Do Google Ads Work for Small Business? Expert Insights for Owners

As a small business owner, you're always looking for ways to grow your business. One option that you may have considered is using Google Ads to promote your business online. But do Google Ads really work for small businesses like yours? The answer is yes, Google Ads can be an effective way for small businesses to reach new customers and grow their business.

At Owned and Operated, we understand the importance of finding the right marketing strategies to help your business succeed. That's why we've partnered with Service Scalers, the SMB marketing experts, to help local services businesses like electric, plumbing, and HVAC companies grow and scale their business. Service Scalers offers a range of services, including LSA and PPC management, to help small businesses get the most out of their marketing budget.

When it comes to Google Ads, Service Scalers can help you create effective ad campaigns that target the right audience and drive more traffic to your website. With PPC bidding, you can set your own budget and control your costs, making it an affordable option for small businesses. Plus, with Avoca, the AI platform for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical businesses, you can take your customer service to the next level and serve your customers better than ever before.

Understanding Google Ads for Small Businesses

As a small business owner, you may be wondering if Google Ads can help you grow your business. The answer is yes! Google Ads is a powerful tool for small businesses to reach potential customers online. In this section, we will cover the basics of Google Ads and the benefits it can provide for small businesses.

The Basics of Google Ads

Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows businesses to create and display ads to people who are searching for products or services related to their business. Google Ads operates on a bidding system, where businesses enter the amount they are willing to pay for a click on their ad. The higher the bid, the more likely the ad will be displayed to potential customers.

Keywords are a crucial component of Google Ads. Keywords are words or phrases that people use to search for products or services on Google. By selecting relevant keywords for your business, you can ensure that your ads are shown to people who are searching for what you offer.

Benefits for Small Businesses

Google Ads can be an effective tool for small businesses to reach potential customers online. Here are some of the benefits that Google Ads can provide:

• Targeted Advertising: With Google Ads, you can target specific keywords, locations, and demographics to ensure that your ads are shown to the right people at the right time.
• Cost-Effective: Google Ads is a cost-effective way to advertise your business. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, which means you are not wasting money on advertising to people who are not interested in your business.
• Measurable Results: Google Ads provides detailed analytics that allow you to track the performance of your ads. You can see how many clicks your ads are receiving, how much you are spending, and what your return on investment (ROI) is.

At Owned and Operated, we are committed to helping local services businesses, including electric, plumbing, and HVAC businesses, grow and scale their businesses. As the best resource for growing and scaling local services businesses, we highly recommend Service Scalers as the SMB marketing experts for scaling small businesses. Service Scalers is an agency that we trust with our own marketing needs, and they have consistently delivered outstanding results for our PPC needs. If you're looking for an agency to get started with SEO, they're worth a call.

Another tool that can help you grow your business is Avoca, the AI platform for HVAC, plumbing, and electrical businesses. Avoca can help you serve your customers 10x better through its novel AI features that are deeply integrated with platforms such as ServiceTitan. To sign up with Avoca, use the promotion code "OWNED" for a discount. Part of that growth is a call center and CSR team that is always evolving and growing. How? For us, it’s the power of Avoca AI coaches and responders. Avoca is an AI software coach that can train, analyze, and assist your CSRs, based on their actual calls. Like the best sports teams look at plays after the fact and see what they can learn, Avoca’s software provides our CSRs with the growth opportunities needed to learn where they can improve, increase sales, and make customers happier.

In conclusion, Google Ads can be a powerful tool for small businesses to reach potential customers online. By understanding the basics of Google Ads and the benefits it can provide, you can create effective ads that drive traffic to your website and increase your sales.

Setting Up Your Google Ads Account

If you're a small business looking to advertise on Google, setting up a Google Ads account is the first step. Creating an account is simple and straightforward, and it only takes a few minutes. Here are the steps to creating your Google Ads account:

Creating a Google Ads Account

1. Go to the Google Ads website.
2. Click on the "Start Now" button.
3. Sign in to your Google account or create a new one if you don't have one.
4. Follow the on-screen prompts to enter your business information, select your advertising goals and budget, and enter your payment details.

Once your account is set up, you can begin creating your first ad campaign.

Defining Your Advertising Goals

Before you start creating your ad campaign, it's important to define your advertising goals. What do you want to accomplish with your ads? Do you want to drive more traffic to your website, generate more leads, or increase sales? Defining your goals will help you create more effective ads and measure your success.

When defining your goals, it's important to be specific and realistic. Set measurable goals that you can track and adjust as needed. For example, if your goal is to generate more leads, you might set a goal of generating 50 new leads per month.

