How to Cheat Google AdWords Select!
Part IV by Derek Vaughan
In Part III of our series, we learned how to precisely limit the distribution of your ad to only those prospects who are most interested and how to beat the competition with creative bidding strategies. In this installment we'll learn how to:
- Track the results of your ads and campaigns;
- Create a Return on Investment (ROI) report.
Tracking and Results
From the moment your AdWords account becomes active, it begins generating valuable data that will help you optimize and fine-tune your marketing activities. In order to bill you correctly, Google must carefully monitor the number of clicks that each and every one of your keywords and search phrases generate. Not only that, they also have to report on what your active bid was at the precise moment that each click was generated.
It is important that you familiarize yourself with the reporting data that Google provides. Experience has shown that although one may generate a vast list of search terms, keywords and phrases, it is invariably a very small subset of these search terms that generate the lion's share of cost and clicks. The click reports will alert you to this, and help you to optimize your activities.
Some advertisers may have the capacity to track a click directly from a particular site and keyword back to the sale of an item at their site through the use of 'cookies' or other online tracking methods. If you have the ability and resources to create unique tracking URLs for each keyword or search phrase, I highly recommend doing this. The ideal situation for a any advertiser is to know which specific keywords, titles, descriptions, and products are driving the highest return on investment (ROI). Even if you are not capable of tracking a click through to sale, I recommend maintaining an ongoing ROI report as described below.
Closing the Loop - ROI Reports
Below is an example of a general Return on Investment (ROI) report similar to one that I have used extensively to manage cost per click sites, and to optimize our advertising dollars spent there. While it can be somewhat time consuming and resource intensive to generate a report such as this from your actual results, it is well worth the effort if you reveal information that saves you money on bids, or dramatically increases sales.
Please glance through the following report format. Each element is described below.
| Site | Keyword | Total Cost | Estimated Impressions | Clicks | Avg. Cost Per Click | Clickthrough Percent | Sales | Cost Per Sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pda | $2,211.56 | 121,992 | 4,253 | $0.52 | 3.49% | 41 | $53.94 | |
| palm pilot | $3,017.85 | 92,737 | 3,245 | $0.93 | 3.50% | 32 | $94.31 | |
| palm V | $30.80 | 4,293 | 88 | $0.35 | 2.05% | 2 | $15.40 | |
| Personal digital assistant | $7.98 | 1,764 | 38 | $0.21 | 2.15% | 0 | #DIV/0! | |
| Personal electronics | $0.16 | 149 | 4 | $0.04 | 2.68% | 1 | $0.16 |
| | |
| Site | The cost per click site which generated the clicks for this reporting period for this keyword. |
| Keyword | The keyword or search phrase which generated the click and cost data. |
| Total Cost | The total dollar cost for all clicks associated with this keyword over the reporting period. |
| Estimated Impressions | An estimate of how many times the ad listing was actually viewed whether it was clicked on or not - this data is available from your AdWords reporting. |
| Clicks | The total number of times that the ad listing was clicked during the reporting period. |
| The average cost per click during the reporting period. | |
| Clickthrough Percent | The number of clicks divided by the number of estimated impressions for the reporting period. |
| Sales | The total number of sales generated by this keyword during the reporting period. |
| Cost Per Sale | The total cost divided by sales for the reporting period. |
The key to successful ROI is to manage your campaigns by sales. The optimum campaigns are driving the highest volume of sales for the lowest possible cost per sale. If you are optimizing your listings according to how many sales they make and the cost of those sales - you have mastered the secret of the ROI report.
Summary
The purpose of this series is to get you started with a solid foundation of great information learned through years of day-to-day experience with the cost per click sites. Having been exposed to the tips within this series should place you well ahead of your competition in your quest for more sales and lower costs in Google AdWords. This is only a beginning, and you will develop your own style, methodologies and secrets as you become more familiar with the Google AdWords product. I wish you well in your online endeavors.