I have so far run two campaigns, for which I tried to select popular selling items. One for a book not yet published. Another for a popular electronic gadget. Most of my keyword phrases were specific. I got a fair old number of impressions, but practically NO clicks! My CTR on one dropped to below 0.5% in 4 hours (and it was only above that because I clicked on the ad as a test it was working!).
Another problem I have is that these ebooks all tell you to choose keyphrases for which there are a lot of searches but very few or very low bids and almost no competition. But, in all seriousness, I mean, LIKE WHAT? I seem to be in a rut of keywords that are so popular you are in there with 5 million other ad writers, or so obscure that there were 5 searches on that subject since the dinosaurs were alive.
Seriously though, I fceel I am off to a really bad start and need some help not to get fatally demoralised here.
I'm not entirely sure what people mean by "content" ads as opposed to (normal?) ads, and the different CTRs of these?
The ebooks available tend to suggest that you should aim for a CPC of 5 cents per keyword, and so this is what I have done so far....I have set 5 cents as my max bid on all keywords. Does this mean for a lot of keywaords the ad simply is *NOT* appearing because I haven't paid enough. Yet some very popular keywords (eg "digital thingummyjig") seem to get impressions (= appearances of the ad on a viewer's page?).
A bit confused here!
OK first thing is first.......take your E-book and throw it in the bin! They dont halep at all and most are completely dated.......Adwords rules have been changing nearly daily this last while and keeping on top of it is becoming a full time job.
If you are only bidding 5 cents on highly competitive words your AD will be in a very low position and recieve minimal visibility! You need to aim a little higher....i think the book meant that ideally you want to be paying 5 cents a click but if you want to be visible in a competitive market it just doesn't happen. Sit down and work out ideally what your monthly budget is and how much you can afford to pay per click but stilol make money. Set your CPC higher and dont take the estimate Adwords gives you as the truth i have found it to be completely wrong in most cases. Do the search yourself and take a note.
Once you get yourself a position on the first page of the results then you have to think about your AD copy, ive said it once and i will say it again
Make sure your AD copy is up to standard. Boring repetitive Ads just wont pull in the clicks. Try to be different than your competitors by using words that catch the eye or trigger thought or curiosity (but keep it targeted or you will be paying for clicks that dont convert)
Just keep an eye on this forum and you will learn ten times more than any E-book offers.
Hope this helps you a little and good luck
If I may add a few observations to the already excellent advice you've been given.
1) The ebook has been downloaded 100,000 times and most of those people are trying this same approach. The people who really know how to make AdWords work simply aren't going to tell you how in specifics - Sorry :) As a rule, folks here will tell you what not to do, you may have to figure out what to do yourself.
2) At your early stage in AdWords, are you sure your keywords fit the best definition of specific (well targeted)?
digital cameras - no good
cameras - worse
harry potter - no good
You've got to think about exactly what you sell and what the buyer of this merchandise is likely to search under. The large amount of impressions quickly suggests that your terms were too general. How do I know? I've done it too.
I'm not entirely sure what people mean by "content" ads as opposed to (normal?) ads, and the different CTRs of these?
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by your description, but I think you mean the following:
On your keyword statistics page, you see 2 rows at the top, one reporting "Search Total", the other "Content Total".
There are 3 venues your AdWord ad may show. It will always show on Google.com search results. Additionally, you have two opt-in choices (which I believe are set to "Yes" by default) to appear on the Search Network and/or the Content Network.
The Search Network is a pretty good place. In addition to Google, your ad will appear on the pages of Google Partners like AOL, Ask Jeeves and many more. I'd say you want to appear there.
The Content Network, Well.... Just stay away for now even though it doesn't hurt your overall CTR.
To adjust these settings, go to your campaign page and click "Edit Campaign Settings".
#5 Where to show my ads
Check "Search" and uncheck "Content" You can learn more about content later. However, someone said it quite eloquently today, don't recall if it was in this forum or elsewhere:
The Search Network is akin to trying to convince buyers in your store to buy your product, the Content Network is like stopping people on the street to get them to buy your product.
Feel free to "Sticky Mail" me if you want more personal advice.
Good Luck!
patient2all
Thank you for the detaild replies.
Taking that example of Harry Potter & digital cameras, these are quite representative of items I have been campaigning. Are these just TOO popular, period? I was trying to figure that things that SELL really well on Amazon would do better, but of course I understand that they also have a large number of ads running on them.
My keywaords probably included those general ones and a lot more specific ones....eg, taking the example, not only "digital cameras", but "Macbeth Inc Digital Camera Z5" or "buy latest Othello Inc Camera". The problem is that ALL the impressions tend to come with "digital camera" and the rest seem to be stuck firmly at ZERO!
For such a campaign I was in a fairly useless position like "15" or "20", and I am not sure how to get it up there without paying a fortune? I don't mind paying more, but I am a bit nervous of course. I read these stories, even here, of these wonderful CTRs, and I think, huh?
Sounds as if a really thorough grounding in the basics of AdWords would give you the foundation you need. So, in addition to the ebook, here are a few links to resources from the AdWords site itself:
* Searchable Help Center:
[adwords.google.com...]
* Demos and guides:
[adwords.google.com...]
* AdWords Learning Center
[google.com...]
* Some keyword info links:
[adwords.google.com...]
AWA
Harry Potter apparently has books, movies, games, probably figures, playing cards and who knows what else? Each searcher is probably looking for just one of those items. You'll get killed with impressions and (hopefully only a few clicks down the drain) unless you have a Harry Potter store. Only a huge retailer would take a chance on bidding on harry potter to build branding and just to get people in the door. They probably don't have a good idea where their PPC money is going anyway, but that's another post.
Potter is also way overhyped and religious people are hearing around church that there are satanic references in it. Many parents forbid it!
Cameras is a tough one that I don't know much about. I as a searcher would go in with minimal knowledge. Probably a brand in mind, not necessarily a model. I may know some factoid like I want a 5 megapixel camera because someone said that is good.
Before you settle on matching types, etc, you must think like the searcher. Ask some friends, ask grandma how she would go about looking for it. You can get some good ideas from the Overture tool (or better still download FREE Good Keywords, much more efficient). As a rule, the AdWords Keywords Suggestions go right into hold then race toward disabled.
I've found with a single type of widget that may come in 3 to, say 6 varieties, I could put up a relevant ad with enough keywords to bring in interested searchers. Cameras under $100.00 or those new printers designed for cameras may make for a wide enough niche using well-targeted keywords. Widget Camera Model #X-A14J PS is too well targeted, but Widget Brand Cameras may attract some of the people that you want. But even that is a crap shoot.
My experience has been you've either got to focus on one item per ad or have the whole store (or department) at your disposal. One item works better, obviously much better if it is popular and your ad points out some features the other ads are missing - weighs less than 3 lbs, 3 year warranty, 20% off regular price.
The first campaign won't be a winner. It took me two months to get a brain and I was shocked at that :)
patient2all
Keyword:
Blue Widget
-killer
Therefore you will come up for "Blue green widget large", but never if the word "killer" is included in the search phrase, as in "killer blue widgets" or "blue killer widgets"
Also, AWA told me to go to the Google Adwords Learning Center and it was a godsend. I also started wiht SEO books, but you have to keep in mind that policies at Goog and OV change practically every week.
Good luck!
