My apologies if this has been covered elsewhere but can anyone come up with a good argument on what benefits Google Adwords can provide if my site is already located in the top 5 results for the majority of our main search keyphrases?
The site currently gets over 7000 visitor sessions a week from Google traffic which I would consider good considering it is an Australian site for Australian customers.
However I personally can't see any benefits of the Adwords program considering the good rankings the site already has.
Thanks,
Merlin78
Congradulations on your SERP postion. Now you have 1 primary consideration:
Does ADwords provide an ROI. Yes- do both. No - rely on free SERP and optimization (tracking is key).
Most everything I work with has two listings per search result. G = Y!, AOL, and G SERP. O = Y! + MSN. ADWords= AOL and G. A dominating equation when you have ROI on the CPCs.
Beyond the CPC ROI argument there is one interesting argument worth considering. SERP prospects are predisposed to click thru multiple first page listings. Not only to find what they are looking for but also to determine the options available to them. There is a strong argument from a branding standpoint, that exposure to 2 ads/listing per search result has a positive recognition impact on the user, that may be enough to tilt the scale in a situation wherein competition has equal qualities.
great Australian widget
where to buy Australian widgets
best Australian widgets
etc.
Something to consider. I know that my Adword variations result in visits from keyword queries that I would never have imagined optimizing for.
And even if you have ranking, people are begining or will begin to see adwords listings as the "shopping" results and will click there when they want to buy and click on the regular SERPs when they want to look up info.
And you may rank well for "Australian widgets" but how's your ranking for aussie widgets, australianwidgets, oz widgets, austrlia widgets, australia widgits and about a hundred other variations that may not get enough traffic to warrent an optimized page but is worth the 2 mins it takes to set up an adwords ad.
Just one account:
We sell $60,000 per month in adwords on that method of thinking. #1 to #5 on all search terms [there are only 4] in SERPS but we track adwords separately and it works. Branding +
some use as Search Engine Results Postion, however.
the first is the accurate one
Any position you hold on the serps is a position that your competitor does not. Including the paid sections.
Unfortunately, a great many surfers are unaware that the adwords, especially the two up north, are paid advertisements. My CTR goes way up when I'm up north, while my ctr on the Natural Results go down, down, down.
So I stay away from up north, try to pay as low as possible, and watch the traffic to make sure I'm adding to my regular traffic instead of cannibalizing myself. It's tricky...
But if you're happy with your traffic, why fix what isn't broken?
