Adwords (left vs. right)

[smaxwell]

Just got into the adwords thing, and I notice all the sponsored ads are apearing on the right in little squares.

I've always searched google by reading the longer text listings on the left.

How do I get my listing on the left?

[richmc]

you'll never manage to get a paid advert on the left - its the way Google works. sorry to be the bearer of bad news and all that.

course you could always go with Altavista, they'll put an advert anywhere :D


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actually i'm talking crud. i just remembered seeing sposored links at the top of the pages. dunno how you go about getting em though. i suspect it costs mucho dollars.

for an example see "mp3 players" in google

maybe someone else can help

[highman]

Googles premium sponsorship

http://www.google.com/ads/overview.html

[Yokozuna]

You can also be lucky.

If your ad is for a search term that isn't very competitive then Google can be kind enough to give you a top banner for the same price as a normal sponsored link.

We've experienced this for a few of our search terms, but we've been told to enjoy it while it lasts, as it won't last forever. But fingers crossed, we've been appearing along the top for almost 3 months now!! Maybe it's Goolge's way of getting other people to pay the money for a premium ad?

Usually I think you have to pay $5,000 a month (minimum) to have a sponsored link appear as a horizontal banner across the top.

You don't get much in life for nothing....:D

[Advisor]

Umm...the longer text listings on the left are REAL search results, not ads (besides the top sponsored listings).

You need to optimize your site to rank high with your specific keywords to get listed in there. You are right that most people click on those results as opposed to the ads. That's why we teach people in these forums how to create a search engine friendly site.

Read up on how to do that, and get to work on optimizing your site.

Good luck!

Jill

[richmc]

yeah, but if you look at a search for say "mp3 players" you'll see some sponsored links on the top-left of the SERP - they're obviously ads.

i have to admit i never click on these results, or the ads on the right though, so i'd agree its best to do the work and get a decent normal listing. :cheers:

specially since more and more people are becoming "banner blind" and ignore pretty much anything that looks like an ad on a webpage.

its friday. ain't it great? :D

[Lundorff]

buy this: http://www.page-zero.com/products_asroi.asp :thebomb:

[Yokozuna]

Lundorff, is it worth buying?

I'm always reluctant to purchase anything when I don't know what I'm getting. If a small section was available to read on the site and I liked what I read, then I'd probably consider getting it.

It's not expensive, but there are so many people who have similar reports for sale - what makes this one so special?

Cheers,

Daniel

[Advisor]

It's definitely worth buying. Lots of great info in it. It really helps to understand the best way to approach your PPC campaign. If you want, you can read my review of it here: http://www.highrankings.com/issue006.htm#seonews2 for more info.

Jill

[Yokozuna]

Thanks Jill.

Funnily enough, I'd glanced through the testimonials and I did notice your name amongst them. That did give the report some credibility (to me anyway!).

I may decide to buy it, but it would be nice if they'd allowed potential buyers to view an extract of the report. Surely this makes good marketing sense?

Cheers,

Daniel

[Lundorff]

Originally posted by Advisor
It's definitely worth buying. Lots of great info in it. It really helps to understand the best way to approach your PPC campaign. If you want, you can read my review of it here: http://www.highrankings.com/issue006.htm#seonews2 for more info.

Jill

Guess where I read about it ;)

It's absolutly brilliant. It gives you a better understanding of Google Adwords and how you can profit from it - every penny worth.

[Advisor]

Well, I believe there is a money back guarantee if you really felt it wasn't worthwhile, but that would truly surprise me!

Jill

[Yokozuna]

Sorry Jill or Lundorff, just a quick question - how many pages long is the report? I know that's not the best way to place a value on something - but I'm always happier if I'm getting more pages for my money!

Cheers,

Daniel

[Advisor]

I don't remember the exact number of pages, but unless it's changed recently, it was VERY long! I only read half of it, and got more info than I needed to know. One of these days, I'll read the second half!

Jill

[Yokozuna]

OK, you've convinced me. I will go and buy it. You should be on commission...:D

[Advisor]

I am! Order it from the link in my review!

