Small Business on a Low Budget? Make Google Ads Work for You
But first, What is Google ads and How Does it Work?
If ever you’re just getting started with Google Ads here’s how it works – Basically, Google Ads is a paid Advertising Platform that offers businesses of all sizes to promote their products and services across Google Platforms such as Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, and more.
The ads you see on top of every Google search results, the image banner ads you see on the websites you browse, the videos (skippable & non-skippable) before and during watching YouTube videos, and even the ads you see on your Gmail – those are Google Ads.
Google Ads works on an auction system and is often referred to as “Pay-Per-Click” or PPC. So every individual sets a specific bid for their ads for a chance of higher visibility with their target audience on their ad platforms. Basically, if your ad gets shown and someone clicks on it that’s the only time you’ll pay Google hence the term – “Pay-Per-Click”.
Is it worth delving into Google Ads in the first place?
It depends really – let’s do an example, shall we? Let’s say your food preparation business can handle only 200 customers each week but then your Google ad drives around 300-400 inquiries then that means it would be too much and might potentially hurt your business if you can’t respond to all of your leads on time.
As a small business, you also have to understand that you won’t get instant results compared to larger businesses that have huge budgets. You will rely most on your patience and probably test as well which campaigns will work and shift your focus on.
How much should you spend on Google Ads if you’re a small business owner?
Your spending as a small business owner really depends on the following factors:
- The industry you’re in
- Total Ad budget
- How competitive your space is
It is always important to check how many of your leads actually become paying customers and how much of these paying customers are worth to your business. If for example – you acquired a new customer that pays around $700 for the product/service you are offering, then ask yourself how much are you willing to pay then to get more of these customers?
What would be the timeframe for me to see results in Google Ads as a small business?
It really depends on how you manage your advertising budget and your implementation of ad strategies.
And don’t fiddle right away on your ad account if you don’t see any results right away as this might hurt your campaign’s performance and visibility hence resulting in wasting ad spend. Don’t hit the panic button right away if you see low performing numbers on your campaigns.
Always remember that patience is key especially for small businesses running Google Ads campaigns on a small budget.
Any tactics or strategies I can do as a small business in optimizing my Google Ads?
- Focus on the Quality Score – Quality Score is an estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing pages. Higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better ad positions. And if you’re running on a low budget, it’s best to invest your time & effort in improving your Quality Score.
- Avoid Broad Match Terms – Broad terms are expensive since it doesn’t really give you qualified leads and most of the time customers who search for broad terms are not really ready to search and purchase your products & services. We would recommend to use long-tail keywords and add locations on your keywords as well to make it more targeted.
- Exclude Non-Performing Elements In Your Campaign – If you’ve invested enough time in your ad campaigns, check and assess the non-performing elements such as keywords, ad types/variations, landing pages, geographies, and demographics. Remember that you’re investing money as well so you should probably monitor these elements and exclude them if you found them underperforming.
- Adapt and React to Google Changes – Always remember that Google is always experimenting and changes will always occur with their ad platform. And as a small business, it’s essential for you to be able to adapt and react quickly to changes. Changes will always affect the small business over to the large ones.