Are you wondering whether you should pay for ads placement in Google’s search results? Here are five reasons why you may want to run an online ad campaign for your business.
1. My Website is Brand New
If you have a brand new website without any domain history, it may be wise to consider supplementing the launch with an advertising campaign. Why? Because even if your website has excellent SEO markup in place, it will take some time for Google to index the content and for the website to begin ranking for its important keywords. In the meantime, an advertising campaign may help your website get the visibility it needs to drive traffic and turn into your first converting leads.
2. My Website Does not Show Up in Searches for Important Keywords
Many websites struggle to rank for all of their important non-branded keywords. In cases where you find your website doesn’t rank for a key search term related to one of your primary products or services, it is recommended to consider an advertising campaign to promote visibility in that area. Consider running an audit on your website’s ranking keywords and top-converting website pages. If you find there are important pages seeing little traffic and not ranking in Google, chances are you are missing out on potential business. In those cases, consider tailoring an ad campaign to target select areas where you’re not already performing well.
3. My Competitors Show up for my Brand Name
Many businesses decide to advertise online because they find a competitor is showing up for their branded searches in Google. It is perfectly acceptable for competing businesses to bid or advertise on their competitor’s branded keywords as long as they do not use the competitor’s trademarked term in their ad copy. View Google’s Advertising Policy on Trademarks. If you find a competitor is bidding on your brand name (causing ads to show above your website in the search results), it is worth considering to bid on your brand name as well. Sometimes this means you end up paying for website clicks that would otherwise result in organic (free clicks); however, for many businesses, it’s just another cost of marketing and worth it in the end. Additionally, bidding on your brand name will drive up the cost for the competitor and potentially cause them to stop.
4. I’m Not Getting Enough Quality Leads
If your website is suffering from a lack of quality leads, it is worthwhile to consider advertising online to increase overall brand visibility. Online ads allow you to tailor your message to potential customers and you can promote value propositions and deals within the copy of your ads. Do you offer free shipping? Do you have a deal for new customers? Did you win a recent quality award? Ads are a great way to highlight your selling points and attract a click. There’s also the possibility to split your ad traffic and test the landing page experience to gain insight on how to improve the user experience for customers coming from all channels.
5. I Want to Reach New Customers
Maybe your business is already showing up in the top organic search results for your important keywords, but you still need more leads to improve sales goals. In these cases, it’s possible you need to expand your reach. In addition to Search Ads (or text ads) in Google’s results, you may want to consider advertising on other ad platforms like:
- Google Remarketing Ads: Re-target customers who previously visited your website
- YouTube Ads: Create brand awareness by running short ads on videos in your industry
- Google Shopping Ads: Compete in the retail ads / promoted products space in Google
- Local Services Ads: Participate in the Google Guarantee program for local services authority
- And more!
How to Decide Where to Advertise and How Much to Spend
In other words: where do you start?
If you need help determining which ad platforms are best for you and how much you’ll need to spend to see a positive ROI, we recommend starting with thorough research and choosing a trusted partner. Unless you have experienced in-house resources to set up and manage your ad campaigns, you’ll need to find a trusted partner to lead the efforts. Ways to evaluate a partner include: number of years in business, strong client portfolio, certified ad specialists, and client references and testimonials.
Need Additional Help?
Americaneagle.com offers free consultations to advise on what ad campaigns are right for you and how much should be budgeted in your industry. Contact us for more information!
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