How I run the ads
Keep the keyword list tight
I'd rather have a short list of searches from people who are close to booking than a long list of everything vaguely related to your trade. Then I spend a fair while on the exclusions. Words like free, DIY, cheap and jobs. That's usually where the waste is, and it doesn't turn up in a report, because reports only show what did get clicked.
How far should the ads reach?
If you're a builder in Kingscliff, I don't need your ad shown to someone in Byron who was never going to hire you. Match the radius to where you'd actually drive. People underestimate how much that one setting moves the bill.
What happens after the click
Someone clicking doesn't mean it worked. They land on a page, and if that page says something different from the ad, you've paid for the click and then given them a reason to leave. So I treat the page as part of the campaign rather than something separate from it.
What I won't do
Set a campaign up and leave it running for months without looking. Bid on your own business name to make a report look better. Tell you that you need ads before we've sorted out the free Google results you already have.
Ads aren't the whole plan
They stop when you stop paying. That's not a reason to avoid them, but it does change how I'd think about the split.
What about Facebook ads?
Happy to run those as well. Google catches people who are already looking for what you do, which suits most trades and services. Facebook is better for getting in front of people who weren't looking yet, so it tends to suit events, hospitality and anything visual. If you're not sure which fits, ask.
What it costs
Packages from $199 a week
How the ads are billed depends on the setup, and we agree it in writing before anything runs. Your ad budget is always yours to set.
Read more about packages and pricingQuestions about ads
How much should I spend on ads?
You can start around $200 a month and learn something useful from it, as long as it's pointed at a handful of searches rather than spread across everything vaguely related to your trade. Much below that and there aren't enough clicks to tell anything from the noise. Bigger budgets don't need more ad groups, they need the same short list of searches and tighter exclusions.
Do ads help my Google ranking?
No, they're separate systems, and paying for ads doesn't lift your ordinary results. What ads are genuinely good for is finding out quickly which words people enquire on. Then you know what to chase for free.
What happens if the ads don't work?
I turn it off and tell you. There's no sense billing you to manage something that's losing money, and a campaign quietly running in the background is the easiest thing in the world to not mention.