Using Google Ads to get more clients:

a great way to waste money (if you aren't careful)

If you're thinking about using Google Ads as a means to fill up your schedule as a videographer, music producer, tattoo artist, etc., you should. When I ran a music studio, I made thousands off of Google Ads and had a weekly stream of leads coming in. However, Google Ads only generates leads if you use them correctly. Here are some simple ways to do that.

Don't Skip Website SEO

While I have a lot of complaints about Google, there is one thing that is to be said for how they serve up results: they play fair. That is, if your site is good, Google rewards you when it comes to running ads, resulting in helping you get more clients. That is, great ads don't cover the sins of a shit website. So, focus on a few core items:

• Content is still king. If you're the most helpful website to your ideal customer, you win. That is, you win conversions, you win search ranking, you win trust with potential customers... you just win. This takes some creative thinking depending on your business, but the ideal is that you are the hub for all helpful knowledge and service around your field. Practically, this looks like blog posts and videos.

• Technical SEO still matters. Setting up things like H1 tags, title tags, meta descriptions, alt text, and submitting sitemaps will help bolster a strong SEO foothold.

Keep An Efficient Ad Account

One of the easiest things to do is pay money to Google in exchange for clicks. It will look as though there is a glimmer of hope on the front end, only to leave you with an empty inbox (and an empty wallet). So, how do you avoid paying for clicks? There are three big things to do on the front end:

• Choose high-intent keywords. If you're a wedding videographer, you may look for keywords like "wedding videographer for hire" vs ones like "get professional video." The former is very targeted at a particular inquiry whereas the latter has enough ambiguity to lead to more clicks than conversions.

• Don't use broad match keywords. Broad match keywords are the devil. Google wants you to use these because it wants clicks. If you use broad match on a term like "wedding videographer for hire," that word may trigger searches for things like "wedding stock photos for slideshows" and plenty of other money-wasting clicks.

Install GA4/Google Ads Conversion Tracking

To know if you're getting more clients because of Google Ads, you have to tell Google what a conversion is for your business. You can do this through your Google Ads account and set up conversion tracking. Just as well, you need to set up GA4 (Google Analytics 4). This will help you see insights around how people are coming to your website, how long they're staying, what  they are doing, and so on.

If you like what you read, dig a little deeper with "Capy's Clever Clicks": A Google Ads Guide

One of the best ways to learn is to learn like a child. Thus, this Google Ads guide is written like a children's book.

• Simple to digest
• Easy to read & apply
• Includes web & SEO tips