Google Adwords experts?

motion · 10-17-2007, 08:06 AM

I've been ratcheting up my monthly budget for Adwords in the past few months and its resulted in increased sales. I've been very happy with the results. For my key search words, I always appear in position 1 or 2 above the organic search results.

But as of the past 2 weeks or so, my Google traffic has completely stopped and I am over on the right side, half way down. Sales have dropped off sharply. I haven't made any changes to my ad campaign. Any word on a change at Google and how it affects your placement? I'd like to get top placement, but am already bidding $3.00 per click, which is crazy.

motion · 10-17-2007, 08:08 AM

Here's a screenshot of my ad placement.

einreb · 10-17-2007, 08:21 AM

i ran the same search and you came up top above the 'organic' stuff. i usually hate front page videos... but your's is perfect for your product.

google tweaks based on quality score sometimes. its f'ing black magic. there's some decent free stuff out there. i get perry marshall's e-newsletters and it often has some interesting tidbits. http://perrymarshall.com/technical/index.htm#google_adwords

its not my exact line of work.

-bernie

robs944 · robs944's Garage

Looks normal for me....
I'm not well versed with the google adwords deal, does that mean you pay $3.00 everytime someone clicks on your ad (goes to your site via google)?

motion · 10-17-2007, 08:39 AM

OK, so you guys are seeing my ad at the top, but on my computer, it always appears on the right side. Strange..... still trying to figure out why my Google traffic has dropped off. I might increase my bid to $4 per click and see what happens.

Rob - I bid a max of $3 per click. I only pay the amount necessary to outbid my competitors, which in my case is $1.73. It is black magic... drives me crazy.

stomachmonkey · 10-17-2007, 08:45 AM

That's the problem with paying for keywords. You get into a bidding war and the only one that stays ahead on it is google.

Nice site BTW, very well done.

SlowToady · 10-17-2007, 08:56 AM

Does all (or a significant portion of) your Google SE traffic arrive via AdWords? If so, you might want to ramp up your Search Engine Optimization efforts on the website itself. If you can put yourself on the first page of Google organically you should see more sales as well. You typically don't want a SE Campaign based solely on paid advertisements.

Google is constantly tweaking it's algorithms, so what worked in the past might not work now. However, the PageRank system is patented so you can take a read of that and try and deduce how to manipulate search results. Also, you can do some searches, you might stumble across tidbits of good information.

Keep in mind, Google isn't the only SE out there, and it's not the only one that counts. See how well you're doing in MSN and Yahoo, also (with organic search terms).

Sorry I couldn't help you more specifically with the AdWords problem, but I thought the above might help you, also.

robs944 · robs944's Garage

Gotcha...

motion · 10-17-2007, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlowToady

Does all (or a significant portion of) your Google SE traffic arrive via AdWords? If so, you might want to ramp up your Search Engine Optimization efforts on the website itself. If you can put yourself on the first page of Google organically you should see more sales as well. You typically don't want a SE Campaign based solely on paid advertisements.

Google is constantly tweaking it's algorithms, so what worked in the past might not work now. However, the PageRank system is patented so you can take a read of that and try and deduce how to manipulate search results. Also, you can do some searches, you might stumble across tidbits of good information.

Keep in mind, Google isn't the only SE out there, and it's not the only one that counts. See how well you're doing in MSN and Yahoo, also (with organic search terms).

Sorry I couldn't help you more specifically with the AdWords problem, but I thought the above might help you, also.

My Yahoo and MSM organic results are great... I'm number one. But, I don't get much traffic from them, so Google is the focus right now. I have used a SEO person in the past and am currently looking at the process again. I agree... if I could get first page organic results, I would be very happy and save $$$ on paid results. Currently I am result number 39 (page 2) for my primary search term "property management websites". That's a huge improvement from a few months ago, when I was on page 6.

PcarPhil · 10-17-2007, 03:57 PM

Strange. Your site is currently second to last on the right hand side of the second page.

What is your daily adwords budget? You may be maxing out your daily budget.

PcarPhil · 10-17-2007, 04:00 PM

the · 10-17-2007, 04:19 PM

I just googled "property management websites" and yours didn't come up anywhere on the opening page.

Don Plumley · Don Plumley's Garage

Search on "long tail search"

It's the opposite of hitting the top 20-30 terms. As people are looking more concretely for information, such as "property management software web access multiple properties", you will hit on top. So more precise search terms instead of the few keywords to get better qualified clicks.

motion · 10-18-2007, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaefer

Strange. Your site is currently second to last on the right hand side of the second page.

What is your daily adwords budget? You may be maxing out your daily budget.

I'm sure my budget is running out before evening time. I increased it, so it might appear longer in the day.

Funny thing is, I can't get my ad to appear on the top any longer at all. Strange how it appears on the top on your computers, but not mine.

motion · 10-18-2007, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Don Plumley

Search on "long tail search"

It's the opposite of hitting the top 20-30 terms. As people are looking more concretely for information, such as "property management software web access multiple properties", you will hit on top. So more precise search terms instead of the few keywords to get better qualified clicks.

I guess the idea here is better ROI through higher-quality click throughs? I have heard the argument that being positioned at the top results in lower-quality clicks - more looky-loos. Interesting... If I could only nail down those long tail search words...

PcarPhil · 10-18-2007, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion

I'm sure my budget is running out before evening time. I increased it, so it might appear longer in the day.

Funny thing is, I can't get my ad to appear on the top any longer at all. Strange how it appears on the top on your computers, but not mine.

Try going to a different computer, at a different location (ip address), and do the same search. Also try on of those anonomous web searching portals.

It's black magic, regional results, etc.

PcarPhil · 10-18-2007, 06:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion

I guess the idea here is better ROI through higher-quality click throughs? I have heard the argument that being positioned at the top results in lower-quality clicks - more looky-loos. Interesting... If I could only nail down those long tail search words...

X2.

On a sort of related side note - please do me a favor and run a Google search on 'richmond computer help' (without the ' and ' ) and let me know what the #1 non-paid result is.

I wonder what will appear in your neck of the woods...regional results, black magic, and all...

Thanks!

motion · 10-18-2007, 06:36 AM

Looks like you're number one out here as well

I believe there is a way to setup your ad campaigns to be regional. Sounds like something you might want to look into?

motion · 10-18-2007, 06:39 AM

Scott,

Thanks for that link. Will keep me busy today.

PcarPhil · 10-18-2007, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motion

Looks like you're number one out here as well

I believe there is a way to setup your ad campaigns to be regional. Sounds like something you might want to look into?

Thanks for checking this. For now I'll just stick to my unpaid Google search results!

I have plenty of SEO no-no's on my site.....but.....if it ain't broke...

Back to your site - I haven't looked at your site yet (didn't want to cost you money with an adword click). Are you shooting for regional sales leads or nationwide leads?