Does Google Ad Words help?

[Sebastian Alvarez]

I'm trying to promote my business and wondering about Google Ad Words. Reading their extensive help gives me an idea of what it's about, but what I can't tell from it is how much you have to spend as a minimum to make it work. They have all these different options and I'd be willing to give it a try, but I can't spend much. So if anybody here is using that, how much on average are you spending per month? Is it working out for you, do you get jobs from it or just visitors?

What I'm contemplating here is how to better spend my small budget, in ink, envelopes, paper and postage to send presentation letters to wedding planners and venues, or to spend it in something like Google Ad Words.

[Jawad Mir]

I haven't done Google Ads yet but I would suggest to do google ads vs. sending stuff to venues and planners.

A lot of brides are online nowadays and plus planners, halls, they all either want % or have tons of other vendors that they deal with that they will give priority. Google Ads is better option. I am told it's effect. Also facebook page and facebook activitiy which is all free for now is very effective

Hope this helps

[Sebastian Alvarez]

Well, for what I've seen so far it might not be a good idea unless you have a lot of money to spend on it. One thing is that if the user has the AdBlock Plus add-on installed, for which there are Firefox and Chrome versions, Ad Words never appear.

So I disabled AdBlock plus and submitted the search again. I searched for wedding video raleigh nc, which seems to me would be the most obvious search from any potential client, and that search doesn't show any of the ads that are above search results, only ads to the right of the search results. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't pay much attention to ads on the right, especially not the ones showing after the third one. But as far as I've read, the more you bid on the ad cost per click or something like that, the more chances it's going to show up on top. Meaning that if those companies are paying something like $5 to $10 or more per click, unless I bid like $15 or more I won't get even close to the top and my ad will be lost several inches below the top.

I think the money would be better spent on an ad on foreverbridal.net, which is very expensive but it's the first result, and I already pay for advertising on wedj.com, which appears 3rd, and I also pay at myraleighwedding.com, which appears second if I do a search for wedding videographer raleigh nc. Even if the user has AdBlock Plus installed, they still get the regular results that will take them to wedj.com and myraleighwedding.com

[Jawad Mir]

I wouldn't be concerned about Ad blocks. Not many people have them. If you choose to be in directory, you will be among many which if it works for you is awesome. But I can't stress online presence whether through facebook or google. That's the way it is nowadays.

All the best

[Corey Graham]

I've had good results with Google Ads. I recommend it.

[Sebastian Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Corey Graham

I've had good results with Google Ads. I recommend it.

OK, so you used it. How much did you spend on it on an average month? Did you pre-pay, or did you use automatic billing with set limits? Did your ad appear on top of the search results, or on the right?

[Corey Graham]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Alvarez

OK, so you used it. How much did you spend on it on an average month? Did you pre-pay, or did you use automatic billing with set limits? Did your ad appear on top of the search results, or on the right?

Sorry for my terse response the first time :)

I'm spending maybe $100/mo, which I pre-pay. Google lets me know when the balance is running low, and I just log in and pay another $100. I feel like I have a better grip on what's going on if I pay manually, rather than automatically.

My ad usually appears at the top spot. Of course, that's provided that the correct search(es) match -- the ones I define with keywords.

It's interesting in that a lot of the bookings I get from Google Ads are more of the late-notice kind. For example, the first one that came through called me on Tuesday for their wedding on Saturday. It happened to be an open Saturday for me, so that paid off right away.

[Sebastian Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Jawad Mir

If you choose to be in directory, you will be among many which if it works for you is awesome. But I can't stress online presence whether through facebook or google. That's the way it is nowadays.

Actually in those directories I'm paying to be at the top. Look it up, mine is Crystal Sea Video. But the advertising there is a lot more clearer than Google Ad Words. They have categories, they tell you how much per category, and you choose, simple as that. Google Ad Words is very confusing.

[Sebastian Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Corey Graham

I'm spending maybe $100/mo, which I pre-pay. Google lets me know when the balance is running low, and I just log in and pay another $100. I feel like I have a better grip on what's going on if I pay manually, rather than automatically.

My ad usually appears at the top spot. Of course, that's provided that the correct search(es) match -- the ones I define with keywords.

So other than the one you mentioned, how many more jobs you get from those $100 a month? Do you get at least one for sure, or some months you don't get any jobs that come to you from that ad? Obviously if you get just one wedding a month from it, it pays for itself. Do you always ask your clients how they learned about you?

[Corey Graham]

Originally Posted by Sebastian Alvarez

So other than the one you mentioned, how many more jobs you get from those $100 a month? Do you get at least one for sure, or some months you don't get any jobs that come to you from that ad? Obviously if you get just one wedding a month from it, it pays for itself. Do you always ask your clients how they learned about you?

In the three months I've been using it now, I've averaged more than 1 a month. I always ask how they learned about me.

Surprisingly, there have been a couple fantastic clients I've attracted on Craigslist too.

[Sebastian Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Corey Graham

In the three months I've been using it now, I've averaged more than 1 a month. I always ask how they learned about me.

Surprisingly, there have been a couple fantastic clients I've attracted on Craigslist too.

When you say more than one a month, you mean just two, or how many?

[Jeff Harper]

Sebastian, think about it. Your results will vary in your market. What someone does in NYC will not be close to the same as someone in Cleveland Ohio.

Ad Words works of course, but their are too many variables for someone to tell you what you will get.

If you use Ad Words AND if you have a great website, that is the biggest difference between conversion rates. If your website sucks, then you will get very little response.

If you use Ad Words and have a great website that attracts paying customers your results will be better, especially if your site is designed for a high rate of conversion.

$100 to $200 is a good starting point, and just make sure you have a website that works well, and you'll do fine.

[Josh Bass]

If it matters, I had a google ad up to promote my videography stuff. I don't really do weddings, but I do shoot and that's what I was advertising. So I let it auto select the price in order to get me the most visibility, with a 10 or 15 dollar budget per day max. Long story short, it got maxed out almost EVERY DAY, and yet I got not a single inquiry. This went on for about a month and a half before I cancelled the campaign.

[Jeff Harper]

Before you invest in Ad Words, a person would be wise to use Google Analytics to get an idea of your conversion rate first. If you need to fine tune your site, do that before you advertise, and then your ad dollars will work for you more effectively.

Ad Words is best used when marketing a specific service or product for a specific target audience, I think. Vague services to a vague audience would certainly be a waste. Video services would be vague, wedding video, corporate video, etc are examples of how you need to get specific with advertising to be effective.

If you use Ad Words the way it is meant to be used, it can and will work for you. If your website is well-designed, with a target audience in mind, and if your advertising is aimed at the same audience, it should come together. But even then tinkering may be required.

[Sebastian Alvarez]

Originally Posted by Jeff Harper

If you use Ad Words and have a great website that attracts paying customers your results will be better, especially if your site is designed for a high rate of conversion.

$100 to $200 is a good starting point, and just make sure you have a website that works well, and you'll do fine.

What is a "high rate of conversion"? For now my website is very simple, and it's there mostly to inform people of the rates and to show some of my videos so they have a better idea of what I do. I know that it's probably far from having the right SEO, mostly because I did it with Photoshop using slices and then finished it in Dreamweaver, but that's all I know how to do right now. Learning web design at this point is not something I have the time to do. However if my business is successful and I have the money, eventually I will pay a professional to do it. Of course then you have to chose the right one, because I've seen many websites designed by supposed professionals that look dreadful.