when i first put my ad up in adwords, i am pleased seeing the number of impressions it generates. As with other newbies, this should be quite a high number ‘cos the keywords used are likely to be one or two word phrases that are very generic. But when one checks the CTR, it’s likely to be a very low number. I’m talking about perhaps a rate of 0.1%. but a newbie tend to think this way: “hey, even if nobody actually clicks on my ad, I’m happy that it’s had high impressions. The fact that it was there to be seen should have at least generated some sort of awareness about whatever it is I’m pushing!†the above describes precisely the WRONG way of thinking. And it's precisely the psychological barrier a successful advertiser has to first overcome. Correct me if you disagree. My reason is this: Those impressions mean something, yes. But the fact that they generate insufficient CTRs should tell me that I’m just not doing a good enough job coming up with well-targeted keywords. Imagine a guy who’s REALLY trying to find something when he type in those words in the search engine…he would type in a 3 or more word phrase to precisely target what he’s looking for. And if my ad is there, he’d click it. But if he types just one word, he’d probably find very generic ads anyway…..unlikely to be EXACTLY what’s he’s looking for, and he’d re-type a longer phrase to refine his search. In the long run, I think, trying to constantly maintain a CTR rate of 0.5% so you can juice every bit of “impressions awareness†out of Adwords, will proof to be more work than it’s worth. You might as well spend more time brushing up on other parts of your business such as making your website look better, thinking of a more enticing hook, or try to negotiate better deals with your suppliers, etc. Naturally, then, the question becomes….what’s a good CTR % that should allow me to forget about logging onto the Adwords campaign maintenance page for 2 to 3 weeks at a time so I can concentrate on other parts of my business? 2%? 3%? And what’s the point of the above observations? For newbies, from my little experience as a newbie myself, may I suggest 1) coming up with keywords of at least 3 word phrases to keep them well targeted and 2) accept a very low impressions number as the order of the day….a high impressions number without CTRs don’t mean much. Any criticisms or variations about the above opinions are welcome. Thanks.
Especially in Adwords, where your history has influence on placements, this fact is very important indeed.
If your ctr gets too low with an Adwords campaign, it will be suspended due to a lack of relevance for the keywords.