Google Ads can be a very powerful tool for your business. But more often than not, when business owners hear the words Google AdWords or Google Ads, most of them go into a state of panic and overwhelm. In Episode 47 of the Business & Life Conversations Podcast, we talk to Ryan Thwaites of the Lantern Room about how to get your business started with Google Ads the simple way. Ryan explains what Google Ads is, how to identify if it’s right for you and your business, the 5 main things you need to know and the first steps you need to take before starting Google Ads, and its benefits to your business. He also gives us an idea of what to look for in a Google Ads specialist in case you want to hire one and answers 5 interesting questions from members of the Australian Business Collaborative.
This episode is sponsored by Angela’s 4-day, 3-night Women in Business Retreat happening in Australia on October 24-27, 2019. Click here to learn more.
Important Links Mentioned in the Show:
Ryan’s 30 Minute Tutorial Video
Blog Post: Should I use Google Ads?
Blog Post: When to hire an account manager.
Blog Post: How to tell if your account manager is doing a good job.
Australian Business Collaborative Facebook Group
Finding Balance in Business Women’s Retreat
Angela Henderson Active Business Facebook Group
Angela Henderson Facebook Business Page
Prefer to read How to Get Started with Google Adwords Adwords the Simple Way? Here’s the transcript:
ANGELA:
You’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, Episode 47.
Hey there, you’re listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. My name is Angela Henderson and on this show, we talk about improving your business, life or both. By having amazing and rich conversations with brilliant guests who will inspire you and who will give you tips and tricks to help you grow both in life and in business.
Well hey there, Angela Henderson here and welcome back to another episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. I’m your host, obviously, Angela from Angela Henderson Consulting, where I help women in business to develop the foundational framework and strategy they need in order to grow a sustainable and profitable business. I’m really, really excited for today’s episode because the man I’m bringing on is not only a rock star at everything Google ads, but he’s one of the nicest guys and a dear friend of mine. The rock star that I’m talking about is Ryan from Lantern Room. In this episode, you’re going to learn some wonderful, wonderful things about Google ads, such as, but not limited to, what is Google Ads? Is Google ads right for your business? You’ll also be able to start identifying whether or not Google ads is right for you. Also understanding what the first steps that you need to take before you even start in with Google ads. What are the benefits of Google Ads? And so much more. If you can tell about all the things we’re going to talk about Google ads; it is a jam-packed episode. You’re going to want to get your notepads and pens ready to rock and roll because there’s so much goodness for you all to consume.
But, before we jump in to this episode, I just want to let you know that this episode is sponsored by my 4-day, 3-night Women in Business exclusive retreat, where we’ll be focusing on women having the chance to connect, refocus, learn, and grow, so that they can grow both in life and in their business. It’s being held from October 24th through October 27th at the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia and it is an exclusive event with only 50 tickets being sold. From having 8 of Australia’s top female entrepreneurs speaking, to surrounding yourself with amazing people that will lift you up both at conference and post-conference, to daily masterminds to get individual help on your business from both your peers and the speakers, to amazing food, being able to sleep in, and eat a meal uninterrupted for those of you that have children; you’re not going to want to miss this amazing event. To learn more about this event and also the payment plans that are available for you to help with your cash flow, head to angelahenderson.com.au and simply click on Retreat.
Alright. Now let’s jump into today’s amazing episode all about Google ads. Alright. So welcome to the show, Ry. How are you going today?
RYAN:
I’m good, Angela. How are you?
ANGELA:
Yes, I’m good. Well, listen. We decided to be recently down in Sydney at James Schramko’s event, with a good friend of ours, James Rose. So it’s good to connect with you on the Podcast.
RYAN:
I wouldn’t say he’s a good friend. He’s a friend.
ANGELA:
Dude, he’s totally a good friend. We do love to give each other; again the three of us give each other shit on a regular basis. So, yes. We would have been interested in James on the podcast too, but I don’t know how productive we would have been with the three of us just having a chat on the podcast.
RYAN:
It’s true. Probably not very.
ANGELA:
Yes, not very, I would say, productive, whatsoever. Now, listen. Today, you and I have been trying to come up with a way to create this podcast to talk about Google AdWords. And again, we’ve been going back and forth on this particular podcast because it is such a broad topic. And not so much broad, but there’s just so much information with inside, almost like a million subcategories about Google AdWords; that we’ve been trying to keep it the most simplistic way that we can for you listeners out there. And what Ry and I decided to do is that we’ve broken it down to a few little categories about what we’re going to touch upon. We’ve also got some really great Q & A at the end of this particular episode because a lot of people in my Facebook community, The Australian Business Collaborative, were really wanting to know about Google AdWords. They asked a whole lot of questions. And also, Ryan is going to create a 30-minute tutorial video for all of those that do have ads or want to get ads up and going, and that link will be provided in the show notes. So if you’re kind of going through this and you’re kind of like a little bit overwhelmed, you’re getting some pretence that now, that again, it is super simple. It is bite-sized actions; we’re going to give you a lot of great frameworks to think about. But just want to let you know that we will be doing quite of intensive follow-up. And Ryan has also agreed for you guys to email him directly with any questions you have, which is really, really great because all of you guys will be at different stages with Google AdWords. How does that sound to you, Ry?
RYAN:
For sure. Yes. Hit me up.
ANGELA:
Alright. Cool. But before we get started, Ry, as you know, I like to ask my listeners, or I’d like to give my listeners, I should say, a little bit of information about who you are, so they can get to know you. You know kind of some fun facts. And you’ll never know what type of question I’m going to ask you because again, we’ve had lots of intense conversations. So you’ll never know what you’re going to get. But today, you’re going to get one. Again, it’s an easy one, because I know how much you love the sport of baseball. So I want to let you tell us why you love baseball so much and who is your favourite team?
RYAN:
That is easy. Thank you. I appreciate it. My favourite team, Oakland Athletics, if you’ve seen the movie Moneyball, that’s the team that it’s about. And I just want to say that I was fan way before the movie, Moneyball. Yes, I’ve read the book. So Oakland Athletics. What do I like baseball? I’ve been playing since I was 5. And my parents kind of sign me up. So I think I played it by default and just sort of got stuck in it. So I’ve been playing for about 30 years now. But I think that what I like about baseball is, I’m such a data nerd, and so baseball has just the two things I ever loved. Because it’s like a really stop-start type of sport.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Everything’s measurable. And then, so for, just data nerds like me, you can just get in there; dissect the hell out of it. So…
ANGELA:
And yes, I would have to confirm that you adhere to numbers. Because when we were down at Sydney in James’ event, we were kind of super tired, and so we were like, “Oh, dude. Let’s just all get pizza.” Then James bailed on us. And then you were like, “Oh, by the way, I need to watch,” I think it was the Broncos’ game you were watching, and you were like, “By the way, don’t talk to me. Don’t do anything. Because I’m crunching numbers, and I just need to focus on the game.” And I was like, “Alright. Whatever.”
RYAN:
I’m too analytical. It sucks. If it’s something, it transfers to AdWords.
ANGELA:
As you said, it’s a definite positive skill to have when it’s relatable to Google AdWords, which is your specialty.
RYAN:
It is.
ANGELA:
So tell us then a little bit more about where you’re at in business now? What is the name of your business? What is your specialty in business? So the listeners know a little bit more about the professional background of you.