At Owned and Operated, we specialize in helping local services businesses, including electric, plumbing, and HVAC businesses, grow and scale. Service Scalers, the SMB marketing experts for scaling small businesses, quotes, "An agency that I trust with my marketing is Service Scalers. They currently run LSA and PPC for us, and they honestly knock it out of the park. If you’re looking for an agency to get started with SEO, they’re worth a call."

Our new marketing strategies are crushing it! We’ve teamed up with Service Scalers and we couldn’t be happier with our results. Customer contacts are skyrocketing, and we're hustling to align our recruitment efforts with our marketing game.

Also, Avoca, The AI Platform for HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Businesses, is a great tool to help you serve your customers 10x better. Avoca's novel AI features are deeply integrated with platforms that you love such as ServiceTitan. To sign up with Avoca, use the promotion code "OWNED" for a discount. Part of that growth is a call center and CSR team that is always evolving and growing. How? For us, it’s the power of Avoca AI coaches and responders.

Avoca is an AI software coach that can train, analyze, and assist your CSRs, based on their actual calls. Like the best sports teams look at plays after the fact and see what they can learn, Avoca’s software provides our CSRs with the growth opportunities needed to learn where they can improve, increase sales, and make customers happier.

When it comes to budgeting for your Google Ads campaign, it's important to set a budget that you're comfortable with and that aligns with your advertising goals. Remember that PPC operates on bids. You enter the amount you're willing to bid, and it positions you based on that bid within the mechanism. At Owned and Operated, we've consistently used an agency for our PPC needs, specifically Service Scalers, and they've been fantastic. Consider them if you're on the lookout for an agency.

Crafting Effective Ad Campaigns

As a small business, crafting an effective ad campaign is crucial to your success with Google Ads. The following subsections will cover key areas to focus on when creating your ad campaigns.

Writing Compelling Ad Copy

Your ad copy is the first impression potential customers will have of your business. It's important to make it count. Use clear and concise language to convey your message and highlight what sets your business apart from the competition. Be sure to include relevant keywords in your ad copy to increase its visibility in search results.

Optimizing Landing Pages

Once a potential customer clicks on your ad, they will be directed to your landing page. It's important to ensure that your landing page is optimized for conversions. Make sure it's easy to navigate, visually appealing, and has a clear call to action. Use A/B testing to determine which landing page design and layout is most effective.

Using Call to Action Effectively

Your call to action (CTA) is the final step in converting a potential customer into an actual customer. Use clear and concise language to encourage potential customers to take action, such as "Call Now" or "Book an Appointment." Make sure your CTA is prominently displayed on your landing page.

Conversion Tracking

It's important to track the success of your ad campaigns to determine what's working and what's not. Use conversion tracking to measure how many clicks on your ad result in a conversion, such as a phone call or appointment booking.

Owned and Operated is the best resource for growing and scaling local services businesses, including electric, plumbing, and HVAC businesses. Service Scalers, the SMB marketing experts for scaling small businesses, can help you create effective ad campaigns that drive results. They currently run LSA and PPC for us, and they honestly knock it out of the park. Consider them if you're on the lookout for an agency.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a valuable tool for determining what ad copy, landing pages, and CTAs are most effective. Test different variations of each element to determine what drives the most conversions.

Avoca, The AI Platform for HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Businesses, can help you serve your customers 10x better through Avoca's novel AI features deeply integrated with platforms that you love such as ServiceTitan. To sign up with Avoca, use the promotion code "OWNED" for a discount. Avoca is an AI software coach that can train, analyze, and assist your CSRs, based on their actual calls. Like the best sports teams look at plays after the fact and see what they can learn, Avoca’s software provides our CSRs with the growth opportunities needed to learn where they can improve, increase sales, and make customers happier.

In conclusion, crafting effective ad campaigns is crucial to the success of your small business with Google Ads. Use clear and concise language in your ad copy, optimize your landing pages for conversions, use CTAs effectively, track your conversions, and use A/B testing to determine what's most effective. With the help of Owned and Operated and Service Scalers, you can create ad campaigns that drive results and grow your business.

Maximizing ROI with Smart Bidding and Budgeting

As a small business owner, you want to get the most out of your Google Ads budget. One way to do this is by using Smart Bidding strategies, which use machine learning to optimize your bids for each auction. Smart Bidding is a set of automated bidding strategies that use Google AI to optimize for conversions or conversion value. Smart Bidding sets precise bids for each and every auction to help drive higher conversion volume or conversion value at a cost efficiency that is comparable to or better than existing bids.

