Pay Per Click Analysis Tips

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What can large search engines teach me about pay per click results?

Think Big in Pay Per Click Analysis

While your pay per click bid management strategy should wisely target less popular but more specific keywords, the same isn't true for pay per click search engines. The major PPC search engines, namely Overture and Google AdWords, are giants for a reason.

It isn't worth it to have glowing pay per click reports on SearchFeed or a PPC search engine your former college roommate (the one who has a voodoo doll of Bill Gates) has invented. It isn't worth the time drain until you've actually checked the pay per click tool offered by Google AdWords or Overture. Your keyword that happens to be #1 on your friend's PPC search engine may be #51 on Overture and even SearchFeed. Pay per click analysis of your ROI may show sales from your friend's search engine, but when you look at the same targeted keyword on Google AdWords and see the conversion rate, you know that thinking small doesn't pay off.

Bear in mind that your friend's search engine may be a junk PPC engine, in which case you need to drop the campaign and your friend…fast.

   
Do you recommend bidding on local keywords?

Keeping It Local

If your Web site has “Philadelphia” anywhere in the title or copy, by all means put out a pay per click bid for Philadelphia. But remember visitors on, say, FindWhat and Overture can search for local keywords, so your keyword bid management strategy should take this into account. You might even find that your PPC bid management shows Philadelphia underperforming, while searches for your product keywords, say steel widgets, consistently deliver high conversion rates at a lower cost per click. Make a bid management decision as to whether it's worth keeping “Philadelphia” in your keyword stable. If you market to other areas of Pennsylvania, your pay per click bid management can track whether searches for those specific areas yield better results than searches for Philadelphia.

   
How do I know if my #1 ranked keyword actually delivers traffic?

Testing, Testing, Testing

In pay per click analysis for your optimal pay per click bid management, the rule is test, test, test.

If your keyword is #1 on Overture (and you've spent big PPC dollars to get there), don't just assume the #1 spot will automatically turn your results to gold. Your pay per click report may show that your conversion rate is 10%. This may sound good (a 1% response is usually considered favorable in direct marketing), until you test the #2 or #5 keyword listing and discover that according to those pay per click reports, your competitor's keyword has a 20% conversion rate.

Many pay per click bid management services and software programs have built-in a pay per click tool that tracks ROI and conversion rates with automated testing. But there's still no substitute for doing it yourself.

   
What are junk pay per click search engines and how do they ruin my pay per click analysis?

Junk Pay Per Click Search Engines

A junk pay per click search engine is to pay per click bid management what junk e-mail is to a legitimate targeted e-mail campaign. Don't go there.

Your pay per click report from a junk pay per click search engine may show a 50 percent conversion rate from the keyword “drumming circle music,” a keyword that the junk engine's pay per click tool shows is number 1 in the searches. But check the pay per click reports from FindWhat and you'll probably see that “drumming circle music” has a 20 percent conversion rate and a #7 ranking. Your pay per click analysis across your various PPC search engines, particularly if you use an automated solution, shows similar metrics across the bigger name search engines. You've just fallen prey to a junk pay per click search engine.

Pay per click junk search engines create several Web sites with no content and just use the top general words for specific categories, then direct traffic to your site. Once you stop listing your site with these scam engines, your conversion rates will soar, particularly since you'll change your keyword strategy.

   
What tools can I use to analyze my pay per click results?

Pay Per Click Analysis Tools

Pay per click services Google AdWords and Overture each provide, free of charge, their own pay per click tool to help you in your pay per click bid management. Using such built-in pay per click analysis to generate pay per click reports is a smart insider strategy.

To receive each pay per click report for Google AdWords or Overture, you place a small amount of code (about the size of this tip) on your site. The caveat is that each pay per click tool will only work for the PPC search engine that provides it. However, Overture does provide its own Marketing Console and several pay per click services such as BidRank provide independent tracking tools.

   
Does the ranking of the pay per click search engine affect my pay per click results?

