PPC Advice

[scagnt83]

I am planning on doing a PPC (google) campaign this year. For now I am going to try it on my own without outsourcing....
For those of you who have done it what is your best advice here for a newby to this?

Are you finding more success with low dollar high traffic keywords? Or are the high dollar/highly targeted/low traffic keywords working best?

I have some around $5 and others around $40/$50!!

How much can I really trust the "estimates" that the all mighty google predicts?

 

[BlockO]

I don't see how any agent could make a positive return @ $40-50 a click.

The only ones who are making money with bids that high are those who sell the leads.

I'm curious..... I know google gets the lion's share of searches, but doesn't yahoo/bing offer ppc also? Why do I never hear about their ppc? Seems to me the competition would be much less, which means you would pay less for someone searching for the exact same keyword phrase. Where am I going wrong here?

 

[scagnt83]

I don't see how any agent could make a positive return @ $40-50 a click.

The only ones who are making money with bids that high are those who sell the leads.

I'm curious..... I know google gets the lion's share of searches, but doesn't yahoo/bing offer ppc also? Why do I never hear about their ppc? Seems to me the competition would be much less, which means you would pay less for someone searching for the exact same keyword phrase. Where am I going wrong here?

It depends on the product being sold. For a Term site there is no profit margin in that. For an Annuity site its a different story.



Good points with Bing & Yahoo. I have no experience with it so I dont know.
The biggest drawback I immediately think of is just a lack of search volume compared to Google. And I think Google has more affiliates they advertise with.

 

[somarco]

Good points with Bing & Yahoo. I have no experience with it so I dont know.
The biggest drawback I immediately think of is just a lack of search volume compared to Google.

I am no expert on this, but I think you are looking at it wrong.

Yes, Google dominates search but Bing at 10% or so isn't all bad. If you have to spend $40 for above the fold pg 1 on Google but $4 for the same position on Bing, which is going to generate a better ROI?

 

[BlockO]

If you have to spend $40 for above the fold pg 1 on Google but $4 for the same position on Bing, which is going to generate a better ROI?

that's about how I had it figured, but with a lower ratio than 10/1. I was thinking more along the lines of 2 or 3 to 1. But I'm only wild guessing.

 

[Stephen]

I am planning on doing a PPC (google) campaign this year. For now I am going to try it on my own without outsourcing....
For those of you who have done it what is your best advice here for a newby to this?

Are you finding more success with low dollar high traffic keywords? Or are the high dollar/highly targeted/low traffic keywords working best?

I have some around $5 and others around $40/$50!!

How much can I really trust the "estimates" that the all mighty google predicts?

My FMO set up a microsite ran a PPC campaign for me that ended up costing around $100 a piece for annuity leads. I got 3 in and told them to unplug due to cost. A few weeks later I ran into an agent at a medicare training meeting that claimed to be making a killing and paying $200 a pop for internet annuity leads, so maybe I just needed to up my risk tolerance.

 

[somarco]

I was thinking more along the lines of 2 or 3 to 1. But I'm only wild guessing.

Pretty much what I did too. Depending on your source, Google has between 80% and 85% of the search traffic, Bing around 10% and everyone else divvy up the remainder.

If I spend all my time, money and effort trying to get on pg 1 of Google only to end up on pg 2 or lower but I can get on pg 1 of Bing (or Yahoo) for a lot less seems better to focus my efforts there.

Facebook incorporates Bing and I think AOL does the same. Bing is renting out their search to some heady groups. Also if you run Windows the default search engine is Bing.

Love them or not they are taking on Google and making a dent. I am not suggesting Google will go the way of Excite and Alta Vista but anyone that can erode their share has something going for them.

 

[tlmarketing]

"Winning Results with Google Adwords" by Andrew Goodman....I'm sure there may be something more current now, but the book was great for showing you how to set up campaigns, keywords, and everything that comes with successful ppc campaign...as others have mentioned, it is difficult to make money unless you manage religiously..good luck.

 

[ltcadviser]

I am planning on doing a PPC (google) campaign this year. For now I am going to try it on my own without outsourcing....
For those of you who have done it what is your best advice here for a newby to this?

Are you finding more success with low dollar high traffic keywords? Or are the high dollar/highly targeted/low traffic keywords working best?

I have some around $5 and others around $40/$50!!

How much can I really trust the "estimates" that the all mighty google predicts?

Have a highly targeted landing page. Do not trust any of Google's estimates. Google only cares about making Google money. Do not bid $40 on a keyword. U will get crushed. Quickly.

 

[Josh]

Facebook incorporates Bing and I think AOL does the same. Bing is renting out their search to some heady groups. Also if you run Windows the default search engine is Bing.

Most Windows computers come with IE as the default explorer, but that only accounts for less than 10% of browsers.