Mesothelioma was the highest paid keyword in the United States last month.  It sold on Google for $99.44 per click!

Unbelievable! Almost $100 per click! I am now convinced more than ever that the lawyers truly do own this country!

www.webdesigncharlotte.org

www.ccpteam.com

Libby Lucas
llucas@ccpteam.com

Once again, I was solicited by the expert telemarketers at Yodle yesterday. Boy do these guys have a way with words! There are more and more of these Adwords Resellers popping up and they use high pressure sales tactics. This one told me that Google liked them so much that they had a meeting with them every Wednesday!  That's like me saying I'm a Microsoft Partner so Bill Gates and I have coffee every Thursday morning!

If they contact you please understand that you can do everything they are advertising without paying a fee. You can buy your own adwords and manage your own analytics account. Call me, or email me and I will send you instructions on how to set these accounts up for FREE!

llucas@ccpteam.com

Libby Lucas
704-564-3103

As more and more people move their advertising print budgets to Google AdWords Click Thru Rates (CTR) are becoming an obsession.  Most people don't like to hear all of the theory about CTR they just want the numbers so for my "just get to the point" readers here's my opinion:

A CTR that is under 1% is bad.
1-2% is modest but ok if you are getting conversions
2-4% should be the goal; even better if you are converting
4-5% is awesome!
5% is outstanding and you are most certainly making money at this point!
Anything over 50% is unbelievable!

Now for my "give me the detail" readers .... Use these numbers as a bench mark only!  The SEO/Adwords Game is all about the details. 

Industry - Most importantly the industry that you are targeting makes all of the difference.  For example, If you build a specialized bolt for giant steel tanks specific only to off shore drilling you aren't going to see many clicks no matter where your ad is placed or how well it is written.  If you sell insurance, real estate or cell phones you will no doubt receive many clicks with a well written ad.  Your attention should be more focused on conversion.

Ad Quality - If you are receiving a good number of impressions but few clicks don't scrap your ad, your on the right track.  Instead ad keyword phrases and geographical references.  Write several similar ads and leave them up for a couple of weeks to determine which are better received by users.

Invite A Click - Similarly if you have written ads that are getting a good number of impressions but the keyword phrase is saturated for your market consider adding words of invitation to your users.  i.e., "Call today!" "Click Here Now!"  "Click Here for lowest rates!"  "Why wait?"  "Get free white papers!"

Google Content Ads - Finally, if you are using the content network your click thru rate will probably be much lower.  Focus on grouping your keywords into tight categories and cherry pick your placements.  Despite the assertions of Google, the content network is not equal for all products.  Conversions are much more difficult for B2B or for saturated product markets.

Want more AdWords Advice?  I'm here, just give me a call!  704-549-0125

Libby Lucas
llucas@ccpteam.com
www.ccpteam.com

I get a telemarketing call from someone claiming to have the magic bullet to the top of Google about every other day.  Today I decided to record one of them so that others could hear the embellished sales pitch.  These audio files are kind of large but it you have the time to listen it might give you some insight into type of “skewed sales tactics” these companies use to extract funds from unsuspecting customers.

This first audio file is the message that “David” left regarding his services.  Notice in the first few seconds he says that his company has been performing this valuable service for 4 years and is subsidized by Google.  Later he tells me that his company has been helping people like me for 10 years.  And I bet folks at Google would be surprised that they are subsidizing the ad rates for this company!

The second audio file is our conversation about his SEO methods and his definition of Google Subsidization.  They put a second sales person on the phone in an effort to explain their methods but when pressed for the details they finally hung up on me.

Now I am not calling these people liars;  I will let you make that determination for yourself.  I am just advising caution when buying Pay Per Click services from vendors that call you via telemarketing methods. 

Audio File 1
VM093632.mp3 (672.15 kb)

Audio File 2
Relevant.mp3 (4.43 mb)

Libby Lucas

llucas@ccpteam.com

www.ccpteam.com

http://www.ccpteam.com/blog/

704-549-0125