Adwords can be a powerful tool in a small business marketing arsenal.  Rather than spending time, money and effort throwing your message out on the hope that it hits somebody’s view at the right time, just as they are looking and thinking about a project which you can help with, Adwords is there when they are searching.

But it does not make sense for every company.  If you are selling small value items or services, spending £9 to £10 for a click when your item is only worth £100 or so is a waste.  Yes, you will get clicks, but with around 1% (typical) of views to clicks, and then a click to order ratio (depending on your web site) around 7%, each sale may cost you £50 to £70.

However, if you are selling a service, and an expensive service which may run into a few thousand pounds, Adwords may be very effective and a relatively cheap way of pull in clients.  For me and my company, a project can typically be worth £5,000 or more, so spending £500 on adwords per sale makes sense – minimal work for maximum return.

As I have previously said, adwords can be tricky and you have to watch the stats and the budgets (which Google is happy to ignore).  However, its part of my marketing system and I am using it today for my target audience.