Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a common tactic for just about every business, as it is a surefire way to reach the top of the search engine results page. This can increase website traffic, which ideally drives more sales. Oftentimes, Google AdWords, now called Google Ads, is considered the king of PPC advertising. It promotes itself as an easy-to-use, DIY way to break into search engine marketing. While this can be a powerful and effective method for your business, there are some limitations to keep in mind. If not managed properly, your AdWords campaign could turn into a money pit. However, there are other ways to run a successful PPC campaign. Here are a few reasons why AdWords might not be enough for your business.
Learning Curve
Although at first glance Google AdWords seems like an intuitive and straightforward tool, it is quite the contrary. AdWords is a game you have to master through experience, testing, and diligence. For those with limited time and small budgets, this isn’t always an option. Failing to select the right keywords and optimize your bids correctly could be a costly mistake.
Potential to Lose Money
Without the tested knowledge and familiarity of Google AdWords, your campaigns could be spending more money than they make. If your PPC ads neglect to meet Google’s evolving guidelines, your quality score will decrease. The lower your quality score, the more you have to pay for the keywords you want. Keyword selection can be a challenging task that requires the proper experience, especially when you’re competing against large companies for particular search terms.
Beware of Google’s Recommendations
It’s good to remember that Google is a business. This means that their goal is to make money off your AdWords campaign and maximize their profits. They’re likely to recommend that you pay more and opt for popular (and expensive) keywords to rank the highest on their results page. These recommendations are good, but you have to be smart about your strategies. This requires testing the results to see what price you actually end up paying per click. You can then adjust your settings based on your business needs, rather than checking the box on everything Google wants.
Requires a Lot of Manpower
While setting up a Google AdWords campaign is easy, setting up a cost-effective campaign is a bit more demanding. The details matter, so setting up everything just right will take time and effort. Not to mention maintaining your campaign is a whole other story. This can include optimizing keywords regularly, analyzing success as measured by your specific parameters and editing ad copy among other tasks. It’s an ongoing process that calls for committed manpower.
SmartClick – a Powerful PPC Solution from Strategic Marketing
Strategic Marketing offers a fully automated pay-per-click platform called SmartClick. This effective tool can manage your paid search campaigns across all major search engines, including Google, Bing and Yahoo. SmartClick can track your campaign’s phone calls, emails, form fills and other web events back to the keywords that generated them. Rather than setting up an AdWords campaign yourself, use SmartClick to maximize profits while saving you time. To learn more about our PPC advertising platform, contact us today by visiting our contact page or calling (561) 688-8155.
