copy, landing page quality and the types of products or services you are wanting to promote. Just to go into a little more detail, when creating an ad you are restricted to 30 character headlines and 90 character descriptions. This can be hard if you are wanting to create engaging ad copy. If you don’t meet these requirements that Google have set it can lead to your account being flagged and disapproved or even in some cases your account being suspended. I tell you this if your account is flagged and on Google’s radar it’s a very tough place to escape (some say this is your Google Jail time).
4. The importance of a good landing page
Having a great ad copy is only half the battle, your landing page needs to be equally engaging. Enhancing your website's landing pages will boost your Quality Score, resulting in lower costs per click.If users click on your ad but then get taken to a poorly designed or irrelevant web page more often than not they will leave without converting. This can therefore waste your advertising budget and reduce the effectiveness of your campaign. A well optimised, captivating landing page that matches the intent of your ad is crucial for success.
Google Ads can drive targeted traffic and grow your business, but it has challenges. It offers substantial reach and detailed analytics but requires careful budget management. Your success with Google ads depends on the quality of your ad copy and landing pages. Consider these factors before using Google Ads. With the right strategy, it can deliver substantial returns and help you reach your ideal customers. Get in touch with us today if you seek help with your PPC.
