Google is our Yellow Pages. It’s our encyclopedia. It’s our world, national and local news source. If you want to be found, you want to be found on Google. The fastest, cheapest and easiest way to find yourself on the first page of a Google search is by using their AdWords Pay-Per-Click (PPC) product.
But here’s the rub. While any business can buy their way onto the first page, Google’s own data shows that companies that aren’t household names perform poorly. Google PPC works wonders for brick-and-mortar businesses that have already built a name for themselves. But if you’re not an Olathe Ford or a Crowley Furniture, then you need to build your brand before PPC will work wonders for you. Ad Wizard Roy H. Williams talks about this in a recent Monday Morning Memo.
…if you’re still trying to build your name, put all of your eggs into a single mass-media basket and then lift that basket to the sky. The biggest mistake you can make is to spread your ad dollars around, thinking you should ‘cover all of your bases.’ You don’t have the money for that. Have courage. Talk loud and draw a crowd.
Google may be our collective go-to, but if Kansas City doesn’t have a connection with your business before they go-to Google, they’re going to go-to the competitor who has made one.