Top Three Reasons Why Small Business Fails at PPC
The small business owner is challenged. Resources, cash and time are always tight. Trying to keep track of revenue, your bank accounts, payroll and expenses can eat away at most of the day. How on earth are you supposed to try and attempt launching a Google AdWords pay per click account?
Many small business owners have tried launching a new Google AdWords account and have failed or given up. Not through their fault of their own but just because Google AdWords can be a challenge for a small business owner that simply does not have the time to properly build out or monitor their pay per click campaign.
We’ve spoken with small to medium size business owners that have tried unsuccessfully launching and managing their campaigns and found that most fail in these aspects.
#1 The Keywords
When launching a new Google AdWords account, a suggestion tool within AdWords can recommend keywords based on your site or a general keyword you type in. We highly suggest that you start with a short, highly selective keyword list based on your business and that you do not simply add every keyword Google suggests. There is nothing wrong with starting with a small highly targeted campaign. In all likelyhood, this will increase your chances of reaching searchers that you’re really looking for.
#2 A Few Good Ads
Writing a good and proper ad can do wonders for your campaign. Take more than a few minutes when writing your first ad and make sure you add at the very least two text ads. Better yet, make that four. Take some time and search for the keywords that you plan on having in your AdWords account on Google. Search for them. Pay attention to what other pay per click advertisers are doing. Is there a common theme? Is there a way for you to write an ad that differentiates yourself? A good text ad can stop a searcher in their tracks and compel them to click on yours versus the other ten ads on the page.
#3 Setting Expectations
It’d be nice if you started making sales online and phones would be ringing off the hook as soon as you launched but that isn’t always the case. Actually, far from it. Few advertisers launch successful pay per click campaigns right from the start. Pay per click advertising isn’t a marketing channel you can simply throw money at and hope to be successful. Pay per click advertising is about spending your marketing dollars as effectively as possible. This should ring bells for small business owners that watch every dollar.
This article is not to dissuade a small business owner from taking on PPC. We encourage small business owners to take a cautious, calculated approach to pay per click advertising. This will ensure that they learn as they grow and expand their account, without burning through a lot of cash.
