How effective is Google Ads for business?

Not sure whether Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) are a good investment for your business?

Then consider the 15 stats below, which I organized around frequently-asked questions (FAQs) that I hear from business owners.

First things first, if you’re considering search engine advertising, then you need to answer this FAQ…

Are My Customers Really Using Search Engines To Make Buying Decisions?

Let’s take a look at some key stats:

• • 86% of consumers use the Internet to find a local business. (WebVisible survey)

• • 72% of consumers prefer to find information on local merchants via search. (WebVisible survey)

• • 29% of consumers search for local businesses at least every week. (BrightLocal survey)

OK, so your customers are searching, but does that mean you should use Google Ads?  That leads us to the next common question…

Why Use Google Ads Versus Bing Ads?

I’ll let the stats speak for themselves here:

• • Google owns 92% of the search market share. (statista.com).  This stat alone answers the question, but we won’t stop at just search.  Here are some stats about Google’s Display network…

• • Google owns the world’s largest online display advertising network. (comScore)

• • Google display campaigns reach 90% of global internet users. (SEMrush)

• • Consumers exposed to display ads are, on average, 155% more likely to search for brand- and segment-specific terms. (Specific Media)

Before we move on, here’s one more stat that is important to understand:

• More than 80% of Google’s total revenues come from advertising. (CNBC)

Why is this stat so important?  It highlights the importance of Google Ads to Google’s business.  Since Google depends so greatly on Google Ads, that means Google’s focus and priority is on maintaining and continually improving the Google Ads toolset.

Now, if you’re familiar with search engine optimization, then you’re probably asking this next question…

Why Not Just Invest in SEO?

Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple, as the following stats highlight:

• • 89% of the traffic generated by search ads is not replaced by organic clicks when ads are paused. (Google Research)

• • For “high commercial intent” search queries, the top three ad spots take about 40% of the clicks on the page. (The War on Free Clicks – Wordstream)

• • 98% of searchers choose a business that is on page 1 of the results they get. (BrightLocal).  This emphasizes the importance of ranking on the first page of Google.  If you’re investing in SEO (which I highly recommend for many of the same reasons listed here), then advertising is yet another way to get your business on the first page to ensure you in front of 98% of your audience.

And, of course, we need to address the most important question…

Do Google Ads Campaigns Really Work?

When set up and managed correctly, then businesses can see strong return on investment from Google Ads, as indicated by the following stats:

• • Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on Google Ads. (Google Economic Impact Report)

• • 72% of Google Ads marketers plan to increase their PPC budgets (Search Engine Watch).  This is a strong indication that those businesses were generating positive ROI, because if they were not, then they wouldn’t increase their budgets.

• • 70% of mobile searchers call a business directly from Google Search. (Search Engine Watch)

• • 70% of mobile searches result in action being taken within an hour. (Mediative Labs)

Of course, there are a lot of factors that determine the success of a Google Ads campaign so these stats should not imply that every ad campaign will be profitable.  The reality is that you must set up and manage your ads correctly to see positive results.

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