Google Boost – Set It and Forget It Advertising……..Not So Much.
Google announced today via a few high profile blogs that Google Boost will be rolling out nationwide and to their mobile networks in the coming months. So what is Google Boost you might ask? Well the fine folks at Google describe it as a “set it and forget it” plan for the small budget business person to participate in a “minor league” Adwords campaign. It essentially automates the process of creating an Adwords campaign from a Google Places profile. It also generates keywords, ad copy and manages the entire thing for a fixed (flat) monthly budget. A business will be able to pay for Boost ads and show up on Google maps with a blue pin. Your paid listing not only shows up on Google maps with a blue pin, but will also be featured in the top header bar in the “sponsored links” section.
Google Boost is supposed to be an alternative to Adwords for small businesses as Boost sets out to be a more simplistic offering because all you need to do is enter a monthly budget and you will be up and running.
Everything with Google Boost is dependent upon your Google Places profile. Advertisers can set whatever budget they like, as long as it is at or above the $50.00 monthly minimum. Businesses are only charged at most once a month when they reach their budgeted amount. As long as advertisers have a sufficient ad budget their Boost ad continues to show on the search results pages. Unlike a regular Adwords or pay-per-click campaign however, advertisers do not have the ability to set a bid for each click.
Advertisers do not have any control over which specific keywords are triggering ads. Google decides which ads will appear for you based on the categories that where selected during your initial Google Places setup. These categories are selected on your Google Places profile and will determine which queries your ad will appear for. Boost ads will only show for geo-designated queries, “keyword” and “location” and not queries that Google predicts are local in nature.
The landing page can be either your Google Places page or your local business website. Before investing in a Boost ad you will want to optimize your Google Places profile. Those in the know suggest posting video’s on your Google Places page. A Welcome to my Business video along with a couple of videos of customer reviews would also be a welcome enhancement and improve customer conversions.
Placement in the “Sponsored Links” section of the page will, depend on factors such as your ad’s relevance and quality. An important point to remember is that if you are going to use Google Boost, you better have a strong Internet Reputation Management process in place as Google Boost will use good customer ratings associated with your Google Places page to determine where your ad will place. Just as sure as your ad will post well with good reviews a bad review will surely stop them cold. Boost does not affect the ranking of the free, organic business listings in any way.
Remember, your Google Places is something that must be frequently updated with new content, reviews, videos and offers. Just as I say with all SEO endeavors, you’re never quite done and Google Places is no exception. Your takeaway should you decide to try Google Boost is that It’s important to monitor your Google Places reports and performance.
I don’t believe Google Boost is going to be a replacement for traditional Adwords campaigns and the lack of user control managing the keywords that could bring clients to their doors or phones is cause for concern as well. For the niche local business that doesn’t traditionally benefit from an Adwords campaign this offers a new opportunity for their business to gain exposure to the ever growing internet experience in this country.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Denver Pro Sites at 303-725-7905, We’d be happy to help you with any internet marketing questions you might have.