Google has recognized Fourandhalf as a premier partner, which is their highest level of certification. This means that Fourandhalf has been able to demonstrate and apply advanced knowledge to help our property management clients gain owner leads through Google pay-per-click.
To commemorate this special designation, this week we share what we’ve learned to be the absolute best practices any property management company can use when running a Google Ads campaign.
Google Ads Best Practices
Make sure the content on your ads is tailored to the property owners and investors you’re trying to reach. Create a compelling hook to entice any potential landlords to click on your ad. With Google Ads, you’ll only have seventy characters to work with when developing your ad copy; you’ll have to be as direct as you can calling out to landlords and owners.
Google also offers “ad extensions.” Ad Extensions can showcase different aspects of your company’s info, such as your phone number, address, hours, links and other details about your business. We recommend incorporating these ad extensions as this will help take up more “screen real estate” with your company’s ad, making you more visible to prospective leads. And, they’re free.
Keyword Best Practices
Google Ads works by showcasing your company at the top of Google search results pages for searches that are relevant to your property management company. In order to show up on those pages, you need to provide Google with the keywords that you are looking to show up for.
To make this work, you need a comprehensive keyword list. Think about what terms property owners are using when they’re searching online for a management company. Write down as many search terms as you can, and use them as a preliminary keyword list.
You will also need a negative keyword list. In property management this is a must. Negative keywords exclude your ad from showing up on certain searches. This is essential to avoid irrelevant clicks from tenants and vendors. This will save some of your budget; a more efficient campaign will run longer on less money.
Once your campaign has been running for a little while, it is helpful to update your keyword list periodically so you know you’re reaching the maximum number of potential property owners and investors. Since your budget is not unlimited, you’ll need to prioritize some keywords over others by analyzing the searches that have been converting for you, and adjusting your bids appropriately.
Landing Page Best Practices
Your ad will have to point to a page. We strongly recommend that you set up a sales-focused landing page for people who click on your ad, rather than have them go to your home page. This is important – even a lot of marketing companies will want to link the ad directly to their clients’ website homepage. But, when the lead gets to the home page, there are a lot of links and content directed towards tenants, current owners, etc., that distract your owner lead from getting the information they need and contacting you. You don’t want that lead to click out of your page and go to another competitor.
With a sales-focused landing page, you have a page that is dedicated to your target leads. Be sure to include a form for visitors to fill out and a phone number for them to call you. Depending on your service area, you may want to consider adding an irresistible call to action to get more people to sign up with you.
Phone Best Practices
Phone calls that come from Google Ads campaigns must be treated with the utmost importance. Create a call tracking number so you know who is calling from your ads. Make sure incoming lead calls goes directly to the person who handles new sales inquiries. If you happen to miss a call, do your best to call back within ten minutes, or else the lead may already be on the phone with another property manager.
Setting up a call tracking number will also help you determine the return on investment for your ad campaign.
Best Practices When it Comes to Budgeting
Google takes your monthly budget and converts it to a daily budget. Typically, when your budget runs out for the day, your ads stop running, and the leads stop coming. To get an idea of how much you’ll want to budget for AdWords, go to the Google Keyword Planner and type in property management in your area to find the average cost per click for property management search terms. We recommend allowing for at least five clicks per day if you want to see results from your campaign.
We have a blog on setting an optimal budget for your property management AdWords campaign that you can reference when you are starting out.
These are our recommended best practices if you are looking to create your own Google Ads campaign. This will help you get started, but this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to advertising on Google. To make the most of your monthly budget, we heartily recommend hiring a professional. If you have any questions about Google Ads or property management marketing, please contact us at Fourandhalf – Internet Marketing for Property Management Companies.
