Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website

251

Keywords with Low Click-Through Rates

As you learned in Chapter 4, “How the Search Engines Work Right Now,” higher click-

through rates will influence your rank on both Google AdWords and Yahoo! Search

Marketing (YSM), so you may be tempted to start slicing and dicing keywords with low

click-through rates. But while you may find these keywords bothersome, remember that

you’re paying for clicks, not ad views, so they aren’t costing you extra money. Ask your-

self a few questions that may help you turn these low performers around:

Is my ad text doing its job?

Take an honest look at your ad copy to make sure it

addresses your low-performing keyterm, and your audience, in a meaningful and com-

pelling way. If the keyterm doesn’t have its own custom-written ad, perhaps it should.

Consider inviting another writer on your team to give your ads a tune-up. Or you may

want to experiment with an

A/B split

(we’ll tell you how later this week), which is an

experiment that can help you get the most from your ad text.

Does the term have enough impressions for me to make a judgment call?

Make sure

you’re getting enough ad views for your doubts about the keyterm to be valid. Some-

times, the number of impressions for an ad is so small that it’s really not getting a

fair shot at success. This is especially true if the keyterm is related to a seasonal or

cyclical topic. Remember that terms on the “long tail” of search, which we described

in Chapter 7, “Month One: Kick It into Gear,” are naturally only going to get a very

few impressions.

Did I start out with realistic expectations?

This is a great time to reassess your trust in

your PPC service’s traffic prediction tool.

Low Conversion Rate Keywords

Much more worrisome than the ad that isn’t bringing in traffic is the one that actually

bringing in traffic but not resulting in conversions. You’re going to hold these terms

to a much higher standard than the low-click-through performers because every one of

these clicks is costing you cash. But you may wish to give these underachievers a sec-

ond chance before you dump them. Here are some questions you should ask:

Is the landing page a good match for the keyterm?

You may be about to drop a

keyterm when you should instead be planning to add a new page to your website

to better accommodate it. At the very least, consider pointing a keyterm to a more

Now:

Review your keywords with low click-through rates and make changes for improvement if you

determine it’s necessary to do so.

c09. 8:10 251