Adwords IS NOT a SCAM!! It's all about SEO!!

[gregdavidson]

Most of you who already know how Adwords works will think I'm stupid for posting this. For all you newcomers like myself, this should help you out. I recently started a new campaign for my new e-book which falls in the category of "wholesale". When I first setup my account I loaded up every single keyword/phrase from the Adwords Tool that was related to wholesale. At first, they ran my keywords for $.15 a click. Just when I thought it was all set, I checked my account again and noticed that every single keyword went up to $1.00-$10.00 a click!! The only keyword that didn't go up to that price was "wholesale sources". I looked back over my sales page and noticed that my title, meta tags, and content were saturated with the phrase "wholesale sources". So basically, if you want to get an affordable CPC for a highly competitive keyword, you have to optimize your entire website for that EXACT keyword. This will bring down your MINIMUM CPC to it's lowest. Optimize your web pages and get as many relevant backlinks as possible. This is the SECRET of using Adwords. So if you are a member of one of these Adwords Scam websites, you can cancel your membership and tell everyone what they're overlooking which is the BASICS.

[vstar]

Another reason why you should set up different adgroups for different sets of keywords and create a seperate a relevant landing page for each adgroup

It's all about relevance ;)

[gregdavidson]

BTW How do you get Adwords to re-analyze your website? Just made some optimization changes.

[argothiusz]

It's call Google Slap if you promote a site that is completely not relevant to your campaign.

[gregdavidson]

But you need the EXACT keywords in your website. For example, my website is related to wholesale dropshippers but I don't use that keyword/phrase anywhere on my landing page.

[gregdavidson]

If you use the keywords you want but your website is not optimized enough you will be looking at $1.00 a click minimum. After you optimize your website more it will go down to as low as $.10 a click MINIMUM!

[digi1]

WOW, what a surprise , I never thought that the CPC had anything to do with the optimization of my website !!???

I thought the CPC was only related to how much competition there is for a keyword ....

Does Adwords mentions this anywhere ?

[robertpriolo]

keyword and landing page relevance directly effects the min CPC. If you are being google slapped, it is because the messaging in not transparent from keyword, to text ad to landing page.

Also, wholesale sources has been associated with a lot of scams in the past, and google is aware of this, which they will be keeping a close eye on for those types of keywords.

If they think your selling something that provides no value, you will continue to get slapped.

[gregdavidson]

That's what I'm saying! Google needs to put that right on the login/signup page. They need to put in big, bold, letters: PLEASE OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE TO GET THE LOWEST CPC POSSIBLE. It's not entirely about how much the bidding is because you can get slapped with a $10.00 CPC for a key phrase like "doggy computer" if your website doesn't have the phrase anywhere in the titles or content. But then again, even if you have the lowest CPC possible which is maybe $.05 a click, you won't get as much exposure as other websites. Especially in competitive niches.

[humbleman]

you can try use exact keyword in ppc but the ppc cpc will be higher but the keyword will be targeted.

[robertpriolo]

That's what I'm saying! Google needs to put that right on the login/signup page. They need to put in big, bold, letters: PLEASE OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE TO GET THE LOWEST CPC POSSIBLE. It's not entirely about how much the bidding is because you can get slapped with a $10.00 CPC for a key phrase like "doggy computer" if your website doesn't have the phrase anywhere in the titles or content. But then again, even if you have the lowest CPC possible which is maybe $.05 a click, you won't get as much exposure as other websites. Especially in competitive niches.

now why would google do that? They don't care if everyone gets a low CPC. They would rather bury the information and let those wise enough to figure it out, figure it out.

[purdue512]

This is what happens when a business has no competition... Sigh...

[gregdavidson]

Also, if your CPC is at $1.00 minimum, that means your website is somewhat optimized for those keywords/phrases but needs a little more work.

[nedim]

This is some information. I have just tried to work with this method, and it really works. More than a half of my keywords doesn't worked before, because it was a high bid for them, and after optimizing, it works like a charm and I have just 4 keyword they are not active because they are searching much money for it.
Thanks for this information and God bless You :)

[gregdavidson]

Hey, I'm glad I could help you. Also, I was curious, are you in a competitive niche? Can't seem to get some of the keywords out of the $1 minimum CPC even after a little optimization. Also, how many backlinks do you have to your website? It may be because the only optimization I have is on the website page.

[deadlychaos25]

Does our CPC increases if the keyword completely matches to the landing page ?

[gregdavidson]

Well, just do what you would normally do to optimize a website. Add the keywords you're going for in your title, meta tags, and throughout your content. Also, build up relevant backlinks to your website.

[gregdavidson]

BTW I wrote about the website I'm trying to promote in my blog which is also wholesale-related. I'm just testing it right now to see if the keywords have a lower CPC since my blog has some PR and is more optimized than my sales page.

[DPGBB]

Well, just do what you would normally do to optimize a website. Add the keywords you're going for in your title, meta tags, and throughout your content. Also, build up relevant backlinks to your website.

Hi Greg,

What have relevant backlinks got to do with PPC?

[gregdavidson]

Relevant backlinks have to do with SEO which is what Adwords is all about.

[robertpriolo]

Relevant backlinks have to do with SEO which is what Adwords is all about.

LOL... adwords has nothing to do with SEO. SEO is for natural listings, not paid for listings. back links will have no effect on your quality score or minimum bid price.

If you want low minimum cpcs just make sure your keywords matches what your text ad says and your text ad matches what your landing page says.

Have a good title, transparent promotional ads, an about us and a privacy policy. This should about do it.

[gregdavidson]

I was just guessing that and didn't know for sure. Also, isn't what you just described optimizing your web page for the keywords you want?

[gregdavidson]

BTW How does the whole "quality ranking" thing come into play?

