While the survey just launched, I have long been predicting that Small Businesses have no future in AdWords.  The future looks does not look very bright for small businesses as I outlined in my free report The Coming AdWords War.

Share your thoughts on the SE Round Table blog and find out if small businesses are being priced out of AdWords.  Click here to vote and view the results

Rule #2: Know What Conversions To Track in AdWords

I am shocked that even after so many years, time and time again I see lots of new AdWords customers that do not use AdWords Conversion Tracking.

Why do so many new AdWords users not do what it takes to succeed?

I am not sure but let me try to help by further emphasizing the importance of using the AdWords Conversion Tracking.

Every AdWords advertiser will have a sales funnel that looks something like this:

Your AdWords Account gets 100,000 impressions and with a click-through-rate of 5% you end up with 5,000 visitors to your site.

You manage to have a sign-up rate of 20% and capture 1,000 leads of which 50 end up buying your product.

However, just knowing these figures at the aggregate level is NOT enough!

To succeed with AdWords you MUST know your sign-up rate and conversion rate at the campaign, ad group, and keyword level. Without this information you will NOT stand any chance of thriving in AdWords.

A lot of people always ask me… what sign-up rate and conversion rates can I expect. I will give you some rules of thumb that we have learned over the past few years.

Sign-up Conversion Tracking Rates in AdWords Example: For information / software products where your initial goal is to just build a list via free reports, free trials, etc.

* A signup rate of 30%+ is great * A signup rate of 20%+ is good * A signup rate of 10%+ is ok * A signup rate of <10% is bad

The actual results will vary greatly by keyword, by market, and by your landing page. However, if your goal is to first build a list (capture a lead) then the above is a good rule of thumb. Unless your signup rate is above 10%, it will be very hard to make any money via AdWords.

Once you build a list, here are some benchmarks on conversion rates for your list that you can expect.

* A sales rate (sales / sign-ups) of 20+% is fantastic * A sales rate (sales / sign-ups) of 10+% is very good * A sales rate (sales / sign-ups) of 5%+ is good * A sales rate (sales / sign-ups) of 3%+ is ok * A sales rate of (sales / sign-ups) of <3% is bad

Sales Conversion Tracking Rates in AdWords Example: For information and / or software products where you goal is to instantly go for a sale without building a list.

* A conversion rate of 4%+ is fantastic * A conversion rate of 3%+ is great * A conversion rate of 2%+ is very good * A conversion rate of 1%+ is good * A conversion rate of 0.5%+ is ok * A conversion rate of <0.5% is bad

Please not that our examples are based on selling personal development and Internet marketing software and information products. The individual results will vary sharply but these are just some general metrics you might find useful.

A few more important points: What should you track in AdWords Conversion Tracking? Sign-ups or Sales?

The answer is obviously both but in Google’s interface they will only show you one conversion metric. To get to the other conversion metrics you will need to dig deeper and use the Google reports. Personally, I always use “sign-up” tracking as my most wanted response on all of our PPC campaigns.

Why? Because I can innovate much faster. Lets revisit the sales funnel.

As you can see, by the time I get to 50 sales, I will have already gotten 1,000 sign-ups!

Since I can only optimize my ads and my keyword bids after I have collected enough data for the results to be statistically significant, I can optimize 20 times faster (1,000 sign-ups vs. 50 sales) by focusing first on sign-ups.

This gives us a competitive advantage because we can split test our ads and adjust our keyword bids much faster than someone that only tracks sales.

So, if you have not started using the AdWords Conversion Tracking, you can get started in just 5 minutes.

To continue learning about AdWords check out: www.TheComingAdWordsWar.com www.AdWordsSystemExposed9.com

Why is Everyone Searching For AdWords Miracle?

I was just using the AdWords Keyword Suggestion tool to find out the most popular search queries for the month for June 2008 and I was surprised to see that apparently over 90,000 people entered the keyword phrase "AdWords miracle." 

The top 4 search queries for "AdWords" are:
* AdWords – 1,220,000
* AdWords Tips – 135,000
* AdWords Miracle – 90,500
* AdSense AdWords – 60,500
* AdWords Keyword – 60,500

That made me suspicious and so I entered the keyword phrase "AdWords Miracle" into Google and sure enough, there at the very top I found a link to to www.AdWordsMiracle.com. 

As it turns out, this looks like another one of those "Get Rich Quick" type of products that ClickBank is famous for.  However, what I found shocking is that more people are searching for "AdWords Miracle" than for more common keyword phrases such as "AdWords Keyword." That in itself is a miracle.