RYAN:
Yes. For sure. So my business is called Lantern Room. And I am a freelancer. I do AdWords and I do Google Analytics, Tag Manager; they’re my main areas that I’m specializing in these days. And yes, essentially, I basically just help people manage their AdWords accounts and really focusing on getting more customers, more conversions, for as little amount of money as possible and generating business through there.
ANGELA:
And well, to be honest, we all love new leads, we all love business. But one other thing that I find, is that most business owners, when they hear the word Google, Google AdWords or Google Ads, depending on what you want to call it, they almost go into a state of panic, a state of overwhelm. And again, if it was me before I met you, I was always, at any given state, reaching for the mojito, because it’s not; it sounds simple. But it really, it’s kind of like Facebook ads; there’s still a level of complexity behind there. But one of the things that I think is important for business owners is that, with Google owning 2 of the biggest search engines on the planet, as you talk about on your website, and that they own the most used email platform, the most popular internet browser, apps, and etc., as you say on your site; that chances are, Google knows a thing or two about you, and also a thing or two about ads. And businesses are potentially missing out when they’re not utilizing Google AdWords. Would you agree with that?
RYAN:
Yes. Totally. I think people think of Google AdWords and they think it’s when you go to Google and you just type in a something and search.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
It’s often like that to AdWords, but, like you said, they own YouTube, so all of YouTube Ads, they fall into Google Ads. They also own obviously Gmail; there’s ads in Gmail. They have the search ads, they do shopping ads and social ads. But I don’t think people also realize, they have the display network, which is pretty much every website; not every website, but there’s millions of websites in the world that have just like the Google AdWords ad code on it and show banner ads or retargeting ads to you, so their reach is almost like endless.
ANGELA:
It’s endless. And it’s not something that you really want to mess with. It is a search function. You need a search function for people to find you know. So, to the biggest top search engines, if they’ve got something going for them, needless to say. And for those listeners out there, I know there’s an enormous amount of interaction we had in the Facebook group, The Australian Business Collaborative, that people really wanted to have a better understanding of what AdWords are, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today. And as I said, this is a pretty big topic. So really, the essence of this particular episode, we’re going to really hone in on the basics, because not everyone out there might understand. So I guess, let’s just go really with my first question to you is, what is Google AdWords? Just so that we’re all on the same page before we even get into some of the deeper questions.
RYAN:
Yes. Totally. You’re absolutely right. Like we could make a whole series of podcast about Google Ads. But let’s just try; I’ll do my best for all those AdWords curious out there that say, “You’re missing this.” But, I know. I’m sorry. But first also, I think I should probably throw this out first; the platform is actually now called Google Ads, and not AdWords.
ANGELA:
Yes. I was reading that somewhere yesterday. Yes.
RYAN:
Yes. So in any case, like using AdWords is just a habit that I’m trying to shake, so forgive me if I still roll, but I’m going to. So Google Ads, it comes in like quite a few different formats. So the search ads; they’re probably the most well-known to most people. When you go to Google, you type in something to search for, you get shown those up to 4 texts ads at the top, and some down the bottom, and that little ad tag next to it, and they were on same, is super common.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Also, display ads, which I just talked about. They’re like a banner-type image ad, and they can also have some texts and things. They can be seen like all of the internet. So whenever a website has inserted Google’s display network code, a display ad can effectively be shown in that location. So then, this type of ads is super popular with like remarketing.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And this happens to everyone, like, when you’re looking at a dishwasher on code, like for the next 30 days, you’re getting harassed everywhere.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Buy this dishwasher, and on YouTube, and in apps, in like bloody everything, is reminding you about that dishwasher. So those are display ads. And then YouTube ads; so they’re also part of the Google Ads platforms, so you manage all of them within Google Ads. And then there’s also like I said, there’s ads in Gmail, on top of the inbox. There’s ads for apps in the Playstore. And then there’s Google shopping ads; so if you have gone to search and you typed in something like dust and vacuum cleaner, it’s going to show you like a bunch of little products ads, on the top, so those are all paid ads as well. So that’s the ball curve of all Google ads.
ANGELA:
Perfect. Okay. I guess, so many people out there are, “Okay. Well, this sounds great.” There’s a variety of different types of ads that you can run with Google ads. But what are the benefits of Google ads for business owners ultimately?
RYAN:
Yes. Like any form of advertising, it’s traffic. So it’s eyes on your product and your service. So the more people know about your business, the more leads, the more conversions; in theory. So the big advantage with Google Ads, unlike Facebook Ads, is the level of targeting that you can use. And just because of that huge amount that you’ve mentioned, of data that Google has to pull from, and they’ve got all of those ways of acquiring that data. So the other big advantage that Google has over other advertising, specifically search ads, is that when people are going to search, there’s clear cut in Tempe, so they’re looking for something, which means that they’re not called traffic, like a lot of Facebook ads would be. So those people are much warmer.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Theoretically, they’re easier to convert into a paying customer. And the other big advantage that I mentioned before is Google’s reach. So you can retarget people on so many platforms once they’ve been to your website. Like, you’d go on search and you can retarget them on YouTube, and Gmail, and millions of websites under display network. Whereas Facebook doesn’t have that luxury, all that ability to advertise once you’ve left their platform; or Instagram. So Google absolutely just destroys Facebook when it comes to available advertising location.
ANGELA:
And why do you think that we don’t hear about that as often? Why are we, I guess lead to believe that Facebook is the platform of choice?
RYAN:
Yes. That’s a really, really good question. I don’t know, really. And that’s the interesting thing, is that Google, through their display network, and all of the targeting and the audiences they have now that pulls in through Google analytics. You can pretty much; you can tie it so much to the similar stuff in Facebook. Everyone talks about how on Facebook, you’ve got these look-alike audiences, and like interest targeting and all that. Google has the same thing, and on their display network, on YouTube, and all of these things, like their audiences, are really good. And they actually even have intent audiences where if somebody is shopping for a new car, you can target people who are shopping for a new car with your ad. I don’t know about Facebook targeting, but I don’t think they do.
ANGELA:
Right.
RYAN:
Do they have targeting? I could be wrong.
ANGELA:
Yes, that question, we don’t have. We probably need Karen, with the why, our Facebook specialist e-commerce friend, to answer that. But it would be like, and I guess what’s not talk about probably too is people because, Facebook, Even though Google is everywhere, I think Facebook is probably more something that’s readily available that you’re on the app quite regularly and things like that. But I guess indirectly, I don’t know how many times in a day I Google like I’m googling shit all the time, right? So it is there, but I don’t think it’s as in your face there.
RYAN:
Exactly.
ANGELA:
So it is important I guess for those listeners to understand and for us to validate that they actually have an enormous amount of data that could benefit your business.
RYAN:
Yes. It’s huge. It’s endless.
ANGELA:
And with, now, I don’t know about you, but before I found you and hired you to be my Google Ad Specialist, I guess what I’ve learned to that process, but I’ve also learned just collectively over the years with Facebook ads and things like that, is that businesses really need to look at a few crucial elements before they jump into Google ads. And I love to chat with you about that to get your thoughts. Are you alright with that?
RYAN:
Yes. For sure.
