Principles of Google Ads: 5 ways to maximize with a minimal budget

Use of the the right keywords is one of the principles of Google Ads, critical to success and potentially cutting costs

Chiropractic providers spend an average of $10,005 per year on advertising, according to the latest Chiropractic Economics survey. After office lease or mortgage payments, this is one of the biggest expenses faced. That makes it important to choose marketing avenues that have a good rate of return, offering the biggest bang for your buck. Learning the principles of Google Ads is a must for your targeted local advertising.

Principles of Google Ads

Google Ads boasts that it provides businesses a 2:1 return. This means that, for every dollar spent, this platform says it can provide double that amount in return. It bases this amount on a study conducted by the company’s chief economist.

One of the principles of Google Ads is you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. The cost-per-click (CPC) varies based on many factors — such as how much competition you have for a particular keyword — as Google determines its rates using an auction system. Generally, the CPC ranges between $1 and $2 each.

Optimizing Google Ads with a small budget

While you get to set a monthly cap with Google Ads, this marketing avenue can eat up a lot of your advertising budget if you aren’t careful. How do you maximize your Google Ad campaign with minimal dollars?

1. Keep your campaign local. If your goal is to get more people into your chiropractic practice, it can be frustrating to pay for a click from someone well outside your area. To keep your clicks relevant, create a local campaign. This limits your ad so it only appears to those who would realistically visit your office. With a local campaign, the radius of your ad varies depending on the practice’s location, population density, and level of competition. Setting up a Google Business Profile first can make it easier to create this type of campaign.
2. Use the right keywords. One of THE principles of Google Ads. Google Ads sets its CPC rate based, in part, on how many other businesses want to use those same keywords. So, choosing the right keywords is not only critical to potentially cutting costs, but also for paying only for the keywords that are likely to get the best results. Solutions 8, “The Google Ads Agency,” recommends using your practice’s city, zip code, and other location indicators in your keyword strategy, along with using “chiropractic near me.”
3. Differentiate yourself from your competition. If a prospective client is searching for a local chiropractor and their Google search presents a few different options, give them a reason to choose you. Well-known marketer Neil Patel shares that creating a compelling unique selling proposition or USP increases the traffic from qualified prospects, improves conversion rates, and can help beat your competition. Share what makes you different (better) to help optimize the clicks on your Google Ad.
4. Utilize Google Analytics. How do you know whether your Google Ad is working? An increase in your patient base is one sign. But sometimes your ad could be more effective if you used different keywords or if you targeted a different audience. This is where another of the principles of Google Ads, using Google Analytics, comes into play. With this program, you gain insight into how many new people visit your site, how much time they spend there, and how quickly they leave. This data can highlight when changes need to be made to increase your campaign’s effectiveness. It also gives you a way to track the results if changes have been made.
5. Update your website. Creating a strong Google Ad is only part of the equation. Once a prospect clicks to your website, if they don’t have a good experience, they are going to click away. Google Ads provides a few best practices for providing a good website user experience. They include using a consistent message on both your ad and website, making your website mobile-friendly, and offering users a quick loading speed.

Low costs, maximum results

Follow these basic guidelines and you can create an effective Google Ads campaign on a budget. This helps keep your costs low while maximizing your results.