Google Ads remains one of the best ways to sell your services online.

However, it’s incredibly easy to get wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing, and that will often result in a lot of money being thrown into a marketing black hole.

So, here’s some examples of the good and the bad when it comes to Google Ads.

The good

What makes a brilliant, conversion-driven Google Ad? Read on…

Precise geographical targeting

Just like most other forms of pay-per-click advertising, Google Ads enables businesses to dictate the placement of ads geographically. This is obviously important if you’re a bricks-and-mortar retailer, but it can be just as useful for nationwide businesses.

Why target the whole of the UK when you can run some very specific ads for individual regions or towns? By doing so, you’ll be able to adjust your ads so they offer the most bang for your buck in that region. This might require separate landing pages and a bit of research into what language and approach you’ll need to adopt in each area, but that’s time well spent.

A brilliant landing page

Launching a Google Ads campaign without a relevant landing page is akin to throwing money down the drain; it’s highly unlikely to work.

Imagine if you absolutely nail the ad and get lots of impressions and click-throughs… only to disappoint everyone who lands on your homepage with no continuation of the story.

Always create a brilliant landing page for your Google Ads and make sure if features a clear, no-nonsense call-to-action.

A solid CPC strategy

Google, as you would expect, will always recommend a specific cost-per-click (CPC) for your Ads campaign.

Ignore it.

They want you to spend money on their service. You want to generate leads. Those separate desires will result in very difference CPCs.

The best Google Ads will always start low with the max CPC (say, £0.50). Then, allow the ad to run and review what Google suggests based on the competition and your landing page (see above). Consider what you can afford and what each click means to you, and review the progress daily (the market will evolve that quickly - trust us).

The bad

We’ve seen many a mistake made on Google Ads in our time. Here’s the most important to avoid.

Broad keywords

What do you think is going to attract more clicks - “photographer in Northampton” or “specialist business head shot photographer in Northampton”?

Broad keywords are easy to brainstorm and therefore lend themselves to lazy Google Ads configurations. Worse still, those ads will be rather ineffectual. At best, they’ll encourage a few clicks from less-than-warm prospects. At worst, they won’t be seen for dust.

You don’t need thousands of keywords in your Google Ads campaigns, but those that are present need to be in line with whatever service you’re looking to generate enquiries for. And that requires some solid, non-rushed thinking.

Just one ad

We mentioned the importance of geographical targeting in the ‘good’ list above, and if you’re heading down that route or have a number of products under the same brand you wish to promote, one ad won’t cut it.

Regional success will only come if you have separate ad groups for each region. Similarly, separate ads for different product lines will ensure you reach far more targeted, relevant audiences. And, besides, Google makes it super-easy to do this!

Content-heavy ads

It’s possible to get too creative with the content for your ads. Google only provides a few characters for good reason, therefore if you continually find yourself hitting the max number before you’re finished writing, you need to rethink your copy.

Short, sharp, action-driven copy is what you need. People are far more likely to click “business headshots in Northampton for just £75” than they are “Best photographers in Northampton. Shot, edited, printed. Just for you.”

Wrapping up

Google Ads is a scary place for the uninitiated. If the above has spurred you onto become more self-proficient with Google Ads, why not book some training with us to gain the underlying skills you need?