Anyone using Google Ads for their website?

[Chris Hewitt]

I have been getting Google Ads offers for a while but haven't used them. I was wondering if anyone here has used them to make their website more prominent and what advantages you have found.

[Dave Partington]

We had some free vouchers we used up, but all it brought us were brides wanting to spend £400 - £500 for all day weddings.

[Chris Hewitt]

Hi Dave, yes, we get a few of those. Were the cost of Google Ads reasonable and what positioning of your website change? I've heard that some competitors can hit your ad many times just to increase your costs.

[Dave Partington]

Originally Posted by Chris Hewitt

Hi Dave, yes, we get a few of those. Were the cost of Google Ads reasonable and what positioning of your website change? I've heard that some competitors can hit your ad many times just to increase your costs.

Everytime any one clicks on your add (including your competitors) it costs you money.

The positioning of your site depends on how much you are bidding per click. The more you bid the higher you go. But remember, this is totally temporary and within the yellow advertising box. It has absolutely zero effect on your regular search engine placement after your adds stop running.

The other thing the adds generated were more sales calls - i.e. people clicking on the add (costing me money) and then calling me to try to sell me stuff. That made me pretty mad. Bad enough they call me, but costing me money for them to call me is even worse!

[Chris Hurd]

Very good topic, moved to TCB as it's a more appropriate forum.

[Steven Davis]

It's one of the quickest ways I saw money leave my bank account, and it didn't even wave goodbye.

[Daniel Latimer]

Originally Posted by Steven Davis

It's one of the quickest ways I saw money leave my bank account, and it didn't even wave goodbye.

This was my experience as well. I wasn't finding a good return on the investment at all. I used it for about two months, so I realize my sample size was small, but I decided to that money elsewhere.

[Sareesh Sudhakaran]

Originally Posted by Chris Hewitt

Hi Dave, yes, we get a few of those. Were the cost of Google Ads reasonable and what positioning of your website change? I've heard that some competitors can hit your ad many times just to increase your costs.

I've used (and still am using) Google Adwords. I don't know what business you're in. Some thoughts:

1. Adwords takes a long time to get used to. You can't learn it with a $100 coupon. Think of it as a stock market, with its own set of complicated rules.
2. On average, one should give every marketing campaign at least 3 months to know whether it has done its job or not. I strongly urge you to think in terms of six months or even yearly.
3. Do you click your competitor's ads? Then why should they? In any case, assuming you are in a neighborhood where this is practiced, make that part of your budget.
4. There are automatic bidding systems in place that always go one up over you. You need to find a strategy to stay on top.
5. In theory, Adwords should have no tangible benefit on Search. In practice, I'm not so sure.
6. The way you phrase your keywords (copy) is extremely important.
7. The demographics you target are equally important.
8. Try to design your website so it feels as a natural progression of your ad.
9. Don't shy away from strong calls to action.
10. If you're targeting a small demographic group or area, eventually you'll have to compare it with conventional advertising methods.

[Nigel Barker]

I have a colleague who is very enthusiastic about Google Ads & has been using them for some years. He has some pretty sophisticated ways to maximise the value of his budget e.g. only display ads later in the day when others will have burned their budget for that day.

[Chris Hewitt]

Thanks for your advice, guys. I will give it a go using the pointers mentioned here and will get back in while to let you know how it's going. Nothing to lose except a little cash which may work or not...

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

I have a colleague who is very enthusiastic about Google Ads & has been using them for some years. He has some pretty sophisticated ways to maximise the value of his budget e.g. only display ads later in the day when others will have burned their budget for that day.

I just spoke to him & asked about Google Ads & it turns out that he doesn't use them any more as he is on Page One of the search results for all his target keywords. He says quite rightly that there is no point paying to be on Page One when he is already there organically.

[Dylan Couper]

I've got extensive experience using Adwords for various businesses. There's only one important factor...

...does the cost of the ads convert into sales greater than what you're spending?

Most people fail with Adwords because they are unable to track this critical number and calculate it. Lots to learn, but it has to be treated like any professional advertising - don't just dump money into it.

Currently I'm not using it for anything because I'm either page 1 on Google or the numbers don't work on it.

[Tim Polster]

I have been using Adwords for about a year now for a part of my business. I spend about $15-25 per month. It has brought in some customers. Honestly, I do not know what to think of it.

I told Google in a survey that Adwords is just too complicated to expect people to run their own campaigns properly. They need to offer some account management...like any real ad agency. That is what they are aren't they?

I would put more money if with the confidence that the ads were going to be priced & placed effectively. But I do not have the time or brainpower to become an Adwords expert.

[Ervin Farkas]

The fact that I receive a fancy printed ad from them every month or so for the last two years tells me one thing for sure: it's a money maker for THEM, not for me... otherwise they would not spend money printing and mailing those out. Besides, my work field is so narrow, there is no general ad that works for me.

[Josh Bass]

I'm pretty sure I posted about this somewhere on here before. A while back I tried it for about a month and a half. $15/day budget.

Got maxxed out almost EVERY SINGLE DAY. Got 0 inquries, ever. What the hell? Do they have spambots? Who was clicking the ads?