What Should Be My Budget When Starting with Google Ads?

The short answer is to begin with a minimum budget, typically around one hundred dollars a day for most people and services. However, some services with higher competition may require a larger budget to see meaningful results. Once you confirm that your ads are converting well and everything is set up correctly, you can gradually increase your spending to expand your reach.

Full Explanation

When starting with Google Ads, it is crucial to start small and understand the dynamics of your particular service or market. Generally, setting a daily budget of about one hundred dollars is a good starting point for most industries. This allows you to gather enough data to analyze your campaign performance without overspending.

For industries or services that are highly competitive, the cost per click (CPC) can be significantly higher. For example, in markets like roofing, securing the number one spot on Google Ads can cost around fifty dollars per click. That means after just two clicks, your initial budget might be exhausted, indicating the need for a bigger budget, sometimes two to three times higher or more, such as two hundred or three hundred dollars daily.

Starting with this foundational budget lets you evaluate your conversion rate and confirm if your ads are producing tangible returns. Once this proof of concept is established, and you are confident in your campaign’s success, you can ramp up your daily budget to three hundred, four hundred, or even a thousand dollars to scale and expand your visibility and impact.

Step-by-Step Breakdown

1. Start Small: Begin with a minimum budget, around one hundred dollars per day.
2. Consider Competition: For high-competition services, expect higher costs per click, which may require increasing your budget.
3. Monitor Performance: Track your conversion rates and overall ad performance closely.
4. Validate Proof of Concept: Once the campaign shows satisfactory results, you have confirmed your strategy works.
5. Scale Up: Increase your budget gradually to three hundred, four hundred, or even a thousand dollars per day to grow.

Real Examples

In industries like roofing, the competitive landscape demands a higher budget due to expensive clicks. For instance, if each click costs fifty dollars and your goal is to be in the top ad position, two clicks would already consume one hundred dollars, the standard starting budget. This immediate expense means that to collect enough data for decision-making, you might need to spend two to three times your initial daily budget to generate meaningful insights and results.

Common Mistakes

• Starting with an excessively low budget, which does not provide enough data to measure campaign effectiveness.
• Not adjusting your budget based on the competitive nature of your market or service.
• Scaling up your budget prematurely, before confirming a positive return on investment.
• Ignoring the need to monitor and analyze conversion rates before increasing spending.

FAQs

Q: Can I start with less than one hundred dollars a day?
Yes, but it may take longer to gather useful data, especially in competitive markets.

Q: How do I know when to scale my budget?
When your ads are converting well, and you see a positive return on investment, it’s time to increase your budget.

Q: What if my cost per click is very high?
You may need to set a higher daily budget to get meaningful results and gather enough data.

Key Takeaways

• Start with a minimum budget around one hundred dollars a day for most services.
• Adjust your budget higher for competitive industries with expensive clicks.
• Monitor your conversion rates closely before increasing your budget.
• Once your campaign is performing well, scale your budget gradually to expand reach.