After 4 days of testing we found out that:
- More impressions
- More clicks (~30%)
- Much higher CPC (~100%)! So much higher overall costs.
- Much lower conversions! low quality visitors!
So why is that? Our theory is:
- The ads on the top 2 positions, especially if above organic results on the left, are clicked on much easier, and they attract many more 'casual' visitors.
- If a customer is really looking for the product you sell he/she will go pass the first 2 ads. If he/she checks out position 3 to 7, for example, he/she is really seriously looking into buy something.
- I have the theory that *potential buyers* NEVER click ONLY on the top ad. They will check at least 3-4, and they more they check the more time they are investing in the search, so potentially these are the best customers.
Honestly I did not expect these results... we will continue testing for another week or so to be sure...
But if the above is true, the whole <bid higher theory> to be on top positions is very much incorrect. The positions that convert better are positions 3 / 4 to 6 / 7!
Comments?
There are certain industries where the need is immediate and often the top ads are the best converting positions.
There are other industries where there are more shoppers, and the ads on the right are higher converting.
It's best to test conversion rates by ad position. Of course, keyword/ad copy/landing page tweaking can change the conversion rates significantly as well regardless of ad position.
And overall, don't forget that a lower conversion rate but more total visitors can be more profitable than a high conversion rate and few visitors.
Here's an example of just one site:
[webmasterworld.com...]
It's a matter of figuring it out the optimal position for each ad and paying close attention to what works for it.
Did you get MUCH higher impressions on a broadmatch term? If so what's probably happened is that your high bid triggered Adwords to engage expanded broadmatch and to show your ad on targeting other than what you chose.
That was a factor, but not the only one...
Basically what happened is that we had the same amount of overall conversions, but we paid much higher CPC and since we had many more visitors the conversion rate was 3 times lower!
top 2 positions...are clicked on much easier, and they attract many more 'casual' visitors.
...however, I've often found that CPC may fall as your CTR rises (since it can really soar in the top spots).
If a customer is really looking for the product you sell he/she will go pass the first 2 ads
As eWhisper said, this sort of thing will vary hugely by industry. For mortgages, you'd likely be correct. For more casual purchases, like ringtones, perhaps the opposite would be true.
It's very interesting to see how these numbers vary.
That was a factor, but not the only one...Basically what happened is that we had the same amount of overall conversions, but we paid much higher CPC and since we had many more visitors the conversion rate was 3 times lower!
That also describes the symtoms of getting killed on expanded broadmatch. Your CPC goes sky high as you are forced to compete on less-relevant terms.
Try it again using exact match and see if you get the same results. Or better, but it requires near-clarivoyance, try to figure out what the undesirable high-volume expanded broadmatch is.
As eWhisper said, this sort of thing will vary hugely by industry. For mortgages, you'd likely be correct. For more casual purchases, like ringtones, perhaps the opposite would be true.
I agree
