Hi there.

I've just read a lot of threads about the Google Adwords advertising. Some people don't like it, some people do.

There're also many good tips about making your ads more specific, showing them on google search pages only, etc.

But noone suggests to go with some big keyword (web hosting, for example) and pay those high $$$ for click.

Of course, I completely agree that choosing the "smaller" keywords would increase your ROI, but who goes with those "inernational", huge keywords, which are extremely expensive ?

Or maybe let's jus face the ROI we're looking for ? For me it would be OK to get the money spent for 1 customer within, let's say 10-12 months.

In how many months it's ok for you to cover the money you spent to attract the customer ?

p.s. Sorry for my English.

If you have a look in the "other offers and requests forum" here at wht there are loads of coupons for google adwords going for very little eg: http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=514288 where camay123 is selling $109 of adwords for $7. So you could bid big although pay little.

Hope that Helps

Thanks a lot for this :) yeah, this whole coupon selling game is insane :)

But I'd like to see the ROI which is "acceptable" for other hosting owners. ROI with Google.


p.s. Why I ask for ROI, not for the "money spent to attract 1 customer". I've seen the number $45 for 1 customer and $85 for 1 customer in 2 different threads here. But hey, it depends on a lot of things, right ? Your design/texts, your plans price, etc. So those numbers don't show anything.

And one more thought: I see some people rely on the word-of-mouth. I think that the word-of-mouth is just a bonus. And this bonus get's bigger when your name gets recognized with time.

But you can't do the marketing strategy with that ? How can you do the plan for the word-of-mouth ? It looks just impossible to me.

Is this growth theme not really interesting ? :\

And one more thought: I see some people rely on the word-of-mouth. I think that the word-of-mouth is just a bonus. And this bonus get's bigger when your name gets recognized with time.

But you can't do the marketing strategy with that ? How can you do the plan for the word-of-mouth ? It looks just impossible to me.
In my mind, word of mouth is not just a bonus, it is a marketing strategy. And like all strategies, it requires planning to do it right.

For example, if you want to increase word of mouth marketing you'll make sure your current customers have good reason to talk about you. That means you continually strive to exceed their expectations. And managing expectations require a lot of planning sometimes. You’ll also directly ask customers to refer you, and reward them for it. The only time word of mouth becomes a bonus is if you leave it to chance – and in business you should not leave much to chance.

In my mind, word of mouth is not just a bonus, it is a marketing strategy. And like all strategies, it requires planning to do it right.

For example, if you want to increase word of mouth marketing you'll make sure your current customers have good reason to talk about you. That means you continually strive to exceed their expectations. And managing expectations require a lot of planning sometimes. You’ll also directly ask customers to refer you, and reward them for it. The only time word of mouth becomes a bonus is if you leave it to chance – and in business you should not leave much to chance.


Good opinion and here's mine :) :

1. You have to go over the customers expectations wether you want the word of mouth or not. Just to have your churn rate in some acceptable level. If they don't like you, it won't only be a bad word of mouth but also a big churn rate, which will downgrade your income, etc.

2. Rewards are not the word of mouth. It's just a partnership program and you don't really care if they talk to some friends or promote you through their sites. So rewarding isn't the word of mouth IMO.

Good opinion and here's mine :) :

1. You have to go over the customers expectations wether you want the word of mouth or not. Just to have your churn rate in some acceptable level. If they don't like you, it won't only be a bad word of mouth but also a big churn rate, which will downgrade your income, etc.

2. Rewards are not the word of mouth. It's just a partnership program and you don't really care if they talk to some friends or promote you through their sites. So rewarding isn't the word of mouth IMO.
When you give people what they expect they stay. When you exceed that, that is when they talk - and that is easier said than done.

A partnership implies that both parties benefit from the agreement. In my case, most of my business is from word of mouth. However, I've yet to pay anyone for a referral - the only benefit they get is a good feeling:) . I reward referrals by thanking them personally, sending thank you notes and the like.

I've made it a marketing strategy, plan for it and know it can have good results.

When you give people what they expect they stay. When you exceed that, that is when they talk - and that is easier said than done.

A partnership implies that both parties benefit from the agreement. In my case, most of my business is from word of mouth. However, I've yet to pay anyone for a referral - the only benefit they get is a good feeling:) . I reward referrals by thanking them personally, sending thank you notes and the like.

I've made it a marketing strategy, plan for it and know it can have good results.


ACW, man, I know it works. Especially with the time.

