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Adwords CTR, the effect of the google content network

by Eric Evans
6 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Hey Warriors,

I'm running a new PPC campaign for one of my sites and having some decent success with a few targeted keywords.

For example, my CTR for the last week was 10.17% I'm pretty happy with that.

However, my CTR for the google content network is a staggering 0%.

Therefore, my total CTR for the week is only 5.22%

My question is, is the google content network dragging down my campaign or does it not really affect my CPC? I've read that a higher CTR equals a lower CPC. I've narrowed down my keywords and optimized things to make sales, but I've always let the google content ads run free...even though they have done absolutely nothing for me. Should I turn them off? Or are they kind of on their own scale? Essentially, google is doing a bad job in this case right? Can they punish me for that?
#adwords #content #ctr #effect #google #network
  • Profile picture of the author torrent
    According to Google, your CTR on the content network will not affect quality score or ranking in the search network.
    Does contextual targeting affect the performance or ranking of my ads? - AdWords Help

    If you are not receiving any clicks at all, there is really no reason either way to turn the content network on or off.

    If seeing the CTR for the campaign being dragged down still concerns you, I would isolate the content network into its own ad group. You might have better luck optimizing ads specifically for the content network.

    If you are receiving any volume of impressions at all, you would be smart to run a Placement Report in AdWords to review the URLs where your ad is displaying. You can review the underperforming pages and see what ad content might appeal to the users.

    Hope that helps! And don't forget to test your ads! Beat that 10.17%!
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    • Profile picture of the author Eric Evans
      Thanks for that link. I dug around adwords help but had trouble finding that answer.

      I appreciate the tips about doing a seperate campaign for the content network and reviewing the placement reports. Two things I'll give a shot. I wanna turn that 10% into 20!
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  • Profile picture of the author James Schramko
    Seperate them as suggested and the other reason you may do that is they have different users.

    Search is for people actively seeking you so high CTR and relevance means you are delivering what Google wants and they reward you.

    Content is for people who are NOT activley looking for you so you may want to use more INTERRUPTION marketing techniques.

    In other words, you might find different ad copy gets better results.

    Also - Images can have much higher CTR for Content.
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    • Profile picture of the author sherekhan86
      Originally Posted by James Schramko View Post


      Content is for people who are NOT activley looking for you so you may want to use more INTERRUPTION marketing techniques.

      In other words, you might find different ad copy gets better results.

      The recommendation to use "interruption marketing" techniques in this situation is a recurring theme. Has anyone found a good source of education in this topic?

      Thanks!
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      • Profile picture of the author James Schramko
        Originally Posted by sherekhan86 View Post

        The recommendation to use "interruption marketing" techniques in this situation is a recurring theme. Has anyone found a good source of education in this topic?

        Thanks!
        Think of it as ripping their eyeballs off the page.
        Images work very well.

        Jagged edges, red arrows, crooked lines, pictures that look like 'vdeo', ecovers etc.....
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  • Profile picture of the author ebizza
    Eric,

    The CTR of the quality score of your keywords that are being shown in the content network will no way affect your search quality scores.
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