How Google AdWords works
Recently I was asked; are Google Adwords cost effective? Without hesitation the answer is yes. So what are Google Adwords and how do they work? Google AdWords or Pay per Click PPC works like this, when someone clicks on your advert then you pay. You will have funded your Google AdWords account firstly, set a daily budget limit that you are prepared to spend and then each click draws down from the account depending on the value of the keyword.
Your advert will be displayed, but you only pay when people see your actual content, this is the essence of how Google Adwords works.
One of the most instant gains that you will see is that instead of competing with dozens of competitors to organically rank in Google, you instead go right to the top of list.
Your desired customer
Targeting is a key feature of Google AdWords. At OSD Digital Agency, what we do for our clients is target exactly who we would like to see your ad . If your business is pizza delivery, we have your ads shown in the evening when people are most likely to want pizza. Geographical targeting is another great benefit, you can have your ad shown in Dublin, Cork and Waterford for example, which would be ideal for wanting an urban audience. This would suit services like plumbers or alarm installations. Specifically a google adwords click to call would be the best use off PPC here, this when a user searches on their phone for a service, they see an ad, click the call now and you receive the call.
PPC can be turned on and off by a few clicks of the mouse, though turning off generally results in a reduction in traffic to your website, so you need to be prepared for that shock.
Seeing the results
The quickness of results of Google AdWords is a sight to behold. Unlike SEO, PPC ads can be launched rapidly, targeting traffic and leads to your website at an amazing pace.
Tracking conversions is one of the most rewarding aspects of working at a digital agency. You get to see first-hand the success of a PPC campaign. Seeing which keywords work or what landing page wins on an A/B test is enough to make most digital marketing nerd delirious. It’s important that a client gets a great return on investment, so managing costs and conversion tracking allows us to report to our client how successful a campaign is. As data is recorded accurately it’s great to see what is working and what needs improving.
What are Google Adwords used for?
It’s not just about sales either, an effective PPC campaign can improve or introduce brand awareness as well as garner hot leads for future campaigns.
I’ve just mentioned adwords vs SEO but both can work in tandem. When we run a PPC campaign, we are able to evaluate which keywords work and which don’t. As such we can then create content based around effective keywords with the intention of ranking organically.
You could advertise your business on a big billboard for passing car traffic to see and hope that it will convert to sales. The better option is an online marketing campaign where your exact customer is selected by region, time of day and user profile and they get see an advert having already searched for a topic.
