Who you choose to be your Google Ads web agency is an important decision. Choose well and you’ll benefit from a growing business but choose poorly and you’ll end up wasting money and losing business opportunities.
Google Ads can be confusing, and some web agencies like to keep their clients in the dark. They hide behind technical lingo and web industry speak to justify exorbitant fees for little gain. Beware of those who waive setup or management fees just to hook you up. Make sure that they put the effort needed into setting up and managing your account from the start. Advertising is expensive, so you’ll need a sound strategy and a comprehensive set-up to ensure your account is tightly controlled to avoid wasted clicks. Investing in a quality set-up and management at the start can save you thousands of dollars in the long run. Here are some useful clues to know if your account is well managed or not.
Your Account. Make sure that the Google Ads account belongs to you and not your web agency. You should have access to your account at all times. Do not buy into the concept of monthly report in which you will be assured that it tells you everything you need to know. It’s a lie. Sometimes, those reports provide no cost information and focus on the number of clicks received but not what those clicks cost. Often, the majority of clicks are put to Display Advertising because it costs a lot less than Search Advertising where you should be putting the bulk of your spending so that you can get your company’s name in front of people searching for your products and/or services. Make sure your account is paid with your credit card. This way you’ll know how much money is invested in your advertising.
Search Terms. Your web agency should be putting the bulk of your advertising spending on top performing keywords that are highly valuable to your business by applying the 80-20 rule which is to assume that 80% of all traffic to your website will come from just 20% of your keywords. These are the keywords that are more likely to convert. You want to ensure that you often show for these keywords. This way, you won’t miss business opportunities.
Top Position. If you’re not seeing your ads until page two or even three of Google, you’re missing out on valuable business opportunities. You want to ensure your ads are showing in the top three positions. Ideally, in the second position which cost less money than first. The fewer competitors potential clients have to crawl through before they come across your company, the better!
Wasted Clicks. If you get calls that have nothing to do with your business, it’s because your web agency is being lazy and only bids on broad terms, irrelevant search terms or is not adding negative keywords. It results in wasted clicks that chew through your advertising budget.
Change History. There is a quick and easy way to find out how much work your web agency is putting into your account. It’s a feature called ‘Change History’ which tells you how many changes occurred in your account month by month or in other words, how much work is being done each month. Since you are paying a monthly fee, you should be seeing changes made to keywords, ads and extensions, bids and budgets, not just bids.
Account Management. No automation program can understand the competitive landscape and intricacies of your industry as well as an actual person who has experience and can formulate a strategy or game plan to differentiate you from your competitors. There is no substitute for hard work.
Traffic. Understand that focusing on bringing more traffic to your website doesn’t equate to bringing more business. Some web agencies will get you more traffic and they will deliver on their promise. But they won’t deliver on your expectations. Because what you really want is more leads and revenue. Not more traffic. And more traffic doesn’t naturally lead to more leads. It has to be relevant and qualified traffic to lead to more leads. More often than not, the money they are spending on Google Ads is wasted on irrelevant, invalid clicks that chewed through your advertising budget with very little to show for.
Quarterly meeting. It’s critical that you meet with your web agency on a regular basis to be presented campaign results, being able to add input, and change strategy if needed.
In a nutshell, Google Advertising can be an excellent source of leads, but only if your account is properly handled. Otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of money and end up with nothing. Don’t wait another month to call us for a free confidential audit if you think your account isn’t being properly handled. Because each month is another month of squandered funds and missed business opportunities.
Amauta Marketing