The bane of my existence

[johninbrooklyn]

I have the hardest time with figuring out how to adjust my bids appropriately. I've got an ad running right now that has an average position of 1.1. The CTR is pretty high - around 7.8% but the conversion rate is pretty bad. My current bid is $1.50 and I'm going to lower it. But other than just constant monitoring and experimentation, I have no idea where to lower it. $1.40? $1.00? $0.50? Is there a good strategy to figure this out?

[BasicECommerce]

Trial and Error.

You can get an idea of where you may rise/fall based on your Average CPC, but that's about it.

Also try playing around with your Ad Text. You are getting clicks but no conversions which means...
1-Your keyword is not relevant
2-Your ad is not relevant to the searches end goal.

-BEC

[AussieWebmaster]

If you have a good CTR but bad conversion you need to be changing the landing page

[kg84]

If you are not getting conversions from the keyword it may be beneficial to just delete it. I would experiment with different landing pages first though. However, getting a high click through does not always mean that the keyword is a good keyword.

[AdWordsRep]

[...] other than just constant monitoring and experimentation, I have no idea where to lower it. $1.40? $1.00? $0.50? Is there a good strategy to figure this out?

Trial and Error.

You can get an idea of where you may rise/fall based on your Average CPC, but that's about it. [...]

If you are not getting conversions from the keyword it may be beneficial to just delete it. [...]

To the above I might add the thought that to prevent it from being on ongoing project, perhaps decide what a click on that keyword would be worth to you, at the most, with all things being considered - then set your Maximum CPC at that figure, and no higher.

Independently of that, I absolutely agree that it would time well spent to try to improve your conversion and ROI, if you feel it is an important keyword in some way.

Otherwise, I agree with kg84 that deletion may well be the way to go.

AWR

[abbottsys]

Originally Posted by johninbrooklyn

... I have no idea where to lower it. $1.40? $1.00? $0.50? Is there a good strategy to figure this out?

Yes. Bring it down in increments until your cost/conversion makes sense. If you don't get the ROI don't advertise

[BasicECommerce]

To the above I might add the thought that to prevent it from being on ongoing project,...

The comments by Aussie and I were mainly to point out that SEM is an ongoing project and success comes from much more than just changing bids. Changing Ad Text and landing page optimization play crucial roles in SEM success.

-BEC

[clickthroughseo]

It's holistic ie not just one thing that will affect conversions. As BEC said, you need to play around with different aspects of the campaign to see what is failing. It does sound though as though it is what happens when people arrive on your site that is the issue rather than the CPC or ad which is letting you down. You need to take a long hard look at your landing page and see why the site visitors are failing to convert. And it may even be that it is your actual product that is not up to scratch. By making alterations onsite, you should be able to reduce the bounces. Try asking people who come to your site why they are not interested with a pop up on exit survey or even a live chat module to gather real time feedback.

Good luck!

[Ryan L]

All good suggestions, you might also try and put some qualifying text in your ad...ya know keep out the riff raff.