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PPC - If drop below 1% CTR, should I start again?

by phil.wheatley
17 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hi Guys

The title pretty much says it all, I'm trying a new campaign but I don't seem to be finding the sweet spot with my ads and the CTR is now below 1%. Once I start getting some good click throughs, would I be right in ubderstanding that I should start a brand new campaign with the ad which works because otherwise, Google will never give me a great quality score...or did I dream that?

Thanks
Phil (currently being eaten by Big Bad PPC monster)
#ctr #drop #page not found #ppc #start
  • Profile picture of the author J. David Rogers
    I'd also be interested in a response as I've had this happen from time to time.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    It's not a question of dropping below a certain value and "start over". What you should do is have two ads. Wait for enough impressions. Pause the ad with the lowest CTR. Create a new ad by trying to figure out what works in the high CTR ad. Try different benefits. Sometimes one word can make a different. Even the display URL having a www. or not makes a difference. Repeat process and your CTR will go up as you find the ads that attract people. Test, test, test.
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  • Profile picture of the author TE2
    Originally Posted by phil.wheatley View Post

    Hi Guys

    The title pretty much says it all, I'm trying a new campaign but I don't seem to be finding the sweet spot with my ads and the CTR is now below 1%. Once I start getting some good click through, would I be right in ubderstanding that I should start a brand new campaign with the ad which works because otherwise, Google will never give me a great quality score...or did I dream that?

    Thanks
    Phil (currently being eaten by Big Bad PPC monster)
    Phil,

    You are correct. Once the CTR drops below 1% for a campaign, it seems to be penalized going forward.

    Start a new campaign! Make sure you target as tightly as possible and overbid to get higher placement and draw clicks. Monitor the ads and adjust your bids down as the campaign runs.

    One trick I like to do for English language campaigns is to select the UK only to start as clicks cost less than USA. Once the campaign is running nicely, I then add the USA into the campaign.

    Hope you find the sweet spot!

    Regards,

    John
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    • Profile picture of the author chaumi
      What's your quality score like at 1% click rate, Phil? Be careful with this, haven't been able to work out what the cut off point is,,,but I've learned the hard way...once you go down too far on CTR it drops your quality score and evidence so far suggests there's no way to recover whatever you do to improve (though haven't tried begging/manual check request yet after improvement attempts)

      I've read today that once you're on a 1/10 QS you may as well bin the domain name and start afresh. This would need to be tested to confirm.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    > What's your quality score like at 1% click rate

    Since CTR has the biggest weight in the QS calculation, his QS may be low, 4 to 6 maybe. But not necessarily. If all advertisers for a keyword have the same relatively low CTR, his QS might be decent.

    You CAN recover from low CTR. I do it all the time when managing a new client's account. There is also no reason to get a new domain name or new Adwords account. Just work on the campaign and the landing pages. If you just copied what you know did not work, you will get the same results.
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  • Profile picture of the author Johnson Tay
    Tried swiping yr competitor's ads?
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  • Profile picture of the author phil.wheatley
    Guys

    Thanks for your replies. and Jon especially. I think I saw Matt Trainer saying about only choosing countries other than the US and bid high to get the clicks, then add US later. Hmmm, so maybe it's not just my ad which is the problem but more to do with placement? Although, they are on the first page already. I started a new cammpaign from scratch , about 80 impressions and only 1 click so if I don't do something soon, it will go the same way as the last one.

    As for swiping ads...I don't like to do it but must admit it seems to be the best way and most people do it.

    Thanks,
    Phil
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    • Profile picture of the author John4444
      I agree with lucid... It's all about the testing
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    • Profile picture of the author TE2
      Originally Posted by phil.wheatley View Post

      Guys

      Thanks for your replies. and Jon especially. I think I saw Matt Trainer saying about only choosing countries other than the US and bid high to get the clicks, then add US later. Hmmm, so maybe it's not just my ad which is the problem but more to do with placement? Although, they are on the first page already. I started a new cammpaign from scratch , about 80 impressions and only 1 click so if I don't do something soon, it will go the same way as the last one.