ANGELA:
Yes. So I guess my first kind of point that I want to talk about before people jump in to any advertising, but specifically with Google ads, is that often I see business owners jumping, thinking that the advertising is going to solve all the world problems, solve them from going bankrupt, solve them from being everything. But the reality that is, is just because you do ads doesn’t mean that it’s going to solve anything. So I guess that’s really part of the piece that I think people need to be looking at. But also, it’s like, I think businesses need to be able to look at, what is their goal when they are going to be utilizing Google Ads? And how does that goal connect to their overall business strategy? Because so many people just wing it, right? And I think winging is an element in business, but when you’re going to be paying dollars to try and get traffic and get a front of eyes, you really need to be strategic about it. But yet people don’t actually have goals around advertising. Now, some do, some don’t. So I guess my first question to you is, would you agree that one of the crucial first steps that people need to be asking themselves is what is their goal for starting with Google Ads?
RYAN:
Yes. Totally. And I think I should actually prefix this by saying like, prior to doing this full time, I had a brick and mortar company for like 10 years. And I went from like never having any business experience to being a small business owner and trying to figure it all out myself. And man, yes, I’ve encountered all of these problems along the way so I know how it feels. But, like of course, you wouldn’t just go and drop thousands of dollars on a billboard ad without planning or forth order and your target market. And nor should you just jump into Google ads and start the campaign, and just start pumping cash through it. Like you definitely need to do some research on the platform, like how to run those ads, and what products or services within your company are you wanting to push; because Google’s search ads are all heavily keyword driven.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And I think another big point that never gets discussed, is that, just because it’s easier than ever to create like a marketing campaign, I compared to the days of having to spend thousands of dollars on TV, radio, print; and on top of that, we also hire professionals to create the actual content to those media. Like these days, you can have hundreds or thousands of people finding out about your business like within the hour. That’s insane.
ANGELA:
Totally insane.
RYAN:
So I guess what I’m saying is, just because you can access these methods of advertising so easily and quickly, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should.
ANGELA:
And I’m glad that again, we agree on that one because I just think that if there’s so much shotgun approach, especially when people are in a kind of like crisis situation where “I don’t know. If I don’t start making money like really, really soon, this is going to happen.” And I feel like whenever you get to an emergency situation, there’s much bigger problems than trying to get eyes or traffic to your website.
RYAN:
Yes. Totally. And I also think that it’s super important to be measuring really, really tightly, like hell. How your ads are spending and what you’re getting, so the return of investment is paramount. Like when you get into those times where, times are tough; and profit, cash flow is massively hindered, you start looking for everything that you can shut down, start spending money on. And when Google is charging your card like every three days for $500 and you’re a small business, it’s really easy to think, “Man, I don’t know if I should just keep doing this.” That’s why if you have your ad platform running and it’s tightly tracking in, you know exactly what your ROI is, you know that like, “Okay. Well, that’s not my problem. Maybe it’s my outgoings, my spending.”
ANGELA:
Yes. And I also know like even for me, you run my ads for a long time. And then we were launching, and then there’s some problems not with you, but with one of the Facebook teams that I had hired. And then we had to let them go, and then, so even though there was part of a strategy, everything kind of fell over. And I was like, “Well, hold on.” I was like, “It doesn’t make sense right now to keep doing that until I can figure out what the hell I’m doing with this other stuff.” And it wasn’t, it didn’t feel right. So I guess sometimes you got to, it’s got to not only make sense and have a goal and that’s measurable, but sometimes you just have to go with your gut. And like that was okay. And you, you were doing great. You were bringing me so many freaking leads from Google. But it didn’t make sense with where the business was pivoting, what we were doing, and what our objectives were when we first started. So you know, we pull back and they were looking at a new strategy.
RYAN:
Yes. Totally.
ANGELA:
So it’s okay too, that sometimes, you might have to stop. Think. Pivot. And then get that back on board again. But make sure again, step number one, really, when you’re thinking about Google ads is, think about the goal and the objective of running them. And I guess into number two, is that you might have a goal, and you might go, “Okay. Yeah. This is great.” But I guess, would you agree Ry, or what are your tips do you think for businesses to identify if Google ads is really the right platform for their business?
RYAN:
Yes. It’s definitely harder to work out. And possibly, it could be a podcast episode on.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
So I’ve actually written a blog post about this on my website.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
So it’s a little lengthy but it’s worth checking out if you’re at this stage. Maybe we can link to it in the show notes or something.
ANGELA:
Yes. 100%. We’ll link to the show notes. But you have any, are Google ads completely different; similar to Facebook, like Facebook, you really should be hiring a Facebook strategist that is focusing on service-based Facebook ads, versus, our friend Karen, she does ads specifically for e-commerce. So when businesses are ready to jump into Google ads…
RYAN:
Yes. Where do you start?
ANGELA:
Is it like, is Google ads different for e-commerce versus, say a service-based industry?
RYAN:
Look, I think the first point, yes; the first point here is definitely that, this is going to cost you money. And there’s no getting around that. You’ve got to be willing to spend some cash on this to find out if it works.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Nothing in marketing is guaranteed. Like nothing in life is guaranteed. And Google ads; look, it can be an absolute game changer to your business, But if you’re not willing to spend money to find out if it’s going to work for you, then it’s probably not for you.
ANGELA:
Right. Yes.
RYAN:
Secondary to that, this is going to come back to like what, every guest on this podcast says and probably what you talk about in every client meeting you have.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And I’m sorry for saying it here again now, but you’ve got to know your client.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
It’s the foundation of everything. So you’ve got to know who they are, where they’re hanging out, how your product or service fits in with their decision making processes, how likely they are to purchase from you. It goes on forever.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
But if you go on through that exercise, it’s going to be a lot easier. So I’d say, once you’ve gone through that process, just open YouTube and do a search for intro, something like intro to types of Google ads.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And spend some time looking at what the different ads look like, and how they’re used, and see some examples. And it should start to give you some ideas about where your product or services might fit in on the platform and start appealing to people. And doing some research on Google ads before you even start is kind of mandatory. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount. So once you feel like you’re starting to get a feel for what’s available, it will become easier to work out; if you could see your product or service being advertised through that medium. But I guess, what I would say though is that you can get a pretty good idea about whether, Google search ads, but just like probably the stronger ads and more popular ads, might be if they’re going to be good for your business. You can do that by doing some keyword research, for example. So if you think about like what search terms people might use to find your product or service or business, and then do you have a product or service the people will actually search for or seek out. Where it’s sounding like a café, that sort of it’s just the geographical business that exists purely for convenience and pass by traffic. But if you have that product or service that people will actually search or seek out, you can go into Google ads and use their keyword planner. And it’s free. And you can punch in some keywords and see what the search volumes are for those search terms. So Google actually makes that info publicly available. So that will give you some estimated search volumes and see how popular those terms are. And you can also see some estimated cost per click, which is sometimes a little bit off. In general, I find them pretty good. And that will give you a good idea if there are actually people looking for what you’ve got to offer.
ANGELA:
And so again, so if we were to recap, really, again, they need to know what their goal is for their Google AdWords, they need to know whether or not Google AdWords is right for their businesses. And ways that you can confirm and validate that, is they can go to YouTube videos. But also, you said, they could just easily go to Google, like you said, type in if it’s dog leads, or dog leashes, or whatever. And you could probably also compare like, is anyone out at the top of that search page running ads?
RYAN:
Certainly.
