

Ask HN: How to not get burned with Adwords and PPC? - starter

Hi Hackers, Anyone here with PPC experience?<p>I started a website hosting product website and now have an approximate conversion rate of 5% that I plan to milk using adwords. Is it a good idea to test the waters with dirt cheap bids? The last thing I need it to get burned by automatic bidding!
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helen842000
I think the important aspect is having highly relevant keywords.

When clicks cost money you need to filter down to the most likely to convert
users.

Google often tries to push 100's of keyword ideas on you in order to get your
CTR up. That's when you're paying for empty clicks.

If you only get 10 clicks per day but 9 of those convert - that's way better
than having 33 clicks that day but still having only those 9 convert.

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starter
High relevance, got it! I'll look into pruning that long list of keywords they
pushed. I thought 8-9 clicks was a bad sign but I see now that It might be the
best start.

Thanks for your time.

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creativeone
If you have the time to review your accounts performance on a daily basis, do
not do automatic bidding.

Competition is very high for website hosting, so what you'll need to do is
create a long tail of keywords with the keyword tool.

AdWords can be very bloody, but it is very important at the beginning to get
good data on your ads and keywords. Make sure your conversion codes are
working too. You'll have a big spend in the beginning because you dont have a
good Quality Score. Its a game of patience, and don't go broke! But keep in
mind for the first few weeks your cost per acquisition will probably be twice
as high as it will be after that.

Your cost per day chart should look something like this at the start. \-- \- -
\-- -- --- \-- ---- --- -- \--- ---- \------

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creativeone
I made an edit and my text chart got ruined!

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starter
Its cool. I hear your point!

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chris_dcosta
Every online business faces the same issues. You have to have very deep
pockets to play PPC that's a given.

You can test the water fairly cheaply by literally monitoring. There's plenty
of advice out there on what rates to bid at, but don't expect huge uplift in
conversions. It's notoriuously difficult to get high returns and what you
currently get is way above the accepted norm.

I'm currently building an app to address exactly this difficulty although its
chicken and egg - I will still need the high level of visibility for the
promise to be realised. The advantage I have is that I only have to raise my
app's user base and B2C client's such as yourself would automatically benefit
without having to do anything.

Should be nice when I launch it...

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creativeone
Can you explain more about your app?

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chris_dcosta
It's an aggregator of sorts, but with a twist. There's a game-like trading
platform, which aims to be the revenue stream.

Doing it this way means that PPC or advertising is irrelevant, and therefore
the businesses wanting the visibility get it without the cost.

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ig1
Pick up a good book on adwords. Getting little bits of advice here and there
isn't a substitute for understanding adwords and the strategies that work.

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trin_
any specific recommendations?

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ig1
I've recommended Winning Results with Google AdWords, Second Edition by Andrew
Goodman in the past although it's getting a bit dated (although still has
useful info).

I've seen lots of people recommend the Brad Geddes book and Perry Marshal book
as well, have a flick through all three and see which works best for you.

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starter
Thanks for the recommendations, it shows you mean well.

