Google Adwords Australia - Authorised Adwords Reseller Australia Hot Goanna TM

SMX Sydney - The wrap up on Search Marketing Expo 2009 at Luna Park

My views.  I was lucky enough to get asked to moderate a couple of sessions.  I attended many others.  I must admit, I was generally impressed with the quality of the data and information that was given at this years event.  The main benefit for me was the voting worm.  Questions were asked after each session and via an interactive voting button, delegates and attendees could offer their answers.  The most interesting one for me was the feedback on the much talked about world wide conversion rate average of 2%.  What we found from the hundreds of attendees was that 33% said their website converted below 2%,  33% said they converted at 2% and only 34% said they converted over 2%. 
From this we can gauge that 67% of sites dont sell better than 2% of visitors.  This is a terrible result, particuarly if you use this as a statistic for PPC.  We know that our client average of 5.7% conversion rate yesterday (includes all accounts and those that do not track conversions or cannot track conversions) then I would suggest that this 67% at SMX must first look at the ir sales aor lead funnels and improve them first.  Then they should go down the path of improving their PPC or SEO and various other internet marketing strategies.   All the presentations are on the smx site at http://www.searchmarketingexpo.com.au/  Hot Goanna had a ball and we are now talking to the SMX team about setting up a tourism and hospitality SMX on the Gold Coast, I will keep you informed.  Mark Tull

Google Adwords - New Interface for Adwords Users

Well we certainly were hoping for NOT a Panama from Google.  After years of feedback and a dedicated new Version team, we see the initial release of the revised Adwords Interface.  We already have a couple of accounts with the new tools and have had a chance to evaluate it.  The official realease notes from Google is at http://www.google.com/intl/en_au/adwords/newinterface/ Well, they have provided more depth and some more clarity in snapshots. And its a nice green.  It appears far more analytics based in display layout and there is lots more options, help links and the page is very very busy.  It does not support all browsers, so I would recommend firefox (unfortunately) for early beta users.  Now to the crunch.  What does it do and does it help to manage Adwords any better.

 The great benefits are seeing all keywords at once in one screen, and finally, they have put back average position as an option to show in graphs.  The graphs are much improved and the two metrics are just what we wanted.  For the average DIY user, there is much more to consider and as with any program, the more choice you have, probably the more confusing, especially if you dont live inside the program each and every day. 

However, for the dedicated user or manager, the new tools are much improved, but its still inside the child account.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not winging, but I can see the management of the account becoming more focused on the child account window, as opposed to an external API view.  But, the upside is more functionality and more choices.  This will probably drive a lot of casual users and DIY types a bit mad, as there is now a lot more information in the window.  The trick of course, as it always has been in Adwords, is working out what is good and what is not and having a comparison to rank it against. 

The new keyword query report per keyword is outstanding.  Finally some real data on search volumes and actual trigger phrases, as opposed to other unique queries, which we all have hated for a long time.  Overall, a good result, some good data.

 Roll it out Google, roll it out, we are excited.

HALF OF INTERNET BUSINESS’S FAIL - WHICH HALF ARE YOU IN?

We see it all the time.  You know your business better than anyone, but we see a lot of businesses.  Why do half of them fail on the internet?  Well, its like this. To be successful and be in the half that do really well you have to choose which half you are going to be in. Now some business types are natually more successful than others on the internet.  If yours falls into the natually more successful or not, the same rules have to apply to your Business Management, and thats where you, as the business owner or manager is completely responsible.  What do I mean by this?  Read on a little…..

Basically, our job at Hot Goanna is to do this……. we run around on the internet with a sign up saying how wonderful your product or service is or how great your prices are and that people should visit your shop (website)  We find the right keywords at the right price and the right position and we write better ads for you than your competitors and we work with you to find your point of difference.  Then we manage these words, and bids and results every single day to get the most visitors for the lowest price. 

Then,  people click on your ad, and hundreds of them may see your site looks a bit like this!

