Run 2 adverts at the same time, or pause one?

Discussion in 'Google AdWords' started by Louis Winthorpe III, Sep 13, 2007.

  1. #1
    Hi,

    I'm going down the route of trying several different adverts to guage clickthrough and conversions and was just wondering how the pro's on here work there's? Do you pause the old advert and run the new one for a week/month or what? How long do you test the new advert before you tweak it some more?

    Thanks
     
    Louis Winthorpe III, Sep 13, 2007 IP
  2. magda

    magda Notable Member

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    #2
    I think general practice is to allow 2 or more to run at the same time and see which performs best.
     
    magda, Sep 13, 2007 IP
  3. BigWill

    BigWill Peon

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    #3
    I usually create 5-10 and let them run for a few weeks then remove the lower performing ones and stick with the top 1-3. Of course if one is doing really bad over the course of the week I remove that asap
     
    BigWill, Sep 13, 2007 IP
  4. CustardMite

    CustardMite Peon

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    #4
    I generally run either two or four adverts. Usually, it's two, with just the one change, but if I think the lines may be interacting, then I'll try all four combinations of two changes.

    For example,

    Advert 1:

    Buy Stuff
    It's Good
    It's Cheap

    Advert 2:

    Buy Stuff
    It's Good
    Free P&P

    Advert 3:

    Buy Stuff
    Lots Of Colours
    It's Cheap

    Advert 4:

    Buy Stuff
    Lots Of Colours
    Free P&P


    In terms of how long to let them run, I wrote a blog about that:

    http://www.epiphanysolutions.co.uk/...g-is-statistical-significance-over-rated.html

    I also discuss the whole question of how to test adverts here:

    http://www.epiphanysolutions.co.uk/google-adwords/multivariate-testing-on-ppc-adverts.html

    Enjoy!
     
    CustardMite, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  5. Louis Winthorpe III

    Louis Winthorpe III Peon

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    #5
    Excellent info guys, thanks! As usual CM comes to the rescue! cheers
     
    Louis Winthorpe III, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  6. just_life

    just_life Peon

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    #6
    I thought most people run each set of advt depending on the CTR. Say first 1000 or 5000 impressions, and then dice and slice.
     
    just_life, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  7. shauvik_bit

    shauvik_bit Peon

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    #7
    Run two adverts intially...track theor performnace ater a week or 10 days...keep the better performing ad, and replace the poor one with some modificstions done keepping the first one in mind....:)
     
    shauvik_bit, Sep 14, 2007 IP
  8. scuba5794

    scuba5794 Active Member

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    #8
    great example custardmite i would definitely run more than one advert and see which one performs better. Dont just look at CTR also look at your conversion rate
     
    scuba5794, Sep 15, 2007 IP
  9. CustardMite

    CustardMite Peon

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    #9
    Of course, it depends on how much traffic you're getting! One of my campaigns get enough traffic for me to test a new advert every two days, but another one only gets a fraction of that, and I can only try a new advert about once per month.

    Also, the size of the difference between the two adverts' performance matters. If one advert is MUCH better than the other, you can kill the worse one much more quickly, as the difference becomes apparent much sooner.

    What I would say is that it's not worth waiting for statistical significance, if the performance of the two adverts is very similar. Just get rid of the worse one - even if it's better, it's clearly not much better - and try something new. It's better to try ten new adverts, and make the right choice nine times than to try three new adverts, and get the better advert every time.
     
    CustardMite, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  10. JohnDepp

    JohnDepp Peon

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    #10
    Yes, Absolutely right, but test the advert time to time because, according to customer need and to attract new visitors you need to test the adverts. It updates you with market.
     
    JohnDepp, Sep 17, 2007 IP
  11. Louis Winthorpe III

    Louis Winthorpe III Peon

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    #11
    Damn looks like I'm going to be writing a hell of a lot more adverts then :-<

    Thanks guys for all the good advice, I particularly like the bit from CM about getting rid of the worse even if they're close - sometimes a decision has to be made dammit!
     
    Louis Winthorpe III, Sep 20, 2007 IP
  12. Hade

    Hade Active Member

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    #12
    Run until www.splittester.com says you're at least about 85% sure.

    If it says you're not sure, keep 'em running!
     
    Hade, Sep 22, 2007 IP