Using Google Ads to Generate More Leads

Google Ads can be a powerful tool to help businesses attract new customers. It allows you to show your ads to people searching for products or services like yours. This can lead to more visitors to your website, more leads, and more sales. This article will explain how Google Ads works and how you can use it to generate more leads for your business.

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is an online advertising platform developed by Google. It allows businesses to create ads on Google’s search engine results pages (SERPs), YouTube, and other websites within the Google Display Network. These ads can target specific audiences based on keywords, location, demographics, and more.

Here’s an article from PPC Hero’s on the history of Google Ads and how it has changed over the years.

How Google Ads Works

When you create an ad with Google Ads, you choose keywords relevant to your business. Keywords are the words or phrases people type into Google when looking for something. For example, if you own a painting and decorating business, some relevant keywords might be “house painters in London” or “affordable decorators”.

When someone searches for one of your keywords, your ad has the chance to appear in the search results. If the person clicks on your ad, they will be taken to your website. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. This is known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.

Benefits of Using Google Ads

Generate More Leads: Google Ads allows you to precisely target your ads to specific groups of people, ensuring that you reach potential leads effectively. You can choose who sees your ads based on location, age, gender, interests, and more, making it easier to connect with the right audience and generate qualified leads.

Cost-Effective Lead Generation: With Google Ads, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, meaning you are only paying for actual visitors to your website. This pay-per-click model ensures that your budget is spent on generating real leads, making it a cost-effective way to attract potential customers.

Track and Optimize Your Leads: Google Ads provides detailed reports that show how your ads are performing, including how many people are clicking on your ads and which keywords are working best. This data helps you understand what is working and where to make improvements, allowing you to optimize your campaigns for better lead generation.

Fast Lead Acquisition: Unlike some other marketing strategies, Google Ads can deliver results very quickly. Your ads can start appearing in search results within hours of being set up, allowing you to generate leads almost immediately and respond quickly to market demands.

Setting Up a Google Ads Campaign

 

1. Create a Google Ads Account: If you don’t already have one, you’ll need to create a Google Ads account. Go to ads.google.com and follow the instructions to set up your account.
2. Choose Your Campaign Goal: Decide what you want to achieve with your Google Ads campaign. This could be getting more website visits or generating leads, we advise always choosing the latter.
3. Select Your Target Audience: Choose who you want to see your ads. This can be based on location, age, gender, interests, and more.
4. Choose Your Keywords: Select the keywords that you want your ads to appear for. These should be relevant to your business and what your potential customers are likely to search for. You can use the free Keyword Planner in Google Ads to help you choose.
5. Set Your Budget: Decide how much you want to spend on your ads each day. You can start with a small budget and increase it as you see results. However, we generally find a minimum spend of £10 per day consecutively over 6-8 weeks is ideal for seeing good results – This daily amount depends on your niche or industry.
6. Create Your Ad: Write a compelling ad that will attract people to click on it. Make sure to include a strong call-to-action (CTA), like “Contact us today!” or “Get a free quote now!”

 

Case Study: London-Based Painting and Decorating Business

Let’s look at a real-life example of how Google Ads helped a painting and decorating business in London generate more leads.

Our client, a London-based painting and decorating business, wanted to attract more customers. We set up a Google Ads campaign with a budget of £1,500 per month (£50 per day). Here’s what we did:

1. Keyword Research: We identified keywords that potential customers were using to find painting and decorating services in London. Keywords like “house painters in London” and “affordable decorators” were chosen among others.
2. Targeted Ads: We created ads that targeted people in London who were searching for these keywords, targeting an in-market audience.
3. Optimised Landing Page: We ensured the landing page was designed to convert visitors into leads, with a clear call-to-action and a contact form. We used Gravity Forms for this campaign to help track conversion rates.

 

Results:

• The campaign generated an average of 75 leads per month.
• 40% of leads were qualified (30 in total).
• Each lead cost around £20.
• On average, 8 of these leads were converted into clients each month.
• Each residential project was valued at just over £2,000.

 

This resulted in over £16,000 in monthly revenue from a £1,500 advertising budget!

That’s a 9x ROAS.

But that’s not all. We didn’t let the leads that didn’t convert go to waste. We used automated outreach via Zoho CRM to retarget these leads through emails and targeted ads on social media. As a result, we converted an additional 30% of these leads over the past year. Keeping in touch also encouraged word-of-mouth referrals, leading to even more business for our client.

Best Practices for Using Google Ads

Generating leads via Google Ads isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but it’s also not the hardest.

To be fair, for most new users, navigating the dashboard and setting up the account correctly is more of a challenge than the campaigns themselves. But like all things in life, you can either try to perfect the way in which you do something or give it a 20% effort and make excuses why it failed.

