The Fastest Path to New Customers
Hamilton Wallace
I help small business owners find prospects, sell more to customers, sharpen their story, and automate their marketing.
One week ago Google changed the name of its AdWords platform to Google Ads. That was also the day I launched a second site GoogleAdsCoach.com. That was a nice coincidence and good excuse to remind people why everybody should use this platform. Everybody. Really.
I believe you also need to know the basics of Google Analytics as well. Why:
- These tools answer key questions every owner should be asking; why people are coming to your site, what they do while they're there, and what you can do to increase the number of people you convert from just a visitor into a lead or sale. They might not completely answer that last one, but they offer clues not found anywhere else.
- Using Google Ads is the fastest, least expensive way to get people to your website who are looking for what you sell WHEN they're looking. It is without question, the shortest path from where you are to new customers.
- Google Ads is the most efficient “lab” to test new ideas I've seen. Seeing the actual words people type in when they search gives you a clear view into what people are looking for. Plus, you can quickly and inexpensively test new ideas: a new product, going after a new type of customer, or a change in your message. BEFORE you commit to that new idea.
- ANY investment in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) without first gathering information from a Google Ads campaign is a waste of money. You better know which terms convert into sales (via your Google Ads campaign) before you invest in the long, expensive process that is SEO.
I’ve been generating leads and sales for clients since the 80s, have been active in paid search since before Google existed and have used just about every marketing method invented since then. Google Ads is the most efficient, cost-effective, transparent marketing method I've ever seen. Period. It should be your second best way to generate leads, after referrals. It should be your lowest cost-per-lead source of all your paid marketing. If it isn't, you aren't doing it right.
I have the word “coach” in the new URL is because it’s important someone inside your company know their way around Google Ads and Google Analytics. I work on the campaigns and the tracking and coach at the same time, with the goal of “handing the keys” to someone inside the company.