I want to try some Google PPC ads on other sites but don't know what i'm doing.

[mark_baird]

We have seen a massive drop in traffic this year and i am contemplation using banner ads to try to increase sales and also to help with marketing. the problem is i know nothing about doing this. I have used it in the past but to limited success and i was just stabbing in the dark.

I have a few questions.

• Am i better to target keywords related to the product or to the people who may buy my products?
• Is it better for direct sales or brand awareness?
• What kind of ROI can i expect if i get it working well?
• Is it better to pay for the big keywords or pic all the low hanging fruit?
• Does it work?
• Should i employ an expert, are they worth it?

Any insights into the world of PPc would be a massive help.

[PaddyDisplays]

Hi Mark

I'm assuming it only banner ads which you are looking advice with.

We started banner ads a few weeks ago, with mixed success (so far).  I would recommend remarketing, it converts well.  I would guess there is a little bit of cannibalation going on, but I still think it works (reminds customers of you, and make you look like a big brand)

Because of our industry the categories/topic are usless to us.  (In my last job in the furniture industry, we found the categories/topic more useful)

The Keywords are very tricky because you will find you ads appearing on sites that have little to do with you business, just happens to have the word on the page. So far we have not had a conversion yet from keywords, but a free "ad seen and converted".  I'm also having problems with analytics's picking up all the banner clicks, but I think its because of a quick bounce (analytic does not even get loaded to record the bounce)

I would start with a very small range of keywords and monitor it closely and use negative keywords and block site that are no good to you (flash game site are the worst for 100% bounce rate).

We started in on region, and once we are happy with the banner campaigns we are going to expand them out (we are already going to expand the remarketing campaign as its working)

Hope this helps

[RobertFisher]

Mark,

First this is a great question and I truly appreciate your being real and saying hey, I am a bit lost here. Everyone gets lost in this world and by saying it you help them out.

Premio Oscar gives a lot of good advice here. He is exactly right IMO. For you and your business, I would suggest you take a couple of small steps and then go forward as the way seems to point. A cautionary is that when one says 'qualified' it can mean many things when a salesperson is in front of you. Here is what I would tell you if you are a small(er) business person.

First, if the company you are going to do PPC with has: A directory, a book, etc. I would pass.

If the company does it all SEO/PPC/WebDesign AND they do not tell you which keywords they are buying, show you true Google Analytics/Adwords docs on same and the spend is a fixed monthly amount on a term contract, I would pass (OK, I would laugh and then pass).

By qualified, based on the answer he gave I believe PremioOscar is saying: A person who is devoted to PPC or a firm that has people who can tell you: we created this ad group, it goes to this landing page, (Question them if it is just a page on your site and especially your home page), we are spending this much as our max per click, etc. Our spend resulted in these specific KW's doing well and these sucked. etc.

You want someone/ some firm who is a pro. If they are pushing you into contextual they have to tell you the breakdown of % contextual (search partners, adsense) vs. search and they HAVE to tell you what they have included and WHY and just as more importantly - what they EXCLUDED. (Otherwise you will be on every dog and pony site in the universe and you will get traffic...that does not buy.)

If you have ever worked with an agency, you have likely paid fees like 18 to 20% of the spend and I will tell you that if the fee is that low and you are not spending 5 figures plus per month or more, you are underpaying and that should bother you (unless maybe it is a lone individual who is adwords certified or particularly bright and has little or no overhead). I would expect to pay 30% and pay it gladly - disclosure I work in an agency (please do not take this as a pitch - I am giving disclosure only - I cannot take on your PPC). The reason for the 30% is again, PremioOscar's: _It does work if done properly, but it takes time, patience and a hell of a lot of DAILY work. _There is no BARGAIN true ppc in my opinion. Aggregation of a 1000 clients into $500 + per month spends typically means there is no transparency, it's mostly contextual or on "their" properties, and the commission they are actually making is well above 30%. Did I say Well Above?

Premio's comment about the work, patience, and time is great; I have not seen a better cautionary lately.

I wish you success, thanks for a great question to start the day,

Robert

[PremioOscar]

Hello there,

If your experience in PPC is very limited, I'd suggest you to seek help from qualified people otherwise you might end up spending lots of money without getting anything out of it.

Before getting started on keyword research you need to define your target audience, how do they search your product? what queries do they type (data available from analytics)? Who are your competitors? What are they doing in terms of PPC?? BUT first of all you have to define your objectives! Why do you want to do it? Drive traffic? Increase awareness? ROI?

After you have set your objectives you can decide what sorts of keywords you want to target (for example if traffic is want you want, you might be targeting general keywords; if sales is what you want, you'll be looking to target long tail keywords.

PPC campaigns work for both sales and awareness, depends how you do it and depends on what your objectives are.

The ROI you can get depends on many variables, and it takes a bit of time to get the ball rolling and create a very well optimized/organized account that makes money

Paying for High Volume keywords or Long tail ones depends once again on your objectives. (and budget).

It does work if done properly, but it takes time, patience and a hell of a lot of DAILY work.

In my opinion if you are not experienced in it, seek advice and help from professional, setting up account and campaigns is a crucial part of your future success.