For small business owners, advertising on Google can be an effective way to bring in new business. Peak to Peak Marketing is a certified Google Ads partner, working with small businesses throughout Western Canada to improve local and global visibility with customized Google Ads. With fierce competition online and off, Google Ads can help your business stand out. In this article, we will explore how to advertise your small business on Google and what factors you need to consider.
How Google Advertising Works
According to Google, Google Ads lets you “get in front of customers when they’re searching for businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps. Only pay for results, like clicks to your website or calls to your business.” Google advertising allows a business to bid on keywords associated with their business (Pay-Per-Click, or PPC) so that they can appear in the top sponsored search results when someone searches for a product or service on Google. The biggest benefit for small businesses is that when someone is searching for a product or service for which you have an active PPC campaign, they can find your company.
Getting Started with Google Ads
To get started with Google Ads, you need to determine your goals for your ad investment. Are you trying to get more people to visit your website? Do you want more people to call your business? Are you trying to increase local foot traffic to your shop? Your goals will dictate how and what kind of ads you create. You will also need to think about your budget and do research about what keywords your customers use to search for you that will ensure you capture the right traffic.
Launching Your First Ad Campaign
Google has radically changed the format of its ads over the last few years in an effort to make it easier for small business owners to benefit from using Google Ads. One of the biggest changes is that all new ads must be created as Responsive Search Ads (RSAs). These ads automatically serve the versions of your ads that perform the best, with the idea that you’ll get better leads. Of course, achieving success with Google Ads requires you to write good ad copy, perform research using Google’s Ads tool to make sure you’re bidding on the best keywords, and understand your goals so that you can measure the success of your ads and tweak them to improve results.
Measuring and Monitoring Your Ads Is Critical
Google Ads campaigns are not static advertisements like print ads in a local newspaper or magazine. One of the big benefits of advertising through Google is the rich information you can get about the people who click on your ads and visit your website. Constant monitoring and adjusting search terms can help ensure that you get the best ROI for your investment, and Google Ads provides lots of data reporting so that you can connect the success of your ad with the resulting traffic and increased revenues.
Tips for Achieving Success Advertising Your Small Business on Google
It is easy to overspend or misspend on Google Advertising if you don’t approach it strategically. At Peak to Peak Marketing, take the following steps to ensure the success of our clients’ campaigns:
- Identify clear goals and outcomes for the ads
- Understand your target market and your customer journey
- Do in-depth research to develop your keywords
- Don’t make false promises in your ads
- Identify negative keywords – words you do not want to be used to drive traffic
- Ensure you are selecting mobile-preferred ads in your campaigns
- Never stop testing and monitoring your ads
- Ad the snippet of code to your website so that you can accurately analyze which ads and search terms convert to leads or sales.
- Monitor and tweak your campaign often to refine your ads and more effectively reach your potential clients.
- Take advantage of Google’s remarketing feature to retarget the leads that Google identifies as the most likely to convert.
Conclusion
As we’ve demonstrated, Google Ads can be an effective marketing tool for your small or midsize business. If you’re trying to grow your business, compete more effectively, or drive more foot traffic to your local business, a Google small business marketing campaign can help you achieve your goals. If you want to remain visible and continue to drive consumers to your local or global business, marketing your small business with Google Ads can be a powerful way to grow. Working with an expert digital marketing partner like Peak to Peak Marketing can help you ensure that your ad strategy is sound and effective. Get in touch to learn more.