HELP! Google and/or Overture

[barry.hynd]

Hi Folks,

Am needing some help with PPC advertising. I'm working pretty much locally to within fifty miles of home. I run an event catering company in Fife Scotland.

I've tried Google Adwords and have had no clicks at all, whatsoever, absolutely ZIP!. I'm obviously missing something. I realy need someone to talk me through the ins and outs of this type of advertising.

 

[gary]

Hi Barry

Doing AdWords properly is not as simple as it first seems - I would recommend reading through the many articles at http://www.seochat.com to get a good overview of the service. You need to choose the right keywords and phrases for your business, and then write the correct style of ads to make people want to click on them.

I'm not sure though that this sort of advertising is ideally suited to your situation as you're dealing with a very local market. You may be better off advertising in local papers (though PR is better, and cheaper!) and linking up with related businesses like wedding companies.

 

[barry.hynd]

Hi Gary,

A bit surprised by this reponse. I thought the whole idea behind Adwords was that it appealed to both small and larger companies?

Whats the point in me even having a website then if I cant drive traffic to it?

 

[SillyJokes]

Hi Barry,

Pay Per Click is not straightforward but it could work for you. You might be better off working on exchanging links with other related businesses in your area and getting listed on Yell.co.uk (but be careful what other directories you pay to go in as few others are worth it esp. Ask Alex)

However I would be more concerned about your website because at the moment it is not working as well as it could for you.

It has a clean fresh finish but it is far too wordy and much too much about you and not about what the customer wants.

On the home page you should immediately hit them with words of one syllable telling them exactly what it is you can do for them and include a mouth watering image of something tasty.

Some bloke jumping in a suit doesn't say 'catering' - it would pay you to get a good quality logo made as this is important. Your's looks homemade at the moment.

The entire wedding page could be savaged down by about 75%. Here you should say,

"We have helped dozens of brides create a meal to remember.
Our trained consultants will take the time to enable to you to put together the perfect menu within budget and can easily accomodate the most fussy of eaters.
Here are some sample menus - all set out and easy to read,"

I do hope you don't mind me saying these suggestions but I truly believe you will get a better conversion rate if you focus on what your visitors want to see and not what you want to tell them. They simply will not stick around to read pages of waffle.

Best of luck

Caroline

 

[gary]

Hi Barry

It's not related to the size of a company, simply that some businesses may find more effective marketing in another medium, or using a different method. Online advertising works very well for some businesses and poorly for others, just as Yellow Pages works well for some and not for others.

What I was trying to say was it is possible the people who would use your services may look in local papers and phone books as it's a local business, and you may be spending your time and money on Adwords when you may be better off linking with related sites as both I and Sillyjokes have suggested. One way of finding out is by asking past and prospective customers where they would look to find a catering company.

Alternatively it could be that you just have the wrong sorts of keywords and ads - this is a common problem especially when first starting with AdWords. I don't know if you still have your ad up, but I did a search for "catering fife" and "event catering fife" and your ad didn't show?

 

[barry.hynd]

Hi Gary/Caroline,

Many thanks for your posts. You've given me something to think about thats for sure!

Gary with regards to you searching on Google I have both these items as part of my keywords and low and behold I have the same result as you in that it doesn't come up. I'm abvioulsy missing some fairly fundamental when setting up my Google campaign.

The idea of the man with the sign was to create an executive as our main product (Our Lunchbox) sells between 800 and 1000 per month.

I was actually quite happy with the content on the wedding page but I was hoping to incoprate better pictures. We've booked seven weddings since the website launch and I thought that this was working!

I'm think about sticking to what I actually do best and pay some web people to do this site!

 

[10Yetis]

Uh-oh! :shock:
Are you aware of what you have just let yourself in for?
You will now get (I predict) 326 private messages from web designers offering to help, including 109 of those messages being fellows from around the world...

Be afraid. :lol:

 

[Ozzy]

he he he
I'll just repeat what Caroline and Gary have just said really, and that is PPC very very rarely works for business that only service local areas. It does however work well for business that have a national or international market.
The problem with PPC though is if not managed properly it can bleed you dry!!

 

[barry.hynd]

Hi Folks,

OK am cutting to the chase. I've cancelled the Google Adwords. You've convinced me that this is not for my business.

I'm getting Mr Yeti to look at the content for me.

Thanks for the posts here at least it's made me make a quick decision and start to look at alternative solutions.

 

[ajdriver]

Can you not do ppc on overture that is post code related? IE it know the post code of the IP address that is trying to find those key words and will only show relevant businesses in that area. I haven’t used that feature of overture but that is what someone was telling me about. Also have you considered the natural listing. IE them that are not paid for. There are ways to get yourself to number 1. a company called insideout specialise in this. I was thinking of using them, but they phoned me and I felt a bit pressured by them so didn’t in the end. Some people don’t like to click on the paid for links, me been one of them, I would rather use the ones that are not paid for. However I still used PPC and got a nasty shock when I realised what overture had taken off my credit card, and what I owe Google.

