Google AdWords: Is it worth it?
I am considering whether to advertise my business using Google Adwords. It's extremely expensive. But, the BBB has come up with a way of doing so under their auspices that is much more affordable, though it has less functionality. I am hoping to generate a lot more traffic to my site (I am already blogging and sending out newsletters, etc.) and to garner more business. Do you think this is a good approach? Thanks!
Agree with the answers below and it truly does depend on your specific situation- and if the cost per lead/cost per conversion is tolerable for your business. I will say, that the quick start version that your speaking of will have significantly less functionality than the full product. While this may be fine (again...not to beat a dead horse, but depending on your business!), oftentimes the advanced functionality is where you can really optimize the program to work best for you.
The value of PPC advertising is that you are appearing when someone is actively looking and they may be outside of your immediate sphere. While blogging and sending out your newsletter will generate more traffic to your site, paid media is really a way to put your foot on the gas very quickly- and you can control for who you reach (you're selecting the exact terms, you can geo-target, you can daypart, etc)
If you are looking specifically to drive traffic (newsletter sign-ups, traffic to your blog) consider Facebook newsfeed ads as well. The targeting is strong and content tends to resonant in that space- and if it's valuable, shares could be a win for you. I've seen less value in LinkedIn (expensive and the ad space is weak- very low click volume) and Twitter (high engagement metrics, but I've never seen very high traffic from paid).
The answer is based in your ROI, which only you can determine. If you are selling a commodity product with a small profit margin and have a narrowly established brand, forget it. There are better ways to build traffic to your site. Try a groupon. The maximum conversion rate for Google ads is approximately 1—3% per 1M (1,000) clicks. For more information contact a specialist at Google. There are real benefits in the tight demographics like (HHI) House Hold income, zip code, age, etc.. for established brands, but hard to gage how a small business might do without knowing what or where you are trying to sell your product or service.
Whether AdWords is worth it depends on the exact situation you're in. I'd try to think about it from a cost/benefit perspective. Does the costs of Google Adwords bring benefits of equal/greater value?
For example, some of Google's most expensive keywords can go for as much as $70 a click! This article has more info: http://www.truthin7minutes.com/most-expensive-keywords/ -- but apparently those keywords make enough money for advertisers to justify spending that kind of money.
From your perspective I'd think about questions like: does the increased traffic you get justify the cost? Without knowing the exact details, I'd think you might want to try to generate more traffic using less expensive methods like social media, emails, messaging, SEO, etc. It seems like Google Adwords is ideal if you can generate clicks that directly lead to a business transaction (or a membership signup that leads to one down the road).
Adwords is great it is expensive but your customers are on your doorstep. I have ran a lot of different campaigns and yes it was worth it. Really research your market as Adwords figures don't seem to tally up. Look at long term how much a customer is worth. Read the rules properly as well creating good adverts that people click on and are popular are much cheaper than a bad advert. Traffic in interest is never a problem converting traffic that is the hard part.
Some of the more expensive words are still really useful. I think its about 28% of people you cannot attract them with SEO.
With Adwords what you have to ask yourself how much are you willing to spend and what is going to be your return on the investment. (ROI). Too many clients I work with always want to be #1 and tell them you have to be ready to spend a lot of money. Now if you can do it at a discount then I would test it out and see if it is worth it. Remember to make sure your site is optimized for mobile. Make sure you are targeting the right geographic area.
Pay per click is worth it as long as you do it correctly but If you are looking for a cheaper method to get you ranked SEO is a good place to start.
David: While I believe in both SEO and SEM, in your case, if you are trying to solicit work for grant writing, I think you may be better served advertising under a PPC model on LinkedIn with narrowly defined audience parameters and also directly targeting prospects there via group messages (15 per month) and inmails (15 per month).
If you want to give your existing marketing efforts an extra boost, then investing in Google AdWords is worth. But considering AdWords work financially for your business and generate a good return on investment depends upon many factors. For some business, AdWords is a perfect solution and a great addition to their marketing strategy. For others, AdWords is a poor fit. But, we strongly believe that there are good reasons why every small or large business should at least consider AdWords.
While running AdWords campaign you should be prepare for a campaign, otherwise you could be wasting a lot of money. Here’s how you can work on AdWords
1. Choose your keywords carefully
2. Use multiple campaigns
3. Monitor your results and adapt your campaigns accordingly
With a decent budget, planning and professional assistance, you can greatly improve success chances of your web venture. Visit http://www.fatbit.com/website-design-company/enquiry.html for questions and queries regarding two of the most popular marketing mediums.
Hi David,
Of course, it is worthy. But, only if you the BUDGET and time to monitor and tweek campaigns over the period of time to fix to one strategy that works out well (brings lots of business). To get the most out of Adwords (PPC) campaign, you should also be doing Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you have a website which is already search engine optimized for your targeted keywords, the chances of your Ads getting posted on the top of the first page is high.
So, the strategy should be SEO+Adwords(PPC) and not Adwords alone. Google gives quality scores for each link based on various factors and more often the links get clicked, better the chances of showing yourself on the top with highest quality scores. Quality scores are decided based on your ad spend budget, but Google also counts on the better links which have got more hits. I've seen some ads with lesser budgets going to the top for this reason.
And if you're just starting out with Adwords you have to be ready to spend few bucks just to try and test. Once you get an idea, you can slightly chance based on the results for better conversion. Please keep your initial budgets as low as possible. Keep in mind that just the random clicks on your ads isn't your end goal, but you will need conversions. So use those keywords which can get bit lesser clicks, but highest conversions. It is wise to hire a Adwords professional or agency if you can afford rather than doing it yourself because you would require to monitor the performance regularly and spend smartly to find success with it.
All the best!
Hell there,
Yes Adword is worthy if you're having budget of marketing more then 20% of investment or marketing budget.
Thanks
Sagar ganatra