We’ve had a couple of clients this year who’ve started Google AdWords for the first time (outsourcing it to us from the outset), but the results fell short of their expectations. In both cases, the conversation went like this:
– “We love the image of the Google AdWords campaign, but there have hardly been any enquiries since we started.”
– “Hmm, that’s not good, how many were you getting before?”
– “To be honest, hardly any, but we’d hoped with the investment, we’d see a sudden increase.”
– “Well, that’s fair, so let’s have a look at your website traffic in Google Analytics. I see that you were getting 200 visitors a month from Google natural search, looking for products. Now, with the AdWords campaign, you’re getting 500, which is a 150% increase in visitors.”
– “Yes, and we’re not seeing any enquiries from that.”
– “But a 150% increase in nothing is still nothing. Now it’s quite possible that none of the visitors which Google sends you, paid or free, are relevant to you. We have to consider that possibility. But there’s a more likely explanation…”
– “…I know, I know. Which is that my website doesn’t convert visitors into enquiries, right?”
The lesson here is that getting people to your website is no good if you don’t then encourage them to do what you want, which is probably to contact you for more information. Most industrial companies have websites whose designs are a bit tired, to say the least, and visitors from Google are only a back-button away from an alternative supplier. What a Google visitor wants to see, at a glance, is that you sell what they’re after and that they can move on in the sourcing process quickly and easily, whether that’s looking at a data sheet, requesting a sales call or whatever. Your website may not be doing this.
– “So, how about redesigning your pages to start ‘converting’ far more people to take the actions you want?”
– “Sorry, I know the site’s not great” (mumbled apology about it being run by the head office the other side of the world, or not having the budget to redesign the site)
– “What about if we design some one-off landing pages for you, to work with the AdWords campaign, which wouldn’t cost any more than what you’re spending on a month’s advertising? Then you could really see if Google could get you enquiries.”
(Exit happy client)