Are Google Ads Worth it For Small Business?

There is never a shortage of advice given to small business owners on how we should be marketing. You’ve probably asked yourself at some point, “are Google Ads worth it for small business”?

Bro-marketers out there will say “YES!! Google Ads will work for every business, all the time, every time”!!

Well I call B.S.

The best way to decide if Google Ads make sense for your small business is to take an analytical approach and let YOUR business data help you make an objective call.

So buckle up, we’re jumping head-first into a few key things you should be asking yourself when deciding if Google Ads can work for your small business.

Related Post: You can hear me and Colie James talk all about Google Ads for small business on Episode 146 of The Business-First Creatives podcast.

What is your budget for Google Ads?

Let’s just get this out of the way. If you have a big ol’ no-limit-soldier-kind-of-budget just skip reading the rest of this post.

A big budget you’re not worried about spending puts you on a fast & furious (maybe reckless) track for testing all.the.things. Spending your way through proving out your offer and funnel isn’t an approach I recommend, but it IS an approach.

If you’re still reading this then your budget is probably more like the other 33.2 million small businesses in the U.S. – limited.

Does your offer do well, organically?

Given the limited budget most small businesses have for marketing, you should test and refine your offer over time, organically.

If your product or service has decent sales but lacks consistency, and you’re eager to fan the flames, consider evaluating the worthiness of Google Ads for your small business by asking yourself the following questions.

Do you offer something searchable?

Are there enough people searching for your service or product?

Google search ads are search term driven, meaning they display to people actively searching for the thing you offer. Keywords act as a bridge between the words your ads are bidding on and the things people type into Google.

If your product or service is super niche and there are not enough people searching for it, Facebook or Instagram ads may actually be a better place to start for digital ads.

Related Post: Google Ads vs. Facebook Ads which is best?

Are you tracking your website analytics?

Your site analytics is your #1 source of truth. Numbers don’t have emotional attachment or bias. Lean into that truth to make an objective decision about Google Ads for your small business.

If you’re not tracking any of your website metrics using something like Google Analytics (my preferred option) or Fathom Analytics, you cannot objectively answer how well your offer is doing organically.

So before you go spending any money on ads, get your site analytics situated so you can make an informed decision about your next steps. If that’s something you need help with, check out my Google Ads services.

A website that can’t convert organic traffic won’t be able to convert paid traffic.

All this talk of website analytics got you wanting more? Yes?! Music to my ears! I dove deep into the WHY you need to know your site metrics before paying for ads with Colie James on the Business-First Creatives podcast.

Are you closing the leads you get?

If you are a leads-based business you know leads are only half of the equation. Your ability to effectively manage and turn those leads into clients is the other half.

So along with measuring how well your website can turn visitors into leads. You also need to determine how well your internal process work at turning those leads into paying clients, before investing in local lead generation services.

Are you confident in your sales process? Based on your business metrics, can you confidently say that you close leads at a rate that allows you to be profitable?

The last thing you want to do is pay for leads that your lead management or sales process struggles to get past the finish line.

Can you handle more?

We all want more sales, more leads but with it comes more stuff to do.

It seems like a silly question to ask until you’re overrun with orders to ship or mentally spent from all of the lead follow-up.

So before you fan the flame, truthfully ask yourself if you and/or your team can handle more.

One of my e-commerce clients expected order volume to increase with Google Ads but had not prepared for a 5X order volume increase from Google Ads. There were a few stressful months until internal processes were tuned up to handle the new volume.

So Are Google Ads Worth it For Small Business?

If you could answer “Yes” to the questions above, Google Ads are a strong contender for marketing your small business. Remember – ads in general will magnify what is already happening in your business.

Despite what many online gurus might want you to believe, ads aren’t a magical fix to poor-performing websites, offers or sales processes.

Want some 1:1 help figuring out if Google Ads makes sense for your business? Let’s share a little virtual coffee and talk about it.