In the last decades, there has been a lot of changes in the way small businesses build their online presence and reach potential customers on Google. Today, more than 80% of people searching for local businesses, either to buy products or services they need, conduct their search online. From searching for the best backyard lawn mower to finding the best locksmith near me, virtually everyone uses search engines to look for what they want online.
While every aspect of marketing is important when it comes to building a huge, trustworthy online reputation, you still cannot neglect the power of search advertising to your brand’s growth. It is a very effective tool for generating new local customers without stress. The reason is not far-fetched. Search advertising occupies a crucial position in local search result pages, regardless of the type of device you are using to browse.
Furthermore, Google ads has been used for years by many local business owners as an effective tool for reaching new customers and growing their businesses in the most profitable way. However, not every business owner knows how beneficial Google Ads could be to their business, hence they are not leveraging the platform correctly.
If you have been wondering how to take advantage of Google ads to market your business to your target audience, this guide will be of great help to you. Read on to see how you can use it to maximize return on your investment in the best way possible.
The goal of every business is to be found by the right people, at the right place, and at the right time. That is exactly what Google ads does. It helps put your business in front of relevant people at just the right time when they are looking to make a purchase.
With the rate at which competition increases across every industry and niche, it is important that businesses learn how to effectively catch consumer’s attention. However, for a small business just starting out, this might be exceptionally difficult.
So what can small businesses do to distinguish themselves in the online marketplace? A good place to start is identifying consumer patterns in order to leverage emerging trends before the competition discovers them.
Over the years, there has been a great shift in the use of connected devices. There were only about 8.4 billion connected devices across the globe in 2017. But in 2020, the number has increased tremendously, and we now have about 20.4 billion connected devices globally.
Just as the number of connected devices is increasing, so also are some search terms. In the last two years, the number of people searching using search terms like “near me” and “where to buy” has increased by 200%. Mobile searches with the search phrases like “right now” and “best” have also increased incredibly – about 125% in the last two years.
Every business owner should have noticed the growing trend in voice-enabled searches. There has been about 27% growth in the number of people using voice search on mobile. Howbeit, with the way voice is changing the way people search online, it might also be having effects on the ways in which Google ads are served and viewed.
That means when looking to utilize Google ads for your brand and business and writing copy for it, you need to consider optimizing for voice search too. However, note that voice search queries rely on natural conversation, and so are usually longer than regular typed queries. That being said, you should be looking to include more long-tail keywords and particular key phrases that people are likely to use when having conversations.
A good example is “Who is the best locksmith near me” compared to “Best locksmith.”
The recent pandemic has really changed the ways consumers interact with businesses. According to Google, 75% of homeowners have their homes improved by themselves during the COVID-19 outbreak and searches for auto services and auto parts have increased by more than 16% in the third quarter of the year.
Searches for “unemployment lawyer near me” have also increased by up to 250%. That’s a lot. While you may not make any sense of the information by merely looking at it from the surface, it can be of great help to you when creating ads that attract your customers’ attention. For example, if you have a local hardware store, it will make a lot of sense to know that three out of four homeowners are currently looking for DIY home repairs and upgrades.
At the same time, an unemployment attorney will be motivated to want to buy pay-per-click (PPC) space because he understands that there is an upward trend in the number of people looking for his service at the present time.
Do you notice those few businesses that get shown at the top space when you search for something on Google? Yes, those are some companies that have mastered local SEO and are leveraging that to get their business to the top spot on the search engine result page (SERP). But obviously, that is not the only thing you see on the search result. You probably also see the result of an effective Google Ads campaign.
Those businesses you see at the top-most spot in the SERP have simply paid Google to display their advertisement to online searchers for relevant terms on Google Maps and Google Search. Let’s see a quick rundown of how Google Ads works.
When you create a Google ad campaign, you will be required to set the target audience for the ad. That would be people within your target local market. Then, you can add images and create compelling copy to hint at Google about things that make your business special. You will then be asked to set a budget for your ad campaign.
Once you do that, Google will take your business and show it to the people that fall within your targeted demographic.
As more and more people see and click on your ads, your preset budget will start shrinking and shrinking until there is nothing left there to fuel your campaign. Then Google will stop showing your business. That is how Google Ads works.