By this I mean that you know your site and how it works and where things are. You are familiar with it!  The first time visitor from a google ad has no idea where things are, how the shopping cart works, or what to do at any step on the buying funnel.  Your site has to be clear, with an easy path to buy or inquire.  It has to have really strong, large and easy ways to get in touch with you, even if they dont want to buy right now.  It has to be very organised, not like this aisle.  For example, in accommodation, the vast majority of bookings come from people who want a question answered from an inquiry form,  like , (Can we have 2 single beds in the second bedroom instead of a queen) etc…

Then, when they do decide to buy or inquire from your site, and you or your staff do this……

By this I mean that you don’t jump onto email inquiries and call them straight back as soon as you can. You would be amazed how many people get an inquiry for a booking, or quote or reservation and just email the person back. Probably your email goes into their junk mail folder as a first time email and your competitior who has bothered to ring them back from the inqiury they made after not getting a reply from you, GETS THE DEAL.

We can find you the clients you need, but selling to them is up to you. Yes we can help with your site and how it sells, or not sells, and we can even help you re-invent your perception to the public by building you a landing page, but, AT THE END OF THE DAYS ADVERTISING, if you don’t sell successfully to the people we send you, then you have chosen to be in the 50% who will be unsuccessful.

We have been doing this for ourselves and our clients for the past 4 years. We don’t advertise anywhere else basically, except on the web, and we continue to grow and grow. We know how to do it well, and we will show you. It’s up to you to work with us and choose which 50% you want to be in!

Search Tomorrow Internet Search Beta Release

We have been working with Google Australia as a contractor for nearly 2 years.  In this time, we have been moving towards finding a tool to give our clients and the public the ability to carry out an internet search to obtain strategic information on competitors and their ads and positions on Google Search.  Search Tomorrow gives this ability via a very complex algorythm and has been customised by Google for our use.  The Beta of Search Tomorrow will be launched next week and we are accepting 10,000 registered Beta users to trial Search Tomorrow.  Registration is free, and allows us to get first hand feedback from the initial batch of users.  Once Search Tomorrow is released from Beta (and we expect this within 30 days of launch) it will be opened up to Adwords Advertisers and the general public to use.  We anticipate that this new search tool will be highly sought after by Adwords Advertisers, and also the public.  We expect the public to find the abilty to Search Tomorrow exceptionally useful for accommodation availability, flights, shows and restaurant reservations.  Also, those in the stock market may find a Search Tomorrow search very beneficial to their investments.  “We are very excited about the launch of Search Tomorrow”stated CEO of Hot Goanna, Mr Mark Tull.  “It will allow everyone to have further insight into online search, and of course, our Google Adwords clients will have even more information available to them”  Beta testing registrations should be carried out at the site at www.searchtomorrow.com.au All Beta Testers will be advised by email of the commencement of the live engine for their use.

HIGHER POSITIONS - LOWER ADWORDS COSTS PER CLICK ARE STILL AVAILABLE ON GOOGLE AUSTRALIA WITH HOT GOANNA

The very best adwords training you can ever get is only available face to face with Google Staff.  Being a Google Authorised Adwords Reseller, thats what we get every 3 months.  A day with the people from Google’s Sydney office.  Not the execs, but the lovely people on the coal face.  What our Adwords Managers take away from our training days is honestly worth its weight in gold (and thats even more expensive recently).  From our last session, we have been able to completely extinguish the so called “Google Slap”which has been much touted in the past few years.  Now we can comfidently put up a brand new account and make it a winner from day 1 (some conditions do apply, but we are doing it regularly)  Also, given the same revelations, we now see that we can turn long term high performing accounts into absolute gems.  How about a position higher at a reduction in click costs from $1.70 to $1.08.  How about an increase in CRT from 6% to 7.9% at the same time.  It can be done.  Google has gotten fussier, and its long overdue when you see some of the silly prices being offered as max CPC.  You can do it cheaper and better and smarter, you just need someone who actually talks to Google and who actually cares about your business and its success.  If times are tougher, then get smarter and get cheaper clicks at a higher postion and with more traffic (and sales)   www.hotgoanna.com.au It’s simple, It Works!

Hot Goanna Director Moderating at Search Marketing Expo

We have been invited to participate on both Day 1 and Day 2 of this years Sydney Search Marketing Expo, www.searchmarketingexpo.com.au  If you can make the days you really should attend.  Come and see the Goanna’s there.

Australian Business Growth and the Economy? - See what Gerry Harvey says about retail.