ANGELA:
And if they’re running ads, you might go, “Okay. Well. If they’re running ads, then potentially, there’s a high chance that I too could be running ads.”
RYAN:
Yes. Totally. I mean you’re going to have competition in just about everything.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And there’s always going to be digital competition. So yes, if you type, yes, those search terms that are around like your business or the service and there’s ads at the top, yes man. They’re like, then there’s volume, for sure. But I love to do keyword research and you can do it in the keyword planner. And there’s also free tools at it; just type in free keyword, keyword volume planner or something like that; all three keywords, volume tool, and see what they are. Like a bunch of paid tools will let you do X number of searches, but it’s really good because a lot of those things will give you some suggested keywords in different volumes and you can sort of like start to work out a little bit from there. But it all pulls from Google’s API. So it’s all Google-based.
ANGELA:
And again, as a business coach, one of the things that I work very closely with early on with my VIP clients and even my 8-week coaching clients, is again, just knowing your keywords in general. Like legit.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
Like, you can go searching for them now, and sometimes you may not know what your short tail or long tail keywords are. And that’s again, that’s a whole another episode. But if you are out there and you’re going, “Holy shit. What is Anj and Ry talking about?” Again, either email me or email Ry because you really need to have a hook, like honing in on. Like what is your ideal client typing in when they want you? Because if you don’t have that sprinkled throughout your website if you don’t have that sprinkled throughout your content, then again, some of those foundational elements that I’m really big on, are missing. And it’s, everything can start to crack and crumble.
RYAN:
For sure. Yes. Getting found, it comes back to keywords. People are searching with words. So you have to make sure that a lot of your strategy revolves around those keywords.
ANGELA:
And then, once they do that, one of the things, Ry, like okay, they’ve got their goals, they understand that it’s right for their business. And I cannot tell you, it’s like, sometimes you definitely, because again, you don’t know what you don’t know, especially when you’re starting out in business. But I often see so many of my VIP coaching clients that I work with, they come to me. They’re already running Google ads, or they’re running Facebook ads or Instagram ads, and they’re getting great traffic that they’re sending to their site. But then, they’re like, “Anj, nothing is converting.” And I’m like, “Yes. But you’re sending traffic to your shitty ass site.” And what I mean by shitty ass site is that it’s not a solid site; it’s not a functional site; it’s not a conversional website. And that, ultimately so many businesses are wasting $500, a thousand, tens of thousands of dollars because they don’t have a solid website before starting their Google AdWords. Do you agree that a solid website is a total must before you can go into this?
RYAN:
Yes. Absolutely. Like you can’t polish your turd, unfortunately.
ANGELA:
Turd polishing is very hard, people.
RYAN:
Yes. I mean, you can send all the relevant traffic in the world to your site. But if it’s not user-friendly, informative, easy to purchase, then you’re not going to convert. And your ROI is going to be horrible.
ANGELA:
And you’re like literally throwing money like you might as well just hand out money to the people on the street.
RYAN:
Totally.
ANGELA:
Because it’s like, one lady came to me, and she was spending $3000 a month on Facebook ads. And I was like, initially I thought, “Well, let me see your copy. Let me see your images.” And I said, “And I’ll check your website.” The copy and the mages were actually on par; speaking to her ideal client. The image was relatable to her ideal client. But I said, “Dude, your site is horrific.” It is like, the speed of your site, the search-ability on the site, the conversion, like at check out, right? So hard that you have to enter all these fields, and I was like, “Oh my gosh. No, man. It’s the website.” And then once we went through that, Baron Carl, who’s my web developer, and we change the website, legit, she was doubling her sales; and it was like overnight. You know, like again, it took us a while to get the new site ready.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
But it was a game changer. So I guess number three, before you even start any type of ads, particularly Google ads, is please make sure that you’ve got a solid website. I mean that’s a whole another topic about what you need on a website and that, but again…
RYAN:
Can I add something to that?
ANGELA:
Yes. Yes.
RYAN:
On top of that, it might not just be your website; I also think you need to ask yourself, “How good is my actual value proposition?” Because that’s a huge factor; so if your products sucks, or if it’s overpriced or unnecessary, then nobody is going to buy it. Like even if you have an awesome website, it’s built to convert; it’s not going to matter.
ANGELA:
Yes. 100%. And I guess that’s like a whole, I mean you could go through a whole bunch like, but again, very good you bring that up, is that like, you have a product that sucks; a good website is going to do nothing for you. You don’t have clear messaging on your site, which includes your branding, doesn’t matter.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
And if you aren’t, if your site is not relatable also to your audience naturally, like if you’re driving traffic, to say, I don’t know, your dog site, but you’ve got pictures of cats; and like again, I haven’t seen that extreme, but I have seen some extremes where it’s completely incongruent.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
What you’re trying to sell and what’s happening when they get to your site. Yes, there’s so many, and I guess, that’s where when I look at when working with my own clients and those foundational elements, is when we look at the website, there’s about 8 to 10 different components just within the website that we need to be firing off; which messaging is one, product, and all that.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
It’s got to be, so collectively, I guess, it’s what’s on your website. And it should be functional.
RYAN:
It’s hard. I get it. It can be so overwhelming, especially when you’re just starting out. But again, it comes back to, you have to be so clear on who your target client is, ideal client like, because it comes down to even the fonts you use, and the colours, and everything.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
You just have to have some direction.
ANGELA:
And that’s where again, so many people, I guess, when they think about the ads, “Oh, I need ads in order to be successful.” Again, I just was talking about this last time on my Instagram, is that mindset plays a big thing in there, too. You know that you’ve got to have a great mindset to be able to be willing to then hear those things that, “Oh, my website is not really good, but what can I do to fix this?” So it’s not good now, but what can I do to be proactive? Versus just go, “Oh, no. I can’t do it.” So again, a whole another podcast probably on that, but I think it’s important.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
I believe that all my podcast, I try to have those conversations and at least start to plant the seeds for so many of you out there that may not have thought about those things. But as small business owners, it’s hard to even know where to begin. And sometimes you are just googling YouTube or doing whatever. But again, by hearing from myself or whoever comes on as a guest, is that at least it starts to let you think about a few things.
RYAN:
For sure. Yes, I totally agree.
ANGELA:
And then, would you say, and I guess this goes back to candidates, but another thing that I see is business owners when they first get started, they don’t trust the process. And what I mean by that is that they don’t see the results after a week or even after first the month; and then they start to panic, they start to throw their talent, they start to pull the ads. So businesses, I think, are forgetting, is that, even though you might not see that ROI right away, there are still so much data that is being collected. And if you have a good Google AdWord or Google Ads Specialist, is that this data can actually really be powerful and that your AdWords Specialist can really start to make changes. How many months do you feel businesses really need to commit in order to give Google ads a fair and solid go?
RYAN:
Yes. It really depends on the volume or the traffic that an account can get. And it’s so broad. It varies so much. But I generally tell clients that, we’re at least want to be running the ads for like 3 months before making any big decisions about feasibility.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
I mean, you can do it in less. But obviously, you have to use some logic around like data sample size isn’t how confident you are with smaller amounts of data you are using to make a decision, right?
