5 Reasons Why Google Ads Work for Montessori Schools

Most Montessori schools rely on organic search (SEO) and social media alone. And while these two marketing channels are good long-term strategies, they aren’t the best channel that will produce results for you right now.

And by right now, we’re talking about getting results within the next few months or even as early as your first month!

So, how do you get results fast? 

By progressively being in front of the right people at the right time. 

That’s where Google Ads come in.

In a nutshell, Google Ads—also known as Google Adwords or Pay-Per-Click (PPC)—is Google’s own online advertising platform that allows advertisers to reach people who are interested in the products or services that they offer. 

Unlike traditional ads (billboards, TV, radio) where the advertiser pays for everyone who sees the ads, Google Ads are only shown to people who are likely to get your services—those who have expressed interest and intent through keywords or search terms. And here’s what makes it worth investing in—you only pay if those people clicked your ad.

Which leads us to the first reason why Google Ads Work: They are cost-effective.

1. Cost-Effective

When people hear “Google Ads,” the immediate question that follows is “what’s the least amount I can spend on it?” 

I’m not surprised. If you haven’t tried doing ads before, or you’ve tried it but “it didn’t work,” you probably would ask the same thing, right? 

But that’s the wrong question to start with.

What if I tell you that I have a slot machine. Every time you put $1 in, it returns $3. Would you even worry about how much your “budget” is? 

Well, that’s kind of like how Google Ads work—except that it’s a special slot machine. You put a dollar in, it gives you two dollars back. You tweak some settings, let it run for a while to “learn,” and you get $10 back. 

With Google Ads, you can control how much return you’ll get. It all depends on how well you’ve optimized it.

Since Google is the most popular search engine on the planet—by relying on its vast database and ecosystem, it will find you the parents who are looking for a Montessori school for their kids and show your ads to them even if they have never heard of your school before.

2. Enhance Your Online Presence with Robust Geographical Targeting

Gone are the days when people would ask their friends for directions. When trying to figure out how to get to their destination, all they need to do is ask Google. With just one search, Google provides complete information of where the place is, how to get there, and—wait for it—your ad! 

With Google’s Robust Geographical Targeting, you’re able to show your ads to those people who are within your specified target geographic area. Say you want to show ads to everyone who lives in Scottsdale, AZ. Anyone who searches for Montessori schools in that area will see your ad—even if they’re searching from a different state or country! 

Interestingly, this puts your ad in that area’s local search results.

For example, a simple Google search for “Montessori Schools Scottsdale” will give me both the paid results at the top and the organic results after that. 

See the image below. The paid ads are in the green box.

This enables parents to discover your Montessori school on Google. 

3. Get On Top of Google Search Fast

Getting on top of Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) can be a never-ending journey. It’s not something anyone can do overnight. It usually takes a minimum of 6 months to 1 year to just get on the first page, let alone rank the first 5 results—unless your content is trending. 

If you’re waiting for your page to show up organically while your competitors are already there, then you’re going to lose a LOT of potential parents that are ready to get their kids enrolled in your school! 

Is there a way to bypass this and significantly reduce the time to show up in Google’s SERP? 

You guessed it—by using Google Ads. 

“People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are.” - James Clear (author of Atomic Habits)

Using Google Ads, you get visibility first before any of your competitors do. 

As you can see in the images below, Arcadia Montessori is on the top of the SERP while the #1 organic result is almost near the middle of the page!

This brings me to another critical but inexpensive way to dominate the search results—having a brand campaign. 

You’re probably thinking “If my site is already on the top of Google’s SERP,  why should I even bother using ads? Isn’t that redundant?”

That’s exactly the point. See, even if Guidepost Montessori is the first organic search result, Arcadia Montessori can actually (and probably) steal the leads that are supposed to be for Guidepost Montessori. 

By using a branded campaign, you’ll be able to get your competitor’s leads while protecting your leads from being stolen.

4. Dramatically Increase the Quality of Your Leads

So now you got the eyeballs and people are clicking your ad. However, you noticed that most of them are “bad leads.” They’re not looking for a Montessori school—they’re looking for Montessori materials or Montessori jobs! 

And since those leads aren’t converting, you’re losing money. 

How do you fix it? How can you qualify your leads at a search level, so only those leads who are ready to schedule a tour—or whatever your ad’s offer is—will convert? 

By using negative keywords. 

These are words and phrases that you define in your Google Ads campaign as indicators that you do not want to bid. They could be words like “toys,” “jobs,” “cheap,” and “discount.” As a result, those who search for them won’t see your ads. 

When your ad shows up for irrelevant searches, this can have an extremely negative impact on your campaign as you spend money on worthless traffic. Using negative keywords eliminates that problem.

But what happens if they leave your site? Are they lost leads?

Not if you know how to drive them back to your site. 

Which is the last but not the least benefit of using Google Ads for your business—remarketing ads.

5. Drive Parents Back to Your Site (and Have More Conversions) With Remarketing

The main goal of using ads for your Montessori school is to drive traffic to your site, get more leads, and convert them.

But what happens if they click your ad, learned about your school, yet didn’t schedule a tour? Is there a way to get them back to your website before they forget about your school?

Yes. It’s called Google Ads Remarketing. 

Using remarketing, you can target those people who clicked on your ad and show them a different ad that will get them to click and land on a specific page on your website.

What’s even more effective is that you can be hyper-specific about the ads you want to show. 

You can control who gets the ad after a specific action they take on your site and show the ad exactly when you want it to be seen.

For example, if someone visits a blog on your site and leaves, you can show those same people a specific ad that will redirect them to a page to schedule a tour or to download a valuable PDF and use it to build your email list. 

Now, before I get too granular about the details, the main point is this. Remarketing is one of the most effective ways to remind people about your school, increasing your chances of converting qualified parents while at the same time saving you money long-term! 

By targeting people who have already shown interest in your school, you spend less than you would if you were to acquire new website visitors.

Getting Started

Whether you have decided to use Google Ads or are still on the fence, one thing is for sure. Parents who are actively searching for schools right now are everywhere. And if you’re not using Google Ads to position your school and get in front of them, your competitors will.

At Nido Marketing, we specialize in using Google Ads to help you drive traffic to your website, collect leads and turn them into new families for your Montessori school. 

Want to know more about how to use Google Ads? Schedule a free consultation and we can help you get started!