When should you pay for advertising on Google?

Showing up on the first page of search results when a potential customer searches for your products or services is a goal for many businesses, but with only a limited number of free slots on the first page, it's tempting to pay for advertising on Google, just to beat the competition.

Of course, Google Ads are a great investment for many businesses and the revenue generated far exceeds the investment in advertising spend, but that's not always for case for every business.

So, when is a good time to start paying for Google Ads and is right for your business?

Think about your customer journey

Did you build your website with your customer in mind? If your customer journey isn't thought through with simple-to-use navigation, logical processes and enough information to overcome any buying objections, paying for traffic isn't something to think about just yet. Increasing the traffic won't fix usability issues and it could be money down the drain.

Make sure you're using clear CTAs (Calls to Action) and internal links to guide visitors through your website to their desired outcome - whether that's purchasing a product from your online store or submitting their details to enquire about your services.

If you know your website works well at converting traffic into paying customers and it's just a case of increasing that visibility in search results, then go right ahead and invest in paid ads on Google.

Invest in basic optimisation first

The best performing Google Ads campaigns are those where the website is well established and well optimised. Think about your landing page experience and relevancy - it's not just about optimising your website for organic search, but having a well-optimised and relevant website will improve your Google Ads Quality Score, reducing your spend and improving the performance of your ads.

If your website is new and you've not invested anything into optimising your website, it's a good idea to do this first, or at least do this alongside your PPC campaigns.

Consider your strategy

You may have received a voucher for advertising and be keen to jump right in and set up a campaign without thinking about the strategy you're going to take.

For example, you may have products with small profit margins that become unprofitable when you have to pay for traffic. A better strategy would be to focus on the products that generate a decent ROI (Return on Investment) first.

Another strategic mistake that businesses make is to list as many keywords as possible and not consider the searcher's intent. The result is often that they get (and pay for) a lot of irrelevant searches or attract searchers who are very early on in their buying journey. They're researching issues, solutions, products, getting pricing information, but they're not ready to buy. If you're short on budget, you don't want to pay for traffic that has little chance of converting at the expense of missing out on searches with high purchase intent.

So, think about the strategy you're going to take before setting up your Google Ad campaigns. What products/services will you advertise, what keywords will you target (don't forget to consider keyword match types too).

In conclusion...

When's a good time to pay for advertising on Google? When you've got all your ducks in a row, your website is working well and you're clear on what strategy you will take to target the right audience to get you the best results.