This is a question I get asked a lot. The answer is “no” and “yes”…

NO, you shouldn’t buy Google ads if…

1. your site is being found in the “natural find” or “organic search results” areas of the search results. This is obvious, but I thought I better say it. Oddly people pay for ads when the already have first-page position. Remeber, you may have position already on a number of keyword phrases – typically websites rank under a few good phrases.
2. you have the time to locate your own backlinks, that is, you can identify sites that would be good places to have incoming links from and you have the time to negotiate for them. This is boring and arduous work, and that is why SEO companies charge between $1000 and $2000 per annum to do it.
3. you are able to support your URL (web address) with  advertising you are already doing, say on your car, on a classified ad, radio, TV, street signage, direct marketing, plush (like pens and caps) or email marketing.

YES, you should buy Google as if….

1. you are busy doing your job and don’t have time to be updating your website,  getting it listed on directory sites far and wide and negotiating backlinks.
2. you feel confident negotiating the AdWords web site. It is daunting for the first time user and only getting more complicated
3. you can afford $3 to $15 per click depending on who is biding what price on your selected keywords
4. you don’t care that anyone (like a competitor) can click your ads and exhaust your marketing budget without Google being able to do too much about that or prove to you it didn’t happen.

So it comes down to the same old dilemma: time versus money. I suggest you start small and have a go yourself.

Start working on getting some inbound links. If you understand it (with the help of this blog), and get some results, you may wish to continue. Otherwise, pay the money and get on with what you do best.

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