Thanks.
Having said that I lose most of my money on Google, it just takes more clicks to do it.
If I wanted #1 try $6.00 on O
When you are selling only a few products a month you definetly have to watch the ROI and minimum monthly fee.
I'll only use O again when I feel flush with $ and only for small missions.
NO WAY Jose
Traffic that converts with the ROI a client wants is good traffic no matter where it comes from.
No way. Not as long as my 5 cent per click darlings are still getting 8 percent CTR at the 10th place.
That is a good point regarding the "five cent darlings" Vib'. I do have a few dozen of those babies!
Thank you.
I will take up the offer GG. :)
How about getting rid of high minimum CPCs (above 5 cents) for some keywords? This has probably been one of the oldest demands of existing Google AdWords advertisers.
I don't even make $4 on the product - so a 100% clickthrough rate plus a 100% conversion rate would mean losing money!
No wonder there were no bidders.
EXACTLY!
I'm going to cut my Over' spending in half (or at least try to) and I will report the results in a few weeks.
Yup, I'm cutting my Overture expense by at least half, and in May when my 500 keywords at 1-4 cents get bumped to 5 cents, I'll be droping another 50% of my spending by deleting 500-1000 keywords (I currently have about 3000 keywords).
I am currently testing O ROI vs. GG ROI with identical sites and a no index robots.txt. I'll post the results in May.
GSX: I have a feeling you have got it wrong here. The highest maximum CPC I have seen over the past 6 months is slightly above $1.00.
The CPC that is suggested by Google AdWords is the maximum CPC that you can afford to pay. The system generally suggests numbers like $4.63 per click for maximum exposure. This is NOT the minimum CPC. To find out the minimum CPC for the keyword, change the number in the field to $0.05 and click on CALCULATE ESTIMATE tab.
If you are an old hat at Google AdWords, the above explanation may sound silly - this is for beginners who assume that the number suggested by the system is the minimum.
gsx: Can you sticky me your keyword that costs a minimum of $4.63 per click?
as soon as my money's "burned" by espotting
If your money is burned, Espotting and all other PPC providers provide you with the recepticle to put your money in, it's you that lights the match.
So many people seem to be comparing things like price per click but the whole rub of PPC is "are you making money?" and you can't really blame the PPC provider if you don't, they are only facilitating the introductions.
To coin a dating analogy, just because Google has more frogs to kiss don't assume they will all turn into princes.
We will never stop spending money with any PPC provider for as long as we continue to make profit on the money that is spent.
Any chance of Google posting an explanation of the Adwords dynamics? I've been using it since day 1 and I still don't understand how the maximum price relates to what I end up paying.
A couple of other suggestions:
A search suggestion tool offering statistics on how many impressions there are for similar keywords, and perhaps the latest CTR for recent ads vis a vis their average position. You could check the keywords and carry them straight to one of your exisiting campains. That would be a lot more useful than the existing method of plugging keywords in and hitting the estimate button.
And perhaps a smart bomb button to zap your competition!
I think the real underlying statement here is that some are relying 100% on se ppc advertising. There are many advertising opportunities out there beyond, just this. I don't think it is a question of dropping this ppc engine and going with another, but rather diversification.
Has anyone abandoned Overture?
Yes. 4 months ago.
And if so, how has it worked out for you?
We have lots of extra money. We've been with Googles AdWords for a long time and still use their service to this day. Great ROI, lower minimums and better communication with their clients is what makes AdWords a better choice, IMHO.
We really felt like we were running in place with Overture and business.com (another PPC we tried with minimal results).
It all comes down to ROI. Googles ROI speaks volumes, while Overture squeaks.
- Chad
I really love the user interface and detailed stats of Adwords, but as long as O outsells G 5:1 I will put most of my budget into Overture.
IMHO it was a dumb move on Overture's part. There are lots of high-traffic low-value terms useful for advertising. They just killed that market for themselves, and their customers.
Their big problem is all of that editorial overhead that Google doesn't have. Consequently they should have charged a setup fee per listing and left the bids alone. They would let them cover their overhead and let their customers pay the economically appropriate amount per click.
Conversely it is possible to get cheap clicks on Adwords because they rotate the positions, whereas Overture will only send significant traffic if you are in the top 3.
I completely agree with Brett - don't put all you eggs in one basket.
Just thought I'd share this with you.
Peace!
OK so Google only has a $0.05 min bid.. but whats the point when you add a good keyword only to find the minimum is around $0.90c. At least you can get onto the playing field with overture.. unlike Google Adwords who have minimum bids for certain keywords VERY high.
I also advertise in the UK and we dont see this yet.. but dont really expect to as the market is a LOT smaller.. but you do see it if you set to advertise in the US.
It's only a good keyword if it converts to a sale in a measurable way.
I've only been using Adwords for a relatively short time, but I have found the raw CPC isn't the true cost. It's the time taken to find and groom your stable of key phrases.
For one campaign I have over 4,000 key phrases and I am getting 2,500 visits a day at an average CPC of 7p. Further work to improve ad targetting has increased visitor numbers without increasing average CPC. However, if I add the cost of my time taken to maintain the inventory, many of the 5p clicks are costing £1+ in the short term.
The real average cost per click is:
(Cost of clicks + cost of maintenance) / number of clicks
The longer a timespan you calculate it over, the lower the average should be.
Col
