Skip to main content
  • Login
  • Support
  • Partnerships
    • Partnerships Overview
    • Solution Provider Program
    • Technology Alliance Program
    • Distributor Program
N-able
  • Request a Quote
  • Try Now
    • N-able RMM
    • N-able N-central
    • N-able Backup
    • MSP Manager
    • N-able Mail Assure
    • N-able Passportal
    • N-able Risk Intelligence
    • N-able Take Control
Request quote
N-able
  • Products
    • Monitoring & Management
    • N-central Automate. Tackle complex networks. Get remote monitoring and management built for efficiency and scale.
    • RMM Start fast. Grow at your own pace. Try this powerful but easy remote monitoring and management solution.
    • Backup
    • Backup Get data protection for servers, workstations, applications, documents, and Microsoft 365 from one dashboard.
    • Security
    • EDR Defend against ransomware, zero-day attacks, and evolving threats with endpoint detection and response.
    • Mail Assure Leverage mail protection and archiving to keep your users safe from email threats and downtime.
    • Passportal Adopt and enforce best practices for password and documentation management with ease.
    • Tools & Services
    • MSP Manager Increase helpdesk efficiency with a robust PSA, ticketing, reporting, and billing management solution.
    • Take Control Help support customers and their devices with remote support tools designed to be fast and powerful.
    • View All
  • Solutions

    Solutions

    • Security Protect your customers and expand your business by offering layered security services without the complexity.
    • Monitoring Choose the right remote monitoring and management solution to meet you where you are and grow with you.
    • Operational Efficiency Boost profits by improving efficiency via automation, resources and training, and time-saving products.
    • IT Departments Keep your organization productive by easily managing IT from a single, easy-to-use, web-based dashboard.
    • Remote Monitoring Solutions Comparison Compare N-able RMM and N-central side by side. Sign up to talk to a specialist to find the right fit.
    • View All
  • Resources
    • Download
    • Resource Library
    • Product Information
    • Free Tools
    • Learn
    • MSP Institute Webinar Series
    • Daily Live Demos
    • MSP Advice Project
    • Ask the N-central Experts
    • Upcoming Webcasts
    • Connect
    • Blog
    • Security Resource Center
    • Events
    • RMM Foundations Training
  • About
    • Company
    • About Us
    • Leadership
    • Careers
    • News & Press
    • Awards & Recognition
    • Support & Policies
    • Customer Success
    • Customer Support
    • Legal
    • Security
    • Get in Touch
    • Contact
    • Get a Quote
    • Worldwide Sales & Support
  • IT Departments
  • Contact Sales
    • Contact Sales
    • General Inquiry
    • Get a Quote
    • Worldwide Sales & Support
    • Talk to Specialist
    • Security Solutions
    • Monitoring Solutions
    • Operational Efficiency
  • Try Now
    • Monitoring & Management
    • N-central
    • RMM
    • Backup
    • Security
    • EDR
    • Mail Assure
    • Passportal
    • Tools & Services
    • MSP Manager
    • Take Control
SolarWinds MSP is becoming Read More
Filter Blogs
  • Filter by:
  • MSP Business
    • Automation
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • Security-series
    • Best Practices
    • Business
    • Business Growth
    • Business Risk
    • Cloud Computing
    • Customer Service
    • Cybersecurity
    • Cybersecurity Awareness Month
    • Data
    • GDPR
    • Internet of Things
    • IT Support
    • ITSM
    • LOGICcards
    • Machine Learning
    • Mail
    • Managed Services
    • Marketing
    • Mobile
    • Networking
    • Operations
    • Podcast
    • Product
    • PSA
    • Remote Management
    • Research & Trends
    • Risk Intelligence
    • Security
    • Security Vlog
    • Service Desk
    • Services & Support
    • The Head Nerds
    • Tips & Advice
    • Training
Home Blog MSP Business Marketing An MSP’s Guide to Getting Started with Google Ads
Marketing

An MSP’s Guide to Getting Started with Google Ads

By SolarWinds MSP
5 December, 2018

Demonstrating return on investment (ROI) for marketing dollars is a challenge for any business. Fortunately, with Google Ads, you have a medium that allows you to target ads to a specific audience, track how they respond, and see which of your ads gets the best conversion rate. 

