Google Ads for small business

Google Ads puts you in front of people searching for exactly what you sell, today. That's its strength and it's the only reason to use it. It is not a fix for a weak website, and it won't build anything you keep once you stop paying.

When it makes sense

• +You need work now and can't wait months for organic results
• +One job is worth enough to absorb a cost per enquiry
• +You're testing a new service or a new area
• +Your competitors are bidding on your category and you're losing the click

When it doesn't

If your landing page is slow, vague or hard to contact you from, you're buying visitors and throwing them away. Fix the page first. It costs less and improves everything else at the same time.

Budget, honestly

Work backwards. If a job is worth $3,000 to you and one in five enquiries converts, you can comfortably pay a decent amount per enquiry. Set the daily budget from that, not from a round number that feels safe. Too small a budget in a competitive category just buys you noise.

Settings that waste money by default

• +Broad match with no negative keywords, you'll pay for "jobs", "DIY" and "free"
• +Location targeting set to "presence or interest" rather than presence
• +Search partners and the Display network left switched on
• +No conversion tracking, so nobody knows what worked

Measure enquiries, not clicks

Clicks and impressions tell you nothing about whether the phone rang. Set up conversion tracking before you spend a dollar, then judge the campaign on cost per genuine enquiry.