Thread: Why AdWords doesn't work for small businesses

I am currently writing an article about why Google Adwords doesn't work for small businesses. If you have any experience (either positive or negative) with AdWords and you would like to be cited in my article, please send an e-mail to andalee.oriental at gmail dot com. Thanks!

I find Adwords to be perfect for my small business. I can set my own budget, target my audience geographically so I'm only reaching my own local audience, and my ads appear in search results, youtube pages and all kinds of web pages related to my content!

My budget is really small, so when it's spent my ads stop appearing. But I can't even get my foot in the door on local radio or TV for what I"m spending on Adwords, and no one in my target demographic (ages 25-45) is reading the newspaper any more.

Adwords is very powerful, and very complex. I think the average person has to spend some time figuring it all out -- how to target the right customers, how to create graphic ads as well as text (though their adbuilder for graphic ads is a pretty simple tool), how to manage your budget. The reports they give are also very complicated, but they're loaded with information that will help you get more for your dollars as time goes by.

It would be good if they had a simpler interface for people who are new to business, the internet, or advertising. I think it's probably confusing for new users and they probably miss a lot of features because they're just not willing to read through all the documentation. That's unfortunate.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

I find Adwords to be perfect for my small business. I can set my own budget, target my audience geographically so I'm only reaching my own local audience, and my ads appear in search results, youtube pages and all kinds of web pages related to my content!

My budget is really small, so when it's spent my ads stop appearing. But I can't even get my foot in the door on local radio or TV for what I"m spending on Adwords, and no one in my target demographic (ages 25-45) is reading the newspaper any more.

Adwords is very powerful, and very complex. I think the average person has to spend some time figuring it all out -- how to target the right customers, how to create graphic ads as well as text (though their adbuilder for graphic ads is a pretty simple tool), how to manage your budget. The reports they give are also very complicated, but they're loaded with information that will help you get more for your dollars as time goes by.

It would be good if they had a simpler interface for people who are new to business, the internet, or advertising. I think it's probably confusing for new users and they probably miss a lot of features because they're just not willing to read through all the documentation. That's unfortunate.

I'm glad you have had a positive experience with them. I do understand how it works and have used it for a variety of professional reasons. This article is not about how easy it is and how much time/money it saves...it's about whether or not Google Adwords understands how small businesses operate and run their advertising campaigns. I think they have missed the mark and my article will explain that.

I don't have anything to add since I haven't used AdWords yet, but I'm looking forward to reading your article Andalee!

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

I'm glad you have had a positive experience with them. I do understand how it works and have used it for a variety of professional reasons. This article is not about how easy it is and how much time/money it saves...it's about whether or not Google Adwords understands how small businesses operate and run their advertising campaigns. I think they have missed the mark and my article will explain that.

Oh, sorry. You asked for our experiences with Adwords, positive or negative, so I was describing my positive experience.

I didn't mean to imply that you didn't understand how it worked, I was speaking generically about the service and its pros and cons.

You certainly don't need to include my experience if it doesn't serve the purpose of your article. I was just trying to be helpful by giving what I thought you were asking for.

My apologies for misunderstanding.

No need to apologize! And again, I am glad you've had a positive experience with them. I wish I could say the same!

my business has several websites, to diversify between myself, my dance school, my troupe, and it's not really working out to choose between those in the adds, keeps telling me i added the wrong website etc etc, just because they all interlink/.

apart from that problem i'm quite happy with it.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

Oh, sorry. You asked for our experiences with Adwords, positive or negative, so I was describing my positive experience.

I didn't mean to imply that you didn't understand how it worked, I was speaking generically about the service and its pros and cons.

You certainly don't need to include my experience if it doesn't serve the purpose of your article. I was just trying to be helpful by giving what I thought you were asking for.

My apologies for misunderstanding.

I tend to agree with you Lauren. I like Adwords. I'm curious to see what your article is going to say.

I was an early adopter and initially they worked well. But Google have really got a nifty business model - we all end up trying to outbid each other and they cream it. Over the years my minimum bid to stay in the game for some keywords has leap from 5c to $2.50. I don't get any more service for this - just a bigger bill. We all end up paying more for our ads if we target they same market - and Google rakes it in. This isn't helped by big budget international companies paying huge amounts to present their often irrelevant ads.

Does anyone know if robots can click ads too?

Does anyone know if robots can click ads too?

Yes robots can but google has the ip adress registered, so if robots click many times on the same add, google will close it.

Just saw an interesting article about using adwords for a small business:

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/1...WT.mc_ev=click

Originally Posted by bintbeled

Just saw an interesting article about using adwords for a small business:

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/1...WT.mc_ev=click

Oh thanks for the bump, and interesting article. That reminds me I need to get started writing the article!

Originally Posted by andalee-oriental

Oh thanks for the bump, and interesting article. That reminds me I need to get started writing the article!

Yes, you do! I'm waiting to link to it and I haven't even read it :P

Originally Posted by ozma

Yes, you do! I'm waiting to link to it and I haven't even read it :P

Gotcha. I got through half of it this weekend. It should be done in the next week or so. Now I just have to find a good outlet to post it at. I want to find a good business or marketing blog...not necessarily just for belly dancers.

Bumping this thread because I'm wondering if it's worth trying adwords as a way to get my business off the ground (my website has been up for about 6 months, I've had good feedback on my design and content, and it is doing as well as I could hope for in organic search results as I've been fairly careful with SEO, but I've only had about 3 or 4 enquiries through it so far, none of which have come through to actual bookings). Do those of you who use adwords get much traffic from it, and does that translate into gig bookings?

Andalee, did you ever get around to writing that article? If so, I'd love to read it.

AdWords is great, but I prefer the option on facebook. On the akai business page I was able to round up over 18,000 likes and rein them in for ongoing sales/interaction/feedback over a very short period of time.

Success from advertising comes from an attractive photo that inspires someone to click on it, quick concise text with directions (such as shop here, or learn more, or get a free xxx here ) and targetting your audience.

I've been on a hiatus from dyeing bellydance silks for about a year due to multiple contacts I have made from people liking the business page..contacts that are relevant to other 'projects' or pursuits. Organic cloth clothing (which I still don't advertise publically because I have a few solid accounts now in Costa Rica and Bali) , article writing for travel mags, and even nurse / potential job contacts.