Adwords

[tsgstl]

Still would be a bad idea to spill the beans on what adwords you do. All it takes is a dif IP, IE 4 different people search your adwords on 4 different locations could cost you $300+ a month. I doubt it is a realistic problem, but I am sure it happens. Its as ez as a text message to friends for what words to search.

the bigger reason, hey I found a great return on "sticky stickers" $2 gets front page and I get great response from it. Yeah until your competition sees this

 

[spudstr]

Umm, no sorry. You don't need to budget 15k-20k/ month. That is simply wrong. You can budget a few hundred a month(or less) and be successful. Also, 90 day sandbox is wrong. You can join adwords, get your ads approved in less than a day, and be displaying next to the big players that same day if you want. Yes you may pay MORE per click with a lower budget and CTR, but you can show there if you want.

Yes, clearly I am wrong. I only wrote a campaign management system and worked for a PPC firm that had a average spend of about six figures on adwords. I was only in that industry for 7 years.

Sure you can spend less but your not maximizing it and only going after a very either specific niche or your blowing through money on wasted words and not using the proper target or negative words in your campaigns.

The sandbox is more about how long it takes for their system to adjust with your CTR to get your ranking correct.

Unless you have some obscene niche market and targeting then this doesn't apply.

 

[signswi]

I will throw a tip out there, if you're running a PCC campaign learn how to use negative keywords. It'll increase your ROI massively.

However, as I said, hire a PPC guy or use Adwords Express. This is like anything else, don't bog yourself down learning a new career when you could be working on your business instead. Hire professionals to do professional work, same thing you would ask your potential sign clients to do.

 

[particleman]

Yes, clearly I am wrong. I only wrote a campaign management system and worked for a PPC firm that had a average spend of about six figures on adwords. I was only in that industry for 7 years.

Sure you can spend less but your not maximizing it and only going after a very either specific niche or your blowing through money on wasted words and not using the proper target or negative words in your campaigns.

The sandbox is more about how long it takes for their system to adjust with your CTR to get your ranking correct.

Unless you have some obscene niche market and targeting then this doesn't apply.

That is great and all but your previous work history obviously doesn't suggest you know what you're talking about. Just to reiterate for everyone else you don't need to spend 15k-20k/ month to run on adwords. You can be successful with a three digit a month budget.

 

[Centro Graphics]

Sticker - We might discourage the term but if it sticks to the wall lots of laymen still call it a sticker. Wall sticker?

Yeah I did think of that myself, but when typed in it pulls up most stuff for the home so may not attract the right traffic, thanks

Hicaliber. Thanks worth a buy I will try it.

Spudstr. Thanks for the tip, but I agree with the others, 15-20k is just way way wrong. We are running adwords and having some success and we are limiting to a few hundred a month. I am now honing in on more successful adgroups and fine tuning on a particular niche once I have done this I will move to the next one, hence my question on large format. Not sure why your throwing your dummy out of the pram You may be qualified, much more than myself or others but your budget guidance is daft.

tsgstl. You have a point Not sure if there is anyone out there that want to try run down our budget that badly.

Signswi. Thanks for the tip I am doing this all the time, although it is a little laborious. I know what you mean on getting someone else to run it and I have always been the same as that, if you cant do it dont waste time, just get some one else on it. But you can spend a fortune on these people, that on top of the cost of adwords would blow a big hole in budget so for now I am running it. Besides I have hardly done any marketing before, always repeat, referral and passing by, so I am kind of enjoying it, especially when we get enquiries as a result of the work I have done on it. Converting is even better. I am about to buy a long time "want" a bell, the type on a yacht, when we make a sale, DING. Dont ask why, just a daft idea I have had for a long time.

 

[signswi]

Whatever motivates you. PPC guys often work on a percent spend scale, usually for a small monthly spend it'll be around 10% of the spend but they'll have a spend minimum that may be out of reach.

Doing it yourself can teach you a lot about your market though, so as long as you're having fun keep at it. Use Exact not Broad matches, use negative keywords, use geo filtering and multivariate test everything.

 

[Hicalibersigns]

We geo filter to the greater Dallas / Fort Worth area and I have also restricted our ads from running outside business hours. Negative adwords are important. We put things such as cheap, low cost, cheapest, etc. in as negative. We aren't interested in those "customers". I would rather see my competition get them. Also learn to use "long tail" keywords. For example, instead of "stickers", how about "window stickers phoenix"? "Truck stickers albuquerque". Keyword research does take time, but can yield great results. Take a look at Googles Keyword tool. You can search for a keyword like "stickers". Then you can plug in the sites that rank high and get a list of their keywords for ideas to tailor for yourself.

Of course you can spend 15K to 20K on PPC and Google would love you long time, but you don't have to do this and certainly would be wasting money for a local or regional business.

Spudstr worked for a PPC company that made a living off of commissions, so of course it would be in their interest to see you spend in this range.

Also be aware that if you are consistently spending a few hundred a month on Google PPC, their experts will be happy to spend some time with you on the phone and help you tune up your campaign. They have done it for me several times. They are a business too and they realize that you aren't going to spend that money unless you are getting results. I certainly wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't make the phone ring.