How good are "Google Ads" ?

[edleg]

The title says it all.... I am re-thinking my advertising campaign and was wondering how well any of you do with Google Ads for wedding photography.

What is a reasonable dollar amount (USA only please) for monthly ads? How much per click or whatever?

BTW I want to advertise mostly for wedding photography. I currently just use word-of-mouth and all of the freebie referral sites, plus paid monthly on Wedj (silver).

OT: I am considering upgrading Wedj to gold. I do get a lot of hits from wedj, but only booked one wedding through that website in one year (more than paid for my advertising with them).

I am in the process of upgrading my website and re-doing all of my packages and services for 2008 and I want to hit the street running during the Christmas season (when I think a lot of engagements happen).

[JDArt]

You're talking about AdWords, I believe. I have found google AdWords to be next to useless, and potentially quite costly. I'd be interested to hear reports from others.

[grsphoto]

Sorry, I don't know how well they work for weddings, but for my business ( private glamour) ad words is critical.

I had a screw-up with google earlier this summer, and my bookings stopped... took me a couple of weeks to figure out what was going on and get it right.

It may not be as effective for weddings, and i would hate to have to pay to compete with the other wedding photographers for the space. Your site ranking is likely more important then adwords if you are in a crowded market.

Glenn

[PureFineArt]

Didnt really work for me, had hits but from worldwide and I like to work from UK, so I was paying for hits from people that are not likely to be customers.

Business cards, and word of mouth works best for me.

[DavidGregg]

Originally Posted by edleg

The title says it all.... I am re-thinking my advertising campaign and was wondering how well any of you do with Google Ads for wedding photography.

What is a reasonable dollar amount (USA only please) for monthly ads? How much per click or whatever?

BTW I want to advertise mostly for wedding photography. I currently just use word-of-mouth and all of the freebie referral sites, plus paid monthly on Wedj (silver).

OT: I am considering upgrading Wedj to gold. I do get a lot of hits from wedj, but only booked one wedding through that website in one year (more than paid for my advertising with them).

I am in the process of upgrading my website and re-doing all of my packages and services for 2008 and I want to hit the street running during the Christmas season (when I think a lot of engagements happen).

The Google Adwords are extremely effective for products and services that can be sold and delivered electronically. You must be careful in your setup in order to advertise for a specific locality for something like photography. You control the search words and phrases and bid for the desired position on the page. YOu can also cap your advertising budget so it's worth a shot.