PPC Advice

[scagnt83]

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?

Ive had the same thoughts.

To amend what I said earlier, $40 was the suggested bid. So it wouldnt be $40 per click each time. The traffic estimates are coming out with clicks around $4-$6 for those keywords.
But the whole thing just seems ridiculous to an extent. I have a feeling that those estimates are close to useless.


I looked into Bing ads a bit last night and it is a much more simple interface than google. But no traffic estimates (as shady as they may be). I will probably try both and see which performs better.

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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.

I dont plan to. I plan on keeping bids fairly low.

Are you finding success with highly targeted keywords? Or more general keywords?

 

[somarco]

Jack targets a national audience which is different from a state focused approach. Using geographic modifiers (SC health insurance) should get you a lower bid and more effective than just "health insurance"

 

[scagnt83]

Jack targets a national audience which is different from a state focused approach. Using geographic modifiers (SC health insurance) should get you a lower bid and more effective than just "health insurance"

Fixed Annuity 4 Me | The best Fixed Annuity Rates is a nationally targeted site.

I do not do local online advertising. All of my local business is via phone/referrals.

Even Business Owners Digest - Retirement - Insurance - News has a national audience. (although I do not focus on SEO for it)

 

[ltcadviser]

Ive had the same thoughts.

To amend what I said earlier, $40 was the suggested bid. So it wouldnt be $40 per click each time. The traffic estimates are coming out with clicks around $4-$6 for those keywords.
But the whole thing just seems ridiculous to an extent. I have a feeling that those estimates are close to useless.


I looked into Bing ads a bit last night and it is a much more simple interface than google. But no traffic estimates (as shady as they may be). I will probably try both and see which performs better.

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I dont plan to. I plan on keeping bids fairly low.

Are you finding success with highly targeted keywords? Or more general keywords?

I find that I get crushed on PPC campaigns, but I do not have a great landing page nor do I have the energy or time to commit to a re-design. Organic leads are significantly better than PPC.

 

[JRoot]

I just published a podcast today interviewing the owner of a lead vendor and we talk about PPC extensively. Check it out: Life Insurance Lead Generation Techniques and Marketplace with Clelland Green

 

[ltcadviser]

Interesting podcast, Jeff. Thanks for sharing.

 

[mcday]

Your CPC is going to vary quite a bit from the estimated cost depending on many factors...

...the most important being your CTR. That is why you need to focus on a highly targeted campaign specific to your strengths as an insurance agent/agency.

The quickest way to destroy your ability to compete in the future is by going too broad initially.

Keep things small, tight, and highly focused at first. When you start getting some wins there, you can then slowly expand to cover more territory, searches, and products.

A great place to start is by asking yourself, "What am I the best at in my area?"

Build around your primary strength first.

 

[YouGotMyMoney]

Fixed Annuity 4 Me | The best Fixed Annuity Rates is a nationally targeted site.

I do not do local online advertising. All of my local business is via phone/referrals.

Even Business Owners Digest - Retirement - Insurance - News has a national audience. (although I do not focus on SEO for it)

Hey, FYI I checked your fixedannuity4me.com site and it took awhile for me to load, with a 70mb download speed internet connection, about 7.5 seconds which is way too long.....PageSpeed Insights

 

[trapp0120]

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?

Good man! I wish everyone would do this. You will be so much better for it, even if it's just gaining experience.

It would help to know which lines you were going after, but the formula is typically the same regardless.

I have over 12 years of experience doing this very same thing and let me tell you, when you have a margin, it's not that difficult to pull off.

I've had plenty of success jamming 1,000+ keywords into a single Ad Group, regardless of what so-called-experts say. I've run 6 figure monthly budgets, I would consider myself more of an authority on this anyway!

The key is that I always have awesome landing pages that are relevant to the niche. If I'm targeting auto insurance, you better believe that's what my LP is all about (if you need help, just look at your competition) and if you want to raise that QS (quality score), you need to have that LP converting too.

Some metrics I like to aim for.

20% AD CTR
50% CVR (conversion rate to lead)

Make sure you're using Google's conversion pixels. Google loves to know when it's providing value, and that you in turn are providing value to the visitors!

If you can turn numbers like this, even at breakeven, Google will quickly reward you with a higher quality score and subsequently cheaper CPC's.

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

Trademarks. J/K, don't get into that game, but seriously, value for the dollar is ridiculous if you can avoid litigation.

If you're staying legit, you need to focus on relevant terms for the most part. Unfortunately that also means you need to buck up and throw down some money. Generally I start my bids around $3.12/click and gauge from there. That's usually good for a 7/8 position.

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

Set your own bids, ignore that garbage. Your quality score has A LOT to do with what you pay. Focus on a killer converting website, then focus on an ad people click and tie it all together so you're converting traffic you pay for (duh). Google will raise your QS as it sees you're providing value. If your bounce rate is high, then watch out, that QS will drop because of people backclicking.

Remember, Google is a business. If they can give you more traffic for a lower CPC they will as long as your ad has a high CTR. It offsets the lower CTR ads that are willing to pay more. Make sense?

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

Don't. Even the traffic estimates are just antiquated guesses. They aren't in the business of giving you accurate stats to use elsewhere.

 

[Searay370]

Just wondering for everybody doing this...what is your average monthly budget?
How are you doing with it?
What product lines? life/FE, medicare etc
Oh yeah...how much do you vary it for open enrollment periods if you are doing Medicare/and or on the exchange ...for major medical?
Is anybody doing major medical, short term health? during non enrollment
Thank you in advance for your time.

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I forgot to tell you that I have once done SEO and Adwords for another business. At one tiem SEO was worth it...but IMHO I don't think you can compete with the big dogs anymore because google changed.
I have been out of the loop for about 2 years +. So things change and I could be totally wrong.