Forum Moderators: open
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Regards,
Jim
[edited by: heini at 10:17 am (utc) on Oct. 23, 2002]
[edit reason] sigs in profile please / thanks! [/edit]
You need to be quite tough with negative keywords, exact matches, if your ads keep getting dumped it's probably because the keyword pool is too big for the ad.
Most our ads run with maybe 6 or 7 keywords that we know work and have high CTR, we run them with maybe 3 or 4 ads that again we know work because we filtered them from a pool of maybe 16 ads to start with.
Frustrating as your experience may be, once you get the ads working the way you want, it's a great feeling.
Our average CTR across all of the clients is over 5% and in some cases it's over 20%.
If you drop me a sticky I'd be happy to point you in the direction of some good sites that will help with the "techniques" of getting good results.
If you have read through all the info on Google's site, Click through rate should be the least of your worries.
Read [adwords.google.com...] again, especially "Optimize your content and keyword targeting" part.
1) Using single word keywords can be "dangerous". If you want to use single word keywords, use exact match. For example, let's assume that you are selling PC Network cards. Never use 'network' as your keyword here. Because your ad will appear even if somebody types "network marketing tips" in Google. Using the keyword [network] or "network cards" would be okay.
2) Use country/language specific targeting if your product/service is restricted to a few countries only.
3) Do not upload 100s of keywords at once. First create an AdGroup for a small set of keywords (say 5 or 10). Run the campaign for a couple of days. Get rid of non-performing keywords and try adding a few more. Once you achieve a CTR of 1% plus, create a new AdGroup with a new set of keywords.
You should always develop of Google AdWords campaign slowly. Add only 10 keywords per day
You do this and you will never see that threatening message again.
4) Include keywords in your ad BODY and TITLE (see Google's explanation as to why you need to do this). Now you know why Overture insists on inclusion of keyword in ad body/title.
5) If you are in a competitive arena, try hiking the maximum CPC for a short period of time. Once you get into the top 3, your CTR will shoot up. Once the job is done, reduce the maximum CPC. If you are lucky, the your ad position will not change (because of high CTR).
Try this and let us know how it goes.
Adwords does not always follow its own guidelines. I posted about a case once where my listings never went back online - ad was not disabled, credit card was good, etc. Just never came back online despite a number of requests for support - through their own form.
So I decided to open a new account, bid on the same normal keywords (very popular ones), put in the details.... and nothing happened. Sent requests for information - no response.
I went to speak at an affiliate conference in Vancouver last month. Google had a representative there, and I asked him what to do about such a situation while he was on stage. He said "Open another account". I said "Been there, done that" - and all he could do was walk over and give me his card.
Well, I decided to give it one more go - but this time for a different language site, using nearly all foreign language words except for four 2-word phrases which are specifically aimed at this language. Everything looks fine. Campaign is not disapproved. Although predicted clickthroughs are very, very low (close to nil), it is reasonably obvious that if I were to search on that term, the ad should come up (since someone else's does as well).
After ten days, NOTHING. Maximum CPC as well. All countries, all languages.
All I'm trying to point out here is that Adwords will not always be reliable for everyone - and in my case, three strikes is NOT a good sign.
But that's ok. I still have his email address which I have yet to use.
Good tips, my campaign is already starting to improve. I was way too general with my keywording and I had too many keywords in the first place.
On tip 4 you say to include keywords in both my ad Body and TITLE, do you mean that ALL the words used in my particular ad group should also be in the ad Body and Title campaign? Probably not, but then how do I know which ones would be best?
Already have had a few purcahses to pay for the money in reacitvations so I am a bit happier with google. :)
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Cheers,
Jim
do you mean that ALL the words used in my particular ad group should also be in the ad Body and Title campaign?
With a 70 character ad text limit in Google AdWords, you need to let your creative juices flow!
After you enter the keywords and click on "calculate estimates", you will get an idea about the most popular keywords. Try to include the top 3 keywords in your ad - the highly trafficked keyword in the TITLE of the ad and the next two keywords in the BODY of the ad.
If the traffic difference between your top keyword and your second best keyword is large, then your top keyword should be included in both TITLE/BODY of the ad.
Difficult to explain this in words. Try out different ad copies. Don't be satisfied with 1 or 3 percent CTR.
Your ad should make sense though! Stuffing a bunch of keywords in your ad won't help.
We run several different ad groups with about 5-6 related keywords(spelling variations, word combo variations based on a main keyword, etc.) in each ad group and our click through is very satisfactory as is the ROI.
Crunching all your keywords into one ad will not get you a very good return but amazingly I see it all the time with competitors. Your ad needs to "speak" to the person searching for that word. Why should they click on your ad over the next guys? Don't just tell them you sell it. Tell them why they should buy it from you. Think about that when you are writing your copy.
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Regards,
Jim
[edited by: Woz at 4:31 am (utc) on Oct. 31, 2002]
[edit reason] TOS#14 [/edit]
Yes, it was about casinos. Yes, my (only) site is definitely on the up and up, and yes, I was one of the speakers LOL.
No cloaking either. Only the one time when we were stopped for a pop-up, which was duly removed anyhow. Site has normal listing in Google, and everything is labeled very clearly.
To say I'm puzzled is an understatement!
