Conversion / Landing Page Help

Okay, so I've been running this adwords campaign for about two weeks, and my CTR / quality scores are pretty good. My average CTR is around 3%, my highest is 19%. My quality scores are all 7 or above. I'm doing OK in this regard.

But my conversions are in the toilet. The stinky, stinky toilet Like .33% toilet.

I feel like I must be doing something completely bone-headed to be failing that hard.

Anybody got any general tips for increasing Adwords conversions?

 

Is it possible to PM the site link?

 

It's impossible to give you an answer without knowing several things such as:
keywords
product
relevancy
site design
landing page layout design
e.t.c.

 

OOPS! duplicate post.

 

It sounds like your CTR is acceptable, I tend to find anything below 5% a problem and look to reassess, you say you are hitting up to 19%, good. Obviously your adcopy is getting the clicks, there is a problem with your salescopy or you are missing the mark completely with the keywords you are using.

Lets break it down. You convince the user to click your ad, great, 3-19%, ok, they hit your page now what?
Are they taken a back with what they see, do they feel mislead as if you site isn't what they were looking for? And quickly press the back button? What is your bounce rate like? How long do they stay on your site? Be careful how you read these figures because if you are getting them to click through to the seller with a nice call to action link then your job is done and the merchant takes over.

Break it down, and think about the continuity for someone to type in your chosen keywords, what do they want, how far in the buy cycle are they? Are they just researching for a solution and therefore unlikely to buy anything then and there? How far along are they to make a purchase? Target those that need a gentle push over the edge and a tiny bit of convincing to pull our their credit cards and you will see an increase in conversions. This is where keywords must match your site, there should no doubt that the words you are using are those for someone late in the buy cycle, otherwise you are then having to sell a product/service to them right then and there, very difficult.

Does your page line up with the seller? Does it feel natural for the user to go from your site to the sellers page without asking WTF? Could there be a detachment between your site and the seller.

Most importantly how good is your research? Without a thorough understanding of your niche you are going to find it difficult to align with exactly what they want, but if you do and your page speaks to them directly as if you are reading their minds, you will definitely see an increase in conversion.

Post a link here, I am sure you will get some more tips from others.

Cheers

 

Okay, we'll just start with one of the ad groups and work on it, then.

I have about half a dozen or so ad groups.

The first one, and the only one I've had ANY success with is for Ka-Bar Knives.

ka bar
ka-bar
kabar
kabar knife
kabar knives
kabar marine
kabar next generation
kabar steel
"ka bar army" ** 0.70
"ka bar fighting" ** 0.70
"ka bar fighting knife" ** 0.70
"ka bar fighting knives" ** 0.70
"ka bar knives"
"ka bar marine" ** 0.70
"ka bar military" ** 0.70
"ka bar usmc knife" ** 0.70
"ka-bar usmc" ** 0.70
"kabar army" ** http://www.agrussell.com/product.asp?pn=KA1220
"kabar fighting" ** 0.70
"kabar fighting knife"
"kabar usmc"
"military kabar" ** 0.70
"usmc ka bar" ** 0.70
"usmc kabar knife" ** 0.70
[kabar fighting knife]
[kabar usmc]
-auto

The Link to the Site is:

http://www.agrussell.com/ka-bar/c/851/

I am both the merchant and the advertiser, so I've got end to end control here.

 

well... without knowing your competition... (as far as their prices, return policy, etc.)... the main issue i had with the landing page is that the prices don't show on your brief descriptions. that's a put off for some people

 

Hi StephenP,

If you use general keywords and ad text, a user may arrive at your site expecting to find something you don't offer. Highly targeted keywords and ad text will help ensure your ads show only on searches relevant to your product.

Use a landing page that's most relevant to your ad, when users click on your ad, they expect to see a webpage highlighting the exact product, deal, or information that was described in your ad. If they don't find what's promised as soon as they arrive, they're more likely to leave your site without making a purchase.

Good Luck

 

That happens often, you are not alone.

The problem probably is, that the keyword that you chose, is not a "buying" keyword, therefore low conversions.

Or

You may have issues with your landing page. If your landing page has too may choices for the searcher, you might just convert a buyer into a looker, without even knowing.

 

I actually thought your site looked pretty good. You might try using keywords that get people at the end of the buying cycle. Buy kabar knifes??

Mm

 

I agree with the above posters in that if your terms are not leading to conversions you may want to target buyers terms. Also, might want to sweeten the pot if possible by stating free shipping or something else. For the general terms you have listed above i'd say that page is good place to land but you should also target specific knife terms and take them directly to that page... i.e "Ka-Bar D2 Combat Knife" would land them here http://www.agrussell.com/ka-bar-d2-combat-knife---black-nylon-sheath/p/KA1282/. You obviously will have less search volume for those terms but you will probably pay less per click and have higher conversion ratios. In addition you could use googles website optimizer to test variations on your landing pages.

 

Ok, I am going to help you out with this....thank me later



Test your campaign with this ad....exactly as you see it:

_____________________________________________
Ka-Bar Knives
All at Rock Bottom Prices!
Made in the USA.
www.knifesupply.com
_____________________________________________

Use your own display URL of course, my make sure it has the keyword, knifes or knives in it.


Now take a look at this landing page:

http://www.knifesupply.com/kabar_knives.html


Compare it to yours and if at all possible fashion yours after this one. I don't mean copy it 100%, but make sure you have similar elements.


For your information....that is a WINNING AD/LANDING PAGE/KEYWORD COMBINATION THAT IS MAKING THE OWNER PROFITS AND LOTS OF THEM!

That ad has shown on Google Adwords, 104 of the last 104 straight days, with the keyword

ka bar knives

So you know they are making money an lots of it!

Try this and let me know how it went.