Google Ads on a Small Budget

The pandemic has had a catastrophic effect on businesses leaving around 6m small businesses in the UK in a precarious financial position going forward.

This has caused brands to spread their PPC budgets thin, with some considering to pause advertising spend all together; however, low budgets doesn’t necessarily mean low returns when done properly on Google Ads.

So how much should you be spending?

Alongside your overall marketing budget, the industry you’re in will affect how much you should be spending based on how many clicks you can get for your allocated spend. Areas such as legal and pharmaceuticals generally have a higher cost per click for their ads because of the high amount of competition fighting for ad space.

Understanding the conversion rate of your leads alongside their value is another factor that should be taken into consideration. If a successful lead can amount to a high value for your business then you must consider how much you are willing to spend to get them, especially if your site conversion rate is low. 

One major factor that many small businesses must understand is that allocating a small budget will cause you to run out of budget very quickly – which in return will produce little results. Testing is such an important aspect of any PPC campaign, we suggest between 100 – 200 clicks on a keyword to determine whether it converts well. With around 10 keywords per campaign coming in at a general average of £1 per click we would recommend spending at least £1000 per month. 

What Tactics Should I Apply?

Avoid using broad match terms and focus on more long tail keywords, as this helps your customers find exactly what they are looking for and those who are most likely in the purchasing stage of their journey, without wasting budget on more general search terms.

Ensure your Quality Score is high as this results in your cpcs reducing significantly. This can include ensuring your ad is relevant to the search keyword and having a landing page that is also relevant and optimised fully.

Examine what is not working well. Constantly monitoring your account and making necessary changes to variables such as the audience, device or the time of day when your ad is showing most can significantly improve your account performance. 

For small businesses in particular, it is important to be patient when it comes to seeing results for your account. However, considering these tactics can impact how quickly you see results and partnering with an experienced agency in SME digital marketing can help. Here at Forever, our team of paid search experts have a wealth of experience in managing accounts of all sizes and are more than happy to help.