You know it's hard to know how effective your advertising is if you don't know what your clickthrough rate should be so I am posing the following question:
What's your clickthrough rate? If possible seperate search and content total.
This would be helpful as I can determine if I am already doing a good job or need to do better.
Thanks.
AdWordsRep
03-17-2005, 08:25 PM
You know it's hard to know how effective your advertising is if you don't know what your clickthrough rate should be so I am posing the following question:
What's your clickthrough rate?... PM5K, I think you'll find that the answers to this question will be all over the map. Not based on research, but only on a gut level feeling gained while working with advertisers every day, I'd say the average CTR, system wide, hovers slightly above 2%.
I often see advertisers with most of their keywords in the double digits. These are typically advertisers who have made a practice of being as targeted as they are able to be, and who refine and monitor their ads and keywords on an ongoing basis.
Very briefly, when I say targeted what I means is the practice of using very specific and focused keywords that are about exactly what you have to offer, and then tying them to crisply written ads that are also about that exact same thing. You'd use multiple Ad Groups to achieve this.
Sometimes, newer advertisers will take a shotgun approach - the opposite of being targeted. In a single Ad Group, they'll have hundreds of keywords - literally listing every possible keyword that is even remotely related to their product or service. Then they'll create a general-purpose ad. This will usually result in a CTR far below average.
My favorite example of this, from an account that I looked at long ago - was an advertiser who sold truck tires, and who ran on keywords such as 'rubber' and 'air', because, well, tires are made of rubber. And they're filled with air. I do not recommend this approach. This is my favorite example, because it so neatly illustrates the principle of what not to do.
And one other thought: while CTR is really important - and can help your ad appear higher on the page for less money - it is not the end-all. Be sure to do all you can to track your ROI (return on investment), so that you are always aware of how much you are making, as compared to what you are spending.
I hope others will weigh in with their thoughts as well. :)
AWR
Interesting. I had not considered the different approaches but I believe I was looking more for answers from people who are using a more targeted approach.
I believe I am using a fairly targeted approach, I do have an issue with two products having names that are used interchangeably that I am looking to solve but other than that I would say my ads are targeted.
I generally get between three and eight percent CTR, and while I know it's not the end all it's certainly one of many factors to consider.
While those numbers seem good I can't help but think there must be ways to improve that because I really don't feel I know that much or am an expert with Adwords.
Other than the tutorials on the Adwords website what other options are there for me to improve my overall performance? I know Google has the Jumpstart program but I am an existing advertiser and have been for some time, but it would certainly be nice to have someone that knows what they are talking about look at my campaigns and help me improve them.
I am not currently tracking conversions so I am looking at that right now.
Thanks.