The product I am advertising is highly relevant to the keywords, and seems like something people would want to take a look at. Obviously, it's way to early to draw conclusions, but this is a good chance for me to learn how Adwords works:
1) Click through rate. Time will tell where my rate will settle, but what kind of rate do advertisers generally expects from Adwords?
2) Ad text. I might have to experiment with the wording if I don't get more clicks. My current text seems pretty good though.
3) Ad position. There are no competing ads, so my ad is on the top spot on the sidebar. How do you get your ad to show up in a highlighted spots on the top of the search results?
1. CTR: Obviously, mileage can vary a great deal based on many factors. But in my niche, I’m looking for an average of 1.5% to 3.0% CTR on the Search Network (some groups a little higher, some a little lower). My experience has shown that the % will be slightly lower on Google, and much lower on the Content Network. Which makes sense. Ads are more prominently displayed on many Google Network partners, thereby encouraging more click-thrus, and the Content Network, though valuable in many respects, varies greatly in quality of partners, effectiveness in display of ads, etc.
2. Ad text: test, test, test. Write several ads for each Ad Group and see what works. Experiment with dynamic headlines and dynamic insertion of keywords into the body text. Make sure the Ad Groups are not too broad, that way your ads can be specific enough to catch the eye of the audience.
3. Ad position. I may not fully have this figured out, but my thoughts: High CTR ads with a high-enough bid relative to the competition will occasionally find themselves at these premium spots. I sometimes find my ads in these spots when I’ve done nothing different to make them appear there. In my opinion, the way ads appear on many Search Partners is similar to these premium spots on Google, thereby explaining the higher CTR.
How do you get your ad to show up in a highlighted spots on the top of the search results?
Just to add a point to Truman's excellent advice...
I've found I do better perched at the top of the column rather than in the premium (highlighted) position.
1) There's an ad blindness factor with some surfers who routinely scan away from the top
2) Sometimes there are News headlines or Product Search Results put there by Google that are routinely ignored and so might your ad
3) The entire row is clickable which I believe leads to a lot of unwanted "mis-clicks"
Every campaign is different though, so in your case you may well benefit from being in the premium position. I believe a recent thread stated that you gain one of those blue spots through high CTR and ad quality/relevancy.
Good Luck!
patient2all
I'm sure in a month or so Tiger's advice will make tons more sense as you learn more.
What I really wanted to mention here though is that I love appearing on AOL. Everyone is on the top in AOL, right above the Serps and clearly delineated from them so you stand out. Just had to shout that to the world!
patient2all
Everyone is on the top in AOL, right above the Serps and clearly delineated from them so you stand out. Just had to shout that to the world!
Heheh. I love your enthusiasm, patient2all!
Just wanted to point out one thing, that may not be widely known. In addition to the four ads at the top of the page, there are also an additional four at the bottom of the page - under a header that says "More Sponsored Links".
AWA
One thing that I've learned from working online, is that sometimes something that you don't think will work, does, and vice versa.
