I have just inherited responsibility for an AdWords account that is spending around $50 a day to send traffic to an entertainment site (there is no "sale" involved...) $15 per day is going on a fairly straight-forward description of the site. $30 is budgeted for "related subject matter" (broken down into ten topics). AdWords (inevitably?) suggests spending more, particularly on the subject matter campaign... Most of the views are on the content network rather than on search. As a newbie, my first impression is that the current "related subject matter" campaigns are trying too hard to "cover the spread", and that the fastest track to improving CTR is to deactivate the lowest performing subject-matter ads and whittle down the keywords on all the ads (considering the daily budget is being hit. more or less, every day...) to only the highest performing keywords. Am I out of my mind here? Also... if tasked to "improve CTR and cut CPC..." (as a newbie) it seems to make most sense to tackle one first, then the other. Again, make sense? And if so, which is probably the most achievable goal... Wish me luck...
If your budget is fixed (and probably even if it isn't), you should consider turning off the content network on all ads until you get everything under control. You can bleed the most from the content network so save it for last. When you do get back to it, I would create a separate campaign for it. Don't start out by increasing your budget. Concentrate on improving your CTR and quality score. Write specific ad copy for each individual keyword. Try to select/create a landing page that matches each one. If you improve your quality score, you will increase your ad ranking and reduce your minimum bids. You will spend less than you were for the same ranking. If you feel some keywords can't be improved, paused them for now and get back to them later.
Thanks - at the moment the bulk of the traffic is coming from content sites, so I am a bit wary of turning them off. However, if I set up seperate campaigns for the same keyword - one content, one search.... are there any red flags I should be looking for? I have another newb question I'll post to its own thread....
Not totally sure that I do, in this particular case (sorry!). If you were selling something, then I'd agree that targeting Search first would be the appropriate way to go. But if this is an informational site, then the Content Network has a few advantages... 1) The clicks are cheaper, so you get more for your money. 2) People on search are looking for something specific (most of the time at least). If you don't have what they want, they'll leave again. 3) People on Content aren't searching for a specific thing most of the time, often they are just wandering around the net looking at things that interest them. They are interested in what your site is about (if your advert appears on similar sites), and are frequently exactly the sort of person that you want on your site. Perhaps it depends on why the website exists, and is paying for traffic. If it has a specific objective, then you have to establish exactly what it is that you're trying to achieve, or it'll never succeed. Regarding your question on CTR vs CPC, the two are linked. If you increase your CTR, then your advert will appear higher, so you can then reduce your CPC. I'd decide on the position that you want to appear in, and then adjust your bids once per week (or so) to remain in that position. Try different adverts to improve your CTR.
I usually find my traffic from the search network is more valuable than the content network, however I have not dealt with websites in all industries so the content network could be more valuable to you. If it isn't and you're bumping into your budget, turn it off and concentrate on your search content ads. Then bring the content network back into the fold. Look at your previous data to determine how valuable the content network is to your PPC campaigns. You said most of your impressions are from the content network, but what about your click thrus?