Google Ads That Actually Work: John Horn Shares Advertising Strategies for Small Businesses to Grow

S5:E26

In this punchy, practical episode of Small Biz Stories with Dr. LL, John Horn, CEO of StubGroup (a Google Premier Partner - note that very, very few companies have this distinction and honor!!), breaks down how small businesses can turn Google Ads into reliable profit instead of a money pit. From the Search Terms Report to negative keywords, smart budget math, and review mechanics, John gives you a field guide you can use today.

KEY TIMESTAMPS

[06:03–07:34] Cut wasted spend fast: Use the Search Terms Report and add negative keywords (e.g., “Dollar Tree” for a tree service) to block irrelevant clicks.

[08:20–10:26] Budget reality check: Why ~$2K/mo is a sensible baseline (context matters by CPC), and why you must allow time to learn, iterate, and improve.

[19:51–22:20] Prep before ads: Dial in your Google Business Profile, reviews, and get familiar with LLM-driven search (ChatGPT/Perplexity) to stay findable beyond Google.

[23:33–25:28] Website that sells: Treat your site as your 24/7 reputation with proof, offers, awards, reviews, working links, and helpful content that establishes expertise.

[26:46–28:43] Reviews that move the needle: Ask every time, make it frictionless (texted link/QR), and try incentives tied to the rep who served the customer.

One-liners you’ll take away:

• “Google makes it easy to spend money and hard to make it back.”

• “PPC works when you measure, prune, and iterate.”

• “Your website and reviews are the runway and ads are the takeoff.”

⭐Why listen now: StubGroup sits in the top 1% of Google partners, with 3M+ leads and $400M+ in revenue generated. John turns “complex” into checklist.

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#googleads #smallbusiness #leadgeneration #digitalmarketing #entrepreneurship #advertising