Hi Daan,
If Google ads improved ranking for a website, that would be great! But it is not the case and you are not missing anything other than money, which as you said, may not be worth it.
You might consider adwords to get people to your site. Also, put your link in your signature on this forum (it gets activated after 10 posts (pervents spam)) - I am most confident it will help you in the long run
Thanks for the complement on the new format - it takes a LOT of work to come up with a new design and it was not easy
Best regards,
Jim.