Google Ads, which is the new name for Google AdWords, is a great way to get your online marketing moving quickly while you wait for your longer-term activities—like content marketing and SEO—to start to kick in. 

But, you can’t just rush in without having a strategy as it could end up being expensive and generating you no leads at all. Below are four steps to help you get the most out of Google Ads for your business. 

Also remember, while it may be cheaper to do the whole thing yourself, you might also want to consider hiring someone who knows exactly how to work with Google Ads and who has experience in your sector—that way, you’re more likely to guarantee success.

1/ Keywords—Do your research

The first thing to do is determine exactly what keywords you’re going to target. These are the words you believe your prospective customers will be using to search for your services. 

While you might be able to wager a good guess at these, it is also possible that your audience will use terms you haven’t thought of. Fortunately, there are a number of additional tools you can use to help you brainstorm and plan keywords.

Try out the following: 

  • Google Keyword Planner
  • KWFinder
  • Moz Keyword Explorer
  • Keyword Tool
  • SEMrush

Don’t forget, because Google Ads is pay-per-click, you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. While this sounds obvious, it does mean that if you use broad and generic keywords, you’re likely to get a lot of irrelevant clicks that will mean you’ll quickly run through your ad budget without seeing any benefit. 

2/ Plan your campaign

Once you’ve isolated your target keywords, you need to organize them into ad groups, normally containing 8 to 12 related keyword phrases. (Click here if you need more information about exactly what ad groups are.) Setting everything out in a spreadsheet ensures you stay organized and can plan your ad copy to match the keywords. 

Having established the ad groups you’ll be using, you’ll want to create two to three ads for every ad group—these should include the keyword in the headline, and the copy should focus on the features and benefits of the service you’re offering.

3/ Create landing pages

One area that can cause your Google Ads campaigns to underperform is a lack of effective landing pages—these are the pages on your website where your visitors “land” when they click one of your ads. It’s worth spending time getting these right.

Each ad group should have its own dedicated landing page that addresses the issues you’re targeting. For example, if you’re specifically targeting “IT support” as a keyword, your landing page should outline your IT support offering. This ensures that when people click on your ads, they get to a page that matches expectations.

Your landing page should be short and to the point, explaining what you do, how you do it, and why you do it. You should also include a clear call to action—this is what you want the visitor to do, so it could be call your number, email you, or download a piece of content. 

4/ Setting up your campaign

This is where you’ll reap the benefits of your campaign planning. If you already prepared a campaign spreadsheet, it will be relatively straightforward to migrate the data over. 

Once that’s done, you need to create the parameters for your campaign. Here are some of the most important things you need to consider—there are many other options available, but these are the basics: 

  • Network type

    You’ll want to select Google’s “Search Network,” as this means you’ll just be targeting people that use the search engine. Google also offers a display network that gives you the opportunity to place ads across a huge network of websites. That’s a very different prospect to targeting people searching for your business. 

  • Budget

    You’ll also need to set your budget. There are in-depth articles on the web that can walk you through calculations on how to set your budget, but for the purpose of this, you might want to start with a relatively small budget of, say, $2,000/month. 

  • Ad delivery/rotation

    Having created multiple ads for your ad groups, you need to make sure you set up your campaign so the ads rotate evenly. While Google can automatically select your best-performing variants, it’s better to wait until you have plenty of data, so you can make your own informed decision.

  • Schedule

    Google allows a lot of flexibility in terms of when and how you schedule your ads: you can select the days and time you want your ad to run. For maximum impact, and as you’re targeting business owners, it’s best to keep it to working days between 7am and 10pm.

  • Targeted region

    This is where you select the region your ads will target. This can be based on zip codes or even distance from your office, whatever works best for your business model. You just need to make sure you keep it as targeted as possible. 

A note about ongoing management

You will want to make adjustments to your campaign as you go along, once you have data on how ads and keywords are performing.  In fact, when you start, you should make sure you put aside a few hours every week to ensure your campaigns are running as best they can. 