Analyzing the PPC Search Engines

Your pay per click reports show a high clickthrough rate for “taiko drums.” However, you might have forgotten to factor your PPC search engine into your pay per click analysis. Suppose, for example, that GHI.com pay per click search engine delivers results for “taiko drums,” but isn't a popular search engine according to Alexa.com. In terms of a good pay per click tool, you can't afford to skip Alexa.

In pay per click bid management, your bids are only as good as the search engines you bid on. The larger search engines, such as Overture, FindWhat, Shopping.com, and Kanoodle are successful for a reason. Now put down that pay per click report for GHI.com and pay attention to FindWhat.

   
What is PPC split testing and how does it help PPC analysis?

Split Testing

In split testing, you compare pay per click report results between two marketing channels in realtime. You can create two ads in Google AdWords for two different sites using the same text within the same ad group, and then perform pay per click analysis on each ad. Say for example that you create an ad for xylophones in the Musical Instruments group, and then place the ad on ABC.com and DEF.com. In realtime you can look at the pay per click reports and determine that keyword “wood xylophone” performs better on site DEF.com. Aha! The pay per click tool of split testing has just shown you that DEF.com attracts more people interested in buying a wood xylophone. You can adjust your pay per click bid management accordingly.

A caveat: Turn off ad syndication and auto optimization, sicne these may throw off your pay per click report results.

   
How does my actual Web site help or hinder my conversion results?

Don't Neglect Your Web Site Logs

News flash: Your Web site is your most effective pay per click tool, and the one you most overlook.

Your pay per click report for, say, FindWhat indicates your site gets a steady stream of hits from your #7 ranked keyword, which your pay per click bid management strategy has made as specific to your business as possible.

There's just one little problem. While you bury your nose in pay per click reports, you forget to look at your Web site and see that the text size turns off 90 percent of unique visitors. Or perhaps your Web site text doesn't even mention the keyword you've bid on. No wonder that most of your visitors leave without even looking at your terrific anti-wrinkle cream. Your conversion results hover near zero.

Most slick pay per click analysis tools don't factor the site visitor into the equation. Study your Web site logs as part of your pay per click analysis, and make changes to your site. For starters, get rid of that cool font, and make sure the phrase “anti-wrinkle cream” is actually on the home page or wherever your site visitors land.

   
Why is per-keyword analysis the best method to determine keyword effectiveness?

Per Keyword Pay Per Click Analysis

When studying your pay per click reports, you need to evaluate your keyword ROI on a per keyword basis. Your pay per click analysis will pay off if you spend your time measuring the effectiveness of each keyword.

If your pay per click report for “wood xylophone” reveals that there are more clickthroughs on that term than on the more popular one “musical instruments,” you've just zeroed in on a pay per click tool that can guide your pay per click bid management.

You may have bid $1 for “musical instruments” and .05 for “wood xylophone.” If “wood xylophone” receives five times as many clickthroughs as “musical instruments,” your cost per click is lower and your ROI higher, so it makes sense to consider dropping “musical instruments” from your PPC campaign. That's why, in pay per click analysis, keyword analysis is the best method to maximize your keyword ROI.

   
How much time should I spend on my pay per click analysis?

Pay Per Click Analysis and Time Management

In business, time management has become a science, but it still depends on what your priorities are. Likewise, pay per click bid management depends on the time you're willing and/or able to devote. This is doubly true when it comes to pay per click analysis. You may decide to spend two hours on one pay per click report, which can be impractical when you have 50 orders to fill, 100 customer e-mails and the phones ringing off the hook. You might also scan your pay per click reports when you have a spare moment, which may not be the best solution either.

On the other hand, if you need to devote three hours to pay per click analysis and your business can allow you that time, do it. Even then, consider investing in a pay per click tool that tracks and analyzes your results. If you delegate this job to a marketing expert, service or software, insist on regular progress reports.

   
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