What Happens When You Remove Paid Search Efforts

Posted onMay 17th, 2012 byadmin

Even if your website ranks #1 organically, paid search is an important part of your marketing plan.

Last year Google released the Search Ads Pause research study that looked at the correlation between paid and organic search results. Google concluded that if you were to remove your paid ads you would see an 89% drop in clicks. Scrutinizers immediately started asking questions. What happens if your brand is the top organic result for the keyword? Surely the results would be different than if your organic result was on the second page.

Our sales team here at Keyword Search Pros has been telling advertisers for years that they can’t pull their paid ads when they get higher organic rankings. In the quest to save some cash, companies come up with this strategy and feel it’s a revelation. Finally there is a study to go along with the argument. (more…)

Is Your AdWords Account a Hidden Horror?

Posted onApril 28th, 2011 byadmin

Have you ever watched a horror movie and seen a character do something so counter-intuitive it makes your brain explode? The victim walks into a dark basement without a flashlight knowing the killer is in the house. You’re already thinking, “Turn around! Don’t go down there!” But it’s no use, it’s too late. The victim’s fate has been written.

An unmanaged AdWords account is a lot like a B-rated horror flick and every day thousands of business owners walk into their own dark basement. Without a flashlight they are subjecting themselves to the hidden horrors that lurk in the dark. These business owners are allowing themselves to get slaughtered, financially speaking, by setting up Pay Per Click campaigns without understanding Google’s rules.

Pay Per Click is a thousand tiny knives slicing open the throat of your business. A click is a click and they add up fast. This is especially true when you’re paying for clicks regardless of how relevant they are, whether those clicks convert to a sale, or how much your products cost. The results can be savage. Advertisers commonly complain about spending up to $60k on AdWords yet they still can’t make a sale.

When the Keyword Search Pros look inside an unmanaged AdWords account it’s like turning the lights on in that dark basement for the first time. What we find will rattle even the most seasoned bones. (more…)

What is a Good Bounce Rate?

Posted onApril 25th, 2010 byadmin

High bounce rated could be attributed to a variety of different scenarios. The danger with bounce rate is that it really only tells you one thing: the percentage of people who came to and left the website from the same page they landed. That’s all. I often get asked, “What’s a Good Bounce Rate?” And like all  the times I get asked, “Whats’s a good__(CPC, CTR, Conv. Rate)_?” My response is the same. It depends.

Bounce rate doesn’t tell you why they did. Remember that each visitor is different and has a  different experience when they visit your site. Its reasonable to assume they leave for different reasons.

This is just a quick read to give advertisers some reasonable and possible conclusions regarding bounce rate. I’ll also give you some steps you can take to improve bounce rate or otherwise disregard it.

Suppose you get into your analytics and you notice the following bounce rates:

Adgroup 1                     67%                                    Homepage

Adgroup 2                     58%                                    Product Category Page

Adgroup 3                     89%                                    Product Description Page

How to Decipher: What is a Good Bounce Rate?

(more…)