If any of you have checked out The AdWords Miracle, then please let me know your thoughts on the product.  I just wonder how they got so much momentum… perhaps Frank Kern is behind it with another massive product launch that I must have missed. 

Here is the key thing that I learned from this:

The Keyword Tool from Google AdWords rocks! The tool got a lot better now that it includes the actual search query volume.  It is a great way to quickly identify hot new keyword phrases and target them either via SEO or PPC. 

If you are into AdWords, you can also check out:

* www.TheComingAdWordsWar.com  – a Free AdWords Report
* www.AdWordsSystemExposed – Free AdWords FAQ

About two months ago I promised to answer the most Frequently Asked AdWords Questions and I received hundreds of questions from our community of over 22,000 users!

How would you like to know the answers to the most frequently asked AdWords questions from all of these users for FREE?

Along with the New AdWords Book that I just published I also recorded the most frequently asked AdWords questions.

How do you get them? Very simple… just go to the new page that I setup on AdWords and sign-up. You do not have to buy anything to get access to the Most Frequently Asked AdWords questions.

Download the most frequently asked AdWords questions

Here is a tiny sample of the questions include:

• What actually is a Good CTR in Adwords? How do you know you are doing well?
• What is a Healthy Quality Score?
• How many Keywords should go into any given AdGroup? What is the ideal number?
• How much should I expect per Click or per Conversion in Adwords?
• How to Use Landing Pages for Shops and Professional Sites?
• How do I make Money in Adwords within 24Hs?
• What does a Landing Page look like that Google would love? What impact does your Landing Page have in your Quality Score?
• Does Direct Linking still work with Google Adwords?
• And nearly two dozen more questions answered!

Download the most frequently asked AdWords questions

I will of course continue to publish lots of tips and tricks on AdWords on this blog but because I created so much new material I wanted to give you the chance to get access to it all at once.

Mike

PS: If you are an AdWords user, be sure to check out the FAQ so that you too can get the answers to the most frequently asked AdWords questions for FREE

“It Changed the Entire Way I’ve Been Looking at Adwords!”

“I have been SOOO impressed with the information. It changed the entire way I’ve been looking Adwords. The value has been enormous to me so far and I’ve only just begun. I believe that the mindset change is what I’ve found the most amazing – the idea of continually optimizing and split testing – the importance of reports. Overall – I really have been pleased. I also read the Coming Adwords War and again – SOOO impressed. BTW, I also bought Wordbutler and it is a WONDERFUL tool for building the keyword list.”

~ Melissa Kelly

AdWords System Exposed 9

Hi there,

As most of you know, I spend A LOT of time with Google AdWords and over the years, I have consulted and helped thousands of clients with Google AdWords.

I wrote my first AdWords Book many years ago and have been updating it constantly over the past few years. However, with more and more people coming online the need to help people with AdWords has never been greater and to my horror… the amount of misinformation has also never been greater.

I have to admit that I was shocked when just a few weeks ago I listened to advice from Frank Kern give users really bad advice related to AdWords. I admire Frank Kern and have a lot of respect for everything he has accomplished but when I listened to his advice, I knew it was time for me to publish a new AdWords Book.

This time, I have done more than just publish an eBook on AdWords. The ideas was actually inspired by one of you!

I received an email with the following feedback:

“I don’t want another AdWords Book. I am tired of how-to guides that are full of promises but don’t ever really show anything to anyone. “

So… I decided to do something radical and very different from the traditional AdWords book authors. What did I do?

In addition to writing probably the single most complete AdWords Book out there… I also created an “over the shoulders view” – a huge video collection where I let people into our actual AdWords account! So… instead of just telling you how it is… I am actually showing you what I do.

So, I hope that you will enjoy this new AdWords Book and the “Over The Shoulders View” and I look forward to your feedback.

You can go and

download the New AdWords Book Now

Mike

PS: To those that don’t want to pay for an AdWords Book, you can first download a free AdWords eBook that I published here so that you get a good feeling for who I am and how much value I can deliver. www.TheComingAdWordsWar.com

“A Roadmap to Find My Niche”

“I thought your report was pure gold, probably the best single document I’ve found from all the newsletter signups I’ve done lately, and I’ve had a lot.

Your material, however, is specific enough to provide a pretty good roadmap as to how to start. Your report will be my roadmap when I find my niche.”

