Google Ads can be a powerful tool for small business owners. Among all possible marketing activities it still provides some of the best value and return on investment. Many small businesses, however, aren’t maximizing that value.
If you are already running Google Ads for your business or about to build a campaign here are some tips to help you minimize any gaps and get the most out of your campaign spending.
1. Think like your customer
For identifying keywords, consider all of the possible searches that customers may use to find your business. Try to go beyond the more obvious searches. For instance, if you’re a dentist then don’t just consider ‘dentist’ or ‘dental’. A customer is much more likely to use terms that are specific to their needs like ‘fillings’, ‘teeth cleaning’, or ‘teeth whitening’.
It helps to be as specific as possible with your keywords. If you need some help in coming up with the right ones then check out Google’s Keyword Planner. Not only can it help you identify keywords but it will also show the popularity of each keyword and how much traffic it might drive to your website.
Some of your keywords may also be more seasonal such as ‘summer dresses’ or ‘winter boots’. Keep this in mind and rotate any seasonal terms as needed to keep your ads relevant.
2. Optimize your ad copy
Is your ad copy compelling enough to drive clicks? It’s important to consider your strategy and work backwards from there. This helps increase the effectiveness of your ads and drive the desired actions from your customer.
Google offers some helpful advice if you click on ‘Get tips and view sample ads’. They suggest highlighting the unique value that your business provides along with any promotional content like a free demo or a discount for first-time customers. Most importantly, they suggest a strong call-to-action. Evidence points to a greater effectiveness for ads that provide a sense of urgency such as ‘Shop now’ or ‘Call today’.
It’s also important to know what not to include in your ad copy. Many small businesses use their web address in the headline. This wastes precious space for copy since a web address is automatically included in the ad. Similarly, including the name of your small business isn’t useful to customers. This is only helpful for major brands that are likely to be recognized. Unless you have a major brand try to stick with what makes your business different from the rest.
3. Keep it local
One of the reasons why Google Ads provides incredible value for small businesses is the ability to focus on a local audience. If you have a single physical location then you can focus on just your surrounding area. For multiple locations you can increase the radius or enter a list of surrounding cities. For services such as catering or landscaping it can be especially valuable to show ads to only the cities or regions that are in your coverage area.
You can set your ads to target specific geographic locations in the ‘Campaign’ tab of your Google Ads account. If you’re running a Smart Campaign then you can find ‘Locations’ under your ad settings to set a radius around a business address or enter specific areas.
4. Ensure relevance between ads and website
You can maximize the value of your Google Ads by ensuring that the content of your landing pages strongly correlates to your ads. For instance, if you want to promote a new product or service then make sure your ads direct customers to a webpage that can provide more specific information about that product or service. You want to ensure a consistent experience and avoid sending customers to a webpage that isn’t related to your ad.
It’s also good to make sure that the ad copy we discussed earlier is similar to the content of your landing pages. This is where it’s helpful to have lots of content on your webpages so you can include plenty of keyword instances. So whatever is mentioned in your ad is repeated in the landing page along with more background information. Similarly, the page should relate to your call-to-action if possible. If you mention ‘Try a free demo’ in your ad then your landing page should provide a direct link the demo, for example.
5. Manage your time
Let’s face it. It may be easy to start a Google Ads campaign but it can be a challenge for many small businesses to get the most out of their investment.
We can help optimize your existing campaigns and build new ones that best match your business goals. We can also review the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website to further improve the value of your campaigns.
Learn more on our solutions page or request a free demo of our digital marketing technology today.