Optimize ROI or do other things?

[Tonearm]

I need to decide whether I should put time into granular ROI analysis with things like PPC and other types of ads or spend time doing other things. I can imagine getting super granular with ROI tracking and analysis, but it sounds very time consuming and I wonder if time might be better spent on other things. What have you guys found?

[ispy]

Its really easy to spend all your time with PPC. Focusing on SEO for organic listings is the way to go in the long run. With PPC costs increasing as more traditional retailers get on board, I fear that over the long run small and medium sized businesses will be priced out of the market just like they have been in traditional advertising venues in the past. SEO and using your brain is the key to staying afloat against the big boys in the long term.

[Tonearm]

I just started tracking ROI with AdWords and yesterday I netted about $45 from a $15 spend. I wonder if I'm seeing most of the AdWords benefit or if further optimization based on granular ROI analysis would do a lot of good.

I've SEO'ed like crazy for years and my rankings are amazing. I'm looking for the next thing.

[pbradish]

I'm an analytics and ROI freak. Luckily, it's what I'm paid to do as my e-com clients do much of the leg work with product inventory, customer service, shipping, etc.

You can literally spend your entire day every day analyzing and perfecting your PPC ROI. If you run other functions of the business this can be a dangerous, less efficient, cycle to get caught in.

What I would suggest is trying to find a few hours, weekly (and mark it on your calendar!), where you can sit down and optimize your ROI and learn as much as you can about creating effective PPC campaigns. In the long term, even a few hours per week will go a LONG way for your marketing dollars.