~ T. Allix

“I Dread to Think How Much Time and Money I Could Have Lost”

“I thought it was superb! Delivery was succinct, in easy to understand step-by-step lessons which clearly explained the logic behind each battle plan. I dread to think how much time and money I could have lost if I had started using Adwords without this knowledge. It’s a case of you don’t know what you don’t know until you know!”

~ Kathryn, UK

“Sheer Informational Gold!”

“The Coming AdWords War article is sheer informational gold. Not only is the info unrivalled, but the visual format of short paragraphs together with picture layout, increases white space which tends to move the reader along quicker without getting tired. Also, the writing style was personable, memorable and concise with a solid build to crescendo consistently laced with good suspense! As I read the 51 pages and absorbed the knowledge/reality, I felt a barrage of embarrassment and gullibility over my utter lack of knowledge and subsequent guilt over not taking sufficient time to deal with AdWords properly.”

~ Cal

PPS: You can download my new AdWords book – click here

Keywords + Placements

What is it and why is this significant?

Because for the first time you can BOTH

* choose to have your ad appear only on www.example.com AND
* only show your ads when the content is a match for your keyword

1. Pick Placements (e.g.: WebMasterWorld.com)

Google finds pages that meet both criteria

2. Pick keywords (e.g.: AdWords)

For example, lets say I want to advertise our latest AdWords course (www.AdWordsSystemExposed9.com) on WebMasterWorld.com.  In the past, I could target WebMasterWorld.com but now I can tell Google to only show my ads on WebMasterWorld.com when the content is related to the keyword "AdWords". 

This is a big improvement.  Now you can start to leverage and use placement targeting far more accurately and ensure that you only get leads when they were reading content relevant to what it is that you are offering.

I am going to start setting up a few tests right away and will be sharing results with you shortly. 

Mike

PPS: If you have not started taking advantage of Google’s content network, then don’t wait any longer!  I routinely get at least HALF of our clicks and sales via Google’s content network.  We are talking 6 figures per month by the way…  How do I do it?  Click to learn more

If you use Google AdWords to advertise, I want you to immediately leave a comment below and ask me all of your AdWords questions and challenges. 

Just do it!

What nags you at night about Google AdWords?  What challenges are you running into?

Please tell me!

In return for telling me what challenges you face, I am going to answer every single question on future blog posts.

Why would I take the time to write all these freebie answers?

As you know, we offer an excellent AdWords Guide on  www.AdWordsSystemExposed.com.  Well, a lot has changed since I first wrote it.  While it is still an excellent course and does a wonderful job dealing with the fundamentals, I am in the process of updating it and you will get the answers for free since you are helping me.

So, please leave a comment now so that I can help you with AdWords.

Mike

PS: I also wrote a report recently on AdWords that you can read at www.TheComingAdWordsWar.com

Let me explain why.

While we enjoy sharing our regular experimental results and weekly nuggets of wisdom, we took a hiatus from these to focus on something dramatically more useful to you.

We hunkered down and finally put into writing a series of revelations that occurred over the past 6 months or so.

You might look at it as “The State of AdWords” but it is more than that; you will also see our predictions for the future (i.e. what the current state means to the future of your business).

So head over and get your hands on our most up-to-date battle plan to protect your business now and in the future.

The tipping point for this piece came while Mike was perusing an old military manual. You’ll see what I mean.

Once you read it, keep your eyes peeled for those how-to’s and updates we wrote about. Get it now (if it matters it is free).

Here’s a note Gary wrote in about an hour ago:

The coming adwords war is probably one of the most informative, and most importantly succint documents that cover the real essence of a successful adwords campaign. Like alot of others I have spent a fair bit of time and money(!) and learnt the hard way about doing adwords. What your guide instantly highlighted were the errors I had previously made. It is a must read!

Regards

Gary

Once you take a look, please let us know what you think!

I’d be curious to know what the story is behind it and what sort of conversion implications it has.

In short, that means that if your pages do not load very fast you are going to get slapped by Google and crushed by your competitors that have figured out how to optimize their sites and servers for maximum speed. 

Why is Google doing this?

• User experience – if your pages load faster, then users will be more satisfied

Why should you be doing this?

• When your pages load faster, your users will be more satisfied
• If you don’t do it… your quality score will hurt, which will increase your min. bid which will make it harder for you to compete in AdWords.

To see the original announcement go here:

Landing page load time will be incorporated into the Quality Score