      As for swiping ads...I don't like to do it but must admit it seems to be the best way and most people do it.

      Thanks,
      Phil
      Hey Phil,

      Now that more info has been disclosed, I would suggest your ad copy is why it is not being clicked.

      Swiping your competitors ads is a solution.

      Make sure you are always split-testing two ad versions. Pick the best one and revise the lower performing ad. Rinse and repeat...

      Regards,

      John
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  • Profile picture of the author Best Affiliate
    Ive seen this on other posts but what are you guys using for your landing pages? and do you purchase a new domain name for each ad group to match with your keywords? If so I would like to see a turtorial if anyone has one that shows how I can take the affiliates template and upload that page using FTP. I dont know how to do that whole process from start to finish. I have a good idea about ppc setting up campaigns and doing keyword research. I will know how to properly optimize the page I create I just dont know the tech part with creating the page and uploading. Any suggestions so I can get started with the new affiliate I chose? thank you
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  • Profile picture of the author J. David Rogers
    I've heard it mentioned before that it's often a good idea to have more than 1 AdWords account, and to use one only as a test account for new campaigns/ads.

    I believe the concept is that once you find a set of ads that work, you move them to your main account, thus protecting it from the bad performance history of the test account.
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    • Profile picture of the author chaumi
      Originally Posted by Comenius View Post

      I've heard it mentioned before that it's often a good idea to have more than 1 AdWords account, and to use one only as a test account for new campaigns/ads.

      I believe the concept is that once you find a set of ads that work, you move them to your main account, thus protecting it from the bad performance history of the test account.

      What worries me with this is the landing page factor. If you get an ad running on one account OK, is there a possibility that when you shift it to a different account then your domain will be seen as duplicate content?

      If so, easy way round would seem to be to change the content enough to meet the first Google hit requirements and get a 6 or 7/10 starter..though an element of risk in this if Google doesn't like something in your new content?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    Comenius (and all), there is no reason whatsoever to have more than one account. You should constantly be testing. Poor campaigns run over many months will have one or two running ads. Successful campaigns will have many ads, dozens sometimes, most of them paused or deleted (although I don't recommend deleting) and one or two running and being testing. The poorly performing ads will have no effect, unless you keep them running.

    > do you purchase a new domain name for each ad group to match with your keywords?
    No. No need for that. What a management nightmare that would be too.
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    • Profile picture of the author chaumi
      Lucid I take what you say about improving a QS...but the problem looks to be once you're on a 1/10 you're finished. The ads won't run so you have no way of improving. Have you found a way round that?
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    If you have a QS of 1, there is something seriously wrong with your campaign. It doesn't mean you're finished and there's no hope. It only means that you have to rethink every thing. I would suggest hiring a professional.
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  • Profile picture of the author Finch
    If you have a Quality Score of 1/10, you've been "Google slapped" by a manual review.

    The 1/10 score is nearly always a result of being penalized for one of the below (as stated in the Google guidelines):

    Originally Posted by The Big G

    Redirect URLs: Ads that contain URLs that automatically redirect to the parent company.

    Bridge Pages: Ads for web pages that act as an intermediary, whose sole purpose is to link or redirect traffic to the parent company.

    Framing: Ads for web pages that replicate the look and feel of a parent site. Your site should not mirror (be similar or nearly identical in appearance to) your parent company's or any other advertiser's site.
    Needless to say, if you get Google slapped, you ain't reversing that 1/10 in a hurry.

    Google will penalize the entire domain, meaning you can't even switch to a new subdomain or a new file name.
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  • Profile picture of the author Lucid
    I don't manage many campaigns for affiliate marketers. What Finch says could contribute to a low quality score. But landing page is a small portion of QS calculation, although for all I know, Google could automatically assign a QS of 1 for any of the infractions Finch mentions.

    Biggest factors in my experience are 1) poor choice of keywords, 2) using only broad keywords, 3) poor ads, which leads to poor CTR, the key to QS, 4) poor landing page for the keywords and ads.

    It's not just the keywords or the ads or the landing page you have to look at. It's all of these factors.
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