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And I guess the other reason that you would want to run it a little longer is, it’s due to what is called attribution. And this primarily refers to which keywords essentially get the credit for converting the client. So I guess, an example, let’s say someone does a search for a business mentor, and they click on Angela Henderson’s ad. In terms of reporting, you get charged for that click on that day, which is today.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Signing up to have an ongoing business mentor, that’s a pretty significant time and money investment. So it might take you like a month to decide whether or not you want to sign up. So let’s say, the person signs up after 30 days after clicking your ad; so only then at that 30-day mark, will it register that a conversion has actually occurred and tie it back to that keyword. So if you pull the pin after two weeks, after that click, you’d effectively see that someone clicked but they didn’t purchase. So you’d be like, “Well, I wasted that money.” When in reality, they were actually considering buying that whole time, but you just closed that window like a little too soon. So attribution modelling ties into that and it gets like really complex especially when you tie it into Google Analytics, but that’s like a whole other topic. So like, which clicks gets attributed to conversions and on which platforms. But if you don’t let it run long enough for people to make their decision, then you’re not going to get any meaningful data.
ANGELA:
Yes. So again, and I would agree with you on that; 3 months is kind of minimum. Because that allows you to assess what’s working, what isn’t working, make the tweaks, and again start being able to see those conversions come through. Especially if you’re saying Ry, if you’ve got a lower ticket, product or service, you might be able to see the ROI quicker, because again, people don’t have to think about it. But whenever you’ve got higher ticket items or bigger purchases, normally, and if they’re cold audience, in particular, it potentially takes them a little bit longer to warm.
RYAN:
Totally.
ANGELA:
I think again, it’s contingent on business. But I think it’s just important that you’ve got to be committed to this process. And so often I see businesses go, “Yeah. I’m committed,” and then they pull the plug after a week. Again, it comes down to mindset. You’ve got to be willing to go, “Oh, this isn’t necessarily a failure. But this is a lesson.” And our lesson from this is, what do we need to do differently so we don’t do this again.
RYAN:
Yes. Certainly.
ANGELA:
And then, I guess, if you look at the commitment, then I guess my 15 that I’ve seen throughout doing this, and we’ll talk more about the nitty-gritty about Google ads, is that businesses don’t think about the budget element. And I think that these two can get them into big trouble, because in not going back to that goal step at the beginning, and not planning, but really, they should confirm their budget for Google ads. But Ry, again, in your opinion, how do they get to a budget? Is there something in a month that they should be spending? Or again, is that based on their business, their product, their return of investment?
RYAN:
Totally. It’s based on so much, unfortunately. And it’s like, it’s almost impossible to give a number. Because there’s so much variance in what you’ll end up paying, like per click, and impression, and conversion; like based on your search terms or your audience. But again, if you jump into the keyword planner in AdWords, Google Ads, sorry; take a look at the keywords that apply to your business and then see what the cost per click is. And then, sort of ask yourself, “Could I convert 1 in 20 people?” Search for those terms and come to my site like, “How relevant am I to those keywords?” And if so, what’s the customer’s lifetime value worth to you? So if the cost per click is fairly low and your average customer lifetime value is high, then you have to convert it at such a higher rate to earn a profit. But working out like these numbers is key, and it’s like a little too deep to dive into. But I know that’s super vague, so I guess I would just start, I would just say, check out the keyword planner.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
See what per click might cost you and go from there. Like if you’re selling a $20 product, and the cost per click looks like it’s going to be $2 per click, that means you’ve got to convert 1 in 10 people to break even. And that might be a bit of a stretch, so I guess then, yes, I’ll end with that.
ANGELA:
Right. Cool. So I guess, for those again out there, it can be a little bit, especially if this is new to you and we’re not even using big words. I’m trying now to make sure that we don’t use very big words. But again, it is a lot like, “Shit. I’ve never heard about keywords before.” All of these; it could be a little bit daunting. But I promise you, stay with us; because it is super, Google Ads can be a very powerful tool for your business. And again, before you even get started, remember the main 5 things that we’ve been talking about is. Know what your goal is for Google AdWords. Identify if Google Ads is right for your business. Do you have a solid site in messaging and branding that you’re going to be driving people back to? Confirm that you’re going to be committed to this process for a minimum of 3 months. And again, start to really assess your numbers and what your budget is because you can’t be committed to the process if you’re not understanding your budget.
RYAN:
Agree.
ANGELA:
But once you’ve kind of get those five things, you can like, “Okay. Shit. Do I, do Google Ads, going to be done by me? Or should I be hiring a professional?” And I guess, I’d love to hear this, because, or your opinion on this, and I guess, I’ll give a bit of a back story, for me as a Business Consultant, there’s a lot of moving pieces. And I know what my zone of genius is; my zone of genius is working with women in business in order to develop that framework, that strategy, in order to grow sustainable and profitable business. That’s where my zone of genius is. My zone of genius is not Google Ads. I don’t want to learn Google Ads. I don’t want to know all the data. But I want to know about it, and I want to know enough to be responsible and understand how it fits in my business strategy. But I wasn’t prepared to go and learn all these; because it will take months, years, to really solidify that. So in my instance, I was like, “No. I’m hiring a professional.” Not everyone has money, too. So we get that. So I guess, my question to you, Ry, is, should Google AdWords, or can Google AdWords be done, do-it-yourself? Or is it better to hire a professional?
RYAN:
Yes. Totally. I mean, it’s going to cost you something. It’s going to cost you either time or it’s going to cost you money. So, it’s going to cost you time; what are you missing out on doing because you’re spending your time doing it, right?
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
I have another article about this question on my website. I didn’t write them for this podcast.
ANGELA:
Yes. They were already there. I’ve seen them. Yes.
RYAN:
Totally. It’s just that these questions are the most common and most obvious questions. So I’ve just answered them in long form for everybody. But to summarize, it just comes into economics. And whether hiring someone, what you’re talking about, doing it yourself versus hiring someone to do it, so it comes in economics, and whether hiring someone will see them cover their wage, like at the very least; in terms of extra revenue they generate on top of the extra business that it gives you. So it can definitely be done DIY. I did it, like when I first bought my company. I’ve bootlegged it and worked it all out myself. So if you’re willing to spend some time doing a little bit of learning, and as a small business owner, unfortunately, yes, we’ve got to bootstrap the hell out of it and pull this together.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
So you know, it’s hard, because time is a premium, and because AdWords can be so boring. It’s just boring as hell for most people. So unless you’re spending like a couple of thousand a month in general, personally, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to hire somebody to manage. And know that I said, in general, because there are exceptions to the rule. Particularly if the customer lifetime value is quite high, then it’s worth trying to get someone to manage it because it’s easier to cover their wage. But I think, in general, yes; as a really, really, really rough and broad number. I think in less, you’re kind of spending does what to dollars, it’s probably worth you try to do a bit of learning yourself. I guess the good thing about that then, is like, when you do generate enough income and you’re growing your AdWords account and your business, to a point where you hire a professional, you actually know exactly the questions to ask them, and you know when they’re doing a good job.
ANGELA:
And I think that it’s important, like I know I first started, I was still working full time as a Mental Health Clinician out in Ipswich, and I would pretty much work five days a week, I had 2 small kids, I’d come home, so I outsourced my own SEO and things like that. But what happened was, is, I didn’t do the diligence, and that I didn’t know enough about SEO to know if they were doing a good job or not. And so, I was paying thousands of dollars a month to then find out when I hired my new web developer, who’s a good, dear friend of mine, he then was like, “Anj, you do know that they haven’t done like 80/90% of what they’re supposed to be doing with your stuff.” And I was like, “What?” So I guess, there is, like what you’re saying, Ry, there is an advantage to when you have to go and kind of figure this stuff out on your own and kind of test. I guess, and that’s my other thing, is, no matter what you do, whether you hire someone or you don’t, ads in business and in life, you are constantly testing, testing, testing. It never really stops, right?
