Google Ditches Right Side Ads

To remain current in the most effective digital marketing methodologies is a constant struggle for most businesses as they are in a perpetual state of evolution. To make your life even more challenging, Google has revealed they will now display pay per click (PPC) ads in a new manner. This latest change will directly impact the effectiveness of your campaigns, however a powerful results-driven solution does exist.

Then and Now

In the past, Google paid ads were listed either on the right side of the search results, on the top or on the bottom. This provided companies with a significant number of advertising opportunities.

Google AdWords are now only available either at the top of the page or bottom of search results pages. The right side ads have been removed, and in turn, the existing three-ad structure at the top or the bottom of each search results page has changed to a four-ad structure.

Google has stated that the intent is to make PC search results look more like mobile search results. Other plausible reasons are that the click-through-rate on right side PPC ads is significantly lower than other ad locations, and, of course, to increase profits. It is important to note that this change will take place globally and that the right side will continue to display knowledge boxes and product listing ads; however, this space will no longer feature AdWords ads.

The Effects

The effects from Google ad placement changes are that Google will experience better returns on Google AdWords ads as it is widely believed that the PPC ads on the right side are far less effective than the top or the bottom of the page. Basically, Google will make significantly more money from this design despite potentially alienating millions of users. Also, by featuring four ads rather than three and eliminating the right side PPC ads altogether, this will generate greater competition for the existing ad space which will generate even more money for Google and cost you drastically more money to secure these highly in-demand ad spaces.

This will also generate greater demand for strategic and effective organic search results reliant upon SEO for those businesses that do not purchase PPC ads as it reduces the number of results on each page. Regardless of whether people are fighting for AdWords ad space or top SEO page rankings, it is going to be a jungle out there, however a jungle that is manageable with the proper strategy.

Optimize Your ROI

This change has occurred and it is imperative to adapt to remain competitive. It is important to look at digital campaigns holistically. One such view is to consider that hiring a team to manage PPC ads may cost more than managing ads in-house in the short term, however if the in-house manager is not an expert, businesses can spend thousands of dollars more in poorly selected ads and wasted clicks which will ultimately result in poor ROI, lost sales and lost customers to the competition.

To maximize your ROI, the individual or team that manages your ads must have a solid understanding of google algorithms, remain current on trends within your industry, be highly familiar with the constantly changing interests and search habits of your demographics and be able to analyze each ad at a high level to quickly determine whether or not an ad is effective so that you are making money rather than losing money.

Benefits of Hiring Experts

The difference between success and failure in business often comes down to surrounding yourself with the best people for a job at which you do not excel. If you hire a PPC agency or a PPC management team to focus solely on your Google ads, your people can focus on their strengths in other aspects of your business that could benefit from more attention. Also, you only pay for time you require rather than to pay someone full-time to do a job they may not fully understand.

You will also benefit from the lessons they learn on other campaigns and they are constantly working to understand existing algorithms and keyword searches to create effective campaigns. They have one job to do, which is to maximize the returns on your ads; whereas, an in-house individual has many different tasks and duties pulling them in many directions simultaneously. Selecting the proper SEO and conducting keyword searches consumes a significant amount of valuable time to be able to produce ads with optimal conversions, and your in-house person may not have the time required to dedicate to this critical component effectively.

If your in-house team member does not have the time to properly manage and analyze the success or failure of your campaign, you could be losing thousands of dollars in potential profits and repeat business. Also, if they do not understand all of the terminology associated with these campaigns, which become more technical and challenging on a daily basis, you will never have an effective PPC campaign and you might continue to hemorrhage money when the simple act of hiring an expert can increase your profit margins greatly.

Google AdWords ads are a necessary part of the success to your overall digital marketing strategy and these new changes can be overwhelming. The help of PPC experts will save you money in expenses, allow your team to focus on other critical areas of your business and increase your ROI, profitability and sustainability in the long term.

Contact WebitMD to begin discussing the best PPC campaign strategies for your business.