5 Benefits of Google Ads for Small Businesses in Milwaukee

Where is your go-to place for movies at home? If I asked you in the early 2000s, you may have said Blockbuster. However, if I asked you today, Netflix is more likely to pop into your mind.

While Netflix and Blockbuster both started with similar business ideas, Netflix is thriving while Blockbuster has gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Netflix adjusted to the times while Blockbuster held fast to its past.

Is your Google Ads strategy going the way of Blockbuster, or are you ready to adjust it to the changing times?

You can outpace your Milwaukee competition when using location-based Google Ads for small businesses.

Let’s explore the advantages and disadvantages of Google Ads today and start you on your road to increased visibility, traffic, and conversions through a modern Google Ads campaign.

The State of Google Ads for Small Businesses in 2024

Google Ads has a unique role in your Milwaukee business that other strategies, including organic search, can’t replace. 

On average, 63.1% of businesses use PPC in their content marketing strategy, and 87.3% of marketers rank Google Ads as their business’ most effective advertising strategy.

The edge Google Ads has over other strategies is increased visibility and customization.

A strategy like organic search may bring in traffic, but you have little control over what searches you appear in and who you attract.

A strategy like Google Ads allows you to target your specific audience with your message.

With the increase in online content, you need the ability to reach your audience. Organic traffic isn’t always enough to break through the noise, and Google Ads’ short-term boost in visibility is needed to kickstart long-term results.

Image from Good Firms

Top Considerations for Small Businesses Using Google Ads

Is Google Ads worth it for small businesses? 

Here are a few reasons small businesses in Milwaukee may think Google Ads doesn’t fit their stricter budgets.

The Cost Is Too Great

Google Ads costs more than organic search and other content marketing strategies. Compared to organic search, Google Ads can feel like setting your small business budget on fire, given the amount you may bleed in advertising costs.

If you’re a small business in Milwaukee trying to compete with larger companies in nearby cities like Chicago, your advertising budget can quickly be exhausted. Instead of targeting competitive, high-cost markets, Google Ads lets you focus on local audiences in the brew city, making it a more budget-friendly and effective option for small businesses.

You must set and manage a strict budget for Google Ads to avoid becoming overwhelmed. You don’t need to spend thousands in highly competitive areas to draw traffic and leads.

Working with a marketing agency in Milwaukee can also save you money over time. An agency helps you identify less competitive keywords and niches you can target while sticking with a strict small business budget.

The Complexity and Learning Curve Are Too Overwhelming

Do words like “cost-per-click,” “clickthrough rate,” “impressions,” and “bidding” overwhelm you?

Google Ads has a steep learning curve and an overwhelming number of settings. Ditching it can feel easier than unraveling its complexities.

While many small businesses might be cutting Google Ads due to complexities, you can beat the competition by learning how to adapt to technology – just like how Netflix beat Blockbuster by adjusting to the times.

You can use AI to establish parameters and automate part of the process.

If you’re still confused, consider hiring an SEO agency that understands your Milwaukee clientele to help you optimize your Google Ads to help your investment go further.

The Competition Is too Fierce

There is a reason the Milwaukee milkmen don’t play the Brewers; they’re not in the same league. Going up against someone much larger than you gives you an unfair advantage.

You may be in the wrong league if you continually feel outbid and outmatched. Trying to beat out the big businesses with seemingly endless pockets is an easy way to fall into a financial hole. 

Picking strategic, long-tail keywords and location-based keywords helps you identify keywords within your price range. It gives you access to your ideal audience without big businesses hovering over you.

Keywords focused on Milwaukee and surrounding areas will likely attract your ideal audience. You can also quickly outbid your competition because you won’t be bidding against the entire U.S. and beyond. You will only be competing against other Milwaukee businesses.

5 Key Benefits of Google Ads for Small Businesses in MKE

Here are five specific benefits that aid your growth and visibility and help you understand the importance of Google Ads in digital marketing.

1. Improved Visibility

Having frequent appearances helps your audience notice you. For instance, here are four different searches in the content marketing niche. In every search, HubSpot is near the top of the search results:

• Content marketing
• Content marketing tools
• Content marketing examples
• Content marketing best practices (here, they appear twice on the first page)

Your sponsored links will capture some traffic, and your organic search results will capture anyone who scrolls without clicking. Since they already saw your name once, you increase your chances of them clicking on you later because they recognize it.

2. Increased Traffic

Even if stores have a physical presence,  they still pay for giant signs along main highways.

Most people won’t see that physical store unless they first learn about it from a billboard along a main route. 

Once you begin generating traffic to that store, incredible things happen. Those people start attracting others to the physical location, and eventually, you may attract even those who didn’t see the billboard.

Your ad acts like a billboard to generate that initial traffic, especially if you aren’t generating much traffic. Once you have a little traffic, Google may begin seeing you as a popular, authoritative site based in Milwaukee, and it is more likely to rank your organic content higher in search engine results for local audiences.

Your traffic from the ad may also share your site or tell others about it, bringing in more traffic through word-of-mouth.

3. Targeted Marketing Opportunities

A thousand new visitors a month does not equate to all new leads. Many of those visitors may bounce after visiting your site because it wasn’t relevant.

Attracting 100 customers ready to buy is far more valuable than 1,000 disinterested visitors.

With Google Ads, you have advanced targeting opportunities. You can specify your audience’s demographics, location, and other criteria to complement your broader SEO strategies.

Through these settings, you can ensure you’re paying for clicks from your ideal audience rather than disinterested strangers.

4. Higher Conversion Rates

Google Ads offers several different sponsored content opportunities that increase your conversion rates.

One key option is A/B testing. 

A/B testing allows you to run the same campaign in several ways. Each time you can track and measure results. The version of the ad that gains the best traction will be the one you invest the bulk of your campaign’s advertising budget with confidence, increasing your chances of converting visitors.

You can also benefit from retargeting ads. These are paid advertisements that retarget website visitors. You might have attracted someone through organic search, but they left your website. Your paid ad can then encourage that visitor back to your website, where you have another chance to convert them.

5. Data-Driven Insights

Google Ads’ platform offers you valuable, real-time data. You can use this data to track your campaigns at every stage and adjust them as needed before they become too costly.

That data doesn’t end with your Google Ads campaigns. You can also use it for other marketing strategies.

Some key performance metrics you can use from PPC ads include:

• Clickthrough rate
• Bounce rate
• Return on ad spend
• Impressions
• Cost per acquisition

These are similar metrics that you use for SEO. However, with paid ads, you will often see data from a larger group of your targeted audience for a more accurate view of how your audience responds to your content. Use that data to optimize your organic content around what they respond to the most.

For example, if a PPC keyword performs well, turn that keyword into SEO content so it can continue generating traffic after your paid campaign ends.

Are You Ready to Capitalize on the Benefits of Google Ads?

By carefully planning and strategizing your approach, you can enjoy the benefits of Google Ads without draining your budget. You will stretch your advertising budget further by targeting less competitive keywords, reaching your Milwaukee-specific audience, setting strict benchmarks for keyword costs, and using the data to improve your other content marketing strategies.

We can help you perform every step of that process and unveil the mysteries of Google Ads. In addition, our trained content marketers and strategists will help guide you in the best ways to incorporate your Google Ads data into your other strategies for maximum impact and the greatest return.

Let’s modernize your small business Google Ads strategy and outpace your competition in Milwaukee.

Contact us to get started on your customized Google Ads campaign.