Google Ads (formally AdWords) can trap you into spending a lot of needless money. Don’t get me wrong. I use Google Ads for many past and present clients. It’s a great marketing tool. In fact, I started using Google AdWords in 2001. Those were the early days when cost-per-click advertising was dirt cheap. Wow! Have things changed.
Google itself has two obligations:
- Provide the best (organic) search results possible.
- To generate as much (Ads) profit as possible.
Google Ads is a very powerful yet complex marketing tool. Google didn’t make it complex and complicated to frustrate users. To be powerful, Google has taken into account a greater range of features, tools and reports to help users get the most out of this advertising budget. However, Google Ads does come with a number of traps that you need to avoid to save you from over spending.
Years ago you just needed to place an ad and outspend your competitors. This is far from how Google Ads should be used today.
Here Are 10 Google Ads Traps That May Lead to Over Spending
- Your lack of knowledge how Google Ads work.
- Failure to understand their ad quality requirements.
- Not having quality landing pages associated with your ads.
- Not having your keywords and phrases match the content on your landing pages.
- Failure to write high quality ad titles and descriptions.
- Not testing different ads.
- Over bidding on your keywords and phrases just to get a higher listing and more clicks.
- Not setting objective(s) for your ad campaign.
- Not testing long tail phrases
- Concentrating on clicks instead of conversations.
The Google Ads Trap can hurt your marketing budget by wasting money.
SEE, THINK and DO with Google Ads
You should plan your Google Ads campaign based on your business objectives and where potential customers are within the sales cycle.
SEE people are those that have an interest in what you are offering but not ready to buy. [For these folks consider using your ads for gaining brand recognition.] THINK people are those who are thinking about making a purchase, but need more convincing to look at your products or services. [This is where your ads need to offer them additional information. Get them to opt-in for that information to get them moving closer to a purchase decision.] DO people are the ones that are ready to take action and make a purchase. [Here is where you want to make your sales offer. Tempt them with a great offer (discounts, coupons, Buy-one-get-one) to move them into your website and make a purchase.]
Summary
If you are not prepared to become knowledgeable on all aspects of Google Ads you most certainly will end up spending more money. A lot of people without the proper experience quit. They say that Google doesn’t work for them. The more time you spend learning the right way to use Google Ads the more you will save and more sales you will generate.
If you don’t have the hours needed to learn the ins-and-outs of Google Ads, you should seek help with someone with the knowledge and the experience needed to create a successful campaign.