Using Google AdWords has it’s pros & cons.
There are a lot of tools available to businesses that can be very helpful in choosing specific language and targets for online advertising campaigns. When it comes to Pay Per Click or other types of paid advertising, including on Facebook and other social media sites, knowing which tools provide the best ROI (return on investment) is essential, particularly with a small budget where every penny counts.
Many businesses turn to Google AdWords as a marketing tool. While it is, a service offered by Google, which does have its benefits with PPC marketing, it is not always the best tool for every campaign and all businesses.
What is AdWords?
AdWords is the Google advertising program. If you look at the search engine results from Google, you will see different ads that are at the top of the page with the little green “AD” box to the front. With some browsers and on some devices, you may also see these results to the side of the organic Google results.
Every time that someone using Google clicks on an ad that is showing for the keyword or phrase entered, the business will pay. If the searcher doesn’t click on the ad, even though it is displayed, there is no cost to the business. It is essential to keep in mind that the campaign pays even if the customer doesn’t buy, as long as they click on the ad it is a cost to the advertising company.
The Pros
With Google AdWords, you have the ability to choose very specific keywords. It is now also set up to target customers by location, which is ideal for retail outlets and traditional types of businesses with a walk-in customer base.
The process allows the business to use the analytics to monitor the campaign, provide insight and to refine keywords and ad messages further. Since this PPC program will result in traffic moving from the search engine results to your website, it can bring in qualified customers very quickly. This targeting is different than SEO methods where the organic clicks may be slow to develop, limiting the ability to move up the search engine results page.
The Cons
Initially when Google AdWords first hit the market the cost per click for an ad was relatively small, often just pennies per click. If a customer clicked on the ad but didn’t make a purchase on the site, it wasn’t a loss for the business.
Today, AdWords bidding for key PPC terms has mostly priced out small businesses with limited budgets. Instead of pennies expect to spend several dollars per click, and you will also be competing against brands that are well established in the market.
Additionally, there are limitations as to the number of characters on the paid ads. This can make it difficult to capture the attention of those browsing through listings when the organic results provide more details and information.
Finally, not choosing the right keywords can lead to a lot of clicks with no conversions. This can quickly eat up your advertising budget and provide a very poor ROI even with a short duration type of campaign. Google AdWords can help.
