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HELP: PPC Newbie Needs Advice

by marketingrep4u
5 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hello Warriors.

I need some advice.

I went to Google's list of top searches and picked one of the 10 areas on the list to target for an IM project.

I found a short list of keyword loaded domains with reasonably high EXACT search results. The dot com domains were available and all I need to do is select one.

I went to ClickBank to see if there was a product available that would fit any of the domains that were available and found one. It had a great landing/sales page and I don't think it violated Google's landing page policy.

I also verified that the keyword DOES NOT have any PPC ads running on Google. Since the keyword DOES have reasonably high EXACT search organic traffic and NO PPC competition, I thought it would be a good target.

Here's what I'd like to know:
  1. If I don't have any PPC competition, shouldn't I have an extremely low CPC?
  2. I only want to test this with my free $100 voucher from my web host to see if this works. I put the numbers in the Adwords Traffic Estimator and it showed 0 clicks. What's up with that? If there's no competition, shouldn't $100 get some clicks?
  3. When I added $10 per click in the estimator, it finally showed 6 to 7 clicks per day. There's NO competition. Again, it would seem to me that I'd get clicks even at a nickle or dime per click. What's up with that?
I'm not sure I fully understand how Google charges for clicks, but when there's no competition for a keyword in PPC, I should have an open playing field and an extremely low cost per click. Right?

Am I correct in thinking that because a keyword has no PPC competition and a good exact search traffic number that I should get clicks for a low price and expect to really get some clicks?

Rich
#advice #newbie #ppc
  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    1. No. CPC depends on your QS.

    You can never assume there's no competition, I don't care what that you don't see ads. Your keywords are still competing against all those who have ever used that keyword, or similar ones, throughout the world. Therefore your QS is calculated against those as well as your minimum first page bid dependent on what that competition bid.

    2. I never use the traffic estimator.

    Start with the number of impressions for your keywords. I assume you researched this. What do you expect your CTR to be? You'll probably over-estimate this. Do the calculation and that's your number of clicks. Of course, you need to bid high enough given your QS and have a daily budget that would cover those clicks for that CPC.

    >> I should have an open playing field and an extremely low cost per click. Right?

    Wrong. Doesn't work quite that way. As explained, you still are effectively competing with all others who ever used the keyword. QS and minimum bids are calculated based on the historical data, not currently active advertisers.

    Therefore, even if you were in fact the only one bidding on those keywords at this moment, Google still wants high quality ads. This prevents advertisers creating crappy ads simply because they think their ad will be the only one.
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    • Profile picture of the author marketingrep4u
      Originally Posted by Lucid View Post

      1. No. CPC depends on your QS.

      You can never assume there's no competition, I don't care what that you don't see ads. Your keywords are still competing against all those who have ever used that keyword, or similar ones, throughout the world. Therefore your QS is calculated against those as well as your minimum first page bid dependent on what that competition bid.

      2. I never use the traffic estimator.

      Start with the number of impressions for your keywords. I assume you researched this. What do you expect your CTR to be? You'll probably over-estimate this. Do the calculation and that's your number of clicks. Of course, you need to bid high enough given your QS and have a daily budget that would cover those clicks for that CPC.

      >> I should have an open playing field and an extremely low cost per click. Right?

      Wrong. Doesn't work quite that way. As explained, you still are effectively competing with all others who ever used the keyword. QS and minimum bids are calculated based on the historical data, not currently active advertisers.

      Therefore, even if you were in fact the only one bidding on those keywords at this moment, Google still wants high quality ads. This prevents advertisers creating crappy ads simply because they think their ad will be the only one.
      So how do I know if I'm competing with others who have used the keyword and is there a way to see the competition data?

      Also, my intention was to drive the clicks directly to the product sales page using my affiliate link as the direction and their web address as the URL that is shown in the ad. How can I control the quality score if I didn't set up the landing page?

      Rich
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      • Profile picture of the author Lucid
        Originally Posted by marketingrep4u View Post

        So how do I know if I'm competing with others who have used the keyword and is there a way to see the competition data?
        Does it really matter? They are not active. They may have in fact long left Adwords.

        All you have to worry about is getting your Quality Score up.

        Most of QS is CTR. You can learn more in my Adwords FAQ, much there too long to repeat here. You do however want to make sure that your affiliate's landing page complies with the Adwords rules and guidelines before you send ad clicks there. Otherwise, your QS will be 1 and ads won't run at all. So get familiar with those rules and closely analyze their landing page because as you say, you have no control over it. If they don't comply, don't promote them. Of course, any changes they make must also comply.
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        • Profile picture of the author marketingrep4u
          Originally Posted by Lucid View Post

          Does it really matter? They are not active. They may have in fact long left Adwords.

          All you have to worry about is getting your Quality Score up.

          Most of QS is CTR. You can learn more in my Adwords FAQ, much there too long to repeat here. You do however want to make sure that your affiliate's landing page complies with the Adwords rules and guidelines before you send ad clicks there. Otherwise, your QS will be 1 and ads won't run at all. So get familiar with those rules and closely analyze their landing page because as you say, you have no control over it. If they don't comply, don't promote them. Of course, any changes they make must also comply.
          How beneficial would it be if I created a landing page that offered a downloadable guide and several bonus items if they choose to buy? Then, after I get an email address, they are redirected to the actual sales page.

          I know it creates a small bottle neck in thy buying process, but at least I could build a small list for future marketing and actually control the quality of the landing page.

          Following this pattern as described, do you think I can keep my CPC down while increasing conversions?

          I've read so many strategies on using PPC that I'm not 100% sure which actually works the best.

          Also, thanks for the links. I have some more reading to do.

          Rich
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    That sounds like a pure squeeze page which Google doesn't like either. As you also say, you are creating a bottleneck in the buying process so your conversions will go down. Not only that, most would not provide their email, never see the actual sales message so you've wasted your click.

    Better if you want to build a list is show your sales message, invite them to sign up for a newsletter or get a freebie and your own "buy now" going to your affiliate's ordering page. You could also give the freebie away without asking for an email. Let people read it even years later, pass it around, let the freebie be part of your marketing the way I do with my FAQ.
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