PPC Vs PCM Advice Please

[thespraytanshop]

Hi

I did search for this on here but cannot find the info I am after. I have a website that is 90% eCommerce and 10% repeat custom. My keywords are searched about 56,000 times a month and its a competitive buiness. I am ranking organically at page 7 on Google which is useless really.

I have done as much optmisation as I can however to get the business I need and get those first time sales I need to use Adwords.

I currently spend £500 a week on Adwords and even using an agency this is no better. I pay approx 35-60p per click. I have approx 1000 visitors per week to my site and approx 15% of those buy from me. I list first in all rankings of paid advertisers.

I need to reduce my costs and wondered is CPM would be more beneficial. However I have no idea how this will work ranking wise to PPC.

So for an Ecommerce site in a high competitive market what would be more affordable CPM or PPC?

Thanks

Kate

[David198]

Hi Kate,
I would recommend to go for top 10 ranking and to get more visitors from organic searches. It might take time but in long term it will bring you a lot of benefits.

CPM and PPC are not cost effective. Personally I don't like PPC at all. Why you have to pay someone to just click on your adverts?

Ecommerce sites are little complex to get into top 10 ranking.

If you could provide URL and keywords then I might give some insights. Or pass me these details in PMB and I'll look it for you.

cheers

[SteveGibson]

I pay approx 35-60p per click. I have approx 1000 visitors per week to my site and approx 15% of those buy from me.

At, say, 50p a click and 15% conversion rate, you're paying around £7.50 to get a new customer.

How much is a customer worth to your business? How much do you make (ignoring click cost) from first sale? How much do you make longterm from an average customer?

Steve

[SteveGibson]

CPM and PPC are not cost effective.

Really?

Personally I don't like PPC at all. Why you have to pay someone to just click on your adverts?

You don't have to pay. You can stop advertising.

However, if the visitors are worth more than you're paying per click, why would you stop?

Steve

[Scott-CopyandDesign]

CPM and PPC are not cost effective. Personally I don't like PPC at all. Why you have to pay someone to just click on your adverts?


Because the people clicking your adverts are HIGHLY targeted prospects, and these prospects are looking to buy what you're selling (if you've set up the PPC campaign correctly).

I'd happily pay an awful lot for these types of visitors.

[David198]

Really?

You don't have to pay. You can stop advertising.

However, if the visitors are worth more than you're paying per click, why would you stop?

Steve

Until and unless you are an agency offering PPC you wouldn't want to praise PPC.

PPC is a total rip-off. I've never come across a single business that gets good ROI on PPC.

[Scott-CopyandDesign]

PPC is a total rip-off. I've never come across a single business that gets good ROI on PPC.

Well you've found one. That's me.

The amount I've spent on PPC this year is the fraction of the cost of a full SEO campaign for my primary keywords.

No idea where you're getting your ideas from. With PPC you only pay for highly targeted prospects. These are people ready and looking to buy exactly what you're selling. It's an advertising dream.

[SteveGibson]

Until and unless you are an agency offering PPC you wouldn't want to praise PPC.

Or unless you're a client of mine...

http://www.bothsidesoftheclick.co.uk/testimonials

PPC is a total rip-off. I've never come across a single business that gets good ROI on PPC.

You should get out more... or click the link above.

Steve

[thespraytanshop]

I can't post my url here because im still new. But its the spray tan shop dot com. Keywords are spray tan training, spray tan equipment, spray tan solution, spray tan tent etc....

I am using MS Office website at present and I just bought Mr Sites so I can transfer it all over as I lost my reports and MS will not rectify it for me. I am unsure if my optimisation will be better with the other website.

I am not against PPC and my profit per customer exceeds what I pay to get them to click through - I just wonder about abuse of people over clicking from my competition, and there is a lot of it!

If I could bring what I pay on PPC down to £150 but still get the same business then thats justifiable but £500 a weeks crazy.

I thought if i paid per 1000 impressions then I would pay less for the same amount of clicks.

I have actually realised though all this internet advertiing and SEO is a law unto itself!

Really do appreciate your feedback.

Kate

[SteveGibson]

If I could bring what I pay on PPC down to £150 but still get the same business then thats justifiable but £500 a weeks crazy.

Without you answering the questions I asked (about profit per sale/value of customers), we've no idea if it's "crazy".

Steve

[thespraytanshop]

At, say, 50p a click and 15% conversion rate, you're paying around £7.50 to get a new customer.

