|
| |
|
|
cooper
Posts: 773
From: Woburn MA USA
Status: offline
 |
Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/11/2003 23:42:05
My name is Bill... I just paid for clicks.
Hello, Bill.
Yeah, I, ah, signed up for Google Adwords...
OK. No problem. Many of us have done that.
Well, I kept upping the max per click and before I knew it...
Ah... you were paying your daily max for a click through. Not the first time we' ve heard that story, I' m afraid. (collective groan)
Well, then I got hooked and before you knew it I was on Overture signing up for their Pre-Paid click through account feature.
Oh, boy. What happened next?
I decided to just give it a try with $50...
Yep, and you burned through that in 3 or 4 days, right?
Yes... (sobbing) and I didn' t see a jump in the number of visitors and no increase in sales! I am starting to wonder... do I pump more money into this vacuum or do I take another approach?
You, the Outfornter, are asked to weigh in on this question. However, here at Pay Per Clickers Anonymous, we are sworn to secrecy and no one, I repeat no one can judge another' s posts or comments.
< Message edited by cooper -- 7/16/2003 10:20:41 AM >
_____________________________
Cooper
BAC Web Design - Tools & Templates - Buck A Ball - Stopspamstop.com
|
|
|
|
toniallen
Posts: 27
Joined: 7/4/2003
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/13/2003 1:54:26
Ouch.
I' ve been thinking of investing in google adwords, but you story makes me a bit wary.
On a positive note: maybe the click-throughs didn' t make any purchases, but perhaps book-marked the site for future reference. I usually visit a site 10 times before buying anything.
Take care,
Toni
_____________________________
| |
|
|
|
Splitrimz
Posts: 16
Joined: 2/25/2003
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/13/2003 21:03:05
Wow! The first posting described my efforts to a " T" . I was having good luck with Google Adwords, ran for months at about .10 per click and seemed to be pulling people in. Then I tried Overture just this past week. $50.00 and three days later my head is still spinning. Where are all the results for all those clicks? Do Overture supporting sites just appeal to surfers and browsers?
One major advantage for Adwords and disadvantage for Overture in my estimation is the ability to turn Adwords on and off at will to maximize my exposure in what I deem to be " Prime Time" , not at times when I estimate that the kiddies are surfing. Not so with Overture, you must write and get permission to turn the site off. Not very convenient.
splitrimz.
| |
|
|
|
Mojo
Posts: 2477
From: Chicago
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/13/2003 21:31:53
Google does very well for me. Overture does poorly for me. Looksmart does very well for me.
With Google I started out with a daily limit of $4 and a click price of 0.30. Over time it just kept rolling along - kind of like a snowball.
I now have keywords that I pay more per click than my original daily limit.
Just keep at it. The adwords give you an opportunity to turn visitors on and off like a faucet. Tweek your site > turn on adwords for a few days > turn off adwords > analyze the results.
Find out your money words. Just because widgets gives you 200 clicks per day does not mean it translates into sales. Green widgets, while only giving you 20 clicks per day could give you 10 sales. Experiment and see where your sales are coming from.
Another problem could be click wars -
1- Competitors using obvious methods of clicking your links (like asking their friends and family to click you)
2 - Competitors using devious/spammy methods
3 - Worse yet. You have what I call a gun slinger competitor. Either they have programatically devised methods to auto-click you under different IP' s or they have hired someone to do it for them.
I have gone through some vicious click wars in the last 6 months. I won, but I was certainly bloodied. Don' t expect much help from Google. They take fraud click seriously, but it is very difficult to determine if clicks are fraud when done right.
_____________________________
Split Testing
GPS Vehicle Tracking
Chicago Marketing
| |
|
|
|
toniallen
Posts: 27
Joined: 7/4/2003
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/13/2003 23:35:51
Well, I signed up for Adwords right after I made my previous post in this thread.
My targeted keyword phrases are very specific to my product. So far, Ive had 16 impressions...with 0% click throughs.
This is my first attempt at buying clicks...so Im being pretty cautious.
I also like the option to turn off and on the ad campaigns easily and quickly.
