Google AdWords – Disadvantages

My previous article discussed the Top 12 Benefits of Google AdWords however there are some things to keep mind before you plough ahead setting up campaigns believing you’ll quickly make lots of money.

7 disadvantages of creating a Google AdWords campaign:

1. Learning curve

Many of your Google AdWords campaigns will not be successful because there is a learning curve. It takes a while to to learn all the strategies to build a profitable campaign. When first starting out you may end up spending more than you are making. For example you could set your daily budget at $100.00 at $2.00/click and easily receive 50 clicks but no sales so you’ve already spent $100.00 on the first day. It’s better to spread your campaign out over 1 week so you have more data to look at. After collecting the data you can then make a more informed decision how to tweak your campaign.

2. Not all search engine visitors look at Google Ads

When people search on Google they mostly view the results on the left side (organic listings) and often don’t look on the right side where paid ads are displayed. Therefore you may miss some of your targeted keyword phrases. Once you have a profitable AdWords campaign work to also get listed on the first page of the organic listings so you don’t have to pay for clicks.

3. Advertisers with deep pockets get top ad positions

If there are many advertisers in your market your cost per click will be very high. For example there may be 200 ads for the particular keyword you’re bidding on so to be on the first pay may cost you $5 pr click. This will eat up your budget very quickly as an individual advertiser however
a company with a large budget can easily afford it. If the top position costs is too expensive aim for positions 3-4.

4. Quality score affects cost per click

Google assesses how you organize your campaigns. If you have a low quality score, Google will increase the minimum bid you have to pay for your keywords. For example if your landing page is not good quality or doesn’t meet Google’s guidelines you will receive a low quality score.

5. Not tracking campaigns

Google AdWords campaigns are easy to set up however many folks fail to track their keywords so they don’t know which keyword triggered the sale. It’s important to track each campaign so you can determine your return on investment (ROI). I suggest purchasing a copy of AdTrackz to track your ads and all your keywords for every campaign.

6. Believing what Google suggests

Ignore what Google suggests when setting up your campaign. They’ll suggest to pay more to get listed on the first page. They have an automatic matching feature that turns on automatically. Make sure you opt out of these suggestions as you don’t pay more than you need to. First let your campaign run to see what price you are actually paying per click then adjust your campaign settings to what YOU want not what Google wants.

7. Lose money fast

If you don’t learn all about how Google AdWords works and don’t monitor your campaigns you’ll lose money fast. Make sure you read the material at the Google AdWords Learning Center before diving in.

Beyond these 7 disadvantages, Google Adwords is an excellent tool for advertising your product or service because you get immediate traffic using laser targeted ads and can control how much you spend.