I have one campaign with 200 or so ad groups that send about 1000 visitors per day on good days (low volume keywords). The problem I have is my traffic fluctuates between 400-1100. I check from previous days and don't see any keywords becoming inactive. I just see a lower number of impressions. It seems weird because I will have 4-5 days where I see consistant 900 clicks, them boom I get 400 for no apparent reason. Any ideas?
Nope. Two weekends this month I had above average visitors Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There doesn't seem to be a pattern in the fluctuation.
I don't see that in the pattern either. I seem to have the same position give or take a few tenths: 2.8-3.2. I just see a lower number of impressions. And the amount of clicks doesn't coincide with the average position. So 2.8 doesn't give me 1000 clicks, just like 3.2 doesn't give me 400.... it just depends... on what I'm not sure. I'm sending all my traffic to a nonprofit charity. Sorry I can't be more helpful.
How long have you been watching this pattern? I tend to look at things on a month to month basis. Working with a larger sampling of data makes it easier (at least for me) to identify trends such as high/low traffic patterns.
I have my budget set way above what I usually spend. The campaign spends ~$150 per day, and I have a daily limit of $1000, so I don't think that is the problem. It has been running for about two months and every 5-7 days I get this sudden crazy fluctuation for a few days. I am going to run some reports and take a look.
You mentioned this was for a charity. Are they running any PR (news, radio, etc) that could have an impact on your campaign?
It's not for a charity. That was just a runaround answer because it was a dumb question asked (IMO) and I didn't want to answer or be rude. It is definately to make some money.
That's good - I was starting to get worried Are the highs and lows in your traffic delivery spread across all 200 ad groups or have you been able to find a few that are bringing in the bulk of the traffic? Coincidently I have a campaign that for some reason yesterday only delivered 40% of it's normal impressions I see ups and downs all the time but 40% is pretty extreme... Maybe your jinxed account is rubbing off on me
I think I am starting to figure it out. Can keywords be given a lower quality score without being inactive? I have one keyword that used to send about 8% of my traffic a few weeks ago, but hardly sends any now. My ad doesn't even show up when I search for it using that keyword. It's odd to me.....
I assume a keyword's quality score changes all the time - hence the minor changes in position and actual CPCs on a daily basis. My assumption is that if a keyword drops below a certain QS that's when it gets set to inactive for search.
I think you are right. That is the problem down the whole campaign I think. They remain active, but give me less traffic because of the lower quality score. I'll have to do some modifications later on today to get it back. I hate having to spend more money for the same traffic. You can never just let it go and depend on the same traffic for the same price. At least in my experience it has been that way.
Matt I have a similar situation - here are some POSSIBLE things to consider, not definitive I know but worth considering. My own campiagn sees a big drop in clicks on Wednesdays and Sundays. I know thats not the same days as yours but the theory might be the same. Having investigated my own fluctuations seem to be for 2 main reasons. 1. The product - for some reason people just dont look for it on Sundays and Wednesdays are (apparently) traditionally slow days on Adwords. 2. My competitors - for some reason my competitors pause and restart their campaigns on certain days. When they are paused my clicks jump. Perhaps irrelevant but I hope some food for thought.