In today’s world, the internet is overflowing with information, content, and products for just about anything. Any number of keywords have hundreds of pages competing to rank number one on the search engine results page.
It can often be difficult to appear on even the second page of the search results.
So how do you get there so your page will be found by potential customers? Sure, SEO can and will help, and is still a vital aspect of your website.
But it can only get you so far, especially as a small business.
Let’s, stop and think for a moment…
What’s the first thing you do when you want to know something? “I’ll Google that” is most likely your first thought.
With Google averaging a net share of 74.54% for all search engine queries, it is most people’s first choice when they decide they want to find or buy something.
Have you ever noticed the first 3 results sometimes have a little graphic that says “ad” next to them? If you haven’t that’s okay, many people don’t notice this. These are Google Ads and they can be very successful for many businesses!
Here is an example of a Google results page with Google Ads, including a shopping ad.
Proof You Should Be Using Google Ads
Let’s take a look at some interesting statistics:
- 86% of consumers use the Internet to find a local business (WebVisible survey)
- 72% of consumers prefer to find information on local merchants via search (WebVisible survey)
- 97% of consumers looked online for local businesses in 2017, with 12% looking for a local business online every day (BrightLocal survey)
What does this tell us? Mainly things we already know. Yes, people use the internet for almost everything, including looking for your business or something similar.
Okay, now let’s look at a few stats that tell us why you may need to rely on more than just SEO:
- 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused (Google Research)
- For high commercial intent search queries, the top three ad spots take about 40% of the clicks on the page (The War on Free Clicks – Wordstream)
- 98% of searchers choose a business that is on page 1 of the results they get (BrightLocal)
So yes, you should still invest in SEO, but if you want the best chance of being found, you should definitely be investing in Google Ads as well!
So How Effective Are Google Ads Anyway?
When setup, monitored, and tweaked when needed, here are some stats for Google Ad campaigns:
- Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on AdWords (Google Economic Impact Report)
- 72% of Google Ads marketers plan to increase their PPC budgets (Search Engine Watch)
- 70% of mobile searchers call a business directly from Google Search (Expandedramblings.com)
- 70% of mobile searches result in action being taken within an hour (Mediative Labs)
With the average $2 ROI and a majority of marketers planning to increase their budgets, the results speak for themselves!
Of course, not everyone will see these results. Some will be more successful than others, but most businesses find Google Ads to be a worthwhile investment.
If configured and managed correctly, these ad campaigns can help increase sales and grow your customer base.
There is no minimum amount you are required to spend on ads and there are tons of different options to run the best ads for your business. Give Google Ads a try today!
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