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
And so I guess, alright, so if they’re not making that amount and they do decide that “Okay. Great. I’m going to do this myself. And I want to set up Google ads.” Really, what are kind of those, I mean again, and this is really much of a lot of moving pieces, but what do they need to get started? What are kind of those main components; like setting up an account, creating an account, paying, knowing their keywords? I know we don’t have time to go into all the highs and lows with these and all the ‘how-tos,’ but can you just kind of give us a broad overview about what setting up a Google Ads would look like?
RYAN:
Yes. For sure. The answer is no, I can’t, because it’s like super complex to mention. But what I think is better, is way more constructive, is giving you some actionable tips or things to do. So like I said, I’m going to link, I’ll create a piece of content that’s about 30 minutes long. And if you’re managing your AdWords account yourself, or you do start to manage your ads account, and you’re a little bit worried about like, “How I’m going,” what I’ll do is I’m going to create this piece of content. It’s a little bit long form, but it’s just going to be like an 80/20 sort of how to get, just to check up on your account. And it will get you sort of like most of the way. If you just invest like 30 minutes, it’s going to give you an idea if you’re in good shape or not; just things to look out for. Will link to it on the show notes.
ANGELA:
Right. Perfect.
RYAN:
But outside of that, YouTube is your friend for an endless resource of basics. And a lot of the stuff on YouTube is actually really good and there’s a lot of free content. So honestly, if I was bootstrapping it, if I had to go back and was doing it from Day 1, DIY, I’ll just go to Udemy, and I pay $30 for one of their thorough walkthrough courses on that, that has a lot of high ratings and go from there. That’s going to get you a good portion of the way to having a decent account set up like you don’t have to spend thousands. I’ve seen the courses on Udemy, and they’re decent, they’re solid. And I guess that the other thing to mention though is your account definitely isn’t a set and forget type system. So you’re going to need to keep checking it and learning what to keep an eye on. But if you just start with getting the basic set up, like Udemy is good for that. And as you go and you start to figure out things a little bit more, again, like when you start to hire somebody, you know how to keep tabs on them and make sure they’re actually keeping a good eye on your account and maintaining it properly.
ANGELA:
Yes. Perfect. So I think it’s solid advise that in order to try to keep the podcast synced, and on top of everything that, again, if you’re going to do it yourself, that’s cool. Again, there’s too many moving parts, it would take forever. This is more about just showing you about the simple things about Google AdWords and what you need to consider. Buy the course that Ry was talking about for 30/40 bucks. They’re solid. YouTube is your friend. Just be mindful, that again, what you’re doing is you’re exchanging time though, is what you’re doing. If time is on your hands, that’s great. But time isn’t, again, I guess that’s when you need about thinking about hiring professional, which is going to go into my next question is, there are some shitty ass Google ads people out there; let’s be honest; who do not know what they’re doing.
RYAN:
Is that me?
ANGELA:
No, that’s not you. No, no, not you. Oh, Jesus. No. I’m just saying, like, in general there, just like coaches, there are some shitty ass business coaches out there, right? Like, it’s just a territory of owning a business. I guess one of the common questions that I’ve found in our group when we are looking at this, and a couple of other groups that I’ve posted in, was, “Okay. Great. I’m actually prepared to hire a professional. It’s not my zone of genius. But I’ve already been burned by a Google AdWords specialist.” Again, not Ryan. Ryan is a good one. What tips would you give people, Ry? Or what can they ask for when they’re hiring someone to run their Google ads?
RYAN:
For sure. And like you tell Sean before, as if like working out all of these isn’t hard enough, like your keywords, and your website, conversions, and then you want to deep into some ads and all those stuff. Like you finally get to the point where like, “Alright. I’m really going to commit to this and spend some cash.” On top of that, you have to navigate, yes, there’s people that just don’t care about you, and they’re happy to take your money. And there’s like, and big agencies are wanting to do that. So like, as if it wasn’t hard enough. Now you have like another hurdle which sucks, but, with that said, the biggest difference that I see between good and bad account managers is accountability. And the best metrics for determining an account managers’ worth, is a return on investment, right? So when an account manager, or an agency, or a company, or whatever, isn’t talking to you in terms of clear return of investment, so you can see you exactly what you’re getting for your ad spend, then that’s like a big, big, a big red flag.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
Definitely, they aren’t concerned about that. Like, “I don’t report on cost per click to my client,” and something to like, “What? How are you not reporting on how much is the cost per click?” “Because I actually just don’t care.” Like, I talk to them in terms of, “This is how much money we’re putting into the system on ad spend last month, and this is exactly what we got out of it.”
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
So then based on that information, those results, it’s pretty easy to either justify my employment or discontinue our working relationship. So if you’re looking at hiring someone, this has to be in place. Everything is trackable. So your manager should be communicating all of that with you. And so, by the way, I also have another article about this is on my site, though it’s mainly for people who suspected their account is being mismanaged. But it shares a lot of the same principles and red flags so you can look at it.
ANGELA:
And so if I were to call you up and I’m like, “Hey, Ry. I’ve heard that you’re a Google AdWords Specialist. I’m just wondering, are you able to talk me through about how you report back every month?” What would that look like?
RYAN:
It’s, oh, like, how do I…
ANGELA:
I know the answer. But what I’m saying is, other people won’t know the answer.
RYAN:
Totally. Reporting.
ANGELA:
So are you giving me a report? Are you hitting on a call with me? Again, this I guess the difference between a good specialist; Facebook ads, whatever ads specialist you have, to those who don’t. So it’s like, “Okay, we’re going to give you a monthly report, and then that monthly report, I’m going to do a little video for you, and we’re going to break down this.” Or you know, what does that look like? Because then, they know what to ask, if that’s the most important, I guess what exactly is the question they’re asking these people.
RYAN:
For sure. I know. I feel like very strongly about this, so I think that a lot of the time, all you’ll see is a report. Like I get a lot of clients and I talk to them and we were at their accounts and stuff. And all they get from the agency or whoever is managing their account is just a standardized report, and it’s pretty much, it’s automated. Like they don’t even touch it; and it basically just sends them through, “Now, you got these many visits to your website and these many people see you around.” And like, “That’s really cool.” But like, I think that everyone’s business and everyone’s objectives in everything is different. So the way I do it, is, when I have like, when I onboard a client, we discuss, “Okay, how do you want to be informed about how it’s going?” Some clients I have, they don’t want to hear from me because they have too much stuff on. They just look in every now and just be like, “How’s it going,” and we can discuss things. I’ve got other clients who, they prefer me to actually write them an email and talk to me in normal terms. That’s cool. I’ve got clients who want reports with heavy numbers and stuff. And I guess, people shy away from that, or managers will shy away from that when they’re not being transparent, they’re trying to hide some things or they don’t want to give too much information. I’ve got clients that, they want to know heaps, so I’ve built them dashboards in Google data studio so that at any time they can log in and see how their ads are going, or anything that we’ve decided works for them. So I really think it should be based on the business and the client; their objectives and what makes them feel at ease, instead of just sending them a crappy report every month.
