Adwords - where to start??

[RollerBall]

Total newb when it comes to Adwords. I've been generating my sole (very modest!!) income from the Internet for a while using my main web site http://lyndoe.com which only does what it does as a result of organic search. I know it's performance could be greatly improved but keeping all the balls in the air is a real problem for a one man band like me. Time is my major problem.

I've just branched out into a completely new area - dating - and the site I have just activated is http://50-plusdating.co.uk. I also have http://50-plusdating.com but that needs another few days work on it.

I know these sites will need Adwords as well as, probably, some kind of exposure on Facebook, Myspace, dating directories and so on. But here's my problem. I have minimal experience of setting up Adwords and making it work. I'll be honest - for the past couple of weeks while I've been working on the above two sites I've been experimenting with another dating site I have. I'm reluctant to show it because it's an Adult site. I've created an Adwords ad for it, put in some keyword phrases and such and set a modest budget. Ends up to date I have got 710 impressions and 6 clicks at a total campaign cost of £0.84!!

So I'm not exactly setting the world on fire. When I set the campaign up Adwords said to expect far more clicks and to set a daily budget of £20 or so!

I don't undertand what's going on. Can anyone put me back on the right track? I'd like to understand this so I can use this tool effectively on the new sites. Thanks.

[Niche]

Big Ask!!

But first congrats. 6 clicks for 84cents in the dating niche is good going. Thought dating Keywords were more expensive than that

Adwords is something you just have to sit down and get some training on before venturing in. I run adwords ads and my daily budget varies bbetween $10 and $100. And I am what is called small fry. So a daily budget of $20 sounds about right for a beginner.

The thing to so is learn the basics and learn them well. It's about split testing and landing page score and choosing the right keywords to go after

Good luck

[RollerBall]

Right so do you think that the basics are there then?

If I add more keywords/phrases and up my bid/click, should that start to generate more results? I'll try that tomorrow anyway.

Thanks for the reply.

[cherie27]

You can read the adword guide by Perry Marshall. Google AdWords Strategies And How To Advertise On Google

[cw1865]

Originally Posted by RollerBall

Total newb when it comes to Adwords. I've been generating my sole (very modest!!) income from the Internet for a while using my main web site Lyndoe Discount Office Furniture, Machinery, Equipment and Consumables which only does what it does as a result of organic search. I know it's performance could be greatly improved but keeping all the balls in the air is a real problem for a one man band like me. Time is my major problem.

I've just branched out into a completely new area - dating - and the site I have just activated is Welcome to 50-PlusDating.co.uk. I also have 50-PlusDating.com - 50-PlusDating.com - Personal Contacts, Messaging and Dating for the Over 50s but that needs another few days work on it.

I know these sites will need Adwords as well as, probably, some kind of exposure on Facebook, Myspace, dating directories and so on. But here's my problem. I have minimal experience of setting up Adwords and making it work. I'll be honest - for the past couple of weeks while I've been working on the above two sites I've been experimenting with another dating site I have. I'm reluctant to show it because it's an Adult site. I've created an Adwords ad for it, put in some keyword phrases and such and set a modest budget. Ends up to date I have got 710 impressions and 6 clicks at a total campaign cost of £0.84!!

So I'm not exactly setting the world on fire. When I set the campaign up Adwords said to expect far more clicks and to set a daily budget of £20 or so!

I don't undertand what's going on. Can anyone put me back on the right track? I'd like to understand this so I can use this tool effectively on the new sites. Thanks.

The first thing is to determine how much a click is worth ranging from generic terms to more specific terms as you have experienced on your website. So, for instance, if you have 10 visits and $10 in sales, you know that each visitor is worth, on average $1 and then you can figure out how much that contributes to your overall profit. This permits you to craft a campaign that at least has a chance at being profitable.

[RollerBall]

Cherie, thanks for that. I've read Perry's guide and several other ones that I could find as well and it's been very helpful. I guess Adwords is like a lot of things - once you've been doing it for a while and got the hang of it you wonder why you couldn't see the wood for the trees in the first place.

As it's a new thing for me on the various sites I'm going to try Adwords on I suppose it'll be suck it and see - just try to invent as many relevant search words and phrases as I can and then play around with bid/budget figures and see what happens. Seems a bit hit and miss though