get a better return for my adwords pound

just making profit from adwords ads but want to do better

[hughie]

Hi There

I run a site for a client, it's been up about 3 months now and has started quite well but we're looking to get a better return on our ad-word costs

We are currently getting £60-£80 worth of sales out of £50-£60 worth of ads a day (usually around 30p) per click

We are currently running in the top 1-2-3 positions for most keywords and getting a click through rate of 5-10% (usually 6%ish)

What i am looking thinking of doing is cutting the Max CPC down but broadening the net so we appear in more searches (but slightly more off-topic) so our daily spend is the same but we broaden the net, yet lose our top positions

is this a good idea and would you recommend any other strategies to better sales/click thru/etc..

Quite a lot there, advice would be much appreciated.

hughie

[dutch_dude]

The only way to find out is test it, make sure you have statistics on which keyword triggered how much sales.

One thing I have trouble with myself is on cheap, less related keywords my ads get disabled often because of low CTR. It's a pity as ROI is great on them.

[buckworks]

£60-£80 worth of sales out of £50-£60 worth of ads

Those numbers would worry me. Are those sales generating enough *profits* to pay for the ads?

That said, it's certainly worth testing your ideas. Be sure to try out different wording for your ad headlines and body text, too. A better CTR can help you rank well even if you lower your bids.

[hughie]

That was quick

The profit margin on the product is very good so it's just below break even all up at moment

What kind of Click-Thru rate is it good to aim for or does it differ from search to search?

Hughie

[bazzais]

If I were you I would do the opposite I would target the keywords so you can get the click through ratio higher than the 10% - when you have the rate higher you're add will be more likely to be shown higher - even if they do have a bid higher than you (ads are not always shown in order of price the click ratio is also taken into acount)

Add broader matches to a diferent campaign.

Ta

Barry

[arran]

- Find out which keywords don't convert as well and drop them.

- With your high CTR and high positions, i'd drop the Max CPC. I find you get a better conversion rate in positions 3-5.

- Do some keyword research and experiment bidding on slightly more obscure keyword phrases.

- Test different ads within an adgroup

- Try seeing how overture converts

I would also be worried about your tight profit margin. Aim to double your money.

[bazzais]

One more thing it may be worth adding negative keywords to try and increase youre click through ratio.

Its fundatmental to getting top - a high clickthrough ratio.

[skibum]

Once a CTR of 5-10% is acheived, it's often a good time to lower bid prices, IMHO. If they are lowered just a hair below the current actal CPC paid, the CPC actually paid will often drop a lot more without much of a drop in clicks.

[hughie]

Do you feel it is worth directing users who type in "blue widgets" directly to the blue widgets page or is it worth letting them find their way from the home page (which displays the 8 main categories we have very clearly)?

What is peoples experience of this?

Cheers,
hughie

[skibum]

If they're looking for "blue widgets", give em' the blue widgets page. If they just want widgets and the homepage has links to all different kinds of widgets, test out the keyword "widgets" and link it to the homepage.

As a general rule, keyword ads should always link to the most specific page available that relates to the keyword purchased.

[hughie]

Just as an updated,

I've diversified my incoming keywords away from the core areas and cut the CPC across the board and its led to a lot more visitors for the money and a nice jump in sales.

i did start directing visitors to the different areas of the site but didn't seem to work, 85% of visitors move deeper into the site off our home page so it seemed sensible to keep pointing them there

Thanks for the help, much appreciated!
Hughie