cpc rises, cpa is now too high

ideas to reduce cpa?

[perlcoder]

Due to a recent surge in interest in our keyword area, cpc rates have gone through the roof.

Luckily we have a tracking system in place, can anyone think of good ways to reduce cpa? What should we be looking for?

[redzone]

If you have a tracking system in place, then you should know your (ROAS) Return on AdSpend, at the keyword level.

CPA isn't really a good metric to use to evaluate bid management in Overture/Google AdWords, though it is important to monitor.

ROAS at the keyword level gives you a better metric to make informed bid management decisions.

[anallawalla]

Reducing CPA means that you increase the conversions or reduce the ad spend, ideally both.

I break down CPA by PPCSE, e.g. Overture gives me a third of the conversions I get from Adwords, so I have to look for reasons why this is so. Perhaps OV users (via other SEs) are not business owners (target market), or perhaps the messaging needs closer attention, or I should not get into a bidding war, or I should delete the non-performing keywords, etc.

Without knowing your campaign details, it is hard to point out what might be "obvious" to experienced hands.