Low Budget Google Ads Strategies – 10 Google Ads Hacks to Outsmart Your Competition (Without Breaking the Bank)

Does your small business have a Google Ads budget that's dwarfed by your larger competitors? 

Don't despair!

Whether you're a one-person show, a growing team of 10, or a thriving company with 100 employees, making the most of a tight Google Ads budget is a common challenge.

But here's the secret:
you don't need a massive budget to conquer the Google Ads arena. With smart strategies and a little ingenuity, businesses like yours can outshine the competition and achieve remarkable results.

In this post, I’ll share 10 proven low-budget Google Ads strategies specifically tailored for small and medium-sized businesses that are on a small budget. We'll show you how to maximize your return on investment (ROI), attract the right customers, and drive meaningful growth – all without breaking the bank.

No matter where you are on your business journey, these actionable insights will help you leverage Google Ads' effectiveness and squeeze the most from your ad budget. Get ready to level the playing field, unlock new opportunities, and propel your small business to success.

Foundation of Successful Low-Budget Google Ads

Prefer to watch a Video on Low Budget Google Ad Tips?

Using negative keywords for Search campaigns is one of the most effective ways to cut down on wasted clicks that are not as relevant. If you're using Broad Match keywords, adding negative keywords is essential.

Here's how you can do that:

From within a Search campaign, click on Search Keywords, then click on one or more of your keywords to run a Search Terms report. 

Then review the Search Terms—these are all keywords that your ad showed for based on the keyword(s) you selected in the previous step. Identify ineffective keywords by looking at the conversion metrics or other keyword performance indicators, or words you know you do not want. 

Then, choose where to add that negative keyword - Ad Group, Campaign, or a Negative Keyword List.

Tip: Combine long-tail and negative keywords for a laser-focused approach that attracts highly qualified leads and minimizes wasted clicks.

Tip: Use your ad copy to "Pre-qualify" your audience by mentioning specific details about your product or service. This deters irrelevant clicks and ensures your ad spend focuses on potential customers.

This is particularly important for niches where Google limits demographic targeting, such as real estate and mortgage financing. Because of the Fair Housing Act, you cannot use age demographics in your Google Ads targeting in these industries which means your ads show to all age groups and incomes. (related posts on Google Ads for Mortgage Brokers and Reverse Mortgage Leads).

For example, if you were targeting homes for the 55+ community, ensure your ad copy reflects age to reduce the likelihood of someone younger clicking your ad.

So, if someone is searching for laser tattoo removal and that searcher lands on your med spa's Home page that talks about all your services, that's not a good user experience, and your Quality Score from Google will be lower. 

Here's an example from a Search campaign with low quality score keywords.

With a solid foundation in place, it's time to unleash your inner marketing ninja and outsmart your big-budget competitors. These ten clever Google ad hacks will help you stretch your dollars further, maximize your results, and leave your rivals wondering how you did it.

List of Low Budget Google Ads Hacks

Bid Strategy Optimization

Manual bidding can be a powerful tool for controlling your costs, but it requires time and attention. Consider starting with automated bidding to gather data (e.g., Max Clicks with a max set for cost per click bid) and then experimenting with manual adjustments to fine-tune your strategy. Most of the options for Google Ads are now for automated bidding. 

Ad Schedule Optimization

Don't waste money showing ads when your target audience isn't active. Use ad scheduling (dayparting) to tailor your bids based on the days and times when your customers are most likely to search and convert. (Read my post all about Dayparting). 

Device Bid Adjustments

Depending on your business type, you may want to prioritize mobile or desktop devices. Adjust your bids to focus your budget on the platforms that drive the most valuable clicks.

 So, if you know you get more conversions on mobile devices, increase your bid for mobile and lower it on desktop - this will focus your ad spend on the devices that perform better.

Geo-Targeting

Don't cast too wide a net. Use location targeting to focus your ads on the specific areas where your ideal customers are located. This ensures your budget is spent on reaching people most likely to convert.

Or, if you’re unsure of the ideal geotargeting after your campaigns have run for some time, you can run a geotargeting report in Google Ads to see which areas are producing the most conversions. Then, either remove the underperforming areas or adjust the bid with a negative amount - here's where you can find that in Google Ads.

Remarketing

Recapture the interest of potential customers who have already visited your website or done business with you in the past.

Remarketing campaigns are often more cost-effective than targeting new audiences because you reach people already familiar with your brand. 

you can retarget past website visitors, people on a customer list (perhaps downloaded from your POS), YouTube viewers if you have a YouTube channel, Google Analytics, or custom combinations. Lots of great options to retarget in Google Ads. To create an Audience for remarketing, go to Audience Manager. 

Experimentation

A/B testing is your friend. Try different ad variations, landing pages, and targeting options to see what works best for your audience. Start with small-scale experiments to minimize risk and gradually scale up your successes.

Google Ads even has an Experiments section where you can run tests - here's where you can find that in Google Ads.

A word of caution: if you're running very small budgets, running experiments is likely not a great option since the campaigns won't have enough data to choose a statistically relevant winner. 

Remember, you don't need a massive budget to make a big impact with Google Ads. By implementing these low-budget strategies, you can:

Now, it's time to take action! 

Start implementing these strategies today and watch your small business thrive in the world of Google Ads.

Need a little extra help?

Don't hesitate to reach out to our team of Google Ads experts for personalized support and guidance.

Remember, success with Google Ads is an ongoing journey. By staying informed, experimenting, and continually optimizing your campaigns, you can achieve lasting results and unlock new growth opportunities for your small business.