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Sales. It doesn’t matter whether you’re moving houses or hoodies, customers are essential, and finding them can be tricky. You have to spend money to make money and determining the best way to connect with future patrons without wasting your cash reserve is the entrepreneur’s biggest dilemma. After Facebook and Instagram sponsored ads produced less than desired results, I decided to try a free Google Adwords course.  I had no idea what to expect, I just knew it had to be better than my previous promotional ideas—think posters, don’t judge. According to internetlivestats.com, 3.5 billion searches occur every day on Google. Imagine how many potential clients are out there that you are missing if you don’t optimize that vehicle. After I completed the course, I was able to discover why Google Adwords is one of the best choices for small businesses. Here are five reasons it changed my marketing.

When using social media sites, such as Facebook and Instagram sponsored ads, you are paying for your advertisement to reach people. There’s a difference between “reaching” (being seen by a person)  and a person actually visiting your website (engagement). With Adwords, you are paying per click. You can create a budget that fits your needs, and that money is quantified by site engagement, not visibility. Think about it, spend $100 in a week with 1000 views and 7 visits to your website. Or spend the same amount in a month, or even longer, with 10k views and 750 people visiting your website. Adwords lets your budget stretch a little longer compared to other ad sponsor based platforms.

2 Adwords allows you to see how traffic comes to your website. You can see the keywords people use in their search engine, the devices they search on, and how long they spend on your site. With this extra knowledge, you can fine-tune your business. You can determine if the majority of searches are mobile-based versus desktop—and use the info to modify presentation. Then you can see which section of your website was viewed the most and for how long. For example, if potential customers found your site on a mobile device and spent one minute on your homepage but three minutes on your menu page, then you can make the proper changes by making your site mobile friendly and adding your menu to the main page. Follow the numbers.

3 Once you create your campaign in Adwords, it doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. After you see what’s working you can go back into the app and reword your campaign, change your demographics, or even start a new advertisement. Google Adwords made it easy for entrepreneurs to get the word out about their product/service.

4 Unless your business is de-horning unicorns, chances are you that have competition. Google Adwords sponsored ad election places your brand in the top three positions when keywords related to your product/services are indicated in a search. Take advantage of separating your brand from other businesses similar to yours.

5 In the beginning, Adwords can seem overwhelming. Questions like, what should my description be? What demographic should I target? How much money should I invest at first? Adwords is straightforward. The process takes less than 15 minutes to complete. The step by step instructions allow you to set up your new campaign with ease.

Candid Mack is a young entrepreneur on the grind.