 

[Ian J]

There are ways to get yourself to number 1. a company called insideout specialise in this. I was thinking of using them, but they phoned me and I felt a bit pressured by them so didn’t in the end.

There are a large number of SEO companies that all claim to be able to get you into the top places in the rankings yet they don't seem to be able to get their own websites up there which is hardly a good sign.

 

[daveashton]

Have you tried telesales? you could do a trial for aporx £250.00 and expand or contract the service as required.

If you would like to know more please visit www.contactfoundry.com and if you call them ( based in Edinburgh) ask for Archie and tell him I sent you.

 

[Ozzy]

Just a quick reply for IanJ, I personally have always managed to get any website I have been involved in at Number 1 on Google and MSN for the top 3 or 4 search terms for that website... but I would never even try to get number 1 for "seo" or similar!
I dont promote my seo services any more though because I don't have time to do it, so don't ask

 

[barry.hynd]

Hi Richard,

Perhaps you would like to give me a few pointers on getting my site up the rankings so to speak?

 

[Ian J]

Barry,

There are a number of forums that deal with SEO and also some free tools on the internet. Sitesolutions is quite good and the page here will analyse your website.

Don't take these things as gospel though as the next website analysis site will tell you something completely different.

I have been tinkering and fine tuning my own site for a couple of years with info gleaned from all of these places and currently have the top spot on Google for my keyword.

 

[Ozzy]

Another good place to look would be the list of forums at http://www.seroundtable.com/forums.html

 

Richard,

Have just stumbled across this thread, and noted your comments re pay per click not working for local areas.

In my experience PPC works best for local areas because you are able to add geo specific keywords in your keyword list.

Take the events organiser for example;
Not sure where he is located but lets assume Newark, Notts (near me).

In his keyword phrase list he should add;

event organiser newark
party organiser newark
wedding organiser newark
event planner newark
party planner newark
wedding planner newark

event organiser lincoln
party organiser lincoln
wedding organiser lincoln
event planner lincoln
party planner lincoln
wedding planner lincoln

etc......grantham, nottingham,.........etc.

Get the idea ?

When searching on Google, people include a location to find local businesses.
It provides me with around 30 hits per day - for a wide coverage (i provide web design and hosting).

Also, with regards to costs running away. I am able to set a daily budget of a few pounds with a maximum click through rate of only a few pence.

I am also able to create a short text advert to encourage (only relevant) visitors to my site - rather than rely on Google's description.

Ppc can work for you and when it does, it is far more effective than spending £30 a month on a classified newspaper ad.

I ramble on about this a bit more at;
http://www.click2.it/Dont_wait_for_your_Google_listing

Just my 2p'th - hope it's of interest.

Regards

Mitch

 

[NS-Addict]

Hi,

I have tried various PPC advertising campaigns and found them help a little, the key with PPC is that you have to do your homework before you decide to go for it. By homework, I mean analyse your keywords, CEO, relevant body copy etc.

PPC can have a great effect on a business of any size, if it is executed correctly. Now for Google Vs Overture, I can honestly say I have never tried Google Adwords but people do say not to use them unless you know exactly what you’re doing, or at the end of the month you can be shocked by your adverting bill.

However Overture I have tried, and can honestly say we got a good response from it. The problem with it though, like all PPC is that if you have a direct competitor and he really has got it in for you, he will just run your credits down by repeatedly clicking on your PPC link.

There are lots of alternatives to PPC that can have a more noticeable effect, especially if you are aiming at your local market, try a few of the following tips: -

1) Fliers in shops, hotel, event venues etc
2) Word of Mouth (Generally the most effective)
3) Networking - Attend local events and spread the word of your business
4) Internet Directories/listings add your website to free (relevant) directors
5) Offer special offers, only available to the locals
6) Support charities, generally you get a lot of feedback from them.

Their are a few to get you started

Hope that helped

 

Interestingly, when I started may adwords campaign I was monitoring the click throughs and noticed that over a couple of days a phrase kept getting spammed by someone who took exception to my ad.

They clicked on my link about 8 or 9 times repeating this over several days.

I checked my Google account to see the charge, but nothing had been debited.

Looking into it further it became apparent that the clever people at Google had told Google not to charge for repeat clicks from the same IP address to prevent spamming.

Google protect the integrity of their system fiercely and request spam spotters to note IP addresses and let them know. Which i duly did.
:twisted:

Needless to say, the problem went away.

Also, re costs -you are able to set a daily budget with adwords.

Regards

 

[NS-Addict]

Yes, that is one of the beauties with modem adword companies, as the spammers are getting cleverer so are the companies.

However, the kind of spam I received was not from the same IP, the person was obviously knowledgeable in clocking IP's and gateways and on ever other click he would choose a different IP address.

If someone really has got it out for you, you have got no chance with adwords.

Don't get me wrong, they are great most of the time, it’s just that my experiences so far have not been to promising.