16 replies to this topic

[thebean]

New to the seo/sem world. We have the #1 natural ranking in Google for a search string we were considering bidding on. Pros and cons of bidding in this scenario?

thanks,
Tim

[qwerty]

Welcome, Tim

I'd say be prepared to bid for it, since there's no guarantee that you'll be at #1 in the organic results forever, but I don't see any reason to bid for it now, unless you're interested in getting hits from contextual ads. But there's no point in competing with yourself between paid and organic, in my opinion.

[Jill]

Welcome thebean!

I wouldn't bother to bid on it if you're already #1. Bid on other phrases though. No sense putting all your eggs in one basket.

I moved this thread to the PPC section.

Jill

[OldWelshGuy]

Just out of curiosity, and because I am too damn lazy to leave the forum to go check, can you set adwords to NOT display on Google, but display on adsense networked ads? If so, then this would be an option, and it would also cost a lot less.

OWG

[Jill]

I don't think that's an option, OWG.

[Haystack]

Google uses the CTRs on their own site to determine ad pricing, so turning that off isn't an option.

While it would be nice to think that you don't need to advertise on a term you're already ranking competitively for, think about the consequences: Your competition's ad will appear just above or two the right of your listing.

If advertising on the term is profitable for your business, why hand over the real estate to your competition?

[awall19]

Also with the organic listing Google may pull some scrazy snippet for your site. with the ad you get to control the branding message.

test it out to see if it is any good. if not then don't do it.

i have sold some of my ebook off of ads for my domain name. remember some of the search engines such as ask jeeves place the ads above the regular listings

[lizzielu]

There was a study at the NYC Conference that showed web sites with a natural listing and a paid listing on the same page had 3 times higher click through rates. Also, people look on the left side of Google first before looking on the right side, so they're likely to click on your natural link first. If they miss it, your paid ad will be there as a back up. Also, it's good for branding. I would advise you buy the ad on that page.

[skiguide]

yep, I agree there's a huge value to "surround sound impact", when a user sees the same company/site 2-3 times, they start to develop a bigger level of trust & credibility, and think to themselves, "hey, this company must have what I want, since they keep coming up" - I've definitely seen higher CTR's in these cases.

[cline]

Absolutely, buy the PPC regardless of how high you rank on the editorial listings.
Some reasons:

-> Some people have figured out that the paid links are good for shopping and look there rather than the editorial links if they're trying to buy something. The last people you want to miss are these.

-> You don't have much control over how the SE describes your site. Buying PPC gives you a shot with wording you can control.

-> By running the PPC you can keep competitors out of that slot.

-> If you're running content matching, by failing to bid on this term you're missing content matching on what's probably one of your very best terms.

-> You never know when the algorithm will change and you'll be gone from page 1. Running PPC on your term buffers you from such shocks.

Conclusion:
Don't worry about cannibalizing yourself. If running the PPC ad is profitable, do it.

[AussieWebmaster]

The only possible reason for not having PPC is if you thought it would adversely effect view of company. If you occupy double the real estate you are going to increase your traffic.

And as people realize that advertisers are serious in providing what people searching are looking for the number of clicks for PPC improve... you need much more brievity in copy etc....

[BrianR]

A bit late to this party, but...

Welcome Tim! - I hope you enjoy the forum. Ask all you want and contribute all you can.

BrianR

[goodman]

I once heard this question at a seminar. "As a design consultant I'm being given the job of implementing PPC for a large well-known company, but their SEO firm said that having PPC ads would look 'schlocky' so we shouldn't do it since they already have some decent organic listings. What do you think?"

So I asked, what's the company?

"Amway."

Someone apparently thought it was their job to tell Amway not to look schlocky. Schlocky!! Either that or someone is wary of PPC encroaching on their "turf."

Anyway, what the others said. Buy them. Surround sound all the way. You only pay when they click, so the worst that happens is you're 50 cents poorer in exchange for having attracted a prospect who might not have clicked you otherwise.

[thebean]

Thanks you sem/seo smartypants (and I mean that in the best way). It's always nice to get the friendly reminder that it takes 3+ times for one's ad to be recognized so bidding on my phrase makes smart sense.

cheers,
Tim

[AussieWebmaster]

And now that the PPC ads are getting as much traffic as the organic, why shoot your foot to look good?