Now that you know how Google ads work, it will also be great to know some of its benefits to your business or brand. Let’s take a look at some of them below.
This is one unique benefit most internet marketers like about Google ads. The platform offers businesses of all sizes and types an amazing and flexible means of marketing. Google ads is compatible with a host of software systems and marketing platforms out there. Hence presenting you will a golden opportunity to literally turn internet traffic on or off with just a few taps.
The platform also allows you to customize your campaign so that it gives you the best result by effectively reaching specific sets of people online. For instance, you can decide to target users based on the type of device they use to perform searches. You can also do that based on their location or the type of Google-owned product they are using – whether it is YouTube, Google Search, or Google Maps.
In addition, you can set your preferred budget for various aspects of your campaign. That is flexibility at its best!
Yes, there is probably no other platform that does it better. Google ads is an excellent tool that can help you generate huge traffic and leads to your business. So far your campaigns are set up correctly, you can be guaranteed of getting lots of quality and targeted leads directly to your landing pages, website, or opt-in forms.
Google ads is a pay-per-click platform. That means you will only be paying when people click on your ads and not just when they see them. That way, you can be sure of getting huge ROI for your investments so far your campaigns are well-optimized.
And fortunately, there is no doubt about the transparency of the platform. Any data Google presents to you about your ads campaign are just as it looks like.
Unlike other means of advertising, Google ads has a tradition of helping business owners achieve quick results with their marketing efforts. It will also present you with straightforward and easy-to-analyze reports that will help you track your progress right from your dashboard. There, you will see some important parameters like ads clicked, cost per click, and keywords searchers used to find your ad.
Google is arguably the largest search engine on the planet. That means the search giant can help your business generate a huge amount of traffic to your business on a daily basis (if you have enough money to spend to make this happen).
Google prides itself in constantly improving its algorithm to help both consumers and businesses have a better experience using the platform. That way, you can be sure that Google is not just going to be sending you “any type” of traffic but relevant traffic. The leads Google will send to your business will be better-qualified than just any traffic you get from other marketing platforms.
Having access to the minds of your customers, knowing what they are thinking and why they behave the way they do is important for any successful marketing campaign. Equipping yourself with this knowledge will help you create effective ads and content that addresses their desires and pain points.
While it may be difficult to know what’s in the minds of your customers, Google ads makes this super easy for you. It allows you to have good insight into market trends that can help take the way you interact with your customers to the next level.
Google ads can give you accurate insights into the behavior of your customers, which can come in really handy when you are looking to improve your products or services. You can also use them to refine your marketing efforts so that you get the most return for your money and energy
When you hear the word Google, what comes to your mind? The Google Search, right? That’s not unusual. Many marketers and business owners will also do the same. However, while Google Search is the most popular and also a very important Google property, Google actually enables ads across about 7 other different platforms which altogether have more than one billion users. That way, you have a wider range of places to display your company ads. If you don’t want to use only Google Search, you can explore other platforms as:
When you have a Google ads campaign running, your listing will have a better chance of showing at the top of search results for the keywords or search phrases that are relevant to your business offerings.
Even with paid results, Google is designed to show only relevant results to users’ specific queries. And the platform considers many factors when deciding which website or business to rank at the top of search results for certain keywords. Such factors include your location, time, and date. It does this to make sure the most relevant results are displayed to users every time they search.
This is also another prominent section your potential customers are likely going to see in search results. Google My Business (GMB) has proved to be a powerful tool, helping local businesses drive targeted leads to their website and stores. If you are yet to set up your GMB account, you definitely have been leaving money on the table for your competitors.
A business with a complete GMB profile stands a better chance of ranking both on Google Search and Google Maps for relevant keywords. Why? Google uses the information provided on GMB profiles, including the location of the business to match the intent of a searcher, hence showing the business as a relevant solution to the searcher.
Furthermore, Google My Business is a free tool anyone can use. You can as well use it to complement your paid search efforts. Just create a free GMB profile and fill in all required information.
This is another important area in Google ads paid search area on Google’s SERP. Google ads can show up in different places on the page, including the bottom of the page, on the right-hand side, or just directly underneath the local ads section. Google will show your business in this area based on how closely the search query used by the user searching is to the keywords you have chosen for your ads.