This is really interesting as I have been watching our online stats for all clients and was expecting a massive drop in search and results each month since about November,but it hasnt happend on Google Search.  Our Adwords clients have been affected, but not by much.   Its really a matter of the nerves.  Should I listen to what the media is saying.  How are my competitors going?  Have prices dropped? Everyone is talking about 1% growth, well if you do the math, thats not your business growing by 1% per annum,that’s the 10% of businesses in your sector that are going to go bust due to poor product, bad service, arrogance and just marginal practice.  If you divide the soon to be dead businesses then you pick up 0.9% per annum to balance it out overall, based on a 100 businesses.  This of course is rough, but it gives you an idea of what will happen. I remember the 90’s, it was tough, and we had interest rates of bloody 17%.  Now it’s your turn to transform your business into a competitor pick up engine.  Do you know where your market is?  It’s with your competitor.  When he goes under, you need to be found and we may have to actually move our ads up from our 4 year average position.  If your competitors clients go looking for a dead site, we need to make sure that you are on top of search. That of course, is complimentary to your existing sucessful Google Adwords Account with Hot Goanna TM.  Oh sorry, here is Gerry telling us that its not all doom and gloom in retail.

www.hotgoanna.com.au, It’s simple, It WORKS!  Mark Tull

“Retail king Gerry Harvey has dismissed concerns that the Australian economy could be headed for “Armageddon” or a repeat of the Great Depression, and has instead claimed the world economy is just around the corner from a boom.

“I think we’re on the verge of the greatest boom that mankind has ever seen,” Harvey has declared in an interview with ABC Television’s Four Corners program. “  http://www.smartcompany.com.au/Free-Articles/The-Briefing/20090210-Gerry-Harvey-says-greatest-boom-in-history-is-just-a-year-away.html
 

Adwords - Google Adwords!

4 years ago on Google TM Search in Australia , there were just 11 or 12 of us managing adwords.  Now we have seen an explosion of experts in this field.  Experts?  Lets look at what you should expect from your Adwords expert managers.  First, they have to be Google Certified, and there are different ranks, non certified is the lowest,  Adwords Individual (old Adwords Professional - revoked in 2005) next up, then Adwords Company (introduced to Australia in 2007 in February, we were the first to apply for it), and then on top, Authorised Google Adwords Reseller.  This green badge means that they havebeen actually chosen by Google and given a real contract with Google and, ACTUALLY have face to face quarterly training from Google staff in Australia. 

Then you need to look at what they provide.  Do you get a 2009 compliant set up?  Do they allow you to view your account?  Do you get daily reporting of real data, not just a spend total and total clicks?  Do they provide proven multi vertical expert knowledge on how to improve your site and its performance as part of their weekly fees?  Do they offer landing pages to split test your current sites performance?  Do they reward you on your success?  Do they pay you for your referrals? 

If not, then you really are not getting what you need, and we haven’t even discussed the costs of clicks. 

If you move your account to a new management company, you really should see reduction in click costs of about 40 - 60%.  Typically we see existing 20 cent adwords clicks from trade in adwords accounts dropping to 10c or 11c from our revisions.  It is not uncommon to get 40c clicks on adwords down to 18c, pointing to the same site with the same adwords but with a higher quality score. 

There really is that much difference in the adwords set up, and that’s not diluting the keywords either.  Then, its a matter of agressively managing each Adwords keyword on seach into a set postion, and we use highly specialised adwords software via the Google API to achieve this.  Search Partners on Google and Content really are seperate accounts and campaigns,  the old days of lumping them all together is long gone and just plain dangerous to your ROI.

Then you really must watch your competitors on Adwords, and manage your click through rates with your manager, based on what your competitors are saying in their ads each week.  You have to adjust your site or landing pages based on your competition and your revised offers or points of difference. 

Finally, if you are not tracking your return on  your keywords with at the very minimum, adwords conversion tracking, and at best, Google Analytics, then you are just shooting money into the air, you cannot prove what works best for you.

So, in summary, if you are currently a DIY, or have a manager, or are thinking of doing Adwords, then the choice is simple, choose the very best.  Adwords?  Google Adwords? - Hot Goanna!  www.hotgoanna.com.au 

Victorian Fires - Hot Goanna and Google assist with recovery

In a small way, but that’s all we ALL have to do to help the thousands affected by this shocking situation.  Just last week, Bendigo Holiday Accommodation joined Hot Goanna on Google Adwords.  This week, following the disaster, we offered to pay for their ads for them.  They believe that their rental and holiday properties are still viable , given the loss of housing in the area, and that they will still need an online advertising presence. We hope that this small measure will assist one small business in the area, and also help those that have lost their homes to find temporary accommodation.  It’s just a little bit of support that we can give the area, but if we all do it…….

