As a Google Designated Diamond Product Expert for Google Ads and a power user since 2002, I can tell you that Google Ads is the best digital advertising platform in existence today.

I believe in the abilities to transform a quiet business into a thriving business through calculated spend with positive returns.

I have presented for Google at their facilities across the world, as a Google Ads expert and immensely enjoy sharing the dynamic world of Google Ads. I have clocked thousands of hours since 2002 and my passion continues.

I have spent that time deeply involved in the backend with Googlers and on the consumer end of Google Ads and everything in between as a volunteer with the Google Ads help systems. I have assisted and watched thousands of business owners thrive from Google Ads. I can state clearly that Google Ads works extremely well. The results are real.

With that said, realize that Google Ads has hundreds of features and endless ways to implement uses. Without care it will consume your budget and leave you perplexed.

Sadly, I have also watched many self-advertisers and agencies go out of business from misuse and overly complex campaigns. Suspensions are serious and very common. Policies must always be adhered to or ads will be disapproved and accounts suspended.

Pro Tip: spend time learning before creating the Google Ads account.

Do not create the Google Ads until you understand the basics and know that your website or business model will conform to policies. If you do not wish to spend the time you should hire a Google Partner agency, like Mica Specialties, or a credible and vetted Google Ads professional, such as myself.

Whatever you do not play and learn as you go. But if you do, hold yourself accountable for the results and don't blame Google Ads.

Ready to learn more about Google Ads?

Here is a free resource on Google Ads from Googlers and Product Experts.

https://support.google.com/goo...

I'm surprised by the low rating on Google Ads. I'm guessing many people had a bad experience because they tried it themselves, had no idea what they were doing, lost a bunch of money, then blamed Google.  Or, they hired the wrong agency.

Google Ads doesn't work right away. It's a process of collecting data, making adjustments to find the right combinations of keywords, ads and pages that work well.  It's not the overnight, instant advertising solution that so many people expect. 

Running your own Google Ads can be risky if you don't know what you're doing - sort of like cutting your own hair, or doing your own taxes.  Sure, you can do it, but it might not turn out the way you want.

When an investment in time and expertise is applied, Google Ads can typically be a long-term, scaleable, profitable marketing strategy (if managed properly).

I have been working with AdWords and other sources of online advertising since 2003. Currently accounts I manage for clients spend about $4 million a year. While you don't need to hire experts to setup and manage your search ad accounts, you may not have the time and patience to do it yourself.

In my experience the automated systems that AdWords provides to make it easy for business owners and inefficient and can wind up costing you a lot of money with little to show for it. You don't do your own car repair and plumbing do you, so you may find this to be no different. If you DO your own repair work you may have the skills to learn adwords quickly, but do you also have the time? :-)

My advice is suspect because this is one part of what I provide for clients, but if you talk to others and do some research I think you will find what I say is true. I will give you one tip that can save you a LOT of money over time: If you hire someone to help with your marketing, choose someone that will charge you for the amount of TIME they spend working on your account. You may be shocked by how much they are charging, but the normal way companies pay for this kind of work is by a percentage of what your account spends.

Now, if the ad campaigns work, then you may be happy paying 10%-20% to have all that new business start rolling in. And campaigns do require some measure of ongoing work to optimize and expand what they are doing.

But here RE the problems. 1) The consultant has a strong motivation in you spending more so they make more. You need to keep close tabs not only on how many people are calling, visiting your site, sending emails, etc. You need to track how many sales are a direct result of the ad dollars you are spending. Are you really making money and if so, how much? 2) As time goes on generally less and less work is needed on the account and so you continue to pay while the consultant is doing less and less work. Great deal for them, not so much for you.

Search ads and other online marketing can be very powerful and effective, but like any power tool it's best to know how to handle them properly first.

Google Adwords pits you against your competitors in a race to pay as much as possible for each click. Google themselves is the only winner in the long-term. Dollar for dollar you are much better off investing in optimization of your website and building up a stellar online reputation because it will pay off long-term.

Along with FB ads, Google Adwords has become one of the most powerful tools for many companies looking to generate business today. Nowadays, Google is showing more ads than ever before on their search engine results pages. This means that before they even reach organic results, most people come across up to 4 ads on the top of the page and 4 ads at the bottom. Long gone are the days where businesses had to wait months in order to see any substantial results from their online efforts. SEO is not a thing of the past, however, it is no longer the main necessity for companies in order to run a successful online marketing campaign. For instance, combining SEO and Adwords yields substantially better results than just performing SEO and hoping that Google’s ever-changing algorithm does not hurt your efforts.

For many industries such as E-commerce and Law, Adwords is the go-to tool used to generate business online. However, Adwords does not work the same way for every industry, which is a common mistake that many business owners make when they try to run their own Adwords campaigns. Taking those two industries as an example, there are different Adwords strategies E-commerce companies should utilize than the Adwords strategies Law Firms should use. However, the common denominator for every Adwords campaign is that the old saying “if it’s not broke don’t fix it” should not apply. You must constantly utilize the data at your disposal to figure out more ways to increase your Adwords performance despite the fact that it may already be performing well. There will always be a minor adjustment you can make to take your Adwords campaign up another notch.

For more information on different Adwords tips and strategies for law firms and e-commerce companies, feel free to check out the link to our blogs below:

https://www.gvate.com/helpful-adwords-strategies-for-ecommerce-companies/

https://www.gvate.com/google-adwords-for-lawyers-new-adwords-strategies-for-law-firms/

I'm suprised at such a low number of stars. For small businesses, if you educate yourself first on how to best utilize AdWords, you can you good results. However once the referrals come to you, it is up to you to close the sale. When I first started my business, AdWords and word of mouth were my best referrals. I did take social media courses, which included how to play in the "Google Sandbox" as it's often called. That's key.