“I can manage my own Google AdWords account”
We’ve heard this comment before from online business owners who prefer to be hands on with every aspect of their business marketing, including Google AdWords. Self-managed advertising on Google can indeed work for smaller digital advertisers with a local customer base and limited budgets. A basic keyword campaign and ad can easily be created by owners looking to test the waters or maintain a simple, ongoing presence in the Google advertising landscape.
However, the challenge for many advertisers that rely on traffic for sales is that managing AdWords can truly become a full-time job with all of the available features, settings, campaign types, ad types, and data points. This is where the bread is buttered, so to speak.
Once you’re spending a significant amount of money on AdWords (usually around $1,000+ per month and up) and/or running multiple campaigns, it really does take a watchful pair of eyes to make sure that your investment is being properly managed and generating a decent ROI. To get the most for your money, you must know which aspects of your campaign(s) are profitable and the variables impacting your campaigns positively or negatively.
Too many times, we’ve seen advertisers with campaigns that were set up YEARS ago and have not been looked at or optimized in months, or even years! Can you imagine spending $1,000+ per month on print or media ads that you haven’t reviewed in months or years?
So again, when you’re spending any significant amount of money on AdWords, it’s crucial to know your numbers on a week-to-week/month-to-month basis, know which aspects of your campaign(s) are profitable or not and know what variables are impacting your campaigns positively or negatively.
An example would be if your campaigns generate inbound phone calls. If so, then it’s important to attribute those calls to the correct campaign. We’ve consulted many advertisers that are spending thousands on PPC every month, but they can’t tell you how many phone calls and new customers were acquired via their campaigns.
“I never click those ads on Google so I doubt anyone else will.”
Maybe you aren’t, but your target customer is. According to studies, paid ads on Google are clicked on 6% of the time in comparison to organic search results. While 6% of paid clicks on Google.com may sound like a tiny number, you have to consider what 6% of all Google.com clicks represents. We are talking about Google, which posted $66 billion (with a B) in total revenues in 2014 alone. The bulk of which came from its proprietary advertising service, Google AdWords.
So, yes, in comparison to organic search results, paid search ads do acquire a relatively small % of all Google.com clicks. However, the bottom line for advertisers is that there are so many users on Google, that a mere 6% of clicks on Google.com (in your niche) can still be a serious source of quality traffic to your website!
“I already paid a company to increase my traffic. It was too expensive and they didn’t really produce any results.”
This is another common objection that many online business owners have when it comes to continuing to invest in PPC advertising on Google and/or other search engines. The reality for many small businesses is that this statement is true! There are a multitude of so-called “paid search experts” out there who will happily take your money each month and manipulate a report to make you think what they are doing is working. Without the right focus and attention, you won’t get the return you should from your spend. You will have no idea where to reallocate the spend to where it is most effective. For example, if you want your campaigns generate inbound phone calls. If so, then it’s important to attribute those calls to the correct campaign. We’ve consulted many advertisers that were spending thousands on PPC every month, but they couldn’t tell you how many leads, phone calls, or new customers were acquired via their campaigns.
Here are some other common reasons why you may not be getting the most from your Google AdWords spend:
- You’re not measuring all results (conversions) from your PPC campaigns
- You don’t have a competitive offer or unique selling proposition.
- You don’t have a clear call-to-action on your landing page or website which guides the visitor to take the next logical step in your “conversion” process.
- You’re bidding on the wrong keywords or you have a mismatch between the content of your Keywords, Ads and Landing Pages.
- You have website design or functionality issues.
- You don’t have a high-converting sales and/or follow-up process for new customer leads.
- You have bad customer reviews or a bad reputation online.
- Your product or service is priced too high without having a higher perceived value than your competition.
