Google Ads: A Comprehensive Guide for Small Businesses

There are many challenges that come with running a small business, especially in the early stages of the business. You have a lot to learn and understand to effectively overcome the challenges you get and get the most out of your marketing budget.

Most small business owners and marketers usually get worried because they think their small budgets won’t be enough for them to compete with bigger businesses in Google Ads. However, that’s not always the case. Even though the most competitive keywords come with a price, you can also choose your keywords strategically and still compete with the big spenders.

When compared with print advertising, Google Ads is a cost-effective approach to creating a compelling and engaging audience for your target audience. With Google Ads, you can increase leads, boost traffic, convert website visitors to customers, and reach new audiences.

In this short guide, we’ll share tips and best practices we’ve developed after helping many brands and small businesses. You’ll also learn how to compete and grow your business, even with a small budget. Continue reading for more.

Google Ads Best Practices You Should Know

Apart from setting up and running a Google Ads campaign, you need to know the best practices that will help you optimize the campaign so you can achieve your goals. Here are some tips to guide you:

Set Defined Objectives

It goes beyond just setting Google Ads campaign. You need to have well-defined goals and a plan to help you get the best from your ad. Some goals to consider include increasing sales, boosting email sign-ups, growing account registrations, and generating leads. You can only achieve these goals if your ad is created for your target audience.

Also, do not get discouraged if your ad doesn’t directly convert visitors to customers because your share of impressions within your market is equally important. For instance, it’s possible that your ad won’t cause visitors to make a purchase. However, it has helped in creating awareness about your product and services.

Avoid Broad Keywords

When choosing keywords, always ensure that it’s relevant and fitting to your business and goals. Broad and long keywords can cause Google to direct your ads to the wrong audience, leading to a waste of time, effort, and money.

With that said, you need to make testing an important part of your strategy so that you can determine what works best. The Google Ads Keywords Planner Tool is an effective tool to start with when searching for keywords and phrases.

Set a Budget

Determine the highest amount of money you need for your Google Ads campaign. Basically, the higher the pricing plan, the broader the ad reach. This is another area where planning is important, especially for small businesses. Here’s what you should have in mind when planning your budget:

• Conversion rates per campaign
• Search term popularity
• Campaign conversion rates

In addition, you also need to check the budget report in your account regularly. This will give you an idea of what you’ve spent and a forecast of your monthly spending.

Study your Competition.

One of the most effective ways to run a successful campaign using Google Ads is to study your competitors. The Google keyword tool also makes it easier for small business owners to see how their competitors use keywords to their advantage. All you need to do is search and learn how you can get the best from other successful websites. A SWOT analysis will also make it easier for you to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.

Optimize your Website

The first thing that people would see when they click on your ad is your landing page. Therefore, you need to ensure that it is optimized so that people don’t leave your site immediately after they visit. Here are some ways you can optimize your website:

• Increasing page load speed
• Making your website user-friendly
• Performing tests to ensure a great user experience.
• Offering quality content

Your main objective should be to retain new visitors that come from your ad, and this is what you would get if you optimized your website with the tips above.

Read our article on Website Optimization for Small Businesses to learn more about how you can optimize your website efficiently.

Even though Google Ads may seem intimidating for small businesses, with low-cost experiments, time, and the best practices above, you’ll find the best strategy for your business. With Ellipsis Google Ads Program, you can easily promote your products/services to people who are searching for specific things on Google. Contact us now for more information about our Google Ads program and how you can compete with bigger brands.

Tags: google ads, google ads guide