Jill

[Yokozuna]

:lol:

I might just do that!!

[Yokozuna]

Jill, you'll be happy to know that I've bought the report - and I used your link.

Got some light reading to do this weekend now....

:cheers:

Daniel

[Advisor]

Thanks, Daniel! I just saw the new sale and was wondering if it was you! :cheers:

I think i should split the commission with Lundorff though!

Jill

[Lundorff]

lol

The report is 87 pages long but I guess you know this by now ;)

[Yokozuna]

:lol:

Thanks anyway!!

I read it over the weekend, and am implementing some of what I've learned.

Some of the advice is fairly obvious, but there are also some gems in there. Hopefully we will get a return on our $49 pretty soon.

Thanks again,

Daniel

[Lundorff]

U R welcome :cheers:

Some of the issues are pretty obvious agreed - but overall the report clears up a lot of issues and shows the do'es and dont.

Numbers:
It has only been a week since I finished and we have gone from 0.5 CTR to apx 1.1 - 1.2

From 1 campaign with 1 ad group to 7 campaign with more ad groups then i can count hehe.

Overall we have apx. trippled our hits. Now if only I could get some tracking software to monitor sales :)

Rgs
Lund

[Yokozuna]

We're bordering on 20 campaigns at the moment, each with plenty of ad groups!!! Although the interface is good, there are some features that I'd like Google to implement - such as a way to extract the info into Excel for reporting.

It's also a good job we have a decent connection, otherwise the pages would never load due to the number of keywords we've added (just following the advice in the report!!). :)

Our CTR has increased on the new campaigns, and we've managed to land a very good single keyword for $0.05 per click-through, and our ad is appearing at the top of the pile!!

The only other problem I have now is trying to explain the reasons behind what we've done to our clients.... most of whom struggle to understand the difference between normal search engine listings and the Adwords listings, and really struggle when I try to explain maximum CPC and average CPC....:confused:

Hopefully, we'll be able to triple their hits, then they won't care about how we did it!!

Cheers,

Daniel

[sanity]

Originally posted by Yokozuna
Usually I think you have to pay $5,000 a month (minimum) to have a sponsored link appear as a horizontal banner across the top. Hey Yokozuna. What is your experience with having the ad at the top of the pages as opposed to down the side? Is it clicked on more often?

[Yokozuna]

Sanity, we're still looking into it as we've had mixed results so far.

I've posted some figures on another thread:

http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=5675

...and as you can see, for one term it seems to have helped - for another the CTR has dropped.

There are probably too many other variables affecting the results to make a judgement over such a short period. Also, we have been 'optimising' our ads, so that could also be a contributing factor. Maybe over a longer period of time we will be able to determine a trend.

I have a hunch that the horizontal banners are effective when there are lots of standard sponsored links for a search term (as they stand out from the crowd).

However, when there are only 1 or 2 ads for a term, I think the standard ads just as noticeable (if not more so). But that's just a feeling - not based on any empirical evidence.

Anyone else had any experience?

Cheers,

Daniel

[thinkfuture]

We bought the term "life coach" a while back (a lot of our experts are life coaches) and were suprised to find ourselves in the big spot! We got a lot more traffic out of that, and paid dearly (I forget what the cost per click was). Alas, it was short lived, as others bouht the term too and outbid us.

Thats another problem I'm seeing start to happen, as more people get into Ad Words, cost goes up and effectiveness goes down. Not sure what to do next to get real effective ads going

[andrew]

There are two places where your sponsored listings can appear using Google adword (1- on the right hand side as mentioned in your query, 2- the top one or two spots of the main listings). I've found that if your pockets are deep enough, that is, if your cost-per-click bid is high enough, you're add will appear on the very top and center of the results (The sponsored listings section, top left). I've tested this out by increasing the bid amount on my campain, and some of my listings magically appeared at the top sponsored listing position on the left hand side.:cool:

[sanity]

Thanks for the info Daniel. I've been on hols so I only just saw your post.

Cheers,
Sophie