Privacy Notice: In order to protect the privacy of the client, their name has been omitted from this study but the numbers used are real and have not been adjusted.

Problem

A client approached us in late 2011 wishing to increase profits, and more specifically, they wished to increase the number of leads coming from the website. Upon inspection, it was clear that traffic to their website had been flat over a period of 3 years with no signs of growth.

Solution

We recommended that their website be overhauled and optimized for search engines and that Google AdWords Search Advertising be implemented. This study focuses on the latter. Google AdWords search campaigns show advertisements on Google’s search engine results pages. For example, when a user performs a Google search, advertisements are shown along with the organic search results. AdWords Search campaigns were implemented and optimized during late 2011.

Results

The table below shows the results achieved over a 3-year period from January 2012 to December 2014. A few strategies have been tried over the 3-year period causing AdWords spend to vary from year to year. This has led to varying quantities of clicks and conversions, but the return on investment (ROI) for the client has consistently been more than 250%. That is, for each dollar spent, $3.50 is returned. One dollar covers costs, leaving $2.50 of profit.

Conclusion

Google AdWords has performed very well for this client, earning an incredible 255% return on investment and boosting profits by $4 000 to $6 000 each year. Google AdWords is a highly effective form of advertising. In fact, AdWords out-performs most investments, period.

Additional Benefits of Google AdWords

There are some additional benefits of Google AdWords aside from being a very profitable investment. Firstly, since there are no commitment periods with Google AdWords, it is safe to be experimental when writing ad text. New advertising slogans and wording can be used without fear of negative impact.

Secondly, and related to the previous point, Google AdWords provides an exceptionally high level of traceability. It is easy to tell exactly which ad text is most compelling to your target customers, and therefore which ad is most effective. Once proven, this marketing text can be used safely in other marketing materials. Think of this as market research for small business. This has huge potential! After all, there is an old saying which says that half of your marketing budget is wasted, but the trouble is you never know which half. Not so with Google AdWords.

Background

Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean is a small family operated campground located 80 km east of Halifax on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. In operation since 1960, Murphy’s Camping has become a vacation retreat for families and friends, providing a rustic camping experience. It offers 25 unserviced tent sites, 12 serviced RV sites, 10 seasonal sites, and 5 rental units.

Problem

Website traffic for Murphy’s Camping had flat lined at approximately 10 000 visits per year from 2009 to 2011. This is shown in the chart below. The website consistently ranked on the 2nd page of Google Search Results in position 12 to 20 for relevant search terms, such as “campgrounds in nova scotia” and “nova scotia camping”. This was far from ideal, and action was needed to increase website traffic.

Solution

One solution which was implemented was a website redesign with a strong focus on search engine optimization (SEO). The website was rebuilt from the ground up, using best practices in search engine optimization.

Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools were implemented with the website so that website traffic could be easily monitored and statistics could be retrieved. The website was built with these tools in mind so that desired measures could be retrieved, such as conversions. A conversion is any desired action that is useful to your business. In the case of Murphy’s Camping, reservation requests are the most important conversion. A user visiting the website and completing the online submission form to reserve a campsite is considered a highly valuable interaction with the website, resulting in direct revenue which can be easily tracked using Google Analytics.

Improvement

The website for Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean now consistently ranks on the 1st page of Google Search Results in position 4 to 7 for relevant search terms, such as “campgrounds in nova scotia” and “nova scotia camping”.

Results

The results are very evident as shown in the table below. Organic website traffic is on target to exceed 18 000 visits by the end of 2014.

*Conversion data was not available for 2011. Therefore, conversions for 2011 were extrapolated using the average conversion rate from 2012 to 2014. The formulas used for this calculation are shown in the appendix. Since the conversion rate has held nearly constant at roughly 1.7% from 2012 to 2014, I am confident the estimation for 2011 is reasonably accurate.

The average conversion value for Murphy’s Camping on the Ocean has been previously calculated to be $117.60. Using this average conversion value, it is easy to calculate the total conversion value. That is, how much revenue organic website traffic has provided.

Conclusion

As you can see from the table above, revenue has increased as a direct result of increased organic website traffic. The increased revenue over the 3 year period since the website redesign totals more than $30 000! For a small business with only two full time staff, $30 000 is not chump change. Search engine optimization works!

Appendix

• Organic website traffic includes only website visits which are non-paid.
• Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools are available for free from Google.
• Formulas used for extrapolating 2011 conversions