Which of these ads would YOU keep?

[bghead8che]

I've been doing the Google Adwords thing for a while now but I still have trouble deciding when to pick a "winner" and move on. Here are some examples:

Ad A 122 Clicks 5.75% CTR 2.5% CR $20.55 Cost/Conv
Ad B 101 Clicks 4.93% CTR 5.0% CR $9.44 Cost/Conv

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Ad A 79 Clicks 2.98% CTR 5.1% CR $9.46 Cost/Conv
Ad B 48 Clicks 5.04% CTR 4.2% CR $16.40 Cost/Conv

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Ad A 72 Clicks 7.86% CTR 2.8% CR $14.42 Cost/Conv
Ad B 56 Clicks 5.90% CTR 5.4% CR $8.00 Cost/Conv

In many cases the lower CTR has a higher conversion rate so its tough to decide which ad to stick with. Which ads would you pick and what is your general approach to this issue?

Thanks,

-Brian

[BDuns]

I think it's wise to go with the better-converting ad...i.e. lower cost per conversion...who cares if the more expensive one makes more sales...how many more, and for how much more cost? What's it worth to you?

What I recommend you do is compare the two ads, and find differences. Which ad copy get the most clicks? What position gets the most clicks? Which destination url is making the most conversions?

Basically, use the ad copy and bid amount from your ad with the higher clicks/cost, and use the destination or landing page with the higher conversion rate. But, if the landing pages are the same...ditch the higher cost ad...unless your objectives are different than mine, we're doing adwords to make sales, not simply generate traffic (and costs).

[bghead8che]

You wonder, how many clicks/conversions do I need before I can concretely say Ad A, for example, converts better than Ad B.

I'm generally figure that 100 clicks per ad is enough to gauge an estimated conversion ratio.

-Brian

[AussieWebmaster]

I would try cutting back the more costly ads and see what happens... stop optimized presentation and have two copies of the ad with the lowest CPA and one of the other... if the conversion rate stays the same then drop the higher ad and try another against the winner

[Makaveli2007]

I'm rather new to PPC, but I'm into analytics..and correct me if Im wrong, but 100 clicks per ad is still a rather small sample size that could cause you to make the wrong decisions.

but then again, you probably cant afford to test every ad for 1000's of clicks :-).

[AussieWebmaster]

100 clicks is a start to make decisions on and as you do the numbers grow and so does the accuracy of the results.

[bghead8che]

No one answered the question specfically. Which of the ads would you pick out 3 groups I listed? It almost impossible to pick... should I go for the higher traffic and the lower cost per click or stick with lower traffic and a higher conversion rate.

Decisions, decisions...

-Brian

[jim2003]

If you have no capital constraints pick the combination that generates the highest gross profit. If you have capital constraints go for the lowest converstion cost.

[exmoorbeast]

yeah go for the cash and borrow the money - money is always cheap my father always used to tell me!

[admagix]

I would probably bring in a new ad without replacing the 2 old ads and put the ad delivery mode to rotate. Then i will test the performance of 3 ads and see which one is doing good and which one is moderate and which one is bad. With this data i would delete the one which is doing bad and bring in a new ad which is exactly same as the one doing good and make a small change in the new one like adding a keyword phrase {keyword:default text} or a minor change in the desc lines. Then the same process continues.

[RhinoFish]

you don't have enough conversion data to make any sound decisions.

ideally, collect more data before you do anything here. and add more ads to the mix.

if you want to do something at this point, go with the higher ctr ads - you've got healthy conversion rates so i assume you want more traffic, go with ad performance (ctr) to get there.

[BDuns]

eh, if you read my first post, i answered your question...SO...go with ad B for #1, ad A for #2, ad B for #3.

[zett]

You should consider the gross profit of your products.

If your gross profit is, say, $40 per conversion, then I do not see the need for your decision. They are all positive at the end. Some more, some less, but profitable. For example, in the first group, ad A still brings in $19.45, while ad B is much better at $30.56 -- I would keep both, though, because if you disable one ad, you'll effectively earn less money overall.

If, OTOH, a conversion brings you just $15, then you better let go of ad A (which will lose you $5.55 for each additional conversion). I'd also get rid of ad B in the second group, and probably ad A in the third group.

It all depends on your business, which we can not see/understand from here. Just figure out the lowest profit margin that you can tolerate, add that to the cost per conversion, and then make the decision.

Example:
Your product net cost is $10, and you want/need to make $5 with each conversion in order to fulfil your business plan. So you need to get paid at least $15 per transaction in order to be OK for you. That rules out any ad with a cost/conversion of more than $15.