Google Pay Per Click - Experiences?

[on-ramp]

I finally decided to stop using Google Adwords.

After 3 months and $550 of my money to Google, the ROI was very small. about 2 orders.

I have about 100 products up, reasonably priced , good website. but PPC seems like throwing money away.

I had good keywords, very targetted, Google was generating 20-30 new visitors daily but no conversions. I was paying avg. 13 cents a click.

So I dropped it. getting too expensive and eating up the bottom line.

Anyone with a positive experience with Google PPC?

[steveo123456]

Put you efforts (or cash if you can't do it your self) into a good plan to boost your "organic" or natural search engine results. This would entail identifying key search phrases, looking at your text, your code, going after inbound links and other strategies. The ROI is much better in my experience.

[stomachmonkey]

What's the URL? I'd like to see it.

[mikester]

Yes, I had previously worked at the largest comparison shopping website and "organic" results are the holy grail. You've got to be number one in organic search results (or at least in the top 5) for the particular product you are selling.

now, I don't know how they do it - but that's the key. Free clicks.

[on-ramp]

Originally posted by stomachmonkey
What's the URL? I'd like to see it.

http://www.veryfinebooks.com/

[deathpunk dan]

We've spent upwards of $250,000 with Adwords in calendar year 2006 alone.

We bid on over 15,000 keywords and run detailed ROI reports to determine our max bid.

Constantly tweaking ads, landing pages, match types, playing with dynamic keyword insertion in ad titles etc.

You can't categorically state that organic serps trump ppc. Way too many things going on for someone to make that case. We are a 30 year old company with etail presence since late 1997, with over 10,000 SKUs. Our products generally rank quite well, but looking at our analytics, revenue derived from organic search generally comes from kw phrases that have to do with our business name/brand. I'd say over 75% of organic/natural search revenue comes from those words for us. IMO We are also ahead of the curve compared to other businesses our size or in our niche with regard to the complexity of our web marketing strategy, how we factor in standard direct mail catalog company factors such as LTV and CPA for first time buyers via paid search (the hook is getting them to come back by getting them our print catalog along with their first order etc)

On Ramp,
I'm here for ya if you wanna chat some more on this.

[on-ramp]

Originally posted by deathpunk dan
We've spent upwards of $250,000 with Adwords in calendar year 2006 alone.

We bid on over 15,000 keywords and run detailed ROI reports to determine our max bid.

Constantly tweaking ads, landing pages, match types, playing with dynamic keyword insertion in ad titles etc.

You can't categorically state that organic serps trump ppc. Way too many things going on for someone to make that case. We are a 30 year old company with etail presence since late 1997, with over 10,000 SKUs. Our products generally rank quite well, but looking at our analytics, revenue derived from organic search generally comes from kw phrases that have to do with our business name/brand. I'd say over 75% of organic/natural search revenue comes from those words for us. IMO We are also ahead of the curve compared to other businesses our size or in our niche with regard to the complexity of our web marketing strategy, how we factor in standard direct mail catalog company factors such as LTV and CPA for first time buyers via paid search (the hook is getting them to come back by getting them our print catalog along with their first order etc)

On Ramp,
I'm here for ya if you wanna chat some more on this.

Dan,

wow. 250K in PPC? Google must love you.

Have you considered, just for the hell of it, to shut if off completely for a year, see how your bottom line changes? I realize it's a marketing expense but if that 250K isn't generating more than 250K in profit, then you're breaking even. Obviously you know your financials so your company wouldnt be spending 250K if it didnt pay back. btw, what's your on-line store?

my ebay fees last month were $530, which is about 20% of the net profit. too high and not good! Ebay always has a way of killing you with fees. they screw you 3 times along the selling process. When you list, there's a fee, when it sells, a final value fee, and when you get paid, there's a Paypal (Ebay) fee. Incredible, isnt it?


i'll send you a pm off-line. thanks.

[deathpunk dan]

We get a ~200% return on ad spend in direct web sales, not even factoring in future purchases etc. A lot of the old direct marketing catalog company principles apply. The key is getting them to shop with you a second and third time, become 12 month, 6 month buyers, and get them to come back to your site via a path other than adwords in the future. IE direct type in the URL, bookmark, print catalog etc.

We are failing if we rely on the PPC model for repeat biz, IMO, but in fact unlike LL Bean who will lose money to get you to make your first purchase, we are still profitable on 1st time customers...

That's crazy that your avatar is the bob's furniture guy. I had that as an avatar on a local music discussion forum as a joke. What a weird, small world.

[on-ramp]

Originally posted by deathpunk dan

That's crazy that your avatar is the bob's furniture guy. I had that as an avatar on a local music discussion forum as a joke. What a weird, small world.

mine is not a joke, though. it's quite serious!

that's what i'm talking about!