Google Ads are a proven way to get high quality customers to your Website. In order to get the most out of your Digital Marketing budget, Google Ads should definitely be a priority for your sales generation plan. But as with any element of a Marketing Strategy, just throwing money at it doesn’t guarantee results. Getting Google AdWords working to its very best takes research, time, commitment, thorough testing and analysis. For this reason, the Google AdWords experts here at Sites n Stores have pulled together a list of ways that’ll help you improve your Ads’ capacity to drive sales, so you’re really squeezing more profit from your Google Ads.
1. Optimise your Pay Per Click Ads
Traditional Search Ads, or Pay Per Click (PPC) as its commonly known, provide a great foundation to any Digital Marketing Strategy, think of them as the core from which all your other Digital Marketing can grow.
Pay Per Click Ads are the ones that appear as text at the top of the Google Search listings. Due to the prominent position of the Ads, also known as the “top shelf” Ads, they are great for grabbing the attention of searchers. They can also provide lots of information to your potential customers before they even visit your Site through the use of Links and Ad Extensions.
In order to get the most out of PPC Ads, they must be optimized. Optimization is the process of finding and applying what works for your Campaign. It can be done at great depths by drilling into every possible variable, but a great place to start is by looking at the Keywords and Ad copy that gets the best results in your Campaigns and focus more budget on them.
As well as this, you can also look at the days of the week and times you’re posting, and the audience demographic you are targeting your Ads towards. The possibilities are endless!
2. Run Google Shopping Ads
If you sell products Online and you’re not doing Google Shopping, then you’re definitely missing out.
Google Shopping Ads are the small square-ish images that appear at the top of Google’s Search results, sometimes under the Premium Ads on the left, other times in the upper-right-hand corner. They have all the details that a customer needs, with an image of the product, the price, the vendor and usually a couple of lines giving more information about the product.
The first thing that you need to understand about Google Shopping is that it really works. And now more than ever is a fantastic time to get involved, because the costs are still very low due to lower competition than traditional Search Ads. Shopping Ads also have an amazing conversion rate and are a great way to get your products seen, as they always appear at the very top of the Search Results Page. So, if you’re selling products online, make sure you put allocate a portion of your Marketing budget to Google Shopping.
To get the most out of your Google Shopping budget, make sure that you have great images, engaging Ad Copy and feature all the important information that the customer will want to know. Put yourself in the shoes of your customer and see whether your Ad answers all the questions that may be asked of it.
3. Get More Out of your Ads with Remarketing
Remarketing is a fantastic way to communicate with people that you know are interested in your Business but haven’t yet taken any action. It works by showing your Ads to people that have previously visited pages on your Website while browsing the internet.
Remarketing keeps you or your products at the front of your customers mind. It’s like every corner they turn, there you are reminding them of how much they need your product or service.
Remarketing allows you to maximise the budget that you’ve already invested to get customers to your Site. You’ve already done the hard work getting them there, you know they’re interested in your Business and products and Remarketing makes sure that they don’t forget about you.
4. Optimise your Website
It’s all very well spending lots of money on Google Ads, but if you’re sending customers to a substandard Website or Online Store, it’s very likely that the money you’re spending on Ads is going down the drain.
All the data shows that when customers land on Sites that are unattractive, out of date and hard to navigate, they’ll look elsewhere. Remember, first impressions are always important and your Website is no exception. With all the choice that the internet provides, if time-pressed customers are put off a Site in any way, they won’t stick around.
If you’re spending money on Google Ads to get customers to your Site, you need to make sure you have everything in place to close the loop and get them to convert. Think about the useability of your site, is it attractive to look at and easy to navigate, is your content engaging and does it drive action and most importantly, is your Site up to date?
5. Make the Most of Mobile
Unless you’ve been stuck on a desert island for the last five years, you’ll be aware of the huge surge in popularity of Mobile Devices when it comes to Online Shopping and browsing.
50% of all internet searches in Australia are now done on Mobile Devices, so if your Site isn’t set up to cater for those customers searching via Smart Phone, you’ll be alienating half of your potential customers.
A Mobile Responsive Site is easy to spot because when you view it on your mobile it looks very different to the desktop version, it’ll have big buttons and a simple interface and be very easy to navigate. An unresponsive Site however, will likely have warped text, tiny buttons and be difficult for users to navigate. Go unresponsive and you may as well be asking potential customers to leave your Site!
As a Small Business Owner, you’re probably hesitant to invest a lot into your Marketing Budget, so it makes sense that you want to maximise your Google AdWords Ads as much as possible. There may be some trial and error involved as you test to see what works best for your Business, but when you get your Google Ads right, you’ll see the flood gates open and customers pouring in, sending your profits soaring.
