A Small Business Guide to Google Ads Success
When you launch your new business website, it's unlikely to rank high in Google's organic search results immediately. The journey to better search visibility is a gradual process, which we'll explore later when we talk about SEO. In the interim, a strategic move for new businesses is to invest in Google Ads. This approach places your website prominently in the 'Sponsored' section of Google's search results, offering immediate visibility while your organic ranking gradually improves.
How Does Google Ads Work?
Google Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where your business competes with others in your industry for visibility in Google's search results. This competition is centered around keywords - specific terms and phrases that potential customers use when searching for products or services in your sector. Each time someone clicks on your ad, you pay a fee, hence the importance of carefully selecting your keywords and avoiding accidental clicks on your own ads.
The cost per click (CPC) varies significantly depending on the competitiveness of the sector. In some industries, especially those with fierce competition, the CPC can be substantial, ranging from £1 to £5, or even exceeding £10 per click in the UK market. These costs reflect the high value of online visibility and customer acquisition in these sectors.
From Manual Bidding to Automated Efficiency
The approach to managing Google Ads has evolved over time. In the past, advertisers would meticulously select and bid on each keyword individually. This method required constant monitoring and adjustments to stay competitive. Today, the process is more streamlined and efficient. Advertisers provide Google with a set of relevant keywords and a daily budget they are comfortable spending. Modern Google Ads accounts leverage sophisticated algorithms to automate the bidding process. This automation optimises your spending, ensuring your ads appear in relevant searches while maximising your return on investment.
This automated system also adjusts bids in real time, responding to changes in search trends and competitor activities. It's a dynamic process, continually refining your ad placements to reach the most relevant audience efficiently. By properly setting up your Google Ads account and choosing appropriate keywords, you can effectively manage your ad spend while enhancing your online presence and attracting potential customers.
How Much Does Google Ads Cost?
Determining the cost of Google Ads involves more than just setting a daily budget; it requires a strategic approach to budgeting with a focus on stability and consistency. The key is to establish a budget that you're comfortable with and can maintain over an extended period, preferably a few months at least. This stability is crucial because frequent changes in your ad spend or toggling your ads on and off can disrupt the algorithm's learning process, hindering its ability to optimise your campaign effectively.
Daily Budget
For businesses, especially small or newly established ones, working with limited resources, setting a realistic budget is vital. A minimal budget of about £5 per day is a feasible starting point. This budget may seem modest, but it's important to commit to it for the long term. Patience is essential here, as it can take several weeks, or even months, for the Google Ads algorithm to adapt to your budget and refine its targeting to yield tangible results. It's crucial to manage expectations during this period; immediate large volumes of enquiries or sales are unlikely, but with consistent investment, your Google Ads campaign should gradually begin to pay off.
Many small local businesses find success with a slightly higher budget, around £10 per day. This investment often leads to a noticeable increase in enquiries and sales within a few weeks after the ads go live. The effectiveness of this budget level demonstrates Google Ads' potential to deliver significant value, even with relatively modest spending.
High CPC with Limited Budgets
Using Google Ads with a modest budget, such as £10 per day, amidst competitors who may be paying up to £10 per click, might seem like an uphill battle. However, this is precisely where the sophistication of Google’s algorithm comes into play. It's a common misconception that a limited budget will quickly deplete in the face of high Cost Per Click (CPC) rates. In reality, Google's algorithm is designed to optimise your ad spend efficiently, even in competitive markets.
The algorithm doesn't just blindly enter into bidding wars for the most expensive keywords. Instead, it strategically allocates your budget across different times of the day and targets a mix of keywords. It recognises that certain high-value keywords have fluctuating competition levels throughout the day. During peak times, when these keywords become extremely costly due to high demand, the algorithm shifts focus. It either bids on these high-value keywords during off-peak hours, when competition - and therefore cost - is lower, or it seeks out alternative, less expensive but still relevant keywords.
This dynamic approach ensures that your budget is not exhausted in a few clicks early in the day but is spread out to maintain a consistent presence. It's about finding the right balance - targeting those high-impact keywords at the most opportune moments while also capitalising on lower-cost opportunities. This way, even with a limited budget, your ads can still compete effectively, reaching potential customers without overspending.
Review and Adjust
After running your Google Ads for a few months, a thorough evaluation is crucial. Assess the performance based on the ratio of your spend to the incoming leads or sales. If the results are satisfactory, you can maintain your current spending level. However, if you're overwhelmed with leads or not receiving enough, adjustments can be made. The decision to increase or decrease your budget should be based on a long-term strategy rather than short-term fluctuations in performance. Consistency in your ad spend allows the Google Ads algorithm to stabilise and optimise, providing you with the best possible return on your investment over time.
Remember, the effectiveness of your Google Ads campaign is not solely dependent on how much you spend, but how wisely you spend. A well-managed, consistent budget, aligned with clear objectives and targeted ad placements, can yield significant benefits for businesses of all sizes.
The Importance of Professional Google Ads Setup
Setting up Google Ads requires more than just a basic understanding of the platform; it demands expertise and experience to harness its full potential. This is where the value of having a professional set up and manage your Google Ads account becomes apparent. A skilled professional, like myself, doesn’t just set up an account; they tailor it to operate optimally, aligning with your specific business goals and market dynamics.
The Risks of Self-Managed Campaigns
Attempting to configure a Google Ads account on your own can be a risky venture, especially for those unfamiliar with the intricacies of online advertising. One common pitfall is the mismanagement of settings and features, which can rapidly eat up your advertising budget without delivering the desired results. It's crucial to understand that the platform's default settings and automated “recommendations” are often designed to maximise Google's revenue, not necessarily to optimise the performance of your ads.
Moreover, while Google provides automated recommendations and advice through their consultants, these suggestions may not always align with your unique business needs. In my experience, I've observed that following these automated recommendations without a critical assessment can sometimes lead to suboptimal campaign performance or even derail previously successful campaigns.
The Value of Expert Management
Professional oversight ensures that your Google Ads account is configured to target the right audience with the right message, optimising your spending for the highest return on investment. An expert in Google Ads will conduct thorough keyword research, create compelling ad copy, and continuously monitor and adjust campaigns based on performance data. This level of management goes beyond basic setup; it involves strategic planning, ongoing optimisation, and adaptation to changing market trends and consumer behaviours.
In essence, enlisting a professional to manage your Google Ads is not just about setting up an account; it’s about crafting a strategy that transforms your advertising spend into measurable business growth. By doing so, you mitigate the risk of wasteful spending and position your business to capitalise on the powerful marketing capabilities of Google Ads.
Side Note: Understanding Google Ads Daily Budget
The daily budget you set can fluctuate slightly. It operates on a system that allows for some flexibility in daily spending, which can result in variations in your actual daily spend. When you set a daily budget in Google Ads, you are actually setting an average daily budget. This is the amount you're willing to spend on average each day over the course of a month.
Google recognises that traffic can fluctuate. On days when traffic is higher and the potential for valuable clicks is greater, Google may allow your campaign to spend up to twice your average daily budget. This is known as "over-delivery." Conversely, on days with less traffic, your spending might fall below your daily budget.
Despite this daily fluctuation, you won't be charged more than your average daily budget times the average number of days in a month (which Google calculates as 30.4 days). This means that in a given month, you shouldn't be charged more than what you'd expect to pay on average per day, multiplied by 30.4. If Google overspends more than the monthly charging limit, you will be credited back the difference.
