NEGOSENTRO.COM | Is it worth it to advertise on Google Ads? | Many people nowadays seem to prefer buying stuff online. This trend was on the rise even before the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantine helped advertisers on the internet quite a bit. So let’s take a look at whether it is worth it for you to advertise on Google Ads.
What is Google Ads
As you may or may not know, Google Ads is an advertisement platform made by Google for almost everyone. You can advertise almost everything. From your hand-made plush toy to your online B2B business. The opportunities are endless.
Google lets you advertise in Google Search (when you are using Google in the typical sense of way), Google Display (web sites, apps and other platforms working with Google) or YouTube and Gmail. It’s up to you where you decide to advertise your product, service and business. You can also choose from a variety of ads. Text ads, image ads, video ads, responsive ads, dynamic retargeting, normal retargeting, banner ads, …
How do Google Ads work
First, you must have a Google account. It can be your account used to login to Gmail or YouTube. Then, you must visit Google Ads website and register. Now you are ready to create your first campaign and achieve your dream results!
To create a good Google Ads campaign, you must know at least the elemental structure. It goes like this: campaign contains several ad groups and under the ad group are several ads.
This structure exists so you can optimize your campaigns and report whether it is successful or not.
After you have created your campaign, you must set a budget for it and connect your Google Ads account to your credit card or set up billing information. You should consider how much you are willing to spend on your ads. The recommended minimum amount for a campaign is about 3€/day.
This may also depend on several things. How big is your audience, what are you selling and so on. Of course, if you are selling cars and you set your ad budget for 4€/day, results will not be that good. You should consider ROI (Return of investment) when setting up budgets.
Later on, Google decides when, where and to whom to show your ad based on keywords and bidding. Keywords are words that are relevant to your are and your product or service. They work as a trigger mechanism. For example, you search for “running shoes”. That is a keyword. An ad about black running shoes appears in your Google Search. Google decided that this ad is relevant enough to your search term.
Another part, bidding, is equally important. Google Ads works like an auction. The highest the bid, the biggest is the chance of your ad showing. At least in theory. For your ad to show in the first places, you must have:
- bid high enough to overbid other advertisers
- well structured and written ad with no mistakes
- relevant landing page representing your ad and not misleading customers
- nice website, intuitive and simple design
- everything up to date with Google’s policies
Advantages of using Google Ads
There are several advantages of using Google Ads for you and your business. Let’s talk a little about each in this article:
Rise your brand awareness
When people are searching for something you sell, they might now know you even exist. So tell them you are here and you sell exactly what they need. If you do it right, you may not need any ad in the future because people will find you because they want to.
Broaden your audience
Without any paid advertising, you risk that your target audience may be too small. Broaden it and achieve more impressions, more clicks and even more conversions.
Put your site in the spotlight
If you want to stand out from your competition, Google Ads is one of the right ways to do it. Maybe your competitor doesn’t use Google Ads, thanks to what you now have a great headstart and opportunity. Don’t let this go to waste and take what you can!
Slowly reach your goal
Goals are an important part of each marketing plan. In order to move forward, you must know where you are going in the first place. Setting up goals help you reach what you desire. More clicks? More filled out registration forms? More purchases?
With Google Ads, you can easily track your progress and optimize your campaigns accordingly. If a campaign is not performing well, change the budget, content of the ad or turn it off completely.
You can easily navigate through your ad performance and decide what to do with the said ad.
Disadvantages of Google Ads
Google Ads may be an amazing tool for you and your business. But don’t think it is a money machine. It doesn’t work like magic, unfortunately. You may even find out that you are losing more than you are gaining.
It can be expensive
If you’re on a tight budget, Google Ads may not help your cause. Without the right knowledge, putting money into Google Ads is the same as flushing it down the drain. So be careful and if you decide to use Google Ads, watch it closely. You might want to set up some automated rules to notify you when the budget reaches a specific amount.
You may need professional help
This correlates with the previous point as well. Working with Google Ads is not as intuitive as one can think. Sometimes, it is overwhelming for absolute beginners and you can do more damage than good. So in order to save time and reach your goal, you can hire a PPC specialist. They take care of your account and try to bring some measurable results.
These specialists are not cheap, however. You always pay for quality. But be careful, because you may end up with an unprofessional PPC specialist that will cost you lots of money.
Google Ads take up a lot of time
Especially if you are a beginner. Learning, perfecting and optimizing your campaigns take a lot of time. If you want to do it yourself and not waste money on professionals, you have to make room in your calendar for Google Ads.
Not only creating ads takes time, but also optimizing them, and if necessary, finding out what is wrong with them as well.
So is it worth it?
Considering your budget, your time and your resources, you should absolutely give it a try. But do it smart! Don’t rush it, aim for quality over quantity
If you own an e-shop, you should consider automation. You can create ads for your products in under 10 minutes and with a few clicks. An online automation tool is a MUST for every e-commerce business nowadays so you should give it a try. If you use the Google CSS Partner your ads can save 20% from pay-per-click.
Author Bio:
Silvia Sýkorová – Consultant for online business and marketing. Account manager for BlueWinston – Automated product tool for Google Ads and CSS Shopping in EU.
