Google Ads is a marketing tool developed to assist you in displaying ads to promote your products or services online. Google processes hundreds of millions of searches per day, so it makes sense to create simple, effective ads and display them to people who are already searching online for information related to your business.

Paid search marketing has wide appeal for all types of businesses. The pricing model is competitive and relative to your budget, so if you are starting with a “shoe-string” budget, Google Ads is still within your reach. Put simply, Ads offers precise targeting and measurability, as well as tremendous reach and it’s possible to achieve a high ROI on a large scale.

If managed and set up properly, Ads can help to increase online traffic, in-store traffic, brand recognition and generate sales while reducing marketing costs. If you are using Google Ads to build your business, take note of the following tips:

1. Select Keywords Carefully

You should take time to devise a list of specific keywords that potential customers may use to find you through search engines. The Google keyword tool is the perfect place to start and it’s free! One of the most common and costly Ads mistakes is focusing all your attention on positive keywords that bring you traffic. Don’t forget to devise a list of negative keywords (words you don’t want people finding you for) as well. For example, if you are selling gold watches, you would use the negative keyword “silver”. A comprehensive list of negative keywords can increase the quality of your traffic and improve your CTR (click-through-rate) significantly.

2. Support Organic Traffic with PPC

Relying upon free search engine traffic alone is a risky strategy. Typically, it will take 6-12 months to get an SEO campaign up and running, while an Ads campaign takes effect and generates results almost immediately if set up correctly. With an Ads campaign you have much more control over the consistency of the traffic you get. A combination of both SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click) is recommended to obtain a wide presence on the web.

3. Include A Call To Action

Ad copy plays a vital role in the success of your Ads Campaign. Ads can appear complex with quality score and campaign optimization; Ad Copy is far less complicated and tends to work best if kept plain and simple. Having a good call to action in your ad copy is key to your campaign’s effectiveness. Give your prospective clients that extra push to get them over the line – Buy Now, Call Now, etc.

4. Test, Test and Test Again!

Ads are the world’s easiest testing engine, allowing you to test new ad text and landing pages and let Google tell you which ones work best. You can even test positions – just because you appear #1 doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll get all the clicks. Sometimes #2 and #3 generate just as many clicks, but at a lower cost. We have worked with many clients that have saved a lot of money by testing their offers and messaging with Ads before launching right into production and sales.

5. Don’t Forget to Track

The amount of data that can be retrieved about your campaign via Ads reporting, Analytics and other tools is incredible. You can precisely track the effectiveness of each search phrase – from the most frequently searched to the highest converting and the most profitable search phrase. With this knowledge, you can jump-start your SEO campaign, helping to get your website ranked highly in the organic results for the most profitable search terms.