[nevmoscoso]

Never depend on adwords that much... it drives you traffic as long as you have remaining account.

[DPGBB]

I was just guessing that and didn't know for sure. Also, isn't what you just described optimizing your web page for the keywords you want?
Hi Greg,

Might be a good idea in future to prefix your guesses with "I am guessing...." that way everyone will know that it's a shot in the dark :D

[CustardMite]

Whilst it's true that nobody knows EXACTLY how Google determines your minimum bids, they are fairly clear about it (in general terms at least).

If you want to know how to get a low minimum bid, I'd suggest reading this:

http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=49174

More specifically to this discussion, the requirements and guidelines for a 'good' landing page are here:

http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=46675

Backlinks aren't relevant to PPC, but content is.

[magda]

There really is such a strange mix of information and mis-information in this thread.
Adwords has nothing to do with off-page SEO - not backlinks, not pagerank.
However, the things you do for on-page SEO are the same sort of things you need to do to make a landing page relevant - and google do keep trying to tell you that - it's what the quality score is all about.

[gregdavidson]

Yes, the SEO thing does work. I now have highly competitive keywords like "wholesale" for about $.10-$.15 a click. Unfotunately I am still in a competitive niche and despite the fact that I have a low CPC, I still will not get much exposure unless I bid higher.

[digi1]

There really is such a strange mix of information and mis-information in this thread.
Adwords has nothing to do with off-page SEO - not backlinks, not pagerank.
However, the things you do for on-page SEO are the same sort of things you need to do to make a landing page relevant - and google do keep trying to tell you that - it's what the quality score is all about.


Now I am not surprised anymore :)

[digi1]

Yes, the SEO thing does work. I now have highly competitive keywords like "wholesale" for about $.10-$.15 a click. Unfotunately I am still in a competitive niche and despite the fact that I have a low CPC, I still will not get much exposure unless I bid higher.


On which place is your adword displayed ?

[gregdavidson]

When you bid the lowest CPC and you're in a competitive niche, basically what happens is your website is no longer in the sponsored areas on the first page. In fact, my ad may be appearing in the sponsored area on the 2nd page or even the 5th page. That's the reason why you'll get a lot of impressions but no clicks. Most people that go past the 2nd page no longer seem to look in the sponsored areas.

[robertpriolo]

uh... adwords is not about backlinks. Backlinks will do nothing, it just about relevance...

[gregdavidson]

I already mentioned that. However, optimizing your website with the right keywords is also about SEO.

[robertpriolo]

ok, sorry... i think i got confused... There seems to be a lot of people thinking SEO and PPC are the same.

[gregdavidson]

BTW I was wrong about having the EXACT keywords in your title. My website is optimized for the keyword "wholesale" so I can pretty much get any phrase with the word "wholesale" for about $.15 CPC.

[nedim]

Hey, I'm glad I could help you. Also, I was curious, are you in a competitive niche? Can't seem to get some of the keywords out of the $1 minimum CPC even after a little optimization. Also, how many backlinks do you have to your website? It may be because the only optimization I have is on the website page.

Hi, sorry for not responding earlier, it is different time zone in Europe :)
Anyway, yes I am in competetive niche. 16 to 20 hours after optimization one of the phrases "create your blog" was with bid only 0.8 EUR and last night it was 4.00 EUR. I have only a couple of backlinks because website is really young. All my setting now are on 0.15 Eurocents (bid). and about 140 keywords are active out of total 179.
Before, only seven keywords were active with bid of 0.25 eurocents. So, optimization works for me !! :D

[gregdavidson]

Nevermind, I got it. One thing I just figured out is that the relevance of your advertisement also affects your CPC. I was using a slightly irrelevant ad to draw in more clicks. After I changed it to an ad that was 100% relevant, I went from having 78 inactive keywords to 25 inactive keywords.

[robertpriolo]

i told you its all about relevancy... =)

[gregdavidson]

Hey Robert. I think I pretty much screwed myself over by bidding on the keyword "ebay". I'm just starting a new campaign with a new domain name and landing page. I tried using a different domain with a different landing page and Google seemed to know that it was the same website.

[robertpriolo]

same content just with a different URL?

Google will know

are you blacklisted? Or just getting slapped?

1. What are you selling?
2. What is the URL
3. What keywords are you bidding on
4. What does your text ad say?

Send me this info and I will see whats wrong

[SeoGrr]

Thank you for the info

[experienceadvertising]

Im going to test that theory... but it sounds like it has validity. I know if you populate the ad with the keyword phrase it helps with quality score...

[dude110]

onpage optimization is very important

[gdub01]

Does relevant SEO matter for the content network too or just for searches done from google?

[lslars31]

Another reason why you should set up different adgroups for different sets of keywords and create a seperate a relevant landing page for each adgroup

It's all about relevance ;)

Good call, thank goodness I didn't have to learn the hard way when I first started. Somebody filled me in on that info. before hand. Once you figure out that though, it's pretty easy to maintain good QS. Just like vstar said "It's all about relevance".

[john keith]

it is amazing to me being a newbie that there is so much mystery to seo and adwords and there are no absolutes to running a website for profit.

[LeslieGrey]

Yeah a good site rating will get you cheap keywords

[guyco]

I do webmanaging for a hotel in a ski resort. My task includes Adwords.

Hotel business is really a competitive niche. When I started last fall, we were on the second result page. Now I a almost all the time on top of the first page.

Doing adwords needs two things

1- study
2- patience

Read all the information on Google site. Try different keywords with different ads.

And of course your landing page needs good keywords matching the keywords on Adwords. The more optimisation the lower you will pay per clicks.

Finally, it is a matter of knowing what you're doing like anyother business.

And yes, I get paid to do Google Adwords.