Typical retail adwords conversion rate

Adwords conversion below natural traffic conversion

[lgn1]

Our natural traffic conversion is around 2%
Our adwords conversion rate is around 0.5%

Most of our natural traffic goes to our home page, so
we have directed our adwords traffic to our home page, also.

Google suggested targetting the specific product page for targeted keywords, rather than the home page.

I can't really see this making much difference.

For a retail site selling moderate price goods at about 15% below retail, with relatively low competition, in a niche market, I think 0.5% conversion really sucks.

What is typical for adwords. It would be nice to get 2% conversion from adwords, but is this realistic?

[venrooy]

Targetting the specific product page makes a huge difference. When people go to google to do a search, they are usually searching for something specific. They don't want to be led to a webpage where they have to search for the item again.

Also by targetting the specific product page, you can get a better control on your keywords and your ROI.

[roitracker]

If I click on an AdWords ad for a product & it takes me to a home page rather than the specific product page, my next click is the back button. I'm sure I'm not alone.

[bostonseo]

4-5% conversion is the going rate for my clients that sell consumer items online.

[lgn1]

I just switched all my product specific pages to the page featuring the item, and my less specific product category pages to the product category thumbnail pages.

I will report back in a week. I will be happy to get my conversion to 1%. If I get 2 to 5% conversion I will get silly drunk for a week :)

[eWhisper]

When you think about organic vs PPC conversions - PPC should always be higher for the same keywords.

The only reason PPC should be lower is if you want some exposure on broad terms that are used at the beginning of a sales cycle that don't necessarily convert immediately (or want some other branding/exposure for non converting keywords whatever the reason).

Outside of the above scenario - PPC should always convert higher. With organics, you don't always dictate what keywords you rank for and what page that visitor will goto first.

With PPC you control the keywords, the expectation (ads) and landing page.

I'd start by lining up your organic keywords with your ppc keywords, looking at the conversions side by side and examine the differences.

[clinyi]

The other thing you may want to take a look is your ad text. Does it attract more to the those who’re looking for information only or those who’re looking for an online store to make a purchase. I’ve realized that when the ad text makes itself clear that it’s not some places for freebies, you get less clicks but the conversion rate can be higher.

[rusj407]

Also consider reviewing your terms.
Are they broad just to get traffic?
Then try focusing on more exact product matches. You can bid on "computers" or you can bid on "refurbished apple imacs" the more exact the phrase the more likley you'll convert.

Are you using negative keywords to refine your search?
Example: if you sell computers (you may not want to show for "computer software" so -software out of your results.

Basically, keep testing landing pages, text ads (add a few new tiles and compare results), focus your keywords and add buy phrases to your keywords, add negative terms, and keep adjusting.