Do Google Ads really work?

So many small-medium businesses have tried to generate new sales leads using Google Ads with mixed results.

Many of these businesses have come to the conclusion that Google Ads don't work and it's expensive.

Given some of the experiences I've seen, I would agree with their initial sentiment.

BUT

When you dig a little deeper, there are reasons why Google Ads may not have worked for these businesses.

Want to learn more read on.

What are Google Ads?

First, just to put us all on the same page, what exactly are Google Ads?

These are the ads you see at the top of the search page on Google, usually the first 3-4 listings and you can tell they are ads by the little green AD logo next to them.

These ads work on the principal of Pay Per Click or ppc in other words, a business does not pay for the ad to show up you only pay if a visitor clicks on your ad and is then directed to your website or a specific landing page.

How do Google Ads work?

Ads are designed to be triggered and shown if and when they match the key words or phrases that a user is typing in.

For example, let's say you're an accountant.  The typical keywords or phrases that may be associated with the ad might include:

• Accountant near me
• Tax advice
• Tax planning
• Setting up a superfund
• Setting up a new business
• Etc

If there is a match between what the user is searching for and the keywords associated with the ad, then there's a chance the ad will show up.

Note that I've specifically highlighted the word chance more on this later!

So, do Google Ads work?

Yes.  Simply because your ad will be triggered and shown when a user is searching for what you are offering, otherwise they would not be searching for the product or service you're offering.

If I'm search for 'accountants near me', then, more than likely, I must be in the market for an accountant, i.e. I'm a warm lead.

What's the real problem with Google Ads?

There's nothing wrong with Google Ads per se.

Rather, the issue in the majority of cases has been poor management and execution of the ad campaigns.

And by poor execution, I mean the ad campaigns have not been properly set up to maximise the chance of triggering hence why I wrote earlier; "there's a chance the ad will show up".

The real reasons why businesses have not had a positive experience with Google Ads include:

• Set and forget you need to constantly monitor, analyse and adjust the ads setting them once and expecting results will not work you must review at least monthly.
• Ad quality many ads lack appeal and are not inviting enough for a user to want to click on them again, this is all about measuring and adjusting.
• Landing page experience once a user clicks on the ad and are then taken to the website/landing page, a number of them will immediately bounce off simply because they did not see what they wanted or did not know what to do, i.e. mis-match between the ad and website content.

Finally, if your website or landing page is not designed to convert the visitor, then truthfully, Google Ads will not help the business.

Converting means when a visitor lands on your site, they are compelled to take some action e.g. contact you, fill out a form, request a quote etc.

So, for a successful Google Ads campaign, there are many factors that must go hand in hand and all these factors must be reviewed, monitored, analysed and adjusted on a regular basis.

If you'd like to learn more about Google Ads and if it's relevant for your business, please contact me:

Bob Singh
Bloomtools: Website design & development, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SEO, Content Marketing, Blogs
1300 811965
bob.singh@bloomtools.com
www.bloomtools.com