Take care,
Toni
_____________________________
| |
|
|
|
garry
Posts: 858
From: Northern Territory Outback Australia
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/13/2003 23:56:06
Yes , all to familiar I' m afraid !
I was used to my 1 adwords campaifn being across all different keywords and paying about $30 per month with my rather generic advert crammed with my 2 main products.
Then I decided to actually target the keywords with different adwords (IE now running 2 adwords campaigns) (One for didgeridoos & the other for artworks)
My first visacard bill indicated 12 months of adwords funds spent in less than 3 weeks. By the time I checked it I had racked up over $450 (USD), for very little return.
The main target was the new split & revamped advert for keyword " aboriginal art" . I could not locate any trace of fraudulent clicks..........however a common theme has arisen with Googles image search being high on the list as a referral to a particular image on my site (& I cannot even locate it using all my keywords???)
I have since backed away & dropped my price to be middle of the range & results (suits my budget)
Basically , if you launch a campaign, be ready, have your website ready (I was not fully ready with prices etc), and monitor the results daily, until you see a steady trend you are happy with.
| |
|
|
|
AlanSupply
Posts: 27
Joined: 7/10/2003
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/14/2003 11:12:18
I' ve just started up my business (I' m not even listed on most search engines yet), and i use Ad Words and Overture, overture seems to work better for me because it' s based soley on your max CPC. People bidding on my terms (even the specific terms) are paying lots of money to be 1,2,3 becuae my terms don' t get many searches total. On google it seems even higher than overture, and i get a very low CTR, which makes my rank go down a space or two.
EDIT: Almost forgot so ask what the Yahoo-Overture Merger might do?
quote:
Yahoo! And Overture To Create Global Marketing Powerhouse Exciting news! Yahoo!, Inc. has announced plans to acquire Overture. The combined companies will offer advertisers the most compelling and diversified suite of integrated marketing solutions, providing you with new opportunities to connect with customers online. Please note that no action will be required on your part and your Overture account will be unaffected as this acquisition is finalized over the coming months. from overture' s website.
< Message edited by AlanSupply -- 7/14/2003 11:17:29 AM >
| |
|
|
|
dgrant004
Posts: 27
Joined: 9/11/2002
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/16/2003 11:32:52
Hi Bill,
We all feel your pain. (collective nodding, I am sure)
I have used both Google and Overture. Initially, I had great success with Google Adwords. I was careful about using very focused keywords and did well. Over the last year, I have seen Google hit the point of saturation. Much like banners became invisible to regular web surfers last century due to overexposure, I feel the same thing has happened on the " Sponsored Links" that Google displays on the right sidebar.
When I first started with Google, I was one of only a couple of featured links. Now most every search fills up the sidebar. They are becoming invisible.
I ventured haltingly into Overture Country about 2 months ago armed with caution. I carefully selected a few choice, focussed keywords, and gave myself a small budget to work with. ($200.00) Not sure whether it was dumb luck or good planning but Overture has now paid for itself many times over.
I always keep in mind the bottom line: It' s all about conversion and cost per sale. Yes, click-throughs are important, but exactly how much is my cost per sale? That is the most important number.
David
www.ReWritables.net
Thumbnail Image
 Attachment (1)
| |
|
|
|
mzwizard
Posts: 7
Joined: 12/25/2001
From:
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/16/2003 14:22:01
I' ve been using google for about 2.5 months. The first mont cost me more than I made, but I learned a lot. The second month pretty much was even, and this month I" m starting to make more than it' s costing me.
BUT, I constantly check and see if I can lower my daily, or raise it if I know there is something happening that might draw more searchers.
I had to totally target my keywords to just the parent company name (well known) as I was getting a ton of shows, and NO clicks. Once I got just the folks looking for MY company name, I was good to go, and my clickthru rate is about 8%.
Not all order of course, but I' m starting to get an order or two daily...slow but sure, only been with the company since mid april!
| |
|
|
|
pageoneresults
Posts: 1001
From: Orange, CA USA
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/16/2003 20:12:09
quote:
One major advantage for Adwords and disadvantage for Overture in my estimation is the ability to turn Adwords on and off at will to maximize my exposure in what I deem to be " Prime Time" , not at times when I estimate that the kiddies are surfing. Not so with Overture, you must write and get permission to turn the site off. Not very convenient.
