The Niargra Falls of PPC Up Ahead...

Whew!

I was pretty shocked to login to my Adwords account and to see some startling numbers.

Before I show you I need to back up a bit and give you some background...

Some of you may recall the recent Internet marketing event of Carlos and Lupe Garcia's Traffic Tactics live seminar. Some of you may have even watched the live video stream of the first hour of that seminar.

Well, in that live video feed they showed (a repeat of) the absolutely HUGE traffic numbers they were getting via banner ads, co-reg, affiliate networks, etc.

We're not talking thousands. We're not even talking millions. We're talking BILLIONS...

... per month!

They even mentioned how search engines - i.e. SEO and PPC basically suck. And yes, in light of the information they revealed I couldn't agree more.

But I have some interesting numbers of my own.

Here, take a look:



Now get this...

I actually paused most of the 'offending' campaigns at around 12 pm earlier today. So this number would have probably reached 3 million impressions by midnight tonight (where the numbers will tick over/reset).

Now let's say we took this number and timesed it by 30.

What numbers do we get?

Here's what:

9 billion impressions per month.

Yep, that's billion with a 'b' people.

So the next stage is to figure out how to exploit these numbers. That, my furry friends, is what I plan on doing next.

As Naruto would say: "Believe it!"

Get ready, the Niagra Falls of PPC is Coming!
Thte PPC Assassin.

Some Recent Campaign Stats

I won't be supplying the results from the experiments I said I'd be carrying out because I decided to go in another direction for the time being...

Here are the results of some recent campaigns:

This first one is what I'm calling a "three of a kind" (4-4-4):

This next one is a 50-50:

And I thought I might run this one by you....

Who's The Greatest?

Muhammad Ali might have been the greatest in his time but I think there may be a new sheriff in town...

*Yours Truly*

What do you say?

Careful not to drool all over the keyboard.

Later,

You know who.

Give People What They Want or Else...

Okay, so today I'm going to talk more on relevance and the practical consequences of failing to adhere to it's strict guidelines.

I thought I'd try an experiment to see if people looking for one thing would actually buy something related and get FREE what they after in the first place as a 'bonus'.

The result?

A resounding failure.

Why? Well, I believe it's pretty simple - but I can only theorize and give it my best educated guess.

The original thing they were after is relatively cheap anyway but I was offering it to them free... but there was a catch: They had to spend more money to by this other thing in order to get what they were after free.

Now in this particular industry they don't necessarily need to purchase the extra 'thing' because they may not necessarily need it. So the offer may not have been very compelling at all.

Conclusion: I don't have a solid conclusion yet but I think I'll try and come at them from another angle and then see if they bite.

If they don't then I think it's safe - VERY safe - to say that semi-targeted offers will NOT convert. And if in the long run they may make a few 'token' conversions then sure, why not? But on the whole it's just not a good idea.

So this points - early at this point as it may be - to the necessity of targeting - no matter the keyword type - your offer...

Whether it's an offer for free and valuable content (e-courses, free membership website, free video tutorials, or cheaper-better-faster-stronger offers. No matter the situation give people what they want - BETTER than anyone else and you'll SUCCEED.

So, with that in mind I'm going to run a few more experiments and tweak each offer and then report back to you with the results.

In an upcoming installment I want to go over running experiments for your own campaigns so that you can learn and continually increase your 'hands-on', real-world knowledge and skill. This is the most valuable knowledge by far and away.

Book knowledge is good but street-knowledge, learn-as-you-go (I call it the LAYG Process) knowledge is superior.

But in the next installment I want to talk more on conversions and my experiences and experiments.

Until then this is your captain speaking,
The PPC Assassin.

As Promised... (oh yeah, I need some bandaids too)

I'm in alot of pain at the moment.

I just made one of the biggest mistakes in my PPC career and I'm about to share it with you so YOU do NOT make the same blunder yourself!

You see, I already knew about this mistake but I got a little - what shall we say? - careless. I didn't even think twice about it - I just flew in like a Kamakazi pilot, first class! Arghhh!!

...You can guess what happened next.

I'll tell you about it in a sec but I want to first deliver the goods as I promised in a recent blog entry.

In that entry I unvieled a truly dazzling, spectacular [- insert whatever happy, excitable word you want here -] event which marked a true milestone in my PPC career: The advent of the 1 cent click!

Well, I'm about to reveal some important info on just what I think helped get them.

One word: relevancy.

As you may or may not know Google places high priority on this word not just in lip-service but in PRACTICE. And... ge this: they reward anyone else who does the same. In our case, with cheaper clicks. Instead of a Google Slap we get a Google Pat on the Back.

You've heard their moto: "Do no evil" right? Well, I think it'd be safe to say that the relevency factor would fall into this like a quater into a vending machine.

So how does relevancy have to do with getting 1 cent clicks - or at the very least cheaper clicks? I say everything.