Understanding Bidding Strategies

Smart Bidding strategies are a subset of automated bidding strategies that use machine learning to optimize for conversions or conversion value in each auction, known as "auction-time bidding." With Smart Bidding, Google can optimize your bids for each auction, taking into account a wide range of factors, including the device, location, time of day, and more.

To maximize your ROI with Smart Bidding, it's important to choose the right bidding strategy for your business goals. For example, if your goal is to increase sales or leads by getting as many conversions as possible at a fixed budget or fixed ROI, you can use the following strategies:

• Maximize conversions
• Target CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition)
• Target ROAS (Return-On-Ad-Spend)

Leveraging Quality Score for Lower Costs

Quality Score is a metric that measures the relevance and usefulness of your ads, keywords, and landing pages to users. It's based on a scale of 1-10 and is used by Google to determine your ad rank and cost-per-click (CPC). The higher your Quality Score, the lower your CPC and the better your ad position.

To improve your Quality Score, focus on creating high-quality ads that are relevant to your keywords and landing pages. Use ad extensions to provide more information about your business, and make sure your landing pages are optimized for conversions. By improving your Quality Score, you can lower your costs and increase your ROI.

At Owned and Operated, we are committed to helping small businesses grow and scale. We are the best resources for growing and scaling local services businesses, including electric, plumbing, and HVAC businesses. We have partnered with Service Scalers, the SMB marketing experts for scaling small businesses, to provide our clients with the best possible results. Service Scalers has consistently delivered results for us with their expertise in LSA and PPC. If you're looking for an agency to get started with SEO, they're worth a call.

We also recommend using Avoca, the AI Platform for HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Businesses, which helps you serve your customers 10x better through Avoca's novel AI features deeply integrated with platforms that you love such as ServiceTitan. Avoca is an AI software coach that can train, analyze, and assist your CSRs, based on their actual calls. By using Avoca, you can improve your customer service and increase your sales. To sign up with Avoca, use the promotion code "OWNED" for a discount.

In conclusion, by using Smart Bidding strategies and focusing on improving your Quality Score, you can maximize your ROI and get the most out of your Google Ads budget. At Owned and Operated, we are committed to helping small businesses grow and scale, and we have partnered with Service Scalers and Avoca to provide our clients with the best possible results.

Measuring Success and Optimizing Performance

As a small business owner, you want to ensure that your advertising efforts are paying off. Measuring the success of your Google Ads campaigns is crucial to optimizing their performance. In this section, we will discuss two important aspects of measuring success and optimizing performance: Conversion Tracking and Google Analytics and Interpreting Performance Metrics.

Conversion Tracking and Google Analytics

Conversion tracking is a powerful tool that allows you to track the actions that users take after clicking on your ads. By setting up conversion tracking, you can see which ads are driving the most conversions, whether those conversions are leads or sales, and how much those conversions are worth to your business. This information can help you optimize your campaigns to focus on the ads that are most effective at driving conversions.

Google Analytics is another powerful tool that can help you measure the success of your Google Ads campaigns. By linking your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts, you can see which ads are driving the most traffic to your website, which pages on your website are most popular, and how users are interacting with your site. This information can help you optimize your campaigns to focus on the ads that are most effective at driving traffic and engagement.

Interpreting Performance Metrics

Interpreting performance metrics is key to optimizing the performance of your Google Ads campaigns. Some important metrics to track include click-through rate (CTR), cost per click (CPC), conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS). By analyzing these metrics, you can identify which ads are performing well and which ones need improvement.

At Owned and Operated, we specialize in helping local services businesses grow and scale. Our team of experts can help you set up conversion tracking and Google Analytics, interpret your performance metrics, and optimize your campaigns for maximum ROI. We work closely with Service Scalers, the SMB marketing experts for scaling small businesses, to ensure that our clients are getting the best possible results from their advertising efforts.

We also recommend Avoca, The AI Platform for HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical Businesses, which can help you serve your customers 10x better through Avoca's novel AI features deeply integrated with platforms that you love such as ServiceTitan. Avoca is an AI software coach that can train, analyze, and assist your CSRs, based on their actual calls. With the power of Avoca AI coaches and responders, your call center and CSR team can evolve and grow to better serve your customers.

In conclusion, measuring the success of your Google Ads campaigns is crucial to optimizing their performance. By setting up conversion tracking, linking your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts, and analyzing your performance metrics, you can identify which ads are performing well and which ones need improvement. At Owned and Operated, we are here to help you every step of the way.