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Newbie trying PPC

by YseUp
14 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey guys,

I have set up a product review site called xxxxproductreviews.com

My PPC ads look something like:

xxxxxxproductreviews.com
Don't waste your money
Untill you've read our reviews

I get a click through rate of between 2% and 3% for between 0.3 to 0.5 cent.

My keywords are variations of XXXXX reviews.

I've had 55 click through's but no sale yet

The landing page features my main product offer ( short review) above the fold, with a direct link to the affiliate sales page and also links to more comprehensive reviews and a video review.

I'm going to reset the counter for the affiliate links but I think 25 people clicked through to the affiliate sales page.

I'm surprised that when people search for XXXX review on google, see an ad come up called XXXX product reviews, click through and see reviews (both positive and negative) seemingly click through to the sales pages but have not had a sale yet.

I'm using the wordpress GoCodes link cloaker to hide my affiliate link.

What part of this set up do you think I need to work on?

Is the click through rate good? Is the ad mis-leading? Is there a problem with the landing page?

Advice would be appreciated.
#newbie #ppc
  • Profile picture of the author Brian_Mahaffey
    You should expect about a 1% converstion rate. So wait for about 100 clicks and see if you get a sale.

    Since your testing I would reccomend to wait for 200 clicks and if you still get no sales than there is a problem somewhere within the linear process (i.e. ad -->> landing page -->> offer), or the offer simply does not convert.
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  • Profile picture of the author folkcare
    You've spelt "until" wrong by the way. You could go to Google website building suggestions, perhaps you're website needs some tweaking. They may even give you individual help. Who knows? Good luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author steveweber
    It's a common beginner's mistake to expect sales right away with less than 100 clicks. An expected 1% conversion rate is just an average. You might not get any sales wit the first 100 clicks and then get 2 in the second hundred. You need to let it run for a while and give it a chance before giving up on it.

    Also, many PPC beginners don't take into account an expected 1% conversion rate; they bid far to high to ever make a profit since they are expecting a sale with just 20 or 30 clicks.
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    • Profile picture of the author YseUp
      Cheers guys,

      I should make a profit (though a small one) if I make a sale every 150 clicks with the way things are set up now.
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  • Profile picture of the author spires
    It's always best to reverse engine it.
    Start from your commission, then work back to how much is the maximum that you can bid. Always base your calculations on 1% sales rate, until you have stats to prove other wise.

    100 Clicks = 1 Sale.
    Commission / 100(clicks) = MAX CPC
    e.g
    $50 / 100 = $0.50

    This means that your MAX cost per click can only be 0.50, this is the break even point.

    So to make a profit, you need to be bidding below 0.45. Which, in Adwords to day can be difficult.

    Good Luck

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  • Profile picture of the author sourcecode
    Wow... very good advice. I didn't know typical conversions were 1%... is that an average or a conservative figure? I'm sure this depends on the product right? But what you guys are saying is to base ALL PPC campaigns on 1% converting? So if my commission for a sale is $50 and my clicks are $.50... I would just break even on 1% conversion rate giving i make 1 sale after 100 clicks or 2 sales after 200 clicks. I would need my CPC $.50 or lower , or a higher commission to make money.
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  • Profile picture of the author Brian_Mahaffey
    Yes, average 1% for sales. But then again if you have a high ticket item you could then go even lower than that and still look to make a revenue.

    Another thing you could do when calculating at the start is even look at a worse case scenario. One 1 in 200 for a sale for example. Then see if your bids work with that and if they do you are gold.
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    • Profile picture of the author YseUp
      Hey guys, no sale yet. Here are my stats:

      Default Bid:£0.5

      Clicks : 129

      CTR : 0.75

      Impressions: 17,133

      CTR : 0.75%

      Avg CPC : £0.38
      Cost : £49.64
      Avp : 2.4


      Regarding the low CTR. I was running two ads, one has a CTR of 4.6% the other 0.5%. The latter has been paused.



      The landing page is a wordpress page. No side bar but a top bar that leads to a reviews index, most popular products, least popular.


      The main page under the bar has an offer for best product (honestly think it's the best) above the fold for which I get 50% of a $200 product (at current exchange rate that means I can spend another £20 on PPC in order to make one sale and break even). There is a graphic, a short blurb, a 5 star rating, direct links to the author landing page and two links, one to a video / camtasia review the other to a more in depth fact review and fact sheet.



      Below that is another product rated 4 stars with a similar set up. Beneath that 3 more with just direct links and links to my review.
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  • Profile picture of the author hoy77
    Try switching the products or focuss on keywords
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  • Profile picture of the author ExtremeIM
    I personally think its a newbie mistake by looking for the sales when the clicks are less than 100. Try focusing on the keywords. And yes, its average 1% for the sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author goingup
    So are you doing regular PPC or doing Placements? It is my understanding that you can bid less for placements and generally will also do better with them. Anyone doing this?
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