Using a digital marketing agency like Deux to run your lead generation campaigns on Google Ads, especially if your business has never run paid ads before, can save you a lot of time and money. Working with an agency of professionals fast-tracks the learning curve of the account, helping you get more leads at a lower cost through implementing best practices from day one.

Don’t get me wrong, you don’t need an agency of experts to run a successful lead gen campaign on Google Ads – But it does help.

If you are considering, or already running ads yourself, these five simple pointers could help you ensure you get the best lead results for your efforts.

1. Use Negative Keywords: Negative keywords are the words you don’t want your ads to show up for. This helps to ensure your ads are only seen by people who are likely to be interested in your services. For example, if you don’t offer commercial painting services, you might use “commercial” as a negative keyword.
2. Monitor and Adjust: Regularly check how your ads are performing. If a keyword isn’t working, try a different one. If an ad isn’t getting clicks, try changing the headline or description.
3. Use Ad Extensions: Ad extensions provide additional information and can make your ads more appealing. They can include your phone number, address, links to specific pages on your website, and more. Lead forms assets are a must if you are running lead campaigns.
4. Test Different Ads: Create multiple versions of your ads to see which ones perform best. This is known as A/B testing.
5. Focus on Quality Score: Google uses a quality score to determine how relevant and useful your ad is to the user. Ads with higher quality scores cost less and perform better. To improve your quality score, make sure your keywords, ads, and landing pages are all closely related.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLxw6no52XI

 

Using Google Ads for Lead Generation

Still have questions?

Here are five answers we feel most of our clients would love to have answered without the hours-on-end researching phase when turning to Google search. We hope they help!

1. How do I choose the right keywords for my Google Ads campaign to generate leads?

Choosing the right keywords is crucial for attracting potential leads. Start by brainstorming a list of terms your target audience might use when searching for your services. Use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to find related keywords and see their search volumes. Focus on long-tail keywords (phrases with three or more words) as they are often more specific and have lower competition, making it easier to attract qualified leads.

2. How can I ensure my Google Ads campaign is cost-effective for lead generation?

To make your Google Ads campaign cost-effective, focus on high-intent keywords that are more likely to convert into leads. Use negative keywords to exclude irrelevant searches and avoid wasting your budget. Set a daily budget and bid strategically on keywords. Regularly monitor your campaign’s performance and adjust your bids, ads, and targeting to maximize your ROI and generate more leads for your spend.

3. What are ad extensions, and how can they help in lead generation?

Ad extensions are additional pieces of information you can add to your ads, such as a phone number, address, links to specific pages, or a callout about your services. They make your ads more informative and appealing, increasing the likelihood of clicks. Using ad extensions can improve your ad’s visibility and click-through rate, ultimately helping you generate more leads by providing potential customers with more reasons to engage with your ad.

4. How do I measure the success of my Google Ads campaign in terms of lead generation?

To measure the success of your Google Ads campaign, track key metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, cost per lead (CPL), and overall ROI. Use Google Ads’ conversion tracking to see how many leads you are generating from your ads. Review your search terms report to understand which keywords are driving the most valuable traffic. Regularly analyzing these metrics will help you understand your campaign’s effectiveness and where you can make improvements to generate more leads.

5. What strategies can I use to improve my Google Ads campaign for better lead generation?

To improve your Google Ads campaign for better lead generation, focus on the following strategies:

1. Refine Your Targeting: Ensure your ads are reaching the right audience by using detailed targeting options such as demographics, interests, and geographic locations.
2. Create Compelling Ad Copy: Write clear, concise, and persuasive ad copy with a strong call-to-action (CTA) that encourages users to click.
3. Optimise Landing Pages: Ensure that your landing pages are relevant, user-friendly, and designed to convert visitors into leads. Include clear CTAs and easy-to-use forms.
4. A/B Testing: Continuously test different versions of your ads to see which ones perform best. Experiment with various headlines, descriptions, and CTAs.
5. Use Remarketing: Retarget visitors who have previously interacted with your website but did not convert. Remarketing can remind them of your services and encourage them to become leads.

 

Wrapping Things Up

Google Ads can be a very effective way to generate leads for your business. By targeting the right audience with the right keywords and ads, you can attract more visitors to your website and convert them into customers. Remember to monitor your campaigns regularly and make adjustments as needed to ensure you are getting the best results.

If you need help setting up or managing your Google Ads campaign with a focus on generating more leads or improving your cost-per-lead, Deux Digital is here to help. Contact us today to learn how we can help you generate more leads and grow your business.