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How to get the most from your Google Ads budget
If you’ve ever looked into using Google Ads on your own and have delved into the wonderful world of Google then you’ll know Google Ads can often cost a fortune with no real return on investment.
This isn’t because Google wants your money and doesn’t want to give you anything in return. This is primarily down to that fact that Google Ads isn’t as easy as Google makes it out to be.
Yes, with a few clicks of your keyboard or your phone you can set up an ad. Click on a couple of relevant keywords and set a budget. Then wait for the phone to ring.
Unfortunately this is the common process for most people who aren’t familiar with Google. Next is they wait and wait, and wait. The phone doesn’t ring, your ad may have gotten clicked on and you may have just paid money but you don’t get any jobs from your ad.
This could be one of a few possibilities. The ad may not have been targeted to the right people. Maybe they saw it, clicked on it but then decided it wasn’t for them. Maybe it was too generic and the person clicking on it was just looking for some information. Or maybe, and yes this does happen, a competitor saw your ad and clicked on it knowing you will have to pay for that click.
What’s the best approach with Google Ads for tradesmen and tradeswomen?
First and foremost you need to aim your ad at a specific type of person. Maybe a specific type of job i.e. boiler servicing.
Laser targeted ads have a higher rate of return than a generic ad that offers all of your services. The easier you make it for people looking for one particular service the better.
So using the above as an example: rather than advertising your plumbing business to anyone searching for a plumber focus your targeting to be more specific.
Take one particular job i.e. boiler servicing. Then advertise your plumbing business to anyone searching for a ‘boiler service’ within a specific radius of your business.
Why?
To put it bluntly, people are lazy. Not only that but they’re getting lazier. If the answer isn’t obvious to them when they click on an ad they will look elsewhere. So if they’re searching for ‘boiler service’ and your ad takes them to a page where you offer everything under the sun and to find out if you offer boiler servicing they have to click to another page or maybe even call you, chances are they’ll look elsewhere.
I don’t say this to be mean. Unfortunately I put it down to certain subscription based applications where people can place a job online and wait for trades to chase them. I won’t name names but one of them rhymes with “smated feople”.
I’ve Focused My Ad, Now What?
Great! you’ve picked a job or a type of person who you want to focus on. Now you need to optimise.
Ad optimisation is a process that covers A/B split testing of different ad copy and different images. It also covers focusing on different target markets in some instances.
By breaking your ad down you can see exactly who is responding to it and where they’ve come from. So instead of a blanket approach, you can break your targeting down to men or women or age, or even targeting homeowners or where people live. Don’t just assume that both men and women will use your ad. Split test to see who is more likely to click on your ad or call you. Once you have the data you can move your budget appropriately.
Running an ad takes time and takes patience. When I first started using Google Ads I would do it as quickly as possible, using what was once called Ad Express. Here you could set and ad up in minutes, set a budget and wait for the phone to ring. After a couple of days I would grow bored and turn it off.
This is not what I recommend doing, but is unfortunately what the majority of people do.
The process of Google Ads for tradesmen
So you want to set up an Ad campaign properly. You’ve got your focused target group and you’re split testing your ad copy.
Make sure you’re directing your ad to a relevant page of your website. Ensure you’re using the correct raw URL and that the landing page is built well, with clear CTA’s and has the right information on hand for the visitor i.e. if your advertising for boiler installs send them to your boiler install page, not your home page.
Next is to continue testing and optimising to get the best for your budget. This is where patience comes in.
Start off with a small budget and use this to gather data. Once you start to see where your getting a better return on your ad spend use this information to scale your ad by increasing your budget.
Use the first 4-6 weeks of an Ad as data accumulation. Don’t stop your ad after a few days because the phone isn’t ringing. Hence why I suggest using a small budget at first.
After those 6 weeks you should know exactly where and how people are finding your ad. Once you know this you should be able to increase your Ad spend and really see results coming in.
We Can Help
If you’re still unsure about paid ads, or you don’t have the time to learn or manage them don’t be afraid to contact me. We run all forms of paid ads, primarily Google and social media.