How much is a customer worth to your business? How much do you make (ignoring click cost) from first sale? How much do you make longterm from an average customer?

Steve

Sorry Steve,

First Sales are around £150-£330 With a profit of 40-50%.

A lifetime client can spend £50 average per month with 60% Profit.

So in theory spending to accumulate long term the £500 a week probably looks like very little. I really cant push forward without reducing my spend on advertising and increasing my sales. I am probably being a bit thick but at the minute its just an extra expense that I need to cut down. I have looked at all other areas of the business and adjusting those too but this one is my 2nd biggest spend on my outgoings 2nd to stock.

Thanks

Kate

[thespraytanshop]

Oh and I have also tried to put a capture form on my site so I can have details of people visiting but have been unsuccsessful incorporating this. Its the only other way I can see me getting more customers by sending offers every now and again.

Kate

[SteveGibson]

Sorry Steve,

First Sales are around £150-£330 With a profit of 40-50%.

So being fairly conservative with these numbers, you're making 40% of £200 i.e. £80.

And, to get that, it's costing you around 50p a click and 7 clicks - i.e. £3.50.

(don't know where I got the £7.50 in my earlier post - looks like I was still half-asleep and multiplied them!)

So, you're making a profit of £80 - £3.50 = £76.50

That's an ROI of over 2,000%.

And that's ignoring the back end:

So in theory spending to accumulate long term the £500 a week probably looks like very little. I really cant push forward without reducing my spend on advertising and increasing my sales.

I am probably being a bit thick but at the minute its just an extra expense that I need to cut down.

Your PPC isn't taking money out of your business, it's putting money in.

And, therefore, spending less on PPC doesn't mean you'll have more money to spend on other things, it'll mean you'll have less money to spend on those things.

Steve

PS This assumes you're right about the 15% conversion rate. It looks pretty high to me.

[mailorderman]

PPC is a total rip-off. I've never come across a single business that gets good ROI on PPC.

Here's another business benefitting handsomely from PPC.

[thespraytanshop]

So being fairly conservative with these numbers, you're making 40% of £200 i.e. £80.

And, to get that, it's costing you around 50p a click and 7 clicks - i.e. £3.50.

(don't know where I got the £7.50 in my earlier post - looks like I was still half-asleep and multiplied them!)

So, you're making a profit of £80 - £3.50 = £76.50

That's an ROI of over 2,000%.

And that's ignoring the back end:



Your PPC isn't taking money out of your business, it's putting money in.

And, therefore, spending less on PPC doesn't mean you'll have more money to spend on other things, it'll mean you'll have less money to spend on those things.

Steve

PS This assumes you're right about the 15% conversion rate. It looks pretty high to me.

Many thanks for taking your time to reply to my thread, I really appreciate it. Can I ask - How do I measure the conversion rate?

You are right I am estimating - I know everything needs to be tested and measured but this aloofs me.

Thankyou Again!! Kate

[SteveGibson]

Hi Kate,

If conversions (i.e. sales) are happening on your site - that is to say, they're ecommerce type transations - you can use google adwords conversion tracking.

That'll assign PPC sales to the correct keyword and ad.

(the conversions will be a little on the low side, due to the nature of the tracking, but that's just the way it is)

So, google the words "adwords conversion tracking" and you'll learn more.

Similarly, if you use google analytics, you can set up "goals". These can be used to track sales from all forms of traffic you're getting.

Steve

[crece]

Solid advice from Steve Gibson, fellow consultant here.

My advice to Kate, apart from definitely keep doing PPC is to start a steady backlink campaign and optimize your website just a tad more.

At 7th page for a 50,000/month + keyword you are almost reaching the goldmine.

Once you get top ten you will both start seeing more sales and even higher conversions. Organic traffic is seen as trusted traffic and will improve conversion dramatically. (as high as +10% increase)

On a side note, CPM bids on Adwords are not cost efficient. The CTR (click thru rate) is most of the time too low on the search network to be able to bid effectively and still profit. Adwords CPM bids are jut too high by standard.

My advice: start optimizing your landing page and increase your Quality Score, make sure all your keywords are getting 7+, (this will lower your cost per click) Start optimizing your landing pages, create different ad groups to target different keywords, test which keywords and ads convert better. Start reading more on the topic or hire a marketing consultant/PPC manager to take care of the job for you.

Keep at it!

Francisco