Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Running a Web Hosting Business : Adwords sold out ??

[thomas.smith]

With the per click prices I am paying on Adwords I used to be on around 7th postion like 4 months ago. Now I am on 12th position. I am still getting the same amount of visitors though but am concerned that if it goes on like that one day you have to pay those insane $5 per click prices if you want traffic from Adwords. What do you think ? Is Adwords sold out ?

[ldcdc]

I am still getting the same amount of visitors though but am concerned that if it goes on like that one day you have to pay those insane $5 per click prices if you want traffic from Adwords.

Insane? Not if your customer's lifetime worth is high enough for you to afford to pay such advertising prices.

Maybe advertising is not too expensive, maybe the profit margins are too small. Or maybe the sales closure rate is too low and you should work on the copy you're using...

What do you think ? Is Adwords sold out ?

If you look at it from Google's point of view, your post shows that Adwords is still in its blossoming period.

[UH-Matt]

$5/click is cheap. Its highly targetted visits and if your sites working correctly then conversion from adword clicks is great!

$5/click is almost our MINIMUM spend, if you can spend $5-10 and gain 1 client out of it then thats very cheap and money well spent!

[ldcdc]

There you go!

[UH-Matt]

If course... it also depends on the price you sell hosting for.

[thomas.smith]

>$5/click is almost our MINIMUM spend, if you can spend $5-10
>and gain 1 client out of it then thats very cheap and money well
>spent!

That means your conversion ratio is around 75%. Is that right ?

[thomas.smith]

I just looked at it again and found I mad a mistake while looking at my campaign I used to get a lot impressions for a certain keyword where I was ranking 3rd but now I am getting many impressions from another keyword where I am on 13th position. I though my ranking decreased because instead of looking at the ranking of the specific keyword I looked at the total ranking which decreased due to the fact that I was getting more traffic from another keyword where I am ranking lower...

Puh... I was really scared

[Turboz]

$5 per click? - and then I wonder why I was getting zilch.

Seriously how many times can you afford to pay $5 per click in each day? - I know google lets you set a limit but last time I tried google it ran up over $60 costs on a $2.50 per day budget - within 5 days I might add.

Google really tried to google me out of my hard earned cash.

-Turboz - I mean Googled Turboz.

[9XNet]

If google is taking $5 click they are ripping Adwords users and Adsense publishers off, Im droping Google from my site.

[ldcdc]

it also depends on the price you sell hosting for.

Of course Matt.

That means your conversion ratio is around 75%. Is that right ?

I doubt it he gets that kind of conversion ratio. If he does, that must be some kind of a record. I think he meant that $5-10 per click is OK from his point of view.

[UH-Matt]

No no no, not 75% conversion.

[AdWatcher-Boris]

Thomas,

The fact that the click prices are growing is nothing new. As PPC advertising becomes more and more popular, companies jump on the bandwagon and obviously, the prices increase.

The key to this is that the visitor that used to cost .50c a few years ago is now the exact the same quality as a click that costs $5. The difference, however, is that good advertisers have become a lot more meticulous about their advertising and constantly finetune their campaigns, their websites, their sales process, keywords, etc.

Ultimately, we all have to accept that the prices will continue to increase, but as of now, Google AdWords and Overture still hold tremendous potential.

There is a guy, called Kevin Gold, that wrote a 3-part article called:

What to Do When Your Pay per Click Keyword Bids Increase?

If you Google the term, you'll find it. It's a very good read.

Matt, I also wanted to respond to your comment. Honestly speaking, I don't think that $5 per click is cheap. As long as it delivers conversions and brings you actual profit, it's a worthwhile expenditure, but I'd say that your ads are not performing up to their potential, if you pay so much.

From my experience in the hosting market and the Pay Per Click advertising industry, I don't think that you should settle for $5 clicks.

Hosting industry is a competitive one, but when it comes down to PPC, too many large companies simply aim for the top positions and plunk down as much money as it takes without carefully analyzing and tuning their campaigns. This is especially important on AdWords, because you can get higher positions and pay less than your competition, if your ads get a high CTR.

Just my $0.02

Boris

[bqinternet]

Originally posted by WebDogPro
If google is taking $5 click they are ripping Adwords users and Adsense publishers off, Im droping Google from my site.

Google isn't ripping off anyone with $5 clicks. These keywords are auctioned off to the highest bidders, and lots of people are willing to pay $5/click, considering it to be cheap. If you pay $5 per click, and have a 10% conversion rate, you're only paying $50 per sale.

[lifehost]

Originally posted by AdWatcher-Boris
Matt, I also wanted to respond to your comment. Honestly speaking, I don't think that $5 per click is cheap. As long as it delivers conversions and brings you actual profit, it's a worthwhile expenditure, but I'd say that your ads are not performing up to their potential, if you pay so much.

I agree. $5/click is great if you're really getting the ROI from it, but it's definitely possible to put together an effective campaign with a smaller CPC, and smaller companies should not be discouraged from competing on Adwords. I'm getting over 75,000 clicks/month from Adwords (for various sites--not all hosting related) and paying no more than an average of 8 cents per click. It's a great value but it does take some WORK

[thomas.smith]

>paying no more than an average of 8 cents per click

I used to have a campaign like that. I got it by accepting traffic from all the world (search + Adsense). I got a lot of cheap traffic but only few sales. Now I am only taking traffic from civilized countries and getting much better results although my CPC is around 0.30. I am paying less for the campaign and getting more sales.