Google shows paid local search ads at the top of SERPs whenever users conduct a search relating to those companies. This section is used to showcase local businesses first to users. This spot on the SERP is very important to local businesses because it provides an avenue for them to quickly connect with potential customers in their area who are ready to become a customer. Advertisers can get their businesses into this spot to gain qualified leads from Google.
This is the final thing a searcher will see in the SERP. The organic searches have the highest number on the result page. Although it is possible to rank your business organically, it usually takes a longer time for it to happen. Unlike paid efforts, it can take several months or even years to rank a website to the front page of the search results.
At the same time, it is usually a very competitive approach because it is free and it’s what anyone can try. That way, it might become even harder to gain visibility for your business going the organic way. But search advertising can provide you a much easier route to the top.
One factor that helps you easily evaluate how well your ads campaign is doing is the position of the ad on the search result page. And this can be influenced by many factors, including:
However, if you would like to have your ad rank well on search results, there are some things you will want to do.
It is not enough to just create an ad campaign and get it running. You need to have specific goals for every campaign you create. Before creating your company’s ad campaign, first, sit down to set goals and determine what kind of success you want to achieve with each campaign. However, make sure your goals are measurable and achievable.
Two businesses may not have the same goal. And you can even have different goals for different stages in your business cycle.
Not sure what goals to set? Here are some goals to get you inspired:
Integrating ad groups into your campaigns will make it easier for you to include appropriate keywords in them. At the same time, you will need ad copies that link back to the various ad groups. This is a good way to improve your quality score and get the best result from your ad campaigns.
Keywords are arguably an integral part of any successful marketing strategy. Although many things come together to contribute to search optimization, but keywords play a crucial role in it. Using the right keywords in your campaigns will make it easy for you to attract the right customers to your business.
Nevertheless, there are different types of keywords, and knowing where to use each type will mean a lot to your campaign:
Phrase match keywords: these are keywords that are targeted at a specific set of people. For instance, if you offer auto locksmith services, you might use phrase match keywords like “best auto locksmith” or “auto locksmith near me.” These keywords will yield amazing results when you are looking to target local customers.
This involves more than just using the right keywords in your ad. Righty targeting your ads can help save you lots of money and precious time. There are different ways you can effectively target your ideal customers with your ad campaigns. Some of them include:
However, in order to rightly target your campaigns and make them hit the pain points of your audience, you will need to first understand many things about them. These include their demographic, intentions, and affinities. All these will work together to help you create campaigns that hit home every single time!
Keywords are important to fuel your ad campaigns but they are not the only thing you need. You also need a powerful call-to-action that can effectively convert searchers to visitors, and then to customers.
Byt when creating the copy for your ad campaigns, make sure your message is clear enough to your aaudience. Include relevant keywords, trust signals, call-to-action, and offer messages in your ad content.
It doesn’t all end with your copy. Remember your ad copy is supposed to draw your audience in to visit your website. So make sure your landing page or website is also set in order to receive them. Your landing page should be easy to navigate and also relevant to the keywords that drew the audience in.
Having the means to track your success is also very important to ensuring an effective ad campaign. You can incorporate call tracking in your ad campaigns. The feature allows you to differentiate who called you by randomly finding your business online or through your ad.
Another tracking feature to consider is web form tracking and web chats. They let you keep track of how people are finding your business and what they want to know about it.
You have been negligent enough by not taking advantage of Google ads before. Now is time to take action and help your business win more quality leads and increase revenue. Whether you own a small or medium business, adding Google ads to your marketing strategy will help you get the best result from your marketing efforts.
However, if you think you still need more help concerning this, it will make a whole lot of sense to work with a local SEO agency to help put your campaign strategy in order and optimize your performance and reach. Not sure if you should work with such an agency? Check to see if any of the points below resonates with you.
If yes, then you might need to consider working with one. Your business growth is important to stay relevant in this ever-competitive market, so do all it takes to give your business that extra push it needs to get above your competitors.
If you find yourself nodding in agreement to any of these points, then you should find a reliable agency you can trust with the growth of your company. It may seem like hard work finding one, but it will surely pay off in the end.