Comments on: The Trouble With Google AdWords http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html Sharing Tech, Marketing & Health 2.0 information Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:37:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Caelen King http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1884 Caelen King Tue, 25 May 2010 16:55:55 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1884 Our initial adwords campaign was going at full steam for about 12 months. After that it tailed off for another 6 months or so as organic traffic took up the slack. We still use adwords to test campaigns and keywords but we don't use it wholesale to gain traffic anymore. You shouldn't have a monthly budget. What really matters is that you don't pay more for a click that it is going to give you in profit. It doesn't matter how much money that you have spent in a given month - if you can turn a profit by buying another click then you should buy it. Going after the long tail is a great way of getting very targeted clicks, however it is a LOT of work. So my general advice is start small and develop your business metrics. Once you are confident in your conversion rates and your profit margin you can work out what you should be paying per click then you can start to scale the operations. Our initial adwords campaign was going at full steam for about 12 months. After that it tailed off for another 6 months or so as organic traffic took up the slack. We still use adwords to test campaigns and keywords but we don’t use it wholesale to gain traffic anymore.

You shouldn’t have a monthly budget. What really matters is that you don’t pay more for a click that it is going to give you in profit. It doesn’t matter how much money that you have spent in a given month – if you can turn a profit by buying another click then you should buy it.

Going after the long tail is a great way of getting very targeted clicks, however it is a LOT of work.

So my general advice is start small and develop your business metrics. Once you are confident in your conversion rates and your profit margin you can work out what you should be paying per click then you can start to scale the operations.

]]> By: Ahmed http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1882 Ahmed Tue, 25 May 2010 15:30:14 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1882 Dear Mr. Caelen, I have been doing a lot of research on google adwords as I am going to be starting our website soon. I came across this blog and found it pretty interesting. We are a medical tourism company and going to have a global reach as well. Just to get a rough idea, how long did you continue with ad words and approximately what was your monthly budget (or what would you recommend it should be). And do you think its a good idea to go for the long tail? Dear Mr. Caelen,

I have been doing a lot of research on google adwords as I am going to be starting our website soon. I came across this blog and found it pretty interesting.

We are a medical tourism company and going to have a global reach as well.

Just to get a rough idea, how long did you continue with ad words and approximately what was your monthly budget (or what would you recommend it should be). And do you think its a good idea to go for the long tail?

]]> By: Dave Davis http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1056 Dave Davis Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:04:37 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1056 And there is the crux. "Without a deep understanding of our business". You really nailed it Caelen. This is why it is *sometimes* not the best idea to outsource your PPC. Unless the agency takes the time to understand your business OR you make sure the agency bills off YOUR metrics, you're doomed from the start. And there is the crux. “Without a deep understanding of our business”. You really nailed it Caelen.

This is why it is *sometimes* not the best idea to outsource your PPC. Unless the agency takes the time to understand your business OR you make sure the agency bills off YOUR metrics, you’re doomed from the start.

]]> By: Caelen King http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1055 Caelen King Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:58:46 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1055 When we used Adwords we advertised on 100s of thousands of keyword combinations and automatically adjusted bids daily. We put man years of effort into getting the systems right. In the end it worked for us but not without a deep understanding of our business and a huge amount of integration effort. When we used Adwords we advertised on 100s of thousands of keyword combinations and automatically adjusted bids daily. We put man years of effort into getting the systems right. In the end it worked for us but not without a deep understanding of our business and a huge amount of integration effort.

]]> By: Dave Davis http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1054 Dave Davis Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:55:05 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1054 Spot on Merrill. Let's not forget that the larger advertisers have a LOT of data to work with, they (in general) have higher than normal normalized CTRs. As a result, they have higher account level quality scores which allows them to afford a higher position, often times for cheaper than their newer competitors without a feel for the average CTR. It makes sense for Google and for their users but it's a tough circle to break into if you're new to that particular vertical sometimes. Spot on Merrill.

Let’s not forget that the larger advertisers have a LOT of data to work with, they (in general) have higher than normal normalized CTRs. As a result, they have higher account level quality scores which allows them to afford a higher position, often times for cheaper than their newer competitors without a feel for the average CTR.

It makes sense for Google and for their users but it’s a tough circle to break into if you’re new to that particular vertical sometimes.

]]> By: Merrill http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1053 Merrill Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:40:56 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1053 From my experience, the bigger players on Adwords have the lowest CPC. They let the suckers fight for top positions on high volume keywords and instead they manage mutiple accounts with millions long tails keywords with very low CPC. To keep the poker game reference, it is not about winning most numbers of hands (or getting most clicks on Adwords), but about getting most of the money out of it. From my experience, the bigger players on Adwords have the lowest CPC. They let the suckers fight for top positions on high volume keywords and instead they manage mutiple accounts with millions long tails keywords with very low CPC.

To keep the poker game reference, it is not about winning most numbers of hands (or getting most clicks on Adwords), but about getting most of the money out of it.

]]> By: Caelen King http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1052 Caelen King Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:28:31 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1052 Once again someone succeeds in distilling my 1000 word post into a couple of sentences. I should really try that. Once again someone succeeds in distilling my 1000 word post into a couple of sentences. I should really try that.

]]> By: Dave Davis http://blog.whatclinic.com/2009/12/the-trouble-with-google-adwords.html/comment-page-1#comment-1051 Dave Davis Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:36:48 +0000 http://blog.revahealth.com/?p=768#comment-1051 Very well put. You also outlined the caveats quite clearly too ;) I like to use the analogy of a poker game (I hope this comment gets through moderation now). If you are a professional player playing with the yobs down the pub who don't really know how to play very well, you get sucked into playing "their game" and ultimately, you're chances are just as much as those around you. With AdWords, it's important to focus SOLELY on your own company KPIs. If it costs an extra 5 cent to move up a position, forget it if it's not in line. The best bet is to work on your account independently of the other advertisers. Optimize your CTRs, Conversion rates and margin (back end sales) and EVENTUALLY your return will be so great that you CAN afford to bid higher and get the higher volume (but more expensive) traffic. Far too few advertisers focus on the back end at the beginning. It's the best time IMHO. You can bid as low as you need to and optimize the hell out of the minimal traffic that you get. Increasing bids should be the last part of the process. Very well put. You also outlined the caveats quite clearly too ;)
I like to use the analogy of a poker game (I hope this comment gets through moderation now). If you are a professional player playing with the yobs down the pub who don’t really know how to play very well, you get sucked into playing “their game” and ultimately, you’re chances are just as much as those around you.

With AdWords, it’s important to focus SOLELY on your own company KPIs. If it costs an extra 5 cent to move up a position, forget it if it’s not in line. The best bet is to work on your account independently of the other advertisers. Optimize your CTRs, Conversion rates and margin (back end sales) and EVENTUALLY your return will be so great that you CAN afford to bid higher and get the higher volume (but more expensive) traffic.

Far too few advertisers focus on the back end at the beginning. It’s the best time IMHO. You can bid as low as you need to and optimize the hell out of the minimal traffic that you get.

Increasing bids should be the last part of the process.

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