Let our Google AdWords experts bring your ideal customers to you!
With over 90% of the international search engine market, and almost 97% in Africa – Google dominates the search scene. It’s where the vast majority of your potential customers are looking for answers, comparing products, and finding the services they need.
You’ll know from your own experience that very few search engine users look beyond the first few results when they perform a search on Google. After all, it’s one of the reasons Google is so popular – it’s very good at delivering the answers its users are looking for.
For this reason, there’s enormous pressure to appear high up on those search engine results pages (or SERPs) when someone is looking for your product or service. One way of doing that is through search engine optimization, or SEO. It’s a very good way too… but it takes a lot of work and a lot of time to get right.
Another way is through paid advertising – i.e. Google AdWords. Not only is this an extremely quick way to drive traffic to your website, it allows you to get your products and services in front of the people actively looking to purchase them right now.
When executed correctly, strategically, and backed by solid target market research and data, Google Ads can deliver an astounding return on investment. That’s what a Google Ads agency like Ruby Digital does. We analyse how your ideal customers are looking for products and services like yours. Then we craft compelling, targeted ads that drive them through to your website.
By matching the right kinds of traffic to your offering, our Google Ads specialists are able to rapidly and dramatically increase sales and grow your revenue. Grab your free proposal now, or find out more below.
As we mentioned above, Google Ads work on a pay per click basis. You only get charged when your ad is clicked on by a potential customer. This is one of the key differentiators between Google Ads and other forms of digital advertising, (such as banner adverts) where you’re charged by impressions, or the number of people who see your ad, but may take no further action.
When you place an advert on Google, you’re asked to bid on keywords. These are the words and phrases someone is likely to be using when they search for a product like yours. This might be something like ‘best washing machine’, ‘tax accountant in Cape Town’, ‘sushi restaurant’, etc.
This is where market, keyword, and competitor research become really crucial. You don’t want to waste money on ads that bring in the wrong kinds of traffic. You want to tailor your Google Ads not just to your ideal customer persona, but also people in the right geographical areas, and with the right demographics to suit your offering. Because you pay per click, each click that doesn’t result in the visitor taking the specific action you want them to is money down the drain.
It’s for this reason that so many businesses turn to a Google Ads management company like Ruby Digital for help. Without a solid understanding of the Google Ads platform and the expertise to analyse and leverage consumer habits, Google Ads can get really expensive. Worse than that, you might not have much to show for the money you’ve spent.
Focus your marketing efforts on ready-to-buy customers
One of the most powerful aspects of Google Adwords marketing is its ability to match consumer intent with relevant offerings. Reach people who are genuinely looking to buy what you’re selling.
Leverage Local
Choose to have your ads displayed to potential customers in your area, during your operating hours. You can even target consumers searching on their mobile devices while they’re in close proximity to your premises.
Take on your biggest competitors
Our Google AdWords specialists are pros at finding untapped potential and keywords your competitors aren’t taking advantage of. We’ll help you level the playing field and compete with the most established brands.
Get real insights with measuring and reporting
Effortlessly track ROI, sales and conversions, interactions with your brand, incoming traffic and much more. We use this data to continuously adjust and improve your Google Ads strategy.
Easily control budget and ad spend
Thanks to built-in financial controls, you can rest assured we’ll keep your campaigns in budget. No nasty surprises and unforeseen expenses here!
Run several targeted campaigns at once
Do you offer several distinct services or lots of different products? Ruby Digital can tailor make individual Google Ads campaigns for each.
Tap into the Google Display Network
Use eye-catching visual ads to stand out, and remarket your offering to users who’ve already expressed interest in your products.
Split test different versions of your ads
We learn what your ideal customers respond to best and why, so we can continuously improve your traffic quality and ROI.
Harness the power of intent
With Google Ads, you’re advertising to people who are actively looking for what you’re selling.
Create landing page content that seals the deal
Because we’re also one of South Africa’s most trusted SEO agencies, we’ll help you ensure potential customers aren’t just visiting your site, but actually converting into sales.
The more competition there is for a keyword, the more you’ll have to pay per click. The higher you bid, the more likely it is that your advert appears on SERPs. You’re also able to allocate a set budget, so you don’t get nasty surprises down the line! Finding the sweet spot here is very important. Bid too high, and your ad spend will get used up too quickly. Bid too low, and you risk your ad not being seen at all.
Google only displays a limited number of adverts per page. Each time a user performs a search that triggers relevant ads, numbers get crunched in the background, and a bid winner and runners-up are selected. These are the ads that get displayed, and if the user clicks one of those ads, the business gets charged the amount they bid.
Once their ad budget is used up, they fall out of the auction. This gives other companies who bid lower the chance for their adverts to make it onto results pages too. You can therefore choose to take an aggressive approach and bid high, or play more of a long game. That’s why our Google Ads experts in Cape Town and Johannesburg take the time to understand your individual business goals, and craft a customised strategy designed just for you.
We can even set your Google Ads campaigns to run only at specific times. This can be extremely useful, for instance, if you’re in competition with international companies in different time zones. Creep up on the enemy while they’re sleeping! Another example might be a restaurant or hair salon, which wants to attract customers only during their operating hours when they’re available for bookings.
This is a somewhat simplified version of what goes on behind the scenes, as Google also uses a set of algorithms called Ad Rank to decide on who gets the top spots. If you’d like to find out more about how that works, we’ve addressed it in our FAQ at the end of this page. We also cover aspects like longtail keywords and split testing.
However – in a nutshell: Using Google Ads is not difficult. But using Google Ads right is an entirely different story.
