My First Month of Google Adwords: Getting Started.
There seems to be about three camps of people when it comes to Google Adwords: 1) those who have no clue what it is, 2) those who outsource it to someone else and have not clue what it is, and 3) those who diy. We’ve all heard the horror stories of people spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars on internet advertising and have no idea whether it is even working. We also know we should not neglect the power of the Google search. I am chronicling my journey as novice into Google Adwords as part of my overall marketing strategy and how it works (or doesn’t work) for my business.
First Step. Just do it. Ok. There are so many things you should do before you spend money on Google Adwords. However, just like with many things, it will never be the perfect time, you will never have all of your ducks in a row, so just start. BUT, start with a low budget.
On Pre-Requisites. Before you start, you should have a good landing page. If your business or practice has several areas, your campaign should lead them to a page just for that. HOWEVER, if creating a landing page is just going to create another reason for you not to start, make sure the first page of your website looks great and, just do it.
On Choosing a Budget. My budget for the first month: $250. I split this amount across 3 ads. I chose a budget that fit within my overall firm budget. I also felt fairly confident that I would convert at least one of these leads into a paying client, or at least a paid consultation fee, so the amount felt fairly safe. I would caution using anything much less than $75/100 on ad. I also had some Google Adwords credits that I was able to cash in.
On the Number of Ads. I started with 3 ads because I wanted to do some very basic A/B testing. I also couldn’t decide which ad to use and wanted to have enough data at the end of the month. The difference between two of the ads was the method of contact listed on the ads: telephone vs website link. The third ad was a more general.
On Choosing Search Terms. I ask all prospective clients how they heard about me. This was a good habit I picked up at my last law firm. When people say they found me on Google, they will often tell me what they googled to find me. If they don’t, sometimes I will say “oh really, what did you Google?” I used this information in the list of additional search terms. Don’t neglect this part of the ad creation. If your clients are saying they are searching “best male hairstylist” why not include that?
I also use a website called WordTracker and put in some of the terms I was thinking about using to find out what terms came up. You can also use Google Keyword Tracker. For example, I would type in “custody” to see what came up. When I think of custody, I think of child custody because I am a family law attorney. However, the term “custody” brought up a lot of criminal law related content, something that I do not practice and would prefer to avoid getting as a result of my paid campagin. I will have to admit that you can fall down a rabbit hole trying to find the right terms. Pick some that you would you put into a search and go with that. You can and will refine this area as you continue to evaluate your campaigns.
On Choosing a Geographic Area. Choose a smart geographic area. My office is based out of Center City Philadelphia, PA and handles only Pennsylvania family law cases. My office is also about 5 miles from New Jersey and 20 miles from Delaware. When I created my geographic range with a 20 mile radius, I knew that I would likely get some Jersey and Delaware cases. While I will work on this more, I made sure I had some Jersey and Delaware attorneys I could refer this business, too. This gave me a reason (and push) to further develop my referral network. Bonus!
On Tracking Your Data. Set up a way to track your leads. You can use Excel or some other method. I use a program called Lexicata which works with my case management software and helps me to keep track of my leads. I track the name of the prospective client, the referral source, the type of case, and the end result (whether they hired me, whether they were the wrong type of case, etc.). I also track how much the client is expected to generate in income. I compare this information to traffic data from my website and the data that Google Adwords provides to me. I looked at this daily at first to correct any issues, then every few days, and then once a week.
On results. My three ads yielded 8120 views and 91 clicks. In the next month, I would allow Google to assign a number to my ads so that I will be to track verified calls from their website. I saw an increase of about 20% in my leads (from all sources) and converted several of those leads into clients (I am still reviewing and cleaning the data here from my other sit-remember I “just did it” so my tracking wasn’t set up to distinguish all of my internet leads. This will improve next month). Finally, I checked my website stats. There was a month over month increase of 67.2% in unique visitors and a 62% increase of visits and 23.7% increase in pageviews.
These are just a few points on my journey getting started with Google Adwords. Continue to check back here every Friday for more posts on my Google Adwords journey.
