Paid advertising is a great tool for websites, whether it's through social media or Google channels. I would even say it's essential, depending on the type of website and the owner's goals.
However, there is one problem that often occurs in the relationship between advertising and websites, and I would like to go through this issue today so that we don’t waste money anymore.
When is it not a good idea to run paid advertising for a website?
I’m not going to talk directly about the ads themselves and how to manage them, that’s not my area of expertise. I’ll speak from the perspective of websites and users who come to your site through your ads, because I often see people literally throwing money away on advertising simply because the website hasn’t been properly set up beforehand.
If you’re paying for ads that lead to your site, but your site has a whole list of issues, which I will now outline:
- bad and completely unreviewed site design (it will be difficult for visitors to find their way)
- weak and insufficient content (the user will not find what he needs and will look elsewhere)
- no call to action (the user will have to struggle and search for where to click)
- improper page structure and navigation (he won’t be able to find what he wanted on the site)
- free images from the Internet (absolutely useless and often frivolous from the visitor’s point of view)
- incorrect information (any form of delay and cheating is strictly prohibited)
- non-functional parts of the site, e.g. contact forms (will show frivolity and the user will leave)
- forcing links to social networks (do we want users on the site or not?)
- slow loading of the site (if it doesn’t enter in a couple of seconds max, it won’t wait any longer and leaves)
This is just one part of the problem that will lead to “WASTING MONEY ON ADVERTISING.”
Advertising, when done correctly, is a really useful tool and can bring truly great results. However, it needs to have the right timing and place when it should be done. Don’t rush and send people to your site that’s not yet ready for a larger number of visitors. Instead, focus on getting your site in good shape first, and then paid ads will be much more effective.
Correct order of work
Let’s go through the items that need to be done before running ads together. Ultimately, you can always contact me and ask me to do a free site analysis and make suggestions for improvement.
- Quality content with all the information, but not from your point of view, but from the point of view of the user and what they need to know from the page you bring them to. Always ask yourself first what the users will be looking for, what they will be interested in, what problems they have, what answers they need, what they hope to see from the information on that page. Bottom line, if you’ve been doing this job for a while, anything people have ever asked you live or over a call, feel free to put it on that page and you won’t go wrong.
- A site design that should at least be clear and reviewable. It is not necessary that some science fiction happens on the site in order for the design to be good, but it is mandatory that the users’ eyes do not hurt and that they can clearly see and read every part of the page.
- Site SEO optimization will help a site from multiple angles. It will help him with organic growth, but it can also contribute to better quality paid advertising. Sort links, image descriptions, title tags, title and description for Google search, … At least that much can always be sorted!
- Calls to action (CTAs) will increase the number of conversions on your website and make it easier for users to navigate through the site. It doesn’t have to be 1000 buttons, but think about people visiting the site via computer and phone. They need a clear button that calls them to a specific action. It must be meaningful and in the right place otherwise it will be useless. Read the text and ask yourself “After this block of text, what would they like to see and click, what do they need?”
- Site speed is very important nowadays, it doesn’t even have to be top notch, although it would be perfect if the site loaded in 1 second, but it also doesn’t make sense for people to wait 10-15 seconds for a page to open. Especially nowadays, when the attention of visitors is decreasing.
- Original pictures and videos will contribute to the user seeing what he needs from the right angle. It is not necessary that the pictures and videos are the most professional in the world, but it is necessary to show the users everything that they might be interested in. You will easily replace the pictures over time when you get better ones. By the way, don’t forget that your site can get a lot of visits directly through those images, so if you post from the Internet that already exist on 1000 sites – you’re struggling in vain. By the way, pictures are one of the main factors why someone decides to buy.
- Testing the site – I suggest you show the site to friends, parents, younger and older people, men and women. Listen to their comments and questions, see how they behave on the site. That way you will get the best information first hand. It’s not a joke, I do it myself regardless of the work I do. Always someone’s comment, even if it falls into what we call a “stupid comment”, can contribute or at least lead you to something useful that you can change on your site.
Great, now that we have solved these things, we have laid a better foundation for future advertising. Of course, we know that every website has its beginning, but we don’t know where it ends, that’s why it’s always necessary to work on it and improve it, don’t leave it to do the work by itself.
When you hear or say that paid advertising isn’t producing results, ask yourself two things:
- Is the place where the users come from right?
- Does the person doing the advertising know their job
If everything is done correctly, the results must not be lacking!