Google Ads, formerly known as Google Adwords, is Google’s advertising service. When you buy a Google ad, you get your business right at the top of a Google search.

That’s tough to achieve organically, and even if you can, it won’t be quick. Google Ads gives you instant results. You can get a visible, clickable, targeted ad up-and-running (and driving traffic) immediately. That’s business-changing.

But before you rush off to start your campaign, a note of caution. It’s difficult to get the most out of Google Ads if you’re a beginner. Get some help from Google Ads management experts to make sure you get the results you need.

Google Ads can help you compete with the big-hitters

Smaller businesses are always going to struggle to compete with long-established ones at SEO. Expensive traditional ad campaigns are also simply not an option for many. But Google Ads helps level the advertising playing field.

Yes, those with more money can buy more ads with Google. But Google uses something called Ad Rank to help determine how much those ads will cost per click. Ad Rank looks at things like keyword relevance, ad quality, and landing page user experience. That means if you can run a great campaign you’ll be able to compete on level terms with anyone.

You’ll get targeted traffic

One of the biggest benefits of Google Ads over other forms of advertising is that you can target it really, really well. Your ad will only be seen by people who are interested in, and searching for, businesses like yours. Google gives you lots of options to target further, too, including by age, sex, location, and interests.

Compare that to, say, a magazine ad, where you have to spend money without really knowing whether the people who see the ad are likely to care.

Do make sure, though, that your website will do its job when all that targeted traffic reaches it. You might have a great Google ad, but if your landing page doesn’t convert, you’ll be wasting money. This is actually another great thing about using Google Ads - it forces you to take a good look at all your digital marketing and make improvements where you need to.

It both beats and enhances your SEO

Google Ads isn’t a quick-fix way to bypass SEO. It works best when used alongside a long-term SEO strategy. But the lack of instant results with SEO can be frustrating, as you often end up spending money on SEO consultancy without knowing whether you’ll see the results you want.

With Google Ads, you can start getting seen in search results straight away, even if you’re a brand new business. That means that, as well as revenue, you start getting detailed data about your audience. You can use that data to improve both your Google Ads campaign and your SEO strategy.