Overture has a list of approved third party tools that you can use to manage your account. Google' s AdWords are done manually.
If you are seriously planning on delving into the PPC (Pay Per Click) / CPC (Cost Per Click) arena, you need to do your homework and arm yourself with the proper tools. I do quite a few Overture campaigns and they are all very successful. I was just looking at the stats for one this morning and we have an average CTR (Click Thru Rate) of 26.7% for our primary term. We target positions 1, 2 and 3. Rarely will we drop below the #3 position unless it is an off time for the clients prime selling hours.
Well written titles and descriptions play a key role in click thru rates. The landing page from your Overture listing is hopefully one that is relative to the search term. Most of the time the editors at Overture will decline listings if they are not specific to the URL provided for the keyword phrase(s). Irrelevant pages will play a role in zero sales. I know if I click on a link that looks like it specifically addresses my search query, I better find what I was looking for. And if I do, and the price is right, you may get my business.
I could also bookmark your site as mentioned above by toniallen. I may have been performing research only and am not ready to buy. Pay close attention to your statistics here, look for those favicon requests (people bookmarking your site) and you' ll understand the whole bookmarking theory. ;)
Since the minimum bid is $.10 at Overture, plan on budgeting a reasonable amount of money for PPC. I' d say that most, if not all should prepare for at least a $100.00 spend per month. And then that amount will be relative to your industry. I have terms that run as high as $4.00 in some cases and managing those bids is extremely important if you are going to achieve a greater ROI (Return On Investment). And yes, there are bids that exceed the $50.00 mark in Overture.
There are three methods you can choose in managing your PPC/CPC campaigns.
- Manual
Use the providers interface. Mandatory with Google.
- Automated PC (Personal Computer ;)
Use a third party software product. There are approved third party software tools for most major PPC providers with Overture of course being the largest. We utilize [url=" http://www.seoconsultants.com/ppc-bid-management/bidrank.htm" ]BidRank[/url]. We pretty much control all bids throughout a given 24 hour period. The program runs from your PC and you can set it to do whatever you want during that 24 hour period. Keep in mind that Overture allows only 24 automated queries per day so you need to plan those accordingly.
- Automated ASP (Application Service Provider)
Use a third party application. There are approved third party application providers. Do a search in Google for PPC Management or Pay Per Click Management and you should find quite a few relevant sites. These run from a server and give you 24/7/365 access and functionality. They are usually more costly than purchasing software to run from your PC. If you don' t mind leaving your computer on 24/7 with a reboot every now and then, software may be the way to go.
Whatever you do, don' t be discouraged too quickly. It takes a little time to get the hang of it. And, if you don' t want to get the hang of it, there are many consultants who will assist you and manage your campaign for a fee, that is a fourth option when budget permits. And, if your spend is large enough, Overture will assign an account manager to do it all for you. I would be cautious about that last approach, only you know what is in your best interest. ;)
Here are a group of articles we have at the directory that discuss the various programs available and how to best approach them.
[url=" http://www.seoconsultants.com/articles/1383/pay-per-click-programs.htm" ]Pay Per Click Advertising Programs[/url]
< Message edited by pageoneresults -- 7/16/2003 8:23:08 PM >
_____________________________
SEO Consultants Directory
Find Search Engine Marketing Companies
| |
|
|
|
toniallen
Posts: 27
Joined: 7/4/2003
Status: offline
|
RE: Pay Per Clickers Anonymous - 7/16/2003 21:03:49
Well written and informative post, pageone. :)
I actually thought overture would cost more than $100 to start out. (Don' t know why I thought that.) Maybe Ill do a bit more research into that option.
Thanks and take care,
Toni
_____________________________
| |
|
 New Messages |
 No New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/ New Messages |
 Hot Topic w/o New Messages |
 Locked w/ New Messages |
 Locked w/o New Messages |
|
Post New Thread
Reply to Message
Post New Poll
Submit Vote
Delete My Own Post
Delete My Own Thread
Rate Posts
|
|
|
Printable Version 