The relevancy factor is simple really and it goes something like this:

The Google user goes to Googe's home page and types in a search query and expects to get yep, you guessed it, results that are relevant to what they were originally looking for. Now this is where Google's primary concern is - in my humble opinion.

If they can't serve up relevant search results to the common user it would have an adverse effect on their reputation as a search engine. This will, in turn, cause people to look elsewhere and gravitate towards the competition. Evil.

In fact this is why they gained the momentum, dominance and reputation they have so far because they were different from the competition in that their SERP's (Search Engine Results Pages) were serving up far more relevant websites than the other search engines.

And this is where YOU as the Adwords advertiser comes in! YOU must take your MKL (Master Keywords List) and get into the mindset behind what that person was looking for. What was the original intent behind their search query? You have to figure this out and then respond accordingly by creating websites that best meet their search needs.

You have to employ some good ol' fashioined mindreading to try and intuit or determine what it is they were looking for.

Of course keyword phrases like "buy cheap car stereos" aren't't exactly hard to figure out what it is they're after is it? Nor is "how to draw simpsons cartoons". The more difficult keywords to decipher are the broad keywords. You know, the ones like "weight loss" or "arthritis". There could be - no, there ARE - many different possibilities and scenarios behind these keyword terms.

In an upcoming book I'm going to reveal exactly how to exploit this concept and a whole lot more to the maximum.

Okay, now it's time to come clean and reveal the blunder I made with my latest Adwords campaign.

Here's what I did...

I decided I was going to increase my daily budget. *Sigh*.

Let me tell you something. If you want to control your monthly costs with Adwords or any other PPC search engine then here's how you do it and here's what I didn't do - much to my horror!!

I increased it by 1000%. Bad move. VERY bad move.

The result?

A hideously big amount of cash thrown down the Google drain! Ah, but that's not all my furry friends...

Can you see the share brilliance with this maneuver?

You see, you're suppose to test SMALL and THEN, once you've found a proven winner, roll it out LARGE! But oh no, yours truly - the PPC Assassin - shot himself in the foot went to bed and didn't feel a thing until he woke the next morning and is now - literally paying for it!

Okay so I hope you've got that loud and clear.

In the next episode of 'How To Be A Total PPC Brainiac and Other Hair-Raising Revelations' stay tuned where I will unveil the mysterious PPC Undertow.

The PPC Assassin.

Breaking news:

I know I promised that I would reveal some more important info related to helping you get 1 cent clicks for yourself but I just couldn't wait to share some *Great* (excuse the pun) news.

More 1 cent clicks!

Here a screenshot I took of my account just minutes ago:

Talk soon,

The PPC Assassin - a.k.a. Paul.

I Struck Oil - PPC Oil that is!

Well, it's been nearly 2 month whole months since I last posted to this blog but let me assure you: the wait will have been worth it! Read on...

You've heard the fables, you've read the stories, now prepare for a cold hard dose of in-your-face, see-I-told-you-so REALITY!

Presenting...

For it's debut role in a short digital blog entry....

*Pause for effect*...

*Insert dramatic epic movie music*....

*Slowly cresendo a troop of timpany drums*.....

Curtains:

The 1 Cent Click!!!!

Click images for proof:

If you wil recall in an earlier post I spoke of the elusive 1 cent click. Well, as it turns out it wasn't as elusive as I once thought it to be.

Forget the hype folks. The 1 cent click is alive and kicking. And trust me when I say, it isn't that elusive. Keep testing, keep brainstorming for new ideas for your ads, and you'll get there.

But in the next post I will talk a bit about something that I've intentionally left out here. It will help 'thicken the plot' or should I say, clear up the fog and help move you toward gettting 1 cent clicks for your self.

Until then it's adios my PPC banditos!

The PPC Assasin.

Still Not Convinced About Testing?

Testing can be a chore if you're new to it.

I remember when I was first introduced to it I wasn't exactly oer the moon abut the thought of having to run tests. i just wanted my work to be successful right from the word go.

The way to help you overcome this initial hestitation & pain barrier is to just show you the true power of testing and the results it has gotten me.

Though this Adwords campaign wasn't causing me alot of grief but I still wanted it to match the CTR's I was getting in my Micrsoft AdCenter account for the same camapign.

So I made a few changes to the Adcopy - the first line in the body copy.

Here are the CTR's I was getting before I made the changes:



(Click on image)

Look what I got after making the changes:



(Click on image)

How do you like them apples?

Not bad huh?

Needless to say, these results absolutely blew my Microsoft AdCenter camapign out of the water.

More importantly, I think it's safe to say that you're now convinced of the actual power of testing and the awesome results it can have on your Adwords campaigns - or any marketing campaign for that matter!

If you would like me to help you with your Adwords marketing and help you gain more online exposure for your business you can leave your name and email in the box above (top left) and you will be contacted for further information.


Cheers,
The PPC Assassin.