Google Adwords for tradies – Should you try it?

Google AdWords, now called Google Ads, is the search engine giant’s cash cow. Without the popular advertising platform, Google would not be the corporate behemoth it is today.

Google Ads is obviously working in Google’s favour, but does  Google Adwords provide enough value for tradies to make it worth their while for drumming up new business?

How does Google Ads work?

The ad you see at the top and sides of the search results appear there when they are triggered by the phrase (called a keyword) a searcher types into the search box.

Advertisers – in this case, the plumbers, electricians or other tradies – select the phrases they want to trigger their ads when they create the advertisement in the Google Ads interface.

Google carefully monitors the phrases searchers are using to find the information they need. Each one is added to a vast database, and how often a search phrase is used every month is also collated.

The Google Ads interface applies a dollar value to each phrase based on its popularity with advertisers. The more popular a keyword phrase is with AdWords publishers, the more expensive it will be to ‘bid’ for it.

Good examples of phrases that may be worth bidding on for a trade include “painter Sydney,” painter Northern Beaches,” or “builder Mossman.”

Advertisers enter how much they are willing to bid for a keyword. It’s also possible to set a daily budget to ensure you don’t end up with excessive charges.

Google gives the target web page the ad links to a quality score, which helps determine if an ad gets shown or not.

If you were to put in a maximum bid of $2.00 and your quality score for your page is 10 (2 x 10 = 20), then your ad would beat out a competitor if their maximum bid is $4.00, but they only had a quality score of 4 (4 x 4 = 16).

Are Google Ads worth it?

If you have a new website and are relying on local SEO to attract some leads, you may be starting to realise that it’s going to take some time.

Google Ads provides almost instant results in getting your business a spot at the top of the search results.

For a few dollars a day, Google Ads gives any business the potential to reach thousands of new leads and customers.

Calculating your return on ad spend

Of course, careful monitoring of your ad spend will be needed to ensure your Google Ads budget does not exceed the return you can achieve.

Working out the cost of acquisition is a lot more complicated than a short article allows, but there is still a quick way to determine if a Google Ads campaign may be worthwhile.

Try typing in a phrase for which you would like your business to be found. If competitors have paid ads showing in the search results, then it’s likely that your business would benefit as well.

By far, the best way to determine the cost-effectiveness of Google Ads for your company would be to consult with a digital expert in local tradie advertising.

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