PPC Mistake

diggo · 06-14-2009, 11:29 PM

Yeah, I did something really stupid a couple of weeks ago. I'm not exactly a PPC newbie, but somehow I managed to lose $3,000 within just 3-4 days and I'm looking for a little advice.

Well this is how it happened: I jumped into a new niche, created a nice landing page that I thought would convert well. It's quite a large niche with plenty of competition, so I thought I would set my bids to "suicide levels" just to get up the top to start with. To my surprise, after running it for a day, the campaign actually broke even. I thought.. great! And doubled my budget to $1,500/day for this campaign, whilst lowering my bids slightly.

For the next two or three days, I didn't even check it because I was busy studying for my final exams. When I finally did check it, I had blown $4,000... and only made just over $1,000 in commissions! Was not a good feeling

Anyway I found out soon after that I had a couple of really bad, contradictory mistakes on my landing page.. hence the lack of sales. I quickly fixed them up and got under way again. I got a whole 15 clicks, and google went SLAP!! Raising my minimum bids to $13.00.

So, what to do now? I've actually been slapped before for making miniscule changes to another landing page I had, but it was back to normal within a few days (Seems like it just had to be re-reviewed or something). This campaign has been down for around 10 days now, so it doesn't look like recovering at all.

What are my options? Send google an email to manually review it? New domain name? Other? I'm confident that I can dig myself out of this hole, so scrapping the campaign is not an option.

All in all it was a costly, yet valuable lesson learned. ALWAYS double/triple check your landing pages carefully before driving paid traffic to them!

Any help appreciated,
Brett

ss442 · 06-14-2009, 11:49 PM

Maybe you could ramp up FREE advertising? Like articles, Squidoo, Hub, back link providers, YouTube, and son.

Actually, the same thing happened to me as well so I tend to stay away from PPC.

I think PPC should be used after, and only after you have built a sales page that you know converts before feeding the Google monster.

sashagilberg · 06-15-2009, 12:11 AM

Sending google an email rarely helps right away (maybe after a few months of lots of hard work!)

your best bet is to create a new domain and start fresh with a new QS to rebuild again. Obviously this campaign has potential so don't give up on it!

out of curiosity, is it a clickbank campaign or CPA style? cheers

diggo · 06-15-2009, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexgilberg

Sending google an email rarely helps right away (maybe after a few months of lots of hard work!)

your best bet is to create a new domain and start fresh with a new QS to rebuild again. Obviously this campaign has potential so don't give up on it!

out of curiosity, is it a clickbank campaign or CPA style? cheers

Hmm.. so if I buy a new domain, it needs to be comletely re-built? It seems like such a waste since I spent so many hours on the landing page.

I'm keen to contact google, but I'm still a bit reluctant to request a manual review (just because I am worried that they might check my other campaigns and find something else they don't like)

Mike Hersh · 06-15-2009, 01:41 AM

Didn't you got a few subscribers from that campaign to make your money back and then try again?

TheFlash · 06-15-2009, 02:09 AM

Can you post here the landing page which was not optimized?

GeorgR. · 06-15-2009, 02:35 AM

omg..i am so sorry for you. How could it happen you not monitoring this?

sashagilberg · 06-15-2009, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by diggo

Hmm.. so if I buy a new domain, it needs to be comletely re-built? It seems like such a waste since I spent so many hours on the landing page.

I'm keen to contact google, but I'm still a bit reluctant to request a manual review (just because I am worried that they might check my other campaigns and find something else they don't like)

you could probably outsource the job for around $100 to get someone to re-create your current website/blog onto a new domain to save time.

but if it's html, then it should be as simple as uploading your html files to the server. Not sure what the deal is for blogs when it comes to transferring them from domain to domain.

Kim Davis · 06-15-2009, 07:05 AM

Why not put the same campaign up in Yahoo and MSN.

06-14-2009, 11:29 PM	#1
diggo Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 48 Thanks: 2 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... Yeah, I did something really stupid a couple of weeks ago. I'm not exactly a PPC newbie, but somehow I managed to lose $3,000 within just 3-4 days and I'm looking for a little advice. Well this is how it happened: I jumped into a new niche, created a nice landing page that I thought would convert well. It's quite a large niche with plenty of competition, so I thought I would set my bids to "suicide levels" just to get up the top to start with. To my surprise, after running it for a day, the campaign actually broke even. I thought.. great! And doubled my budget to $1,500/day for this campaign, whilst lowering my bids slightly. For the next two or three days, I didn't even check it because I was busy studying for my final exams. When I finally did check it, I had blown $4,000... and only made just over $1,000 in commissions! Was not a good feeling Anyway I found out soon after that I had a couple of really bad, contradictory mistakes on my landing page.. hence the lack of sales. I quickly fixed them up and got under way again. I got a whole 15 clicks, and google went SLAP!! Raising my minimum bids to $13.00. So, what to do now? I've actually been slapped before for making miniscule changes to another landing page I had, but it was back to normal within a few days (Seems like it just had to be re-reviewed or something). This campaign has been down for around 10 days now, so it doesn't look like recovering at all. What are my options? Send google an email to manually review it? New domain name? Other? I'm confident that I can dig myself out of this hole, so scrapping the campaign is not an option. All in all it was a costly, yet valuable lesson learned. ALWAYS double/triple check your landing pages carefully before driving paid traffic to them! Any help appreciated, Brett

06-14-2009, 11:49 PM	#2
ss442 HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Flower Mound, TX Posts: 226 Thanks: 15 Thanked 28 Times in 20 Posts	Re: PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... Maybe you could ramp up FREE advertising? Like articles, Squidoo, Hub, back link providers, YouTube, and son. Actually, the same thing happened to me as well so I tend to stay away from PPC. I think PPC should be used after, and only after you have built a sales page that you know converts before feeding the Google monster.
	Ed Sunderland

06-15-2009, 12:11 AM	#3
sashagilberg HyperActive Warrior War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 229 Blog Entries: 8 Thanks: 105 Thanked 34 Times in 12 Posts	Re: PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... Sending google an email rarely helps right away (maybe after a few months of lots of hard work!) your best bet is to create a new domain and start fresh with a new QS to rebuild again. Obviously this campaign has potential so don't give up on it! out of curiosity, is it a clickbank campaign or CPA style? cheers
	"Want to DOUBLE your website conversion rate?" Conversion rate optimization agency reveals proven system for generating significant conversion improvements, fast. WSO: Get 2XC For Just $197 (SAVE $200)

06-15-2009, 01:41 AM	#5
Mike Hersh Copywriter War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: The Dark Basement Posts: 566 Thanks: 10 Thanked 59 Times in 42 Posts	Re: PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... Didn't you got a few subscribers from that campaign to make your money back and then try again?
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06-15-2009, 02:09 AM	#6
TheFlash Going for the Top Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Greece Posts: 44 Thanks: 14 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... Can you post here the landing page which was not optimized?

06-15-2009, 02:35 AM	#7
GeorgR. Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Earth Posts: 5,953 Blog Entries: 15 Thanks: 72 Thanked 873 Times in 580 Posts Social Networking	Re: PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... omg..i am so sorry for you. How could it happen you not monitoring this?
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06-15-2009, 07:05 AM	#9
Kim Davis Ghostwriter War Room Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 393 Thanks: 26 Thanked 80 Times in 68 Posts Contact Info	Re: PPC Mistake - There Goes $3,000... Why not put the same campaign up in Yahoo and MSN.
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