no difference in traffic after dropping Adwords campaigns

garris · #1 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006, 08:14 PM

I just can't figure this one out. I run between $1,000 to $1,500 a month each on both Adwords and Overture.
On Overture, the very day my funds run out, our sales drop preciptiously. As soon as I replenish the funds, we're back up again.
Okay, that makes sense.

On Google, however, I stopped all my campaigns, but there is no noticeable difference in sales. Why is that? (Or am I just waiting for the shoe to drop?)

I've been told that they attract different markets, and Overture is more inclined to shoppers while Google attacts information seekers, but still, I would think that I'd see something more than the faint ripple that we experienced.

Any ideas why?

Puzzled,
Dale

Duncan Pollock · #2 (**permalink**) 03-06-2006, 11:35 PM

I suspect the answer lies in an analysis of where your sales were, in fact, coming from. $1000 per month isn't small change when it comes to PPC, but how many of your sales were emanating from it compared with the ones that arrived via the SERPs?
Moreover, what differences are there in the Overture ads and the AdWord ones? Which version was giving you a better number of clicks and likewise which one was giving you a better R.O.I.?
I suppose I'm talking some reasonably sophisticated log files and reports. However, I don't think you can decide what's gone wrong until you know enough about what it was that, as it were, was going right.
Neverthless, if I had to make a wild guess, I just wonder what the results would be if you put all your money into Overture and let AdWords go hang.

Duncan

dannywirken · #3 (**permalink**) 03-07-2006, 06:00 PM

Check your stats. I use Addfreestats as it shows where people have gone and how they arrived in great detail. It most times tells me where the bottleneck is in the system.

chrisranjana.com · #4 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 08:19 AM

Yes without a detailed statistics package it is difficult to pinpoint where all the clicks have gone.

Hope you are using the same keywords both in adwords and overture ?

dburdon · #5 (**permalink**) 03-22-2006, 04:58 PM

Dale,

analyse every step of the process.

1. Searches
2. Impressions
3. Clicks
4. Enquiries
5. Sales

Make a comparison between the two major pay per click providers and compare with your organic activity.

garris · #6 (**permalink**) 03-31-2006, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan Pollock

but how many of your sales were emanating from it compared with the ones that arrived via the SERPs?
Duncan

When you refer to SERPs, I assume you mean natural listings? Even if that is the case, the question still begs to be asked, what was I paying for?
It's obvious with Overture because the sales are affected immediately, but why not with Google?
I just can't figure out if people were clicking on google ads, why was there such a completely different response?

The ads are fairly similar as are the keywords, but I've had a helluva time trying to figure out Webstats. I keep looking for a good tracking program that will work with my 3rd party Shopping Cart, but haven't found one yet that works right.

(sigh) As usual, the answer is not going to be simple. <grin>

frogmanandy · #7 (**permalink**) 04-12-2006, 09:06 PM

You might check and make sure that the money you were spending was spent on search and not content placement. I found that content placement opened us up to far more click fraud, and many more looky-loos who simply don't convert

bbcarter · #8 (**permalink**) 04-13-2006, 03:10 AM

Ya, I wouldn't do adwords without good tracking- but same with overture. You must know where your sales are coming from!

In my experience (nearly $1000 per day right now in clients' spending) there is plenty of purchasing that comes from overture- in fact, it's been easier for me to get more volume from adwords- and the avg sale has been about equal over the first 3 months this.

So get better tracking and then see what you can do with adsense.

B

Duncan Pollock · #9 (**permalink**) 04-14-2006, 05:15 PM

gharris: Sorry I'm only now responding to your March 31 post, but I again have to say that things aren't making much sense to me.
Opinions do vary, but I've for some time believed that Overture is better for simple straightforward product sales and AdWords is more likely to work with people who want information (even if it's likely to end up with a sale in due course).
In the light of this, I suspect AdWords should be kinder to you than Overture. In saying so, I'm assuming your ads are all to do with the pain relief equipment you're selling, much/most of it being preceded (as your site suggests) by a consultation with your visitor's doctor.
Indeed, as an extension of this view, I'm inclined to wonder if your marketing strategy is in fact aimed at the right people. In effect, the response to your ads could be not much more than luck or coincidence.
In other words, I can't help wondering if you shouldn't focus your site and your ads on the medical profession instead of pain sufferers. Perhaps you need to incorporate several information pages aimed at people in pain, but maybe you should be encouraging the medicos to recommend them to their patients in contrast to what you're presently doing.

Duncan

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode