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Archive 2016 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?

  
 
BSPhotog
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


I got a promo offer from them for $100 in free if I spend $50 setting up an ad campaign with Ad Words.

Anyone tried this for wedding/photo clients? Experiences? Thoughts? I'm all ears.



Aug 03, 2016 at 02:01 PM
TTLKurtis
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


Waste of money unless you're a big company with tons of photographers for really cheap, IMO. Years ago I spent way too much experimenting with AdWords among other online advertising.


Aug 03, 2016 at 02:27 PM
amonline
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


Set up properly, with reasonable budgets, its not a waste. However, I usually only suggest it to new website owners for the first year or so to boost traffic while they wait for their SEO to really get up to speed. If you've been around a while, and your SEO is on point, there shouldn't be much of a need, or you won't see very much of an advantage, outside putting your ad at the top and paying for that. If you're already hitting the first page for all your desired keywords, it would be useless to throw money at it.


Aug 03, 2016 at 02:57 PM
OlafSiebert
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


TTLKurtis wrote:
Waste of money unless you're a big company with tons of photographers for really cheap, IMO. Years ago I spent way too much experimenting with AdWords among other online advertising.


+1



Aug 03, 2016 at 03:32 PM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


Cool guys, thanks for the input.



Aug 03, 2016 at 03:37 PM
IrishDino
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


I'd rather spend the $50 on Facebook ads


Aug 03, 2016 at 03:44 PM
level1photog
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


I used google Ads/Bing Ads and it's a waste of money. Facebook ads are really useful. For one you can target specific demographic and image speak louder than words. I booked my highest wedding just from someone seeing a compelling images.


Aug 03, 2016 at 07:09 PM
glort
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?



I tried it a few years ago and I did not see one single enquiry come from it and I DO measure and record each and every one.

I tend to agree with what has been said. If you have a GOOD website as far as being optimised for business and getting leads, as localised businesses there isn't anything to be gained.



Aug 05, 2016 at 01:31 AM
giddyup
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


I agree with what others have said about SEO, however if you live in a small city and most of your clients are outside of that city or in larger cities nearby, than Adwords can be useful because you may rank well in your own city, but not the cities where your clients actually live and where they are searching.

Adwords has a steep learning curve. If one does not set it up for success, than it's a waste of time. There are a lot of little tricks to it. I use it, but only at certain times a year because that's all I really need it for. I use it from Jan - March and from Sept - Nov.

Few tips:

Have a separate landing page. It increases quality score - higher quality = higher ranking = more clicks = cheaper CPC

Landing page should use relevant keywords but also be appealing to person landing on it. Don't bog it down with huge images because loading speed also affects quality score.

Choose keywords carefully. Using keywords like "wedding cake" may get you clicks from people who are not interested in wedding photography. Bad keywords = high bounce rate = low quality score = lower ranking = higher CPC

Learn different ways of using keywords - broad, modified, exact, negative, etc. They all have a time and place. And they will affect quality score.

Use negative keywords! You can really focus the audience with them - otherwise you'll be getting people who just want to look at your pictures or learn about what gear you use, or people looking for workshops, classes, cheap vendors, etc. I always use these neg keywords: -gear -classes -workshop - cheap -mentor -degree -camera -lens -affordable and a few others I can't think of off the top of my head. You figure it out as long as you keep track of who is typing in what to click to you.

Unless you are a destination wedding photographer, customize your geographic reach. I go one step further and make sure people who see the ad also live in this area. You may lose a few who live in other states but are having their weddings in your area, but I've discovered that most of the out of state clicks are not buyers.

The ad itself will benefit from having a keyword or two in it. I also put my starting price range - which is 2-3 times higher than other adwords ads. That way price shoppers don't click, and those who are in my price range do. You will get more clicks if you do not post a price range, but experience has shown me that I get less conversions. If everything else in your campaign is tight, then being this specific will not affect quality score enough to make the loss greater than the advantage.

Just looking at my records, I made 10x the amount of my Adwords campaign this year. These were bookings coming from Adwords. I have it all set up so I know exactly how much I spend vs how much I make.

I suggest not going into Adwords blindly, like I did, and learning it all through trial and error - Instead, buy a good book on Adwords that costs $20 on Amazon. I read this one: Advanced Google Adwords 3rd Ed. Wordstream, a website, has a great blog with all kinds of tips and tricks.

Good luck.




Aug 05, 2016 at 07:55 AM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


giddyup wrote:
I agree with what others have said about SEO, however if you live in a small city and most of your clients are outside of that city or in larger cities nearby, than Adwords can be useful because you may rank well in your own city, but not the cities where your clients actually live and where they are searching.

Adwords has a steep learning curve. If one does not set it up for success, than it's a waste of time. There are a lot of little tricks to it. I use it, but only at certain times a year because
...Show more

Thanks, super helpful. I won't write it off completely, but may research it in the winter doldrums.

Just out of curiosity, what is your market like? I'm in a mixed, semi-rural area, but also serve a handful of cities with 100-200k population.



Aug 05, 2016 at 01:18 PM
amonline
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


giddyup wrote:
I agree with what others have said about SEO, however if you live in a small city and most of your clients are outside of that city or in larger cities nearby, than Adwords can be useful because you may rank well in your own city, but not the cities where your clients actually live and where they are searching.


Good point, and valid. That applied to my situation, and I saw, what I thought was, decent results. I don't know why so many people say they see no return from this. I averaged around a 15-20% booking rate while using Adwords. Sounds like some just don't know how to set it up well, or they don't tweak it and give it time. I ran a budget of around $25-30 a month for a couple of years, and an average of 1 out of 5 weddings from it definitely paid for it, many, many times over.



Aug 05, 2016 at 01:58 PM
giddyup
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


My local market is quite narrow, but I am within an hours drive to three large cities. I do very few weddings in my town, maybe 1-2 year.


Aug 05, 2016 at 06:31 PM
markbrown
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Anyone using Google Ad Words?


Expensive, resulted in one booked wedding a year which basically paid for ad words advertising. Thus, over 3 years no gain.


Aug 06, 2016 at 06:09 AM





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