Here’s a brief checklist of things to keep an eye on:

  1. Adjust your keywords and ads if they aren’t performing well.
  2. Remove underperforming ads completely so they don’t waste your budget.
  3. Add negative keywords so your ads don’t appear for terms that aren’t related to your services.
  4. Review conversions for quality and determine which ads and landing pages they are coming from.

If you need additional tips and support, you can check out these websites: 

  • Moz.com
  • semrush.com
  • yoast.com

 

Additional reading

  • When should I hire a salesperson for my MSP business?

  • Six big reasons you should give your technicians sales training

  • Building Your Sales Process—Don’t Talk Technical

  • Direct mail: still a powerful marketing tool for MSPs

 

You might also like...
Business Growth

Earning word-of-mouth referrals for your IT business

Marketing

How to Market Your MSP Business in 5 Simple Steps 

Marketing

Building a Referral-Based Sales Funnel 

Marketing

The Benefits of Branding Your MSP Solutions

Marketing

Do You Have a Marketing Strategy?

Marketing

4 Top Marketing Tools for MSPs

Want to stay up to date?

Get the latest MSP tips, tricks, and ideas sent to your inbox each week.

Loading form....

If the form does not load in a few seconds, it is probably because your browser is using Tracking Protection. This is either an Ad Blocker plug-in or your browser is in private mode. Please allow tracking on this page to request a subscription.

Note: Firefox users may see a shield icon to the left of the URL in the address bar. Click on this to disable tracking protection for this session/site

Recent Posts
  • DearCry Ransomware Review 
  • PSA vs ITSM vs ESM: Part 2—Which is the right fit for your MSP?
  • 4 ways PSA software helps MSP businesses
  • PSA vs ITSM vs ESM: Part 1—What do they do? 
  • Endpoint security for Mac: What you need to know In 2021
Categories:
  • Security (252)
  • Tips & Advice (130)
  • Backup & Disaster Recovery (97)
  • Best Practices (97)
  • Managed Services (89)
  • The Head Nerds (88)
  • Business Growth (79)
  • IT Support (43)
  • Business (42)
  • Automation (41)
  • Operations (38)
  • Cybersecurity (37)
  • Mail (37)
  • Remote Management (31)
  • ITSM (26)
  • Data (23)
  • Networking (22)
  • Cloud Computing (21)
  • PSA (16)
  • Marketing (15)
  • Product (11)
  • Service Desk (7)
  • Services & Support (5)
  • Mobile (4)
  • Risk Intelligence (4)
  • Customer Service (3)
  • GDPR (3)
  • Internet of Things (3)
  • Training (2)
  • Research & Trends (2)
  • LOGICcards (1)
  • Cybersecurity Awareness Month (1)
  • Business Risk (1)
Show moreless
N-able

Products
  • N-able RMM
  • N-able N-central
  • N-able Backup
  • N-able EDR
  • N-able MSP Manager
  • N-able Mail Assure
  • N-able Risk Intelligence
  • N-able Take Control
  • N-able Passportal
  • All Products Use Cases
Solutions
  • Security Solutions
  • Monitoring Solutions
  • Efficiency Solutions
  • Identify which RMM solution is right for me
  • Drive Efficiency with Automation
  • Manage my MSP Business More Efficiently
  • Manage my IT Department More Efficiently
  • Layered Security
  • Cross-Platform Support
  • Data-Driven Insights
About
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Newsroom
  • Leadership Team
  • Upcoming Events
  • Subscription Preferences
  • COVID-19 Response
Support
  • N-able RMM
  • N-able N-central
  • N-able Backup
  • N-able Mail Assure
  • N-able Take Control
  • N-able MSP Manager
  • N-able Risk Intelligence
  • N-able Threat Monitor
  • N-able Passportal
  • N-able Take Control Downloads
  • Backup & Recovery Downloads
  • Service Status

Footer 2

  • Legal Documents
  • Privacy
  • California Privacy Rights
  • Security Information
  • Sitemap

© N-able Solutions ULC and N-able Technologies Ltd.
All rights reserved.