How Do I Get CHEAP Clicks on Adwords?

[Jay Rhome]

I'm so pissed off with adwords and all the experts talking about cheap clicks routinely.

I have run a test with IMAGE ADS on Google's content network.

They look like normal Google text ads expect they take more space obviously and are more eye catching.

I've read and heard that with these image ads we can get 5-10 CENTS clicks since there's much less bidding there.

My CPC? About $0,65$
An abysmal 0,07% CTR yet I used very targeted keywords, the ad is catchy, uses the ? and popular techniques.

I use direct linking for the test to a CPA offer. The CPA landing page is very well done, with a great video on it that also acts as a major credibility booster. The text is in line with the keywords so I did expect better CPC.

50 clicks to the CPA offer, 0 conversions. And on a CPA offer!

I can't stand it anymore.

My CTR and conversions are ALWAYS much lower than what is supposed to be "normal". I mean WAY lower. Sure, I could possibly write a better ad, have a better offer and whatnot. But you can't split test abysmal results.

And at $0,65 CPC it's far from the cheap clicks I expected on the content network using image ads!

Anyone experiences this or got around it?

For the 1st time in my life I'm really ready to QUIT.

[be strong]

Originally Posted by Jay Rhome

I'm so pissed off with adwords and all the experts talking about cheap clicks routinely.

I have run a test with IMAGE ADS on Google's content network.

They look like normal Google text ads expect they take more space obviously and are more eye catching.

I've read and heard that with these image ads we can get 5-10 CENTS clicks since there's much less bidding there.

My CPC? About $0,65$
An abysmal 0,07% CTR yet I used very targeted keywords, the ad is catchy, uses the ? and popular techniques.

I use direct linking for the test to a CPA offer. The CPA landing page is very well done, with a great video on it that also acts as a major credibility booster. The text is in line with the keywords so I did expect better CPC.

50 clicks to the CPA offer, 0 conversions. And on a CPA offer!

I can't stand it anymore.

My CTR and conversions are ALWAYS much lower than what is supposed to be "normal". I mean WAY lower. Sure, I could possibly write a better ad, have a better offer and whatnot. But you can't split test abysmal results.

And at $0,65 CPC it's far from the cheap clicks I expected on the content network using image ads!

Anyone experiences this or got around it?

For the 1st time in my life I'm really ready to QUIT.

how long you've been doing adwords..months obviously

[AffiliateUrge]

Ok.. I'm gonna be brutally blunt, cause thats how I am.

You've only spent about $34 on this campaign and you're expecting to see super cheap CPCs, thats almost impossible. No matter what, it takes time and testing of your ad CTRs to increase the CTRs and decrease your CPCs. You can't expect to turn on the campaign and have .10 clicks on day 1. Not gonna happen and typically the main niche keywords are the places other marketers start with too, so its usually not the keywords that will get you the .10 clicks. You have to think outside of the box using common logic. Is it safe to assume that your offer payout is between $20-30 ?

What type of offer is it? Cause you may need to setup your own landing page to improve the pre-sell.

And quitters are the ones that never go anywhere. So I encourage you not to quit.

[Brittany Lynch]

Originally Posted by AffiliateUrge

Ok.. I'm gonna be brutally blunt, cause thats how I am.

You've only spent about $34 on this campaign and you're expecting to see super cheap CPCs, thats almost impossible. No matter what, it takes time and testing of your ad CTRs to increase the CTRs and decrease your CPCs. You can't expect to turn on the campaign and have .10 clicks on day 1. Not gonna happen and typically the main niche keywords are the places other marketers start with too, so its usually not the keywords that will get you the .10 clicks. You have to think outside of the box using common logic. Is it safe to assume that your offer payout is between $20-30 ?

What type of offer is it? Cause you may need to setup your own landing page to improve the pre-sell.

And quitters are the ones that never go anywhere. So I encourage you not to quit.

First what type of keywords are you using? Second don't concern your self with catchy ad techniques. Keyword, Benefits, Call to action should be what you focus on for your ad.

