Paid Ads Prep: What to Fix First

You’re probably wanting to run paid ads because Google visibility has been enough, right? Well, SEO in general isn’t always enough. And yes, running an ad is like what the big league does, what the really successful businesses do when they get it all together, right? Well, yeah, honestly, running a first paid ad always sounds exciting. Like, finally, the business is going to stop relying on random luck, referrals that show up whenever they feel like it, and posting online, hoping the right person happens to see it. 

Plus, paid ads feel like the moment things get serious. But yeah, this is also where a lot of people get burned, because they start paying for clicks before the “after the click” part is ready. Granted, it can be seen as a major surprise, because yeah, it is. And if the destination isn’t ready, it’s basically paying to send people to a place that doesn’t know what to do with them. 

Some will still buy or inquire, sure. But a lot will click, feel confused, feel unsure, and leave. Then the ad gets blamed, when really the setup behind it needed attention first. So, what gives here? What can you do to prevent this whole mess? 

You Have to Fix the Offer First 

Well, it’s best to start here because this is the whole bit that might very well sting the most. If the offer is confusing without ads, it’ll be confusing with paid ads too. Yeah, it’s seriously as plain and as simple as that. So, ads don’t fix unclear positioning. They just put more eyeballs on it. Well, there’s a lot of questions here, but they honestly all need to be addressed. And again, the offer needs to be tight. What is it. What problem does it solve? Who is it not for? What happens after someone buys or books? What’s included. What’s the result? If someone has to work to understand it, they probably won’t.

And sometimes the website setup makes this harder than it should be. Actually, a lot of businesses, mostly smaller ones, get that part wrong. Like, the page layout can’t be adjusted properly, or the checkout flow is clunky, or the site just isn’t built to support a clean conversion path. In those cases, custom web development is what makes it possible to build a page that actually fits the offer instead of forcing the offer into a template that doesn’t. 

Sure, templates are okay in the beginning when you lack the money for a professional, but you absolutely need to look into a professional, though, once your business is making a profit and it’s steady. 

How’s the Landing Page Look?

Well, it’s a good question because this is where first-time ads seemingly fail all the time. The page has to match the ad. Plus, it needs to have the same offer, same promise, same wording, same energy. If the ad is talking about one specific thing, but the click lands on a homepage with ten different options and no clear direction, that’s friction. Yeah, that often happens too.

Trust is Key For Paid Ads

Now, with that part said, trust is the next big thing. It should be obvious here, but paid ads don’t create trust by themselves. They create attention, and attention is fragile. If a visitor clicks and the website looks outdated, well, they’re not going to be sure to spend their money on there. So yeah, make the trust stuff visible. It’s the basic things like reviews, for example.