High PPC traffic not converting

What to do now?

[anthonyon]

My website is 1 month and 2 weeks old. For the past 2 weeks my website has not been converting as it did its first month. Within 1 month I had at least 500 sign ups. Within these last 2 weeks I had only 80 sign ups, but still my clicks are high. I primarily use Adwords as my PPC engine, but I have also used FindWhat, 7Search, Kanoodle, and Overture.

Since PPC has been working for me I haven't thought about changing my advertising platform, but now I believe I need to diversify, but I'm not sure what is the best direction.

I would like to get opinions from others in regards to what other advertising media should I try using...its a free membership based site? I also would like someone to explain, if possible, why would my site stop converting? The only change which was made is dynamic URL's are rewritten to static URL's within member pages...but nothing has changed with the look or feel. My site design and layout still looks the same, no additional ads, no pop-ups, no heavy graphics, everything is the exact same. This would be easier to understand if there was a change or if I didn't receive the clicks but I'm at a lost...I know the traffic is there, because my PPC reports say it is, but it's not converting any longer. Maybe, things will pick up again...but I would like to get that spike back. I've also ruled out click fraud because my clicks are still the same density it has not increased or spiked. Has anyone else had this problem? What did you do to overcome this? Any suggestions or comments is appreciated.

[edited by: anthonyon at 2:40 pm (utc) on Mar. 30, 2005]

[JerryOdom]

When did you start using FindWhat, 7Search, Kanoodle and about how much of your total traffic do they make up?

[anthonyon]

The three collectively probably make up about 40% of the traffic...mainly FindWhat being the motivator. I no longer use Kanoodle and use 7Search sometimes.

What I have done last week is use 1 at a time each day. When I used Kanoodle I had double the click through but no conversions. 7Search gave me decent click through but inadequate conversions. FindWhat gave me decent click-through and adequate conversion. Adwords has always given me good click through with good conversion. It was about 15-25 sign ups a day from Adwords. About 5-15 from FindWhat. Now Adwords only gets me about 4-6 sign ups a day, but the CTR is still the same. FindWhat now gives me about 1-2 sign ups a day, and the CTR is stable. I can't understand what is wrong. I've even accessed my site from different proxies in different countries just to see if there is site problems or my site is block, but it returned fine. I just don't get it. I'm thinking of a site makeover, but that would be logical if I had changed the site or if initially I didn't get any conversions, but that is not the case. Not sure what to do. Your help is appreciated.

[anthonyon]

Just a thought: Is it possible for someone to steal my traffic and I'm paying for it?

I have heard about this 302 redirect but have not researched it or got the latest on it. Can this affect Adwords or PPC in any way?

If this is a possiblity, is there any way for me to check if I'm a prime target?

[seth_wilde]

no.. 302's aren't going to affect pay-per-click.. it sounds like you need to get some tracking software.. There are many variables at play and you need to be able to isolate those more effectively. If you gain the ability to tell which keywords are converting and which ones are not you'll be able to manage your accounts much more effectively, ramp up what's converting and cut what's not..

[anthonyon]

Can anyone recommend a good tracking program for use with PPC's? Thanks.

Free and effective preferred, but if not then a paid service or program is fine.

[SEMsynergy]

I have used several 3rd party tracking systems alone or in conjunction with the free ones the biggies provide. For your purpose, I would try ConversionRuler. It is only $19.99 a month, and you can track multiple pages in addition to the conversion which might help you determine where you are losing people in the process.

It allows you to track any online marketing effort as well.