Hi, first topic in here so just like to make it short and sweet. Basically i've been running google adwords now for just over a month and a half and when i set the account up i was advised to disable content network and keep my ads specifically for search network on google only (not search partners) however, i have been receiving a fair few clicks per day but no conversions, thus making me a loss on the ads, i was just wondering how many of you use the content network side of things and does it prove successful? thanks in advance
Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Of the campaigns that I currently manage, about half have a successful content network. I think the only way to tell whether it'll work for you is to try it...
Spot on. It works for some markets, not for others. With search network advertising, users are actively searching for your product/service. With the content network, users are being broadcast the advertisment. They are not in an active "Buy" mode. Have a read of this: http://www.ewhisper.net/blog/the-psychology-of-search/
thanks for the comments guys, appreciated just checking out the link from ewhisper now, interesting read i think the best process is going to be a case of trial and error with it then...
I think the thing with content network is to treat it as something completely different. Take it out of your normal search campaign, set it up as a separate campaign, with a different, and very closely targeted, list of keywords.
Also, don't forget to examine your landing pages. If you are getting clicks then you should make sure your landing pages are set up well for turning the click into a conversion. This may not be your problem, but something to consider. If you are getting few clicks then you don't have enough data to worry about it. However, if you are getting lots of clicks with no conversions I would recommend you evaluate your landing pages first. Creating A Landing Page Just something else to consider in your pay per click ads.
cheers for taking time out to comment guys, much appreciated Huligan, nice advice and thanks for the link does anyone know of any services or help i can gain from others either free of charge or for a fee to anylize my site and improve my adwords ads / landing pages, cheers
Well, I think you opened a big can of worms. I think you can find lots of people who participate in this forum who offer their services. I'm one of them, but my company does charge a fee. I'm sure others will reply to offer their services as well. If you need to keep it cheap (i.e. free), you may have to do a lot of it yourself. However, there are a lot of resources available online. The pay per click services offer quite a bit as well. Anyone can do PPC, it just takes time. Here are just a few references. Pay Per Click Reference Google AdWords Learning Center Google AdWords Help Center There are many more and I'll let others make their recommendations.
Good account mangement can run hundreds, if not thousands each month depending on your campaign size and whether you use an automated or live account manager.
Regarding your advert text, there are many threads on this site discussing different ways to write adverts. A good advert should: Have a high quality score Compel the RIGHT KIND of traffic to click on it. The biggest driver to having a high quality score seems to be to have the keyword in the title (note that DKI doesn't count!). You want to get as high a clickthrough rate as you can, as long as you don't sacrifice your conversion rate to get it. Make it clear in your advert what you do, and why people should buy from you - price, delivery, brand reputation, range, etc are all good things to highlight, in different situations... As I say, I'm sure that there are a lot of threads discussing how to get people to click on your adverts, but I'd recommend against buying any e-books on the subject (as many of them are complete tosh), at least until you've learned everything you can for free.
thanks for the advice folks, it's hard working with a low budget because it minimizes experimenting so it's taking longer to test things with ads etc i guess i'll just keep looking around for useful articles, thanks for the links
You will not find better articles than on Brad's blog: http://www.ewhisper.net His articles are gold. Good luck!
For Content, I've only treated it as an afterthought--so I haven't been very successful. But I think if you really dive into it, you can make something of it.
but unlike the search network you can't see where your ads are being displayed exactly can you; so it's hard to judge imo whether it's right for you or not i'm just trying to figure out whether it's worth trying it or would it be a waste of cash that could have been used on specific google searches
It's certainly worth testing - if you don't make money on it, it's a short-term loss, but if it works, you'll see the benefits in the long-term...
Just as a quick follow-up on that, one of my campaigns generates 2/3 of its conversions from the content network, at £3 each, whilst the search network conversions are costing £15 each. In this instance, the service is of interest to people who are searching for the terms in question, but isn't the actual information that they are searching for. Perhaps this is why it works better on sites about the subject, rather than specific searches for information...