Does Your Google Ads Clicks Have The Right Intention?

To get the right click from Google Ads, or any traffic source, you first need to know the intention of the click. Where did that click come from? Did it come from Google search (when you Google it) or did it come from a banner ad (an ad that might have followed you around the web)?

When a user searches on Google, they type words into the search engine with an idea in mind. They’re either looking for directions to a website, they’re looking for information, or they’re looking make a purchase decision.

The above is when someone uses a search engine.

So when using keywords to target a person online, you have to use keywords which answers the users search intention. Let me break this down with some examples.

Let’s say you own a company that builds and installs conservatory for customers and you setup your ads to appear when a users types in “conservatory”, the following is what is actually happening.

The keyword “conservatory” on its own has many meanings. You have no idea what that person is thinking. He could be considering buying a conservatory, wanting to learn about the types of conservatories, or looking for a company to install one.

The ONLY time when this strategy is worth doing, is when you’re trying to literally dominate the sector. Its like doing mass advertising to everyone. Just like TV advertising at prime time. Companies like Everest and Anglian Home do this. Type in just the world “conservatory” and you’ll see their ads.

Now if you were to bid on Google for that term, you’ll be attracting everything related to these 3 scenarios. You’ll spend a ton on clicks and you’ll probably get little to nothing in return.

If you’re aim is to attract leads / sales from cold traffic where they haven’t been warmed up, then you might get some leads out of it. But then you’ve wasted budget on clicks where they were just starting their research process.

This is important to know… read on. If you wanted to help them with the research process, your keyword bidding would be different. In this case you might bid on the terms “types of conservatories”, with the idea if they consumed the content on your website, you could lead them to get a quote from you after.

If you wanted to get in front of people that needed a new conservatory now, the might type in “conservatory installers”. You’ll then bid for that term which increases the chances for an enquiry. You see, this word has 100% commercial intention. There is buying motivation.

So depending on on where your customers is at in their buying journey, your advertising strategy on Google has to fit where the customer is in the buying cycle.

It all depends on your goals as a business owner. Most owners just want more leads / sales yesterday. Not a problem, you just have to position your marketing and Google Ads which leads to that goal of leads / sales yesterday. This means using Google search network and tapping into the buyers currently in the market right now.

It’s like putting a huge bucket into the sea, your bait is your Google Ad, and all those that have the need to solve the problem now, will come to you (click your ad).

Now if your goal is to build a brand, you want your customer to think of your company name (not the product you sell) when they need it down the line, then a different type of marketing is needed. With Google Ads, you’ll be using display ads and generic text worded ads.

You might run two campaigns together, one for getting sales and leads today, the other is to build your brand. Brand building would require visual, text, creating an emotional experience.

So back to the conservatory company example, if you wanted to build a brand, you’ll create display banner ads, show it on other websites to get clicks back to your website. Now they’ve landed on your site, they’ve seen your logo….now the branding experience has started.

It might have lasted 5 seconds but the seed has been planted. Its then the job of the marketing strategy to nurture the seed.

This is all good and well but if you don’t know how to use Google Ads properly, you might as well put it into a slot machine and get some entertainment value out of it. Get in touch if you want to know more about your keywords.

Michael Nguyen
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