If you’re focusing on search engine optimization or social media marketing, you may be wondering: why use Google Ads? After all, you have to pay for these ads. But the right campaign can result in a high return on investment for your firm.

Today, we’re going to look at why we recommend pay per click ads for our clients, and why they’re so important for your overall marketing strategy.

Why Use Google Ads?

Every second, 63,000 searches go through Google, equaling more than 5.6 billion searches per day. Most of these searches have nothing to do with accounting, but some of them do. In fact, there’s a good chance that people in your local area or in your niche target market will search for accounting-related keywords.

Statistically, it makes sense to use the reach of Google Ads to attract leads:

• 63% of people have clicked on Google Ads 
• “Clickers” are 50% more likely to purchase when they click on an ad

If you rank #1 for every main keyword people are searching for, it may not make sense to pay for ads. However, it’s unlikely that any firm ranks this highly for every keyword variation their target audience is searching for online.

SEO helps you attract organic traffic to your website, but it’s a long-term process that needs time to work properly.

When you pay for ads, you can begin directing traffic to your site today. 

How Does Google Ads Work?

Google Ads is powered by businesses just like your accounting firm. These are businesses that want to show their ads at the top of Google. Since so many businesses are willing to pay for search traffic, you’ll pay using a bidding system.

For example, you can bid for the keyword “accountant near me,” and if your bid is high enough, your ad will show on the top of Google. Google Ads will display on the search engine results page and get prime placement.

Based on my search right this second, there are:

• 4 ads at the very top of page 1 for this exact keyword
• Some ads have pictures next to them
• “Ad” is displayed next to the listing

Due to the ads blending in so well, searchers will see them when they type in a query on Google.

Now, when someone clicks on your ad, you’ll:

• Pay the amount you bid for the keyword
• Have the ad stop displaying based on your daily spend limit

For example, if you set a daily spend limit of $100, your ad will be shown until you’ve spent $100 that day. The following day, the ad will return and the limit will be reset.

Google’s Ad Manager allows you to control your ads all in a central location. You can control:

• Geotargeting
• Landing page destination(s)
• Optimize negative keywords (for highly targeted ads)
• Adjust keyword match types
• Set spending limits
• So much more

Now, when someone searches for “accounting firm in Miami,” your firm will show up if it’s in Miami and a keyword that you’ve chosen. However, if the geolocation doesn’t match the one you set, the ad won’t show up. Through filtering and using the advanced targeting options in Ad Manager, we can control your paid traffic to ensure it’s highly relevant and laser-targeted.

Types of Google Ads

You can purchase search ads, which will help your firm by placing the ad at the top of the search results for the desired keyword. However, Google Ads includes other ways for you to pay for advertising, including:

• Display ads, which will be displayed on relevant websites.
• Video ads, which will be displayed on YouTube, a Google-owned platform.

Firms can also purchase shopping or app ads, but these are typically going to be much less relevant in the accounting industry and not used as often.

Often, display and search ads are a good combination to use together because they maximize exposure.

Managing Ads for Quality

When clients come to us to manage their ads, it’s because the firm doesn’t have a dedicated ad manager that will continually manage ads. Instead, they want to focus on their client work while we focus on managing their paid ads.

Bidding on keywords is only part of the Google Ads process.

You also need to:

• Create highly optimized landing pages to convert the lead to a client or at least pick up the phone and talk to someone at your firm.
• Optimize and adjust ads for higher clicks and better conversions.
• Remarket and retarget ads so that if a person who interacted with your ads in the past and hasn’t taken the right action, they will be targeted again. Remarketing and retargeting are great ways to build brand awareness.
• Monitor and adjust ads over time to ensure that they’re helping your firm reach its goal.

Often, multiple ads for the same keyword are created so that you can see which ads are working and which aren’t. Retargeting using search and display ads offers another, powerful way to get your ad and firm seen by potential clients.

For example, if a person clicks on your search ad and doesn’t take the desired action, retargeting can be used to show this person your ads on other websites that they visit. You’ve likely seen this before when you searched for a product and then saw ads for that product everywhere you went online.

Google even offers an ad quality score, which will help you (or us) adjust your ads to increase quality and conversions. With the right ad, you can reach your target audience and have the opportunity to convert the lead into a paying client quickly. If you need to fill your client pipeline, purchasing ads on Google is a powerful tool that we highly recommend.

Final Thoughts on Using Google Ads

Why use Google Ads? It’s part of a well-rounded marketing plan. If you want to attract leads immediately and “skip” the SEO wait time, you can do so by purchasing ads. We recommend doing both SEO and PPC advertising to maximize traffic and leads to your firm.

Need help with your Google Ads campaign? Book a free consultation today to get started.