ANGELA:
So I guess, it’s really again, this is where business owners need to take that kind of responsibility and accountability that you kind of know, again, you prefix what your goals are, what you’re looking for, so that when you do kind of look at those, who do I hire and who do I notice? Be really, you know, it’s asking more questions than not, “So at the end of the month, are you going to sit down with me? Are you going to do this, are you going to do this? Because my learning type is this and this is what I’m going to need to understand.” Or, “I’m really new to this, and I don’t understand. I might need you to work with me a little bit more intensively for the first couple of months. Are you prepared to do that? How many team players too? Like how many people are going to be touching my ads?” Like, I see big agencies need about 4 or 5 people touching the ads. There’s no congruent communication. So these are the questions that I personally would be asking if I didn’t have Ry as my Google Ad Specialist; is that, you need to be, make sure that they’re willing to work with you, willing to demonstrate that what you need at the time that they’re going to accommodate. And that, yes. And you’ll also will know things like, if you send them an inquiry or it takes them 8 days to get back to you; if that’s how they’re responding to a potentially new client, more than likely that’s what’s going to happen when you’re a client. And lastly, I always say, follow your gut. When you go in that call and they seemed preoccupied, or they’re not really interested, or they don’t know anything about your business, again red flags. You’ve got to be mindful of that.
RYAN:
Totally.
ANGELA:
And how do people, I guess, again, and I know this is a big question, but how do they know if Google AdWords is working? Is it really just about, like you said, at the end of the month, looking at the numbers about how much they’ve spent and what their return is?
RYAN:
Yes. I mean, it’s based on your objectives, but for the majority, yes. It’s that simple for me. For every dollar, you’re putting in, how much are you getting out of it. Like this highlights how important conversion tracking is in AdWords and Google analytics. It has to be measured. Otherwise, there’s no point in doing it. Like we’ve been given this beautiful gift from the marketing Gods where like we can track pretty much everything; like you can do that with TV and billboards. So if we’re not doing that, then really, we’re just shooting ourselves in the foot. At the end of the day, our campaign should be tracking everything to the point where we know that for every dollar we put in, we’re getting this amount back in sales, in leads, in conversions. And if we’re not, let’s stop. And you need to know so you can stop.
ANGELA:
Yes. So again, numbers; and again, accountability. Sometimes it’s up to you also to make sure that it takes two to people to tango; your Ad Specialist and also yourself.
RYAN:
Yes, your team, for sure. There has to be like that ongoing communication, interaction.
ANGELA:
Yes. And I get like, I said, I looked at you like you’re an extension of the team. You’re an intrical part to what happens to the business. So now, listen, I know, it’s a lot. Alright. And this has been awesome, Ry. You, confirming it again what businesses need to do before they start, what Google AdWords they should be or Google ads that they should be doing; looking at doing it yourself; your time versus money; what to ask with professionals; how to kind of set it up; going to YouTube; or buying a really good course if you’re going to do it yourself. And as we know, Ry, we can talk about these for hours and hours and hours.
RYAN:
And also, I touch on all of this stuff, I feel like we were just be doing it a disservice for me to go, “Oh, we should use broad match keywords.” Now, broad match, modify keywords, like, yes.
ANGELA:
And I also think Google ads are also so specific to the individual business. So even if we did touch about everything, there’d be 800 variables underneath of that, because, depending on your business, how long like, budget, like all of these. So I guess the best thing is, again, is to go back to those core things that we talked about; really figure out if you’ve got the budget if you’re committed, if you want to do it yourself, if you need a professional, what your aims and objectives are. And from there, either YouTube it, you can contact Ry, and he’s going to give us details at the end. You can reach out to me if you’ve got any questions. That’s what we’re here to do, it’s more like, give you a guideline about what to do and what not to do.
RYAN:
The other thing, can I just like interject this? Sorry, Anj.
ANGELA:
That’s alright.
RYAN:
Also like, email me, for sure. I’m more than happy to give out so much free advice just to give people knowledge. But in your group, Anj, there is like Google Ads people who are decent. They know the same amount of stuff as I do. So post in there, you’ll get good responses, it’s happened plenty, in Aus Biz Collaborative.
ANGELA:
Yes, yes, yes. And I guess the other thing is, like, because the group is, it’s a 5000 member group, but again, ask a question, there’s always people who are always looking out to support me too, that if someone is giving, like if I don’t see it and someone is giving wrong advise, I’ll pull the comment. So I’m pretty sure that I can’t get everyone but again, the Australian Business Collaborative is a good stepping stone. Start asking some of those questions, absolutely. So for the purpose of this, Ry, I think it’s a wrap for the session of Google ads. But I think we’ve got 5 or 6 questions that people from the community did ask. And again, those might be easy to answer, those might not. But, I guess the first question off the bat is that Natalie from the group asked: Google ads express or Google Ads? What does he think works better?
RYAN:
If I get to leak Google ads express from the internet, I would do that. But I absolutely hate Google ads express. It’s like Google’s little sampler that gets you in and takes your money. There’s no keyword control. You can’t even add negative keywords.
ANGELA:
So it’s kind of like Facebook’s boost. You know why, I’d say, “Don’t boost. Don’t use Google ads express. “
RYAN:
I think it’s worse than boost. It’s terrible. Yes.
ANGELA:
Alright. So Natalie, back away from the Google ads express and focus on Google ads.
RYAN:
Yes, please don’t use it, Natalie.
ANGELA:
Please, Natalie. Now Mandy, from the group, has asked: Would love to know if pausing ads due to holidays or workloads, does that make a difference to performance and optimization?
RYAN:
That’s a really, really good question. And I don’t think anyone really knows the answer to this. I have an account rep, a Google account rep in Sydney that I have access to; and I’ve asked this question in the past and I haven’t really got an answer. Like, they like to tiptoe around it. And the research I’ve done, everyone sort of says the same thing, where it’s basically like we don’t. Because Google’s algorithm and their ad algorithm in ranking and all of that kind of thing, and quality score, a lot of it has a historical based element to it. So when you pause in things and stopping and starting them and different things, it can possibly tie into that. Personally, I don’t really stop ads that much. So I haven’t really had any experience with it from the people I know. I think in general, the consensus is don’t; don’t pause them if you can get away with it. The better option would be just to really decrease your budget to a really low level. Keep the ads running. Keep feeding the system. That just like taper off your spend, so you’re only spending like a little bit amount, but you’re keeping Google happy.
ANGELA:
And my thing, from a Business Consultant side, would be, is that, if you’ve got money coming in and that shit is working, my question would be, why do you want to stop that? And I hear what you’re saying about holidays and workloads. But that’s when I would be saying, this is the system’s problem.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
That’s actually Google ads problem. Google ads is actually doing what you want them to do. This is about what could we be doing to help systemize things so that you can go on business and XYZ if the orders are coming in, or the service, whatever that is, that that can still be delivered without you being there.
RYAN:
Totally. If you message James Rose on the Facebook page, he’ll be happy to help you with that.
ANGELA:
Yes, he’s always running the systems. So I guess all I’m saying there Mandy is like, ultimately, I agree with Ry, same with when I do on Facebook ads, is I will normally just run the budget down a little bit and keep it going so I don’t have to change the algorithm. Again, I’ve already got Facebook on my site; it’s delivering to my audience. And then, also like, again systems; what can we do to keep those running if Google is helping you and doing what they say.
