When Google Ads isn't right for your business

I make my living from Google Ads, so you might expect me to say it works for everyone.

It doesn't. And I'd rather tell you that now than take your money and find out together.

Here are the signs it might not be right for you, or not yet.

Nobody searches for what you sell

Google Ads works when people type in what they need. If your product is new, or people don't know they need it until they see it, there may not be enough searches to work with. Other kinds of advertising might suit you better.

The numbers don't add up

If a customer is worth £50 to you and clicks in your area cost £5, you'd need one in ten clicks to become a paying customer just to break even. That's a tall order.

Work out what a customer is worth, and what you could afford to pay for an enquiry, before you spend anything. I've written about this in is Google Ads worth it for a small local business?

You can't handle more enquiries

If you're booked up for months, more leads mean more people you have to turn away. Fix capacity first.

Nobody can answer the phone

If enquiries go to voicemail and nobody rings back for two days, Google Ads will mostly be paying for your competitors' customers. Missed calls are wasted clicks.

You need results next week

A new campaign takes time to learn what works. If the business needs enquiries immediately to survive, that's a lot of pressure on something that needs a few weeks to settle.

Your website lets you down

If your site is slow, out of date or doesn't make it easy to get in touch, you'll pay for clicks that go nowhere. Sometimes a simple landing page fixes that. Sometimes there's more work to do first.

What to do if that sounds like you

None of these are permanent. Most can be fixed. But it's better to know before you spend money than after.

If you're not sure, get in touch and tell me what's going on. If the numbers don't add up, I'll say so.