Tag: Cpc

Adwords content network – how to use it

I was recently reading some interesting stuff about the content network and set up a new adgroup to re-visit it. As an experiment. Running the exact same text add I use on my search adwords campaign

Here’s what I found….

 

For many years now I automatically disable the google content network when setting up an adwords campaign. I figured its just not worth it having blown a few hundred dollars and gotten no-where

Where as search always gets me a good clickthrough rate and ROI, the content network was harder to use, understand and monitor. Too much effort for too little return

However I was recently reading some interesting stuff about the content network and set up a new adgroup to re-visit it. As an experiment. Running the exact same text add I use on my search adwords campaign

The content network works but only if….

Here’s what I found: it’s much much better than I remember. Maybe I just understand it better now. I was not able to produce the same volume of click throughs as search but the CPC (Cost per click) was 1/3 of search.

Yes 1/3! That’s a BIG saving.

It’s not all good news as the quality of click through varies depending on where your adword listing runs. In my case it was much lower and so the cheaper CPC was not really an advantage – it ended up being much the same return.

I am sure that with a few weeks of monitoring this could be tweaked up.

I even had the idea of writing specific ads referring more closely to the site the ad will appear on. Haven’t tried this yet but say I select my ad to run on sites abc.com.au and cde.com.au why not have a bit in the text of the ad which specifically relates to those sites? That would increase click throughs I am sure.  ( maybe special offer for readers of ABC website )

Like I said I haven’t done this yet and it may possible not be allowed :> If you want to try it go ahead and let me know what happens.

The Adwords Content Network: An Alternative to Banner Ads?

One other thing I did love about content network is I can use it as a banner ad network. See it will display graphic ads as well as text ads. So you can put together a nice banner ad and have it show on the top of some fairly major sites. All for a fraction of the cost that it would be if you approached the site directly and bought banner impressions.

For example: I ran an end of financial year banner (30 June here in Australia) and got a lot of click through at a very low price.  Conversions were not so good – but that’s probably more to do with the ad and the offer than anything else.

As mentioned above some split testing would refine that down.

Final thoughts on Adwords and the Content Network

In summary
  1. Don’t write off the content network option in adwords.  It can be very effective
  2. Be prepared to do some split testing and research as the audience it reaches is much different from search network. This could bring a  much lower CPC and good return
  3. Do you have a banner? Throw it up on the content network. It’s cheaper than buying banner impressions!

In conclusion I am now using the content network to supplement the ads I run in search. As time progresses I’ll refine it down to an add or banner that works well.

But in a small business it is a case of juggling priorities- chances are I’ll have my customers campaigns running well first as part of their website marketing strategies

I’d love to hear anyone elses feedback as findings. Post a comment!
Regards

Ronald Sayegh

for web design you can afford

To PPC or not PPC

You can quite easily spend thousands on adwords for little in return.
Learn how to do it right.

PPC (Pay per click) describes any ad where you pay everytime someone clicks on your ad and goes to your website. The biggest and best known of these is Adwords

You will have seen these “sponsored” ads down the RHS and along the top of google search pages. They represent an almost instant way to get your site listed on the front page of google for any keyword (if you have enough money)

Money is the point here – you can quite easily spend thousands on adwords for little in return.

BUT.. do it well and its a never ending flow of qualified traffic to your site. Nothing compares to the control adwords gives you.

So if you have a website and you need traffic to make some money from it (!) then you absolutely should do adwords.  But do it right. You’re going to have to learn the ropes in order to do it yourself or outsource it to someone else.  Even then you should still have an idea of what is required

Where to Start

I highly recommend you visit Perry Marshall’s website. He is the acknowledged king of adwords.  And whilst I don’t always agree with him on his marketing philosophies I trust his adwords advice completely. Buy his book – it’s a bargain – or at least sign up for his free newsletter course.

Go there now!

Then just get started : Perry will tell you everything you need to know and do.

OR if you prefer go here and let me do it for you. I get about 30-50% of my traffic from adwords. I can do the same for you
http://www.webdesignspecialist.com.au/pages/search-engine-marketing.php

regards

Ronald Sayegh
www.webdesignspecialist.com.au
webdesign you can afford