So i've just started with adwords. I found a target set of keywords that had a really low competition. And so my main keyword had a cpc of .30 and I was getting a few clicks, between 1-3 spots. Then Google tells me the quality of my main word needs to make the cpc change to .50, so i do. I wake up this morning to see that i had a few more clicks (no sales yet ) but adwords now wants a $1.00 cpc and my quality is bad. Any advice?
That's AdWords screwing you. As your CTR goes up, the value of the clicks goes up. My advice would be to vary your keywords, create phrases, and use the special characters, which are: [keyword] = exact match "keyword" = phrase match -keyword = negative match
Okay, here is what is happening to you. Google (don't laugh up the back) wants it's searchers to find web pages that are as relevant as possible to the keyword they typed into the search bar... if the results are NOT relelvant, people will go and use another search engine... resulting in Google losing out on all that click money they get from adwords. So, Google NEEDS to deliver relevant results, both in the natural listings and in the paid categories. When paying for advertising, you need to make sure that you are delivering highly relevant ads that will make the searchers think "aha! Exactly what I'm looking for!" - making the searcher happy they found what they wanted and thus increasing the likelyhood of them returning to use Google. When Google "SLAPS" one of your keywords - ie increases your bid to $1/$5/$10 - it is telling you that the keyword you are bidding on does not appear to be relevant to the web page you are sending traffic to. It doesn't matter if it IS RELEVANT in your eyes. In Google's eyes it is not. And that's all that matters. To combat the slap, you need to make sure you group your keywords into common groupings and have seperate ad groups for each set of common keywords. Then you need to write highly specific and keyword relevant ad copy that will entice the clicks. Finally, you need to send the traffic who clicks on your ad onto a landing page that is optimized (Like you would if you wanted to rank highly in the natural results) for the exact keyword they typed into the search bar. That is RELEVANCY and the cornerstone of getting around the Google Slap. More work? Yup. Better results? You betcha! Hope that helps Cheers Stewart
"As your CTR goes up, the value of the clicks goes up" Generally as your ctr goes up, the costs of your clicks goes down. If it's going up there is another problem - as bml has described very elegantly.
Rep added Bigmar. That was one of the most relevant, concise, and useful summaries of QS I've seen (including on Google's own site and other 'PPC gurus')