Your click through rate is very low. Could be because its the market (Although in my experience its usually not because of this) or because you haven't targeted your keywords to your ad. 1 keyword in one adgroup, several different ads to test per adgroup, keyword in ad, keyword in landing page. These are all important factors. Use well researched keywords that target users at the end of the buying cycle.

As what the above person mentioned - you need to continually optimize your campaign in order to reduce cost per click. I know its frustrating now because you don't have any results yet, but you need to run your campaign longer. If you aren't getting conversions after 200 clicks then consider swapping up your offer. Once you start to get conversions, optimize and test optimize and test and this will assist you in reducing your cpc.

Also consider setting up your own landing page as this is what you can have control over! And a high quality/ relevant landing page has a high correlation to reducing your cpc.

[Jay Rhome]

Yes I know I come off as very impatient but it's not my first run at PPC and I never get any decent CTR or conversions. I mean there's so bad that there's little split tests or optimizing to do - only cancel them. It was the same with CPV networks such as Zango and Mediatrafic.

Again, I'm using the CONTENT network for this one, and using IMAGE ads. I keep reading the gurus talking about $0,15 clicks for the content network and even ONE cent clicks for the image ads.

Before building landing pages, presell and all that I wanted to see if it's even feasible to get cheaper clicks otherwise it's not worth it unless I sell my own product or a very pricy one.


Hey I know nobody likes crybabies or quitters, and yeah, I realize I do comeup as one, but failure after failure for more than 18 months without any progress or small successes to build on makes me question the sanity of keeping on. I haven't tried everything obviously but many methods that could work are not appealing to me.

Anyway, enough self scrutiny, I was wondering if anyone experienced the same and how you got around it.

[Lucid]

While you can get one cent clicks, you can't expect it all the time. It is in fact rare.

My suggestion is testing to see what works in search. Content is different and needs a different approach most of the time (and why you should separate them) but try text ads in content as well. Then create banner ads based on text results. Of course I guess you could test image ads only. But what you need to do is test and test again. The higher your click rate, the better off you'll be.

[Brittany Lynch]

Okay - I don't have much experience in the content network image side of things. But i do have successful experience using the content network. (And I have gotten .15 clicks but you need to work at it and it doesn't happen that way from the start of the campaign launch)

None the less some things are still true - you haven't given enough time to allow data to come in so you don't know for certainty that the offer isn't converting. IT could just be slow the first 50 clicks.

For the content network - are you using up to 50 keywords in your ad group all tightly themed. Google looks at the first 50 keywords to identify a theme.

Have you looked at which images the ads show up on? to ensure that they relate to your product correctly.

Again if after 200 clicks and still no conversions it would raise a bit of a red flag to me - either you haven't properly ID'd keywords that reflect the content and target market of the landing page, or perhaps the offers landing page does not convert highly. For now there isn't much point going into more detail on this. Let us know if you stick with the campaign and what happens after 200 clicks.

Then we can talk suggestions. BTW does the affiliate program you are using tell you what their landing page typically converts at? is it a less well known offer or a well known offer? Maybe you can email someone at the company to inquire and ask questions about the landing page and target market.

[JoshuaG]

If there is one thing I've learned in my time doing PPC and watching my own buying habits its that exposure frequency is key even for a FREE product offer. I've had success I'm happy with by building a list. On my landing page I also mention the cpa offer, on the thank you for my opt in page I mention the cpa offer, in my emails I continue to mention the offer and link to other sites I've made for the same offer.

This may not help you get cheaper clicks but it will get that conversion rate up!

Keep up the effort!

[TajwarAlexander]

You might want to try your luck with Yahoo and Bing for cheaper clicks.

[williamrs]

I would first try text ads, and then after getting some statistic move on to banner ads, depending on the results.

[Jay Rhome]

BTW thank you all for the great advice. I know all that but haven't acted much - if at all - lately on it as I suffer some battle fatigue at the moment I guess.