Help! Adwords Noob being slaughtered by Google =(

So I just got into PPC and started a campaign for web hosting on adwords today

I set my initial max CPC at $1.05 but wasn't getting my ads shown at all. So I raised it up all the way to almost $4. Finally my ads started to show and I had one click which was less than $0.60.

I thought that meant that I could raise my max CPC higher and still get clicks at less than a dollar. Boy was I wrong! I raised my max CPC to slightly over $4 and half an hour later, when I checked back, I was getting on avg close to $4/click (excluding the first click)!

What happened? What should I do? Why was my first click so cheap and the subsequent clicks so exp? If this goes on, my daily budget's going bust soon.

 

That's a HUGE cost per click.

First, keep in mind that there is almost certainly a time lag when you change your specs - I'd guess at least an hour, maybe more.

Second, try niches - mis-spellings, longer phrases, etc.

 

so are you saying that the $0.60 cents click was based on $1.05? And that it's impossible to get clicks at $0.60 if you set your max CPC close to $4?

 

Correct. You got that 60 cent click awhile you max bid was $1.05.
Usually when you bid about $4 per click, you get clicks for about $3.50

 

take a look at youe quality score too and see what its rated. a solid QS will ensure that you wont have to over bid just to get results on the first page.

 

Ouch, that was a painful lesson. Shrugs... that's what I get for plunging right in!

 

Welcome to hosting advertising using PPC.

Hint: People pay that amount per click for a reason.

 

Ok they busted my daily budget. 8 clicks for $27! OUCH!

 

You may want to look at other PPC providers where you can get traffic for lower cost. You need to do some research because, there are both high quality and low quality PPC providers out there.

 

any recommendations?

 

what site are you advertising?

 

bidding on broad web hosting keywords is fierce competition in google ... mainly because every hosting provider pays very well to their affiliates

start with some of the longer tailed keywords to get in the game, and then when you are showing a profit work to the more costly keywords.

I read somewhere that you pay more or less about how much the person below you bids their max CPC ....

for example

1st pos. bids $5 ---pays ~$4.5
2nd pos. bids $4.5 ---pays ~$2
3rd pos. bids $2 ---pays ~$1.95
4th pos. bids $1.95 --- etc...

can someone validate this (this does not take in the QS)??

believe it or not ... im bidding about $6.50 on 1 keyword but only pay $1 on average for position #2
another keyword I bid $6.30 and pay about $4.30 on average again for pos. #2...

 

First, if $27 is your daily budget, do not attempt web hosting yet. Go for something that requires a lot smaller budget so you don't lose as much getting used to the system.

Second, don't assume you're not going to pay $4 if you bid $4, as you will.

Third, I lost my train of thought...LOL

 

ouch I hope you get that straigntened out buddy

 

On this hosting campaign

 

Here is equation that how ranking and cpc is decided.

bid qualityscore rank cpc
siteA $.40 1.8 $.40 * 1.8=.72 1 $.37

siteB $.65 1 $.65 * 1 = .65 2 $.39

siteC $.25 1.5 $.25* 1.5= .38 3 $.01


site A's CPC= 1 +( Site B's rank score/site a's QS)= $.65/1.8 = .3611= .37


I hope it is clear now

 

I think your site A's formula has a problem. How come it is not related to his $.40 bid?
Also how'd site C's cpc be calculated to get a $0.01?

 

HOLY mother !!!!! Just whow....

Add: How can webhosting...or being an affiliate of a hoster be that profitable so it's normal to bid $4 +/- for a SINGLE click. So..what's your conversion rate ? Being VERY optimistic i say all 20 clicks it might convert.....this is $80 PPC cost per sale/customer.

This is worth it ? (Looking at my very own hosting providers which charges me $2 a month...lolmao...)

Also..OP..you shouldn't pretend being that clueless....i mean if it says "set CPC to $4"...well then CPC can be $4....
its not really rocket science So..you said you were "slaughtered"....but knowingly set your bids up that high..

 

Don't start with Adwords. I'd recommend MSN and Yahoo anyday over Google. There's simply too much competition on Google, with every Tom/Dick/Harry starting to jump into it, you will find that most bids prices are over-inflated. They tend to come down after a while though, after people have started losing money and stopping their campaigns. (not referring to you!)

Just keep tweaking your ad copy, bid prices, keywords, landing page, and you'll eventually get it.

 

The other thing you can do is not bid on every generic web hosting term there is. Think about related areas where you may be able to get cheaper clicks, then your ad copy filter things for you.