Of course, Google doesn’t just offer ads on its own search platform. You’ve probably had the experience of browsing a website, and coming across an advert for a product or service you’d been doing a little research on previously. It might be something you were seriously thinking of purchasing, or were just mildly curious about. This is the Google Display Network in action!
Again, this is Google trying to match user intent (what’s a good present for my co-worker’s birthday?) with advertisers whose products are relevant to their need (personalised coffee mugs, for instance). What’s particularly useful about these types of ads is that they reach consumers in every stage of the buying cycle.
If someone is still researching their options or comparing different products, your ad appearing to them a few hours down the line might very well convince them to go with your offering. Advertising on the Google Display Network is also an exceptionally powerful way to boost brand recognition, as seeing your company’s name again later on creates familiarity, which in turn helps to build trust.
Another big advantage of the Google ads display network is that unlike plain text ads, it’s visual. As humans, we devote more brain power to sight than any of our other senses. And when you’re searching for a physical product, especially something like clothes, vehicles or furniture, what the product looks like is very important in the buying decision. Even if your offering is more business or service-oriented, using brand colours, graphics and logos can make your offer more enticing.
Finally, the Google Display Network gives you complete control over the kinds of websites and platforms your ads appear on. You can let Google decide which match your offering best, or target very specific platforms, such as a particular trade publication. If you sell flower seeds, for instance, you can choose to display your ads on popular gardening or nursery websites. If you offer financial products aimed at private investors, you could display your ads on personal finance blogs and publications.
This increases the odds that your ads will be seen by ‘serious’ buyers. And remember that as with standard text ads, you’re only charged when someone actually clicks your display ad. So even when a user doesn’t click through to your website, you’re still getting brand exposure for free.
As a holistic Google Ads management company, Ruby Digital can assist you with both paid search and display ads, helping you reach customers in every stage of their journey.
As with most advertising, the most common reason businesses use Google Ads is to sell something. That might be a physical product, like in the case of an online store, or a service, such as in the case of a medical practice or an IT firm. But there are actually a virtually endless variety of applications Google Ads can be leveraged for. These might include:
Basically, if you need to spread the word about something to a particular group of people, then partnering with a Google Ads company is the fastest, most effective way to do so.
Any Google Ads agency worth working with will be upfront with you that results can vary significantly depending on your industry, niche, or product. If you’re selling something really unique that’s in high demand, your ROI can be astronomical.
If you’re in a highly competitive niche in a pretty saturated market, you’ll need to be more realistic about what returns to expect. It is, however, these kinds of businesses that can often benefit most from the services of a highly experienced Google Ads agency like us!
That’s because we’re experts at finding the selling points, keywords and angles your competitors aren’t using. Depending on the nature of your offering, we can also look at tapping into new markets, different geographical regions, and other demographical factors like age, interests and income level.
At its most fundamental level, whether Google Ads is right for you hangs off a very simple equation. Is the amount you’re paying per click worth the average revenue you get from those clicks? If each click costs you $1, and every 10 clicks brings in a sale worth $100, then it’s clearly worth what you’re spending.
In some instances, when there’s simply too much competition, Google Ads might not be a sustainable solution. We believe in honesty, so we’re open with our clients when we don’t feel Google Ads are right for them. In these cases, focusing on generating quality unpaid organic traffic through SEO is a much better strategy. Speaking of which…
For the very best possible results, Google Ads and SEO need to go hand in hand. There are several reasons for this:
The most exciting Google Ad in the world is not going to result in sales if the website it points to sucks.
If your ad promises the moon, but your website makes it clear you can’t actually deliver, you’ve just wasted the cost of the click. Your landing pages need to be user friendly, informative, and well-optimised in order to actually convert.
Aside from giving your ads a boost, investing in good quality content for your website makes sense anyway. The more time and effort you put into SEO, the more organic traffic you’ll start to attract, and the less you’ll need to rely on paid traffic.
Remember that Google’s primary objective is answering its users’ questions. For that reason, ads backed by quality content may be displayed more frequently, even if the advertiser hasn’t bid as high per click.
Google will penalize advertisers who attempt to mislead consumers, and repeat offenders may even have their accounts suspended. Advertisers that maintain a good Quality Score, on the other hand, can expect their campaigns to perform well.
One of the key focuses of SEO is ensuring your visitors have a positive experience on your website. Just as you’re likely to walk out of a shop that offers poor customer service without buying anything, website visitors will click away if their experience with your site is frustrating.
By investing in SEO, you’re making sure your visitors can:
All of the above also help to convince someone who’s clicked on your Google text or display advert that you’re legitimate and can be trusted. That’s very important when you’re asking someone to part with their money!
Put simply, Google Ads can get high quality traffic to your website, but it’s really solid SEO that’s going to seal the deal. As both an SEO and Google Ads specialist, Ruby Digital can help you with both.
Unfortunately, it’s pretty easy to make it harder for search engines to crawl and index your website completely by accident. Over time, as your website gets larger and you add more content, these mistakes can start to add up. Overlooking just a few technical checks and balances can have a negative effect on where you appear in results. The good news is that with a thorough technical SEO audit, it’s easy to pinpoint and rectify these issues – often resulting in an immediate improvement in SERPs.
These are some of the most common (and costly) issues we come across:
One of the things that makes Ruby Digital’s talented team of Johannesburg and Cape Town Google Ads experts unique is that we’re never satisfied. There are always new strategies, better tools and more in-depth data we can use to keep improving the performance of our clients’ campaigns.
While other Google Ads agencies might be content with average results, that’s just not good enough for us! We’re on a mission to raise the digital marketing bar across South Africa and beyond. If you’re ready to join us, then get in touch today.
Check out our Google My Business Reviews to see what our clients have to say about our services.