RYAN:
Yes.
ANGELA:
Okay. Cool. So now, Amanda has asked: I would love to know how we, as non-certified AdWords users, know when Google changes the algorithm?
RYAN:
Oh, by the way, like even if you’re a certified AdWords user, it doesn’t matter. Let me just touch on that. Certified AdWord users, it’s really not this badge of honour. So if someone says they’re a certified AdWords user, just take it with a grain of salt, because you basically just have to take a couple of online exams from Google. And you can even just Google search the questions, and there’s answers. So Anj, you could be a certified Adwords person this afternoon, if you really want to, it’s not that hard. Anyway, rant’s over.
So, but in terms of knowing when Google changes the algorithm, Google can be a little bit sneaky about adding new features because they really want you to have them automate the process. Like they’re really pushing towards to these days. Unfortunately, you just got to follow them on social media and look at their, it’s like an updates page for ads and that sort of thing. But if Amanda is talking about the ranking algorithm for the ads, and how it decides which ads to show, Google mainly uses 2 main factors in determining which ads to show. And the first is the price, which is how much you’re willing to bid or spend on your ad, essentially. And the other one is relevance. So Google, like Facebook; they really want users to have a good experience.
ANGELA:
Experience.
RYAN:
So the relevance of your keyword and then how that ties to the ad, and how that ties to a landing page is super important. And they call it quality score. And you want it all to tie together really well, so there’s no use in having like bad experiences. So if you’re campaign doesn’t do that really well, there’s not going to show your ads, so price and relevance.
ANGELA:
Right. So price and relevance. Yes. The question before, Jessie asked: How long should you give it before making changes and tweaks to the campaign?
RYAN:
Yes, again, that’s super broad, unfortunately. But depending on what those changes and what those tweaks are, a couple of little tips I would say would be like, some of the early changes you want to be making, and you always want to be making them, especially early when you launch your campaign, is checking what keywords are coming in to your account. So go into keywords and then the search and report. You want to be adding like negative keywords in there to control the flow of the keywords that are coming in. So that’s like a constant thing you want to be doing. You want to do straight away. And that’s ongoing.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And then in terms of how long should you give before maybe changing ad, copy and split testing some more ads; that’s hard. You just have to, I guess, you know, like how many, like 50 clicks. Or is there like a thousand impressions? I think, yes.
ANGELA:
I guess it comes back down to what we said, is like test, test, test, right?
RYAN:
Testing is helping. Helping is testing. Yes, for sure.
ANGELA:
Yes, and I agree. And Jessie also asked: Should you create more than one campaign at a time?
RYAN:
Yes, I mean, almost always, you end up having more than one campaign. So it depends on the amount and the range of keywords you have and you’ve identified and everything. But at the end of the day, like I usually come up with all of my keywords that I can come up with and all of the permutations and they work backward. And I split them into ad groups based on whether or not I think the ad is relevant to those keywords.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
And although, there are settings like location targeting though, so you can only set those at the campaign level. So if you are trying to target some people with ads in one location, and a different set of ads to some in another location, then you might need to split those into separate campaigns. But if you’re asking should you create more than one campaign at a time, depends on how many ads and keywords you have. But I would say almost certainly, you’re going to have at least one search ad and probably one display campaign; sorry; one search campaign and one display campaign, which is doing remarketing because everybody should be remarketing.
ANGELA:
Okay. Perfect. And Vanessa would like to know: Is enhanced CPC all it’s cracked up to be? Is targeted CPA better?
RYAN:
How long do we have left?
ANGELA:
Like 2 minutes.
RYAN:
Oh my God. Alright, just quick overview, enhanced CPC is an option that comes on in manual bidding. So we’re talking about bidding strategy here. So, and there’s one other really important things to make sure you get it right. So I guess, if you’re starting out, you always, in my opinion, you want to start with manual CPC, because you’re controlling everything. And enhanced CPC is an option that you can tick on manual bidding. I always use Mike Rhodes, the AdWords Godfather of Australia.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
That’s now a legit, AdWords, going to America, they all use it. It’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me, it’s probably good enough for you as well.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
So I always used that. And then, on the other side, the other ones I’ll talk about, just Google smart bidding. So basically, Vanessa asked about target CPA, and one that goes with that is target ROAS. And what that does is, it takes all of Google’s variables, like they have all that data. And they are basically trying; you’re basically saying for target CPA, cost per acquisition, “I’m willing to pay like $50 for cost per acquisition.” Google puts that into their algorithm and they’re trying to get you, conversions at $50. So basically, you’re effectively saying, “I don’t care what the cost per click is, you take care of who you’re going to show my ads to, when it’s going to be showing, and how frequently. And at the end of the day, I just want you to get home for $50.”
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
So the problem with that, like Mike Rhodes is huge on that, and he’s really pushing it these days; if you’re going to tinker 1:02:09 with target CPA, you really have to be running experiments. And there’s a feature called experiments, you want to split it out. Splitting campaign, running experimental campaigns, where you’re going 50; 50% of your budget is going to manual bidding, 50% is going to target CPA, and see which does better. Like Mike Rhodes, these guys are saying, his agency, the target CPA is doing like 90% of the time better than manual bidding.
ANGELA:
Yes.
RYAN:
But I definitely haven’t seen that. So I’m split. And I wonder if it’s because like, but I think that it’s very product, very business specific, but in a nutshell Vanessa, enhanced CPC, yes; I think, it’s all those cracked up to be. And I would start with manual bidding. Once you get like a bunch of conversions through, then you could start looking at target CPA. And I would split test it first with an experiment.
ANGELA:
Alright. Wow. That was a fun episode. That was fun. It was super; so much information, so much goodness. But for those of you, Ry, that want to learn more about you or say, “Just take my money. I’ll just hire you for a Google Ad Specialist,” where can they find you?
RYAN:
I’m at lanternroom.com.au, so that’s my business. I’m on Facebook as well, we have the, I have a Facebook page. I hang out in Aus Biz Collaborative. You can find me. It’s not that hard. And if you have any questions, or comments, or want to abuse me, or if you’re an AdWords person like, please email me. Because I want to develop relationships with other AdWords persons because it’s frustrating, and we need people to talk to and vent to and like hell. So if you are that person, please email me. Let’s be friends.
ANGELA:
Yes. And what’s the best email address for them to get to you?
RYAN:
Totally. ryan@laternroom.com.au
ANGELA:
And all of these things, again, just remember that my team and I will also be putting together the whole transcription for this episode with the links at angelahenderson.com.au. And that will also include the video that Ry will do. And of course, I cover all sorts of related business and life topics inside the community on Facebook. The Facebook group is called the Australian Business Collaborative; we’ve got over 5,000 amazing community members. So make sure you head over there. Ask questions. Give advice. Be supportive. Have a laugh. And for the rest of you, I hope you have a brilliant day no matter where you are in the world, and I look forward to having you join me next week for another amazing episode of the Business and Life Conversations Podcast. Thanks so much, Ry, and everyone have an awesome day.
RYAN:
Thanks, Anj.
ANGELA:
Bye.
Thanks for listening to the Business and Life Conversations Podcast with Angela Henderson, How To Get Started With Google Adwords. www.angelahenderson.com.au