Website Sizes - Australian Screen Resolutions have changed - So must your website or landing pages.

Here is the latest 12 month data on the size of the computer screens, and their resolutions that Australia’s youth and young adults are using.  This is reflecting the adult and professional resolutions that we have seen as a growing trend in the past 12 months as well.  More and more people are getting their hands on a wide screen, and the square monitor is quickly becoming a thing of the past.  If you want to ensure that your site has the most workable selling space available (real estate we call it in Google Adwords Speak) then if your web site is 750 or 800 or even 900 pixels wide, then you are absolutely wasting at least 25% or more of your selling space - your website.  Imagine what you can do with 25% more impact, larger images in your cart or site, more text, more specials and in the end more sales.  I would recommend that you take stock of these figures below, as they very accurately refelect the youth market.  More to follow on professionals and adults at www.hotgoanna.com.au soon.

Australian Regional Towns Benefit from Google Advertising

Every year, one client who runs student accommodation in a regional centre in Northern NSW comes to us to turn on their Google Adwords Advertising.  Being a one a year event (co-incides with year 12 finishers and their offers to various universities) there is a huge demand for information about that one thing that does not come with University entry.  Accommodation.  This centre relies solely on its internal links with the University and Google.  As they cannot directly interact with each university hopeful, their presence on relevant Google searchers, is absolutely vital.  How vital, well, they are full again this year on the back of 491 clicks on their Google Ads in December and January and received 96 applications.  Interestingly they were even more successful this year, after refining their on line application downloads, and compared to the same period last year, they received 493 visitors from Adwords but only received 77 online applications.  There has been more competiton this year and we see click costs for the same postion has increased by 15c per click, but the conversion rate has increased by 25%.  So the net cost per application for them has only incrased by 39 cents.   This Hot Goanna client typifies two very important facts, one, that regional towns and cities can be very viable with online marketing on Google, and two, seasonal business can be very successful.  For more please visit www.hotgoanna.com.au

Recession in Australia - Price Makes a Difference to Survival

Lets face it, its in your face every day.  50 million unemployed this year world wide, interest rates and growth down, more job losses, its bloody bleak if you believe the media.  I have spoken to a lot of mates in the past week who are in business or clients of Hot Goanna and one thing has really jumped up and hit me. There is a pricing trend coming out and it should be no surprise.  I remember reading that Mr Ferrari once said  “All we have to do to be successful is find 2000 fools who will buy our cars each year” Given the amazing price of one of these cars, this is not surprising.  He was after a small market that existed and price was not an option because the market wanted the prestige.  Its much the same with my mates except it is definately reversed.  In boats, anything under a 100K is moving really well.  In petdoors, its the basic door at the lowest price amongst the competitors that is selling above the competitors.   In pool fencing, its the basic DIY panels.  In accommodation, its the best rate on the best room.  In resume’s, its definately the lowest price.  Car parking at a major airport, you guessed it, its price (and the basic security and transfers)  Now if you listen to the Non-Neo Economists, we are in for 10 to 20 years of fundamental change in relation to money, loans and capital gains.  I believe, listening to them that the level of debt we all have collectively accumulated is beyond any previous mark, and that even with the proposed Australian Tax Cuts, we will see only one half on one percent of the total individual debt reduced by these cuts. Its a long road.  So, what do we draw from this.  The weak wont survive.  Those with a price difference will get more sales.  Those that run at the top end will find less clients and those in the middle will muddle.  Cheap does not have to be nasty, but it is still cheap.  Wonderful brands,  amazing marketing and claims will help, but it will come back to the price.  Then when you cut out inefficient staff, practices and poorly performing marketing and advertising, you compound your chance of success.  Old Hat?  Well it is but its definately New Hat. If you are going to make your business successful, you have to do 2 things (in my opinion)  1.  Put up with sustainablity and lower growth or 2.  Price yourself back into the market.  LOW isn’t always better, but its better to be low than BLOW.  Money to spend is definately going to be harder to find, and if you dont postion yourself now and be the leader in your field, then you follow.  Once you do this you will never catch up, just go broke. Seperate yourself now, get in front and fight like hell to stay there.  Your business now must go lower and become leaner.  The good ol’days are ending, don’t become a statistic. 