But can you project the sales with the word of mouth ? I think you can't. You can't know if you will have 10 new clients tomorrow or not. And with marketing strategy you really can (if your statistics is pretty accurate).

I agree that you should use the word of mouth. I do not agree with someone who's completely relying on it. You saw a lot of people, some of them have 100 clients within the 1st year, some of them have 10. So you just can't project.

Maybe it's just me but it's much better for me to think that tomorrow I will have 10 clients for sure because of marketing and maybe they will attract 10 more if I will serve them good. Maybe it's just me.

Btw, what monthly churn rate you've got ?

I saw some numbers like 10%/month. That's too much, IMO. 3-5% looks more real to me.

If you do a search on my previous posts you will see that I have a small customer base by design. As a result I hardly ever loose a customer. They may change plans and the like, but they hardly ever leave.

A few weeks ago I received a notice from one of my oldest clients (they've been with me around five years) that they were no longer going to need my services as of the end of this month because they were closing the business. That is the first time in the last six months. There are two others that I remember I canceled for non payment. But I can't think of any that has left to a competitor - it may have happened but I simply can't remember one.

BTW – guess how he found me – word of mouth. I’m not saying that it is all peaches and cream. It is certainly rough at times. But I've never expected nor relied on a number of daily or even weekly signups. I've selected the slow and steady route and I'm pleased with it.

If you have a look in the "other offers and requests forum" here at wht there are loads of coupons for google adwords going for very little This is a little off topic, but a word of warning regarding buying AdWords vouchers. Those vouchers are good only for new accounts, so a lot of the sources selling them advise that buyers should open a new account to use a voucher. And some people even take that as far as opening several new accounts and using a new voucher for each one.

So the warning is: Google's policy on the vouchers is that they're one per customer, not one per account. And their AdWords policy is one account per person or business unless you contact them for an exception (or you are signed up as a "Google Advertising Professional").

Bottom line: if you open one or more additional accounts in order to use a voucher, you're risking having all of your accounts terminated.

I throw my opinion in on this...

Going after big targeted keywords is a gamble. You have to find out how much your packages can profit you and balance it off by how much you are going to spend. If you spend $200 per day on advertising and you have 5 people sign up that day you better make sure your packages start at $40.00 or have to kind of incentive or your loosing money per day.

I've seen people run advertising like this, which in a month or so it will balance out and start to make profit. But if you run your Adwords like this expect a big loss your first 1 - 4 months. Your talking about thousands of dollars in the whole, before you will remake that money on customer renewing every month.

or you are signed up as a "Google Advertising Professional")

Good point and I strongly recommend anyone to get a Advertising Professional account if you are spending more than a few thousand dollars per month, and/or need more than a few accounts.

Back to the strong keywords for a minute....

You also have to remember when you are targeting very popular keywords, you are going to be advertising against very huge compaines. Than can spend over $4.00 per click.. the point being is.. can you? Is it cost affective for you to spend $4.00 per click and receive 50 clicks in a day at $200.. how many customers can you get? And how long would it take you to regain your money in renewals?

Its best to find nitche keywords that are still popular, but not a lot of competition. Find about 15 of those, and you could be very successfull. I advertise for a few web hosting companies and use a few keywords at $.25 CPC and easily receive 200 clicks per day. $50.00 for 200 clicks can easily get you 5 sign-ups at $20.00 and you made your money back on the same day... and it increase every month.

Very good instructions, RealtorHost.

Thanks for sharing the info ;)

This is a little off topic, but a word of warning regarding buying AdWords vouchers. Those vouchers are good only for new accounts, so a lot of the sources selling them advise that buyers should open a new account to use a voucher. And some people even take that as far as opening several new accounts and using a new voucher for each one.

So the warning is: Google's policy on the vouchers is that they're one per customer, not one per account. And their AdWords policy is one account per person or business unless you contact them for an exception (or you are signed up as a "Google Advertising Professional").

Bottom line: if you open one or more additional accounts in order to use a voucher, you're risking having all of your accounts terminated.

Thanks for the 'heads up' on this.

Bottom line: if you open one or more additional accounts in order to use a voucher, you're risking having all of your accounts terminated.

Its a good point to throw out there, as its technically true. Although I have yet to see a case where Google will terminate your accounts as a paying customer. I use vouchers all the time with various companies I do business with. Heck google sends me atleast 20 vouchers a month and I use them with companies that I alread opened up accounts with. Just today, I used 3 vouchers for the same company. Although I can't guarantee they won't terminate your account, I find it highly doubtful.