Month: March 2009

It makes good sense for small businesses (we have to generate revenue every day!) to use Google Ads. I tried it out recently and fell in love with it. It’s fantastic. It gives you great Return on Investment (ROI) that no other form of ads match. Services-based businesses are especially suited because you can establish the relationship using it.

I did try out display ads at some point. I bought about a 1,000 impressions for $30 on a good website. But I did not get a single visit through that ad. When I visited the website when my ad was supposedly ‘on’, I couldn’t find it. It was like black magic! The money is gone!

To compare that with Google Ads, it displayed my ad 30,000 times but I have to pay only for clicks! (that’s the best part). Essentially, I paid only about $4. If I were to pay on display basis and at the same rate as the website, I will have to pay $900 (!) and I am not sure if we will get anything out of it.

The difference is huge. It’s like going on a date that costs you a bomb and you ending up hating the person. With Google ads, it’s like meeting the person at Starbucks and hitting it off!

No Floor Limit

There’s no floor amount on how much you can spend on Google

Ads. That’s the best feature a small business can ask for. If you only have $10 in your ad budget, you can convert that into business.

This is great because we can’t tap into some forms of ads that have very high floors. E.g. Bill boards. Bill boards cost anywhere from $700 per month to even $25,000 per month. If you have a niche product, most of your ad spend has gone in vain because those who saw the ad may not need your product or service. Same goes with a magazine ad or a newspaper ad. The floor actually forces you to overspend. It’s like having to jump a wall to get into your home every day. Small businesses can’t afford that.

The Right Target Audience and the Right Time

Google Ads (and of course other search-based advertising) works for you just in time. How on earth do find out who is looking for your product or service now? Viola! Google Ads does that for you. It’s a fantastic way to target your customers.

Turn Off When You Don’t Need ‘em

You can use Google ads like a tap. Turn it on when you want it and turn it off when you don’t. Especially if you have lots of work on hand and can’t entertain new customers, you can easily turn the ads off so that you don’t burn money on expensive ads. It’s really magic!

I will be writing soon on how to make the best use of Google Ads and create great ROI. Keep watching this space!

About the author: Chaitanya Sagar is the Co-Founder and CEO of p2w2, which helps small businesses outsource services like writing, software, graphic design, virtual assistance, business consulting and research. He is fascinated by entrepreneurship and the difference technology can make in people’s lives. Chaitanya blogs at p2w2 blog (RSS) and tweets at www.twitter.com/Chaitanya.