Google Adwords Click Costs - Its Your Own Fault - Not Google’s

Once again, we were shown a new clients account that they have been running elsewhere with someone else.  They showed us their ads and keywords and click costs, conversion rates and positions on Google.com.au.  They had been averaging 20c per click in about position 4.  We took them on with the agreeement that we had to improve the account for them.  The client had been complaining that his click costs were too high given his site only converted at 6%.  We set about making the account 2009 compliant, given the recent massive changes to quality score again on Google Adwords.  The result?  When we put up the revised account we saw within 3 days that CPC had fallen to 11c (a drop of almost 50%) and the average position improved to 3.  This was done with keyword quality scores of 10/10 in all adgroups. Then we assisted him to polish just one page on his site where the clients made their inquiries and within a week we saw conversions rate increase to 12%.  There is much talk about the increasing costs of clicks on Google, the inflation many see in their CPC’s, and, the shrinking market and less bookings/ sales / inquiries. But, at the end of the day, Google does what you tell it.  Click Inflation is your fault.  You can reduce costs and you can control positions and you can increase conversions.  You just need to tell Google what to do, and do what Google likes to allow this to happen, (Oh and make the customer happy when they visit your site of course.)  This is a very good example of before and after, with the full impact of the new compliance from Google being implimented.  Keep Google Happy and pay half price.  It’s still simple, It works - with the right help!  www.hotgoanna.com.au

Recession Australia ? What Recession ! But Panic Leads to Inflation on Google Search on Adwords.

I sat down tonight and reviewed all Hot Goanna clients for the past 3 months.  If there is a recession in Australia, then its just weeding out the rubbish on Search. 

A strong statement?  Well, I must admit I have been GLOOMED by the constant barrage of negativity on all the conventional media of late. Its everywhere, every day and it affects people who are not directly or indirectly affected by what is happening.  By the way if anyone can tell me what is ACTUALLY happening, then please let me know, because it sound to me like a lot of large companies told lies, and a lot of Banks got greedy, and as usual, lots of people who just wanted to buy a house to call home got trapped!

Back to Online Shopping and Services in Australia. This is really interesting.  What we see for all our clients on Adwords is this.  Firstly, I have compared November, December  (2008) and January (2009) based on the same day range (22 days) .  Qualification, we are a percentage player in the market in Australia, so what we see here could be representative of the whole market. The first interesting thing we see is that actual search in January has declined about 18% from December, but is about 1% higher than November.  Also, what we see in the same date range is that CTR (click through rate of our ads for clients) was the same for November and December but has risen by 25% this month.  Interestingly, the average conversion rate of all clients in November was 15% higher than December, and in January so far, its 10% higher than in November for the same period.  Above all, we see that there was an infationary effect on click costs in December.  On average, it was 7% higher than in November.  We also see overall, a 10% reduction in click costs in January against December.  So, what does this all mean.  When you look at indivual accounts, one thing is glaringly obvious.  The competition is putting up their bid prices, thinking if you pay more then you get more business.  We have seen our average postion for all ads for all clients fall from our usual position, down about 1 to 3 spots.  You would normally panic if this happened to a DIY account, or one that does not have a highly experienced manager who daily manages bids and positions, based on conversion rate, and works on strategy with a client on a regular basis.  Now, I am leaving the Holy Grail alone (Quality Score) and just concentrating on ads and their direct effect.  What we have seen is our CTR go UP in January.  We get more of the share of search for our clients in the past 3 months and we have done it at an average reduction in CPC (cost per click) of 10% from November.  This has probably reduced the impressions (actual individual search requests) that we have shown on, as we all know Google just shows your ad enough, based on your CTR in the position you are in, to get you the clicks you need.  Lets just presume this is the actual case (in a simplistic way) then given that, more people are searching than last November.  We only track leads or sales, so inqiury or sales is up overall for our clients.  Average CPC is down because we dont set massive max bids so we tend to cap the rise in CPC.  Average postion is not hurting us, because we have better ads which is reflected in both CTR and Conversions being up. (See a previous post re increase in average position and the related increase in CTR)   What can we surmise from these figures?  (Lies, Lies and Damn Statistics - a very famous quote) but, these are real, so you can draw your own conclusions.  For me, it’s simple, it works.  Write a better Ad, control your keywords and quality score, track your conversions at given postions and improve your site to make it sell better.  Even if you drop a few positions it only affects your CTR and CPC, not how well your site sells your product.  It comes down to advice and logical reason.  So far,  there is No Recession here in Australia online - IF you do it right.

Mark Tull
Founding Director
Hot Goanna TM
Google Adwords Authorised Reseller

http://www.hotgoanna.com.au 

Australias First Whisky Google Ad Ever - Hot Goanna Claims the Record in Top Spot!

As of 11.08 this morning, we successfully placed Tasmania Distillery’s Ads for their Brilliant Award Winning Whisky on Google Search.  This is the first EVER ad for a distillery in Australia, given the change in Google Adwords Policy that came into effect in Australia today for spirits (hard liquor as the Americans call it) .  Tasmania Distillery attracted 7 shoppers in just 30 minutes from the ads going live.  Tasmania Distillery is now attracting collectors, retailers and wholesalers, together with the discerning whisky drinker from countries such as New Zealand, UK, Singapore, Japan, Germany and many other countries.  Tasmania Distillery was voted the Worlds Best Distillery in 2007 and this years whisky bible rated their top 5 whiskies as Brilliant!  What a brilliant result from Hot Goanna for this client, and a record that can never be equalled.  www.hotgoanna.com.au

Screen Shot as Proof. 

Whisky, whiskey, rum, bourbon, scotch and other hard liquors can now advertise on Google in Australia!

Hot off the press.  Now Google Adwords have bought their policy on wine and beer to spirits.  Finally we can advertise great clients like Tasmania Distillery on world wide search.  Google has defined it as non family safe search, which means the kids computer won’t see the ads (if the settings are family safe) and there is a set list of negative terms.  Also, the site must not be committed to just sales (there is a certain percentage pushing towards sales that is allowed) and you must brand the ads, not push online sales, but finally, great Aussie distillers can now successfully market their award winning and collectable spirits.  We hope to have the very first ads showing for our clients early next week and it might just be a world record for Australia, and of course Hot Goanna, Australia’s Favourite Google Adwords Reseller.   www.hotgoanna.com.au

adwords quality score = how to build a site that google likes

Lesson 1.

We always put some input into a clients website from our perspective to help them both achieve a higher quality score on Google Adwords and also convert higher sales or leads or both.  Here is a little experiment for a site that is brand new.  We built a typical simple site that lead generates.  We did absolutely no meta tags or descriptions and here is what google thinks is in the site, based on the keyword query tool

 Showing keywords grouped by these terms:
domain name registration (7), register business name (5), domain name (33), business name (24), company name (13), register a (7), shopping cart (10), cheap domain (6), web hosting (6), domain registration (5), domain (15), business (19), registration (7), hosting (6), web (11), australia (8), trademark (6), Miscellaneous keywords (12)

Here is page 2, and what Google thinks is in the site based on the exact same page, but with the actual keywords in the meta tags and description in this single page.  We renamed the page but it was not specific enough to add weight to the results, and yes, no change was made to the adwords campaign in any way.

 Showing keywords grouped by these terms:
pay per click (8), register a business (6),  search engine (7), business (14), register (5), company (9), search (6), adword (18), trademark (9), advertise (7), website (10), trade (7), doors (10), ppc (6), part (5), dolan (6), Miscellaneous keywords (26)

Now, we have not addressed templates, hosting, css or any other mattters here, that will be in the next lesson.  But given the theme of the site in the early days, you can actually see the validity of ensuring that your keywords are included in the tags and descriptions.  Next lesson, content that supports your keywords and why privacy policies rule.

 You can check what google sees on your page at http://www.google.hotgoanna.com and click on the bid price link.  When you get there, choose the website content button and put in your web address (one page at a time if you like) or the whole site by ticking INCLUDE OTHER PAGES ON MY SITE.  If you have access to your own site for editing, then you can happily build your sites relevance, based on the volumes in the brackets for each search term above in the summary and also the number of terms that Google finds included.  If your site shows nothing about your business, or strange words, ring your account manager for guidance and we can either fix it for you or refer you to someone who can  help.  Lower CPC at a Higher Position is the Holy Grail of Google.  Persue it, it’s worth it.  For all your PPC and Adwords needs, visit www.hotgoanna.com.au or call  1300 468 462

Google Adwords at Christmas - Better PPC Results at a LOWER position!

We manage several Xmas stores Google Adwords Accounts at Hot Goanna ®  .  With the end of the season for these stores fast approaching, I did a little test to see what the results would be based purely on position of ads accross all categories.  Lets start by saying that on average, we see about 14c per click for our clients at position 5.6 on average.  We believe that we have the very best ads on the page, because our ads have both the starting price for each product and also a discount offer.  Click Through rates were very very good at this position, so in a concerted positional strategy, we moved bids over a period of several days and tracked results through different positions for the same ads.

We drove all the way up to a position 1 average and what we saw was amazing.

At top spot (and position 2) Average CTR - Click Through Rate only increased by 90%, yet click costs increased by 400%.  Conversion rates actually dropped because volumes of visitors fell by more than 50% due to the increase in click costs on a set budget.  Cost per sale blew out accordingly.

This has been an interesting exercise, being top spot certainly increases your CTR, but comes with a corresponding increase in budget to attract the same number of visitors.  We find that given the volume of shoppers on a given day, if we attract a known percentage of them, then CTR becomes not as important as Google would like us to think.  The balance between available budget and volumes of search, must be tempered against conversion costs.  Then you can work out a strategy on ads and positions.

Whoever would have thought that being at position 6 is far more profitable than being at position 1 or 2.  It just stands testimony to what we always thought…….

Write the best ad on the page and people will find it.   I would even presume that given this test, that while positions only enhance good ads,  they certainly dont make the ad successful.

Control you positions and click costs and suck the most people you can each day for the dollars you have available, and if you don’t have conversion tracking set up and polished, you have absolutely no hope at all of ascertaining what position works best for you on ROI.  Now all I have to do is to try these ads all the way down to position 11, below the horizon and see if they still perform as well as they do at position 6.

Staff Redundancy help from Adwords ! Make your website work harder this Christmas, or give it the sack!

Recession and Depression are nasty words.  I think every business out there is looking at their bottom line and looking forward to a leaner new year.  When, as business owners and managers, we start to re-evaluate our business, invariably we look at marketing spend, and also, even more importantly, staff numbers and performance.  We all have a cost per seat for our staff, whether in sales or in service / supply roles.  Imagine finding out one of your longest serving staff members is underperforming by 50%!  You find out this loyal employee is actually costing you twice as much as you have allowed.  Would you make them the First redundancy in any cost cutting?  I know I would.  But, how do you find this out about them?

It’s simple.   Just go to the internet and type in your website address.   There it is. probably your worst performing and most expensive staff member.   But how can you tell?  What is it really costing you.  Here is a perfect example of how just a one page website from Hot Goanna TM can make a world of difference. 

This client is in the legal field.  Their existing web site was used for the first 2 weeks for an Adwords campaign and in the first 2 weeks they averaged a customer lead conversion rate of about 8% on average with good days showing about 18%.

We then purpose built a landing page for them, just for PPC search and the results can be seen in the graph below.  Conversion rate now hits 34% on good days, and cost per conversion is down to about $8( previously up to $36 )

The blue line is the existing sites performance trend, and the red line is the trend on the landing page.  As you can see the blue line runs flat in Cost per conversion, and runs down (thus getting worse) in the conversion rate graph. 

The red line in the top graph shows the cost per conversion falling dramatically, thus getting far cheaper and correspondingly in the bottom graph the red trend line in going way up showing how many more leads are being generated from this one page.

Don’t let your website just get away with being probably your worst employee.  Get the information you need to sack it!  Get a Hot Goanna Google Adwords Specialised Landing Page at www.hotgoanna.com.au/landing-pages.php

TOP SEOs Recognizes Hot Goanna in top 10 in Australia.

Its always nice to get some recognition, especially in an industry that is shrouded with secrecy like ours.  We were notified today that Hot Goanna has been included in Top Seo’s Top 10 PPC Managers in Australia for December 2008.  http://www.topseos.com/best-seo-and-ppc-companies-in-australia  Its even more rewarding to see Mr Rod Jacka from Panalysis there, just one step behind us.  Rod as you might know is the Guru of Analytics in Australia and runs PPC campaigns for a very select few.  We are also pleased that we are the ONLY Authorised Google Adwords Reseller in Australia included in the list. Congratulations